Sherri McMillan, MS
Sherri McMillan, MS
Article Archive
We all got into this industry because we care deeply about helping people and making a meaningful difference in their lives. But the reality is, it’s very hard to do that, and to build a sustainable, fulfilling career if we don’t have full schedules and a livable income. The sad reality is that the average…
Follow the lead of successful fit pros to embrace today’s opportunities to the fullest and build a better career.
If you love to work out and help others stay in shape, you could have a promising future as a personal fitness trainer. But don’t be blinded by the prospect of earning $60 an hour to exercise: Becoming a successful personal trainer requires education, personality and diligence.
If you ask a room full of fitness managers about CrossFit®, you’re likely to get responses that range in tenor from enthusiastic to disdainful. Despite the bad publicity CrossFit has received and how some in the mainstream fitness industry have shunned it, it’s more popular than ever. CrossFit has over 10,000 affiliates around the world (Beers 2014).
We all know about go-getters: people who see what they want and set out to acquire it no matter what. Authors Bob Burg and John David Mann provide a twist on that notion in The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea (Portfolio 2007). They argue that giving is the key to receiving.
Why are some employees happy and others miserable? Answering that question is on the mind of every leader, manager and business owner who is trying to reduce staff turnover and improve productivity. Learning to be better managers can help us create a more positive working environment, which is good for everybody in our business.
As a small-business owner, I was ecstatic when Luke Carlson, owner of Discover Strength, sent me Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (Portfolio 2007). The subject of the book makes it a perfect launch pad for Part Three in this series on leadership in the fitness industry.
It’s the American way to focus on your weaknesses in order to improve your overall strengths. But in StrengthsFinder® 2.0 (Gallup Press 2007), author Tom Rath says that that approach has its priorities out of order.
Let’s say a child brings home a report card with five A grades and one D in math. How do parents typically respond?
Think of a famous actor or athlete—living a life of luxury with every privilege anyone would ever dream of. Perfect job, right? Then why are so many of them plagued by drug and alcohol abuse?
Need a vacation? Worried about the expense? Do you know that several resorts will give you accommodations and food almost for free in return for teaching a couple of classes like yoga, Pilates, water fitness, Zumba® or boot camp each day of your trip? You can have a world-class vacation without paying the pricey rates of a high-class resort.
In the 2007 movie The Bucket List, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson play terminally ill patients who escape the hospital ward to complete adventures on their “bucket list.” Most people can connect with the concept of a bucket list—the things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”—because no one wants to die with any regrets. We all want to live our fullest lives.
Part of being an exceptional leader and personal trainer is having the ability to organize and manage events throughout the year. Unfortunately, very few personal trainers have actually been taught how to manage projects, and most neglect the fine details. They wind up dealing with chaos, handling crises, feeling stressed and ending up with an event that is not as high quality as it could…
In today’s society, people struggle to find enough time to complete work-related projects, enjoy their loved ones and also take good care of themselves. A personal fitness trainer (PFT) who can demonstrate to clients that they can spend quality time with their sweetie or friends while helping each other stay healthy and fit will be in high demand! Partner training is more economical f…
We are often asked what the difference
is between marketing an…
Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan
Rounding Up Referrals
Discover strategies for keeping training schedules full.
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Maintaining a near-capacity training schedule requires an entrepreneurial mentality. The personal training director needs to provide leadership and give trainers a reason for taking complete ownership of their individual schedules. Here’s what works wit…
Why do most people dread attending meetings? It’s largely because meetings can be poorly organized and not thought out well. Many people perceive them to be tim…
Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan
Face-to-Face Time:
Guarantee your next meeting is a success with these helpful strategies. Why do most people dread attending meetings? It’s largely because meetings can be poorly organized and not thought out well. Many people perceive them to be time wasters that detract from getting more important work done. However, carefully plan…
When working with clients, we all understand the importance of setting goals, and most of us go through the process of examining and re-examining clients’ goals on a regular basis. However, when it comes to our own lives and businesses, it’s often a different story.
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I’ve heard from fitness directors all over the world that numb…
Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan
Get Centralized and Automated
Streamline your operations and hit revenue goals. As consultants who travel around the world, we see many personal training businesses or departments that struggle with the same issues: I no personal training director or a director who trains 30…
