“HELP NICK”

So you want to become a personal trainer?

I’ve run 7 marathons to do date. I’ll give marathon running credit in my life for a few things:

• it gave me a new mindset, that I have tremendous capability
• an interest in fitness, and how I could get better as a runner
• and genuine happiness for seeing others achieve their goals

So I was sitting in the office of my old job reading ESPN articles at my desk, 38 years young at the time, when my mom texted me that my birthday was just around the corner. That text reminded me of how fast life goes by. I can recall my teenage years of thinking 38 was super old!! But I felt great, even better than in my 20’s. But at the same time I’m almost 40! 15 years on the job at that time, I finally asked myself, “ what do you want to do with you life?”

Fast forward, I was bold enough to accept that I wanted to work in the fitness world, and help people have that same feeling that I’ve had crossing that finish line on marathon race day. So just like it was a bit scary to register for my first marathon and accept that I had skin in the game, I looked up the most popular certification and clicked the “purchase button”. I was given a book and various online mutiple choice test to pass at the end of each chapter. After reading that book I was given a final multiple choice test to pass. And just like that I was a “certified personal trainer”!!! Yay.

I continued working my same job and took a co worker in as a client. I charged what I knew she could afford, and did so for about a month. And along the process of becoming a certified personal trainer I came across this other institution, SHOW UP FITNESS. Actual Personal Trainer School, where aspiring trainers get to learn from experienced professionals. I felt like this is exactly what I needed. So I paused bulding clientele and went back to school at Show Up and stayed in school. My final test to graduate was multi factorial:

• take a client that I’ve never met through a workout while being recorded, design the program on the spot
• explain advanced anatomy , and design a sample program while explaining the program’s rationale

In 2021 I left my job of 17 years to become a personal trainer at Equinox on the miracle mile in Los Angeles, CA.

At the time of this writing, I’m just about 1 year into the corporate world as a trainer. Thats enough time for me to reflect on what my coaches at Show Up Fitness taught me about what it takes to be successful in this industry the acronym :what it takes to make it in this field as a personal trainer:

“HELP NICK”

H-Hunger

E-Energy/ Experience

L-Looks

P-Personality

N-Networker

I- Interesting

C-Con-cocky (Confident with a hint of cocky)

K- knowledgeable

I’m really good at a few aspects of “HELP NICK”, while some parts I could use a little work.

Now I’m dealing with the “real world” of how all this transfers over to corporate training. At this point I have a few goals:

• be the absolute hardest worker at growing my business, (its nobody’s job to help you help yourself)
• capitalize from any potential opportunity
• own up to the good and the bad, its on me( don’t fall into the victim mentality).

Long story short, having a career in fitness is awesome! But if you’re interested you’ve got to be willing to put in the work to get what you want. All my chips are in the middle of the table.