I passed the ACSM CPT exam and am ready to quit my job and get started! But how?!
A little bit on me; I have a strong athletic background, have passed my CPT and am currently working towards a Health Coach certification but now find myself in the what-the-hell-do-I-do-now point of the process. I’m ready to leave my job so I can immerse myself in the fitness world but am wondering the best path to take.
I understand its going to be slow to start building clients so am thinking about either looking at multiple gyms or doing front desk or something…it’s exciting but nerve wracking too! I know there’s not one way to get started and would love all of your experiences from those who’ve been at this long enough to own their own practice to those who have been training 2 months…Thanks for any to-dos or not-to-dos!
Hi Samantha,
I definitely understand your dilemma. My advice depends on what your financial obligations are currently and how strong the “itch” to get on with getting practical experience is.
I personally continued to work my corporate “desk job” and started training clients before and after work. I eventually did stints at large gyms, but the environment was not for me, and I didn’t feel like I was learning enough.
If your goal is to learn a lot about running your own business, you might consider becoming a trainer or assistant at a smaller/boutique gym, where you’ll get a chance to see the BUSINESS side of training as well…
Congrats on the test, it’s not an easy one
I would not quit my full time job, instead I would begin to slowly build my clientele.
Once you have enough income or not enough time to do both jobs, you can them move ahead!
It can take months or even years to get established.
I suggest getting into a local gym, or starting a bootcamp before work? or possibly start a workout program at your current job
Hi Samantha,
My opinion is that it depends on what your current job/financial situation is. I can tell you my personal experience was that I quit my job and found a personal training job at a large gym that could “feed” me clients to get my client base built up. I learned a lot about how to effectively train people while working there and studied up about how to run a business in my own free time. After about 2 years, I had exhausted the knowledge I felt I could obtain from others at the gym and done a lot of studying on business. So I made the leap to doing business on my own. This worked for me but it definitely wouldn’t work for everyone, especially if you can’t financially stay above water while you start out your first training job. It wasn’t hard for me though because I didn’t have many financial commitments and was already not making very much money.
Good luck to you,
Nick Palladino
www.palladinopt.com
Hi Samantha, congrats go out to you. But the above are very right. Your financial situation and resources for such, matter. You do not want to be in financial crisis. That is too much stress. I have had my own studio and have been a success for 30 years. I have only worked for myself. Today there is much competition and I do not know how many trainers really support themselves or, have a working husband, boyfriend and so on. I think you if wish to go it alone and support yourself, you should try to find a trainer that is very successful that will help you learn and establish yourself. After all that is how doctors do it today. many of them buy out another doctors practice. Good luck and, let me know if you have any other questions, I would be happy to help. I like testing my business skills and, knowledge. It keeps me up to date with todays world. Brian Rozzi