Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has been doing well. Here is Part II of my Catch Up Update:
Most of the income that I was making came from Uber. I had a few clients at the Santa-Ana MacArthur/Bristol LA Fitness but it wasn’t much. It has been over two and a half years since I started working as a personal trainer and I was still quite far from being having a full client base. I almost accepted that I will never become a full time personal trainer.
It was around mid June of 2018 that I got the phone call from Clayton Reeb, District VP of LA Fitness in Orange County. In that phone call Clayton told me that a personal trainer in another LA Fitness nearby the current one that I worked at was leaving. He knew that my client base was light and asked me if I would be interested in also working at the Fountain Valley location. I would essentially be taking over the leaving trainer’s clients. I thought about for a bit. It was nice that I was making my steady income from Uber and there was a sense of freedom and adventure that I felt from it. At the same time, this was a great opportunity for me to move forward toward my desire of becoming a full time personal trainer. In the end, I decided to accept Clayton’s offer to work at both the Fountain Valley and Santa-Ana MacArthur/Bristol location.
It was challenging at first to balance my time working at both LA Fitness locations and driving for Uber. I ended up sacrificing some sleep as well as the amount of time that I could work out. Over the next few months I started to gain more clients at both locations. Other trainers would also end up leaving and I would inherit even more clients. As I gained more experience and confidence, I started to realize that I am much better suited for beginners compared to athletes. It makes sense; after all I didn’t get into fitness until I was 21. I am more gentle in my demeanor and am very cerebral to my approach. People who want a drill sergeant are better off with someone else.
Around mid January of 2019 I finally had enough work between the two LA Fitness locations that I could quit driving for Uber. I could hardly believe it! I first got certified in late October of 2015. It took me almost 3.5 years but I finally had a full client base! I was surprised at how tiring it was to work full time as a trainer but it was overall very rewarding for me. Over the next few months I was in bliss. At last, I get to work full time doing something that I love. I got to a point where I was starting to turn away clients because I was so booked! That was definitely a major boost to my confidence. 2019 was a great year for me.