Health, Fitness, and helping other’s achieve a healthier life is a deep passion for many people. No matter what is happening in the economy or who is president, what will always ring true is that people always want to look younger, get fitter, and healthier. Ask anyone who is currently a fitness professional, would they like to do it as a full time career? Even the ones who dabble in it usually say YES! Even many people who are known in their neighborhood as the motivator or just the one who always eats healthy and exercises, have a deep seated passion for fitness and want more out of it. Usually looking for a way to find the magic beanstalk of full time income in fitness. Many keep waiting to be discovered or have hopes and dreams of owning their own gym. I know that was me. I ALWAYS said, I’m going to own my own gym.
My passion for fitness started officially back when I was in HealthCare & Medical college at Upstate Medical University working as the manager of the campus activities building. I started teaching group exercise, just because they paid me to go take the training. Little did I know how much in love I would become with helping others in fitness. As well as it does play with your ego when you get to order people around to music PLUS you get to wear a microphone. Maybe it played into my theatre background or just my cheerleading performance obsession. None the less, I got to wear a thong, biker shorts, and thick scrunchy socks.
I wanted more. Five years passed into my teaching career and I decided to take the home video market into my own hands. Creating self producing, and packaging my own line of VHS workouts! I sold them through my local connections as well as the internet! OH BOY! The internet was sweeping the nation back then and I had one static webpage!
Thankfully I auditioned and was selected to work for Chalene Johnson, creator of formats such as Turbo Kick, PiYo Strength, and hip hop Hustle. I started working as a pioneer presenter and area promotions director for the Northeast in 2000. Long story short, through the course of working with her, I was able to quit working in medical sales and applications, film workout videos with her as well as with a team, present at major fitness conferences, train thousands of people to further their passion in fitness, and launch my career in motivational and public speaking. I’m gonna be honest as I have worked on the “other side”, yes management. We would see hundreds of applications come through ready to take their step into this direction, but sadly, so many of them just didn’t or couldn’t fit the bill. The reason I say this, as to be very direct and honest, sometimes, it’s just not for everyone or not what they thought.
In May 2008, I decided to further my reach in helping people, more than the people I would physically come across, but more in a national reach, and decided to become an independent contractor in my own business representing a home fitness giant. It was logical to me, considering I was recommending this companies products for years, using them for years, and not making a cent. Not that it’s about the money, but for the most part, people who use or recommend products over and over just wish they could get a piece of “that”. Have you ever heard someone say, “If I had a nickel for every time I have recommended someone go get that from that company, I’d be rich!”
Well, it’s true.
I’ve been in the fitness industry since 1991, professionally since 2000. I wanted to give you the perspective that sometimes, no one really wants you to see. As I said, if you are passionate about fitness, most times, you have a bigger dream of making more money in it or making it big. Sometimes people don’t face the reality of their situations, talents, or even work ethic. I wanted to give you the AVERAGE in some of the most common fitness professions, so you can see what seems logical to you.
FITNESS INSTRUCTOR – $12-$20 per class
Pros:
• You control how many classes you want to teach per week
• You can specialize and teach more formats making yourself more marketable
Cons:
• Some locations do not value your education, credentials, or specialty training and still pay you the rate they want
• You have to plan for the time you don’t get paid outside of the hour class you are teaching. (drive time, choreography development/learning, purchasing new music/choreo etc)
• Physically, it’s impossible to teach enough classes per week to make it rich
PERSONAL TRAINER – $24-$35 per session
Pros:
• You control how many clients/sessions you want to train per week
• You can work independently or for a health club
Cons:
• Some locations do not value your education, credentials, or specialty training and still pay you the rate they want
• You have to plan for the time you don’t get paid outside of session (session development, client review, drive time, etc)
• The amount of time per day, per week you would have to train clients will keep you VERY busy and working many hours.
• You have to build up your client base
GROUP FITNESS DIRECTOR- $25,000-$35,000 annually
Pros:
• You have a management position and have control of group exercise development and programing.
• You can teach as many classes as you would like or management deems.
Cons:
• You are responsible for coverage on every class. This means sometimes teaching it yourself
• It is a 24/7 position.
• Many locations require you to teach a certain amount of classes, which is included in your yearly salary.
HEALTH CLUB OWNER – $80,000 annually
Pros:
• You own your own health club
• You develop, control, and create the experience of fitness for your location
Cons:
• High Risk and overhead (a lot of up front money as well as continued unexpected/expected expenses)
• Most health club owners do not make a profit in their first 3 years of being open
• The amount of hours may be higher due to the lack of being able to pay for supporting staff
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR/ MLM – $ limitless
Pros:
• You control how you want to work the business as well as how much you want to work the business
• Your earning potential is limitless and increases naturally the longer you are with the company.
• You develop a team, business and leadership position
Cons:
• It doesn’t work, unless you work it
• Failure to jump can cause frustration and blame
• Belief, Confidence in yourself, and passion for the mission have to be burned within you as you get started.
As you can see with the brief snapshot and pros/cons of each position, you can realistically take the approach you would like in the development of your career. Obviously, I didn’t list every pros/cons for each position, just a general average and idea.
My tune has changed, and I no longer want to own my own health club. Not against anyone who does, but just the pure upstart expense, headaches, and time it would take has be running for the hills. I additionally want to ensure every moment I can have with my two young kids as time flies by fast. This is another reason why being an independent contractor was so appealing to me as I work from home, set my own hours, and I’m available for them whenever they need. I’m a part of their life in all activities including being their for them in school.
Finding the right company to be an affiliate is going to be up to you. You have to be passionate about the companies mission and what they have to offer in supporting people to gain fitness/health benefits. We all know that there isn’t one product or solution. Personally for me, I chose Team Beachbody as it rounded out the complete package of supporting someone to success in all areas: nutrition/exercise/support/income.
Since being a coach with the company, I have been able to create one of the largest businesses and downlines within the company. The culture we have as a team is what keeps us strong and on our mission to help more people achieve their goals and success.
Watch this video clip of two fitness celebrities, Chalene Johnson and Shaun T, when they were asked if they felt coaching would be a negative experience or harmful for a fitness professional. Additionally you will see the average income for more fitness professional positions including the average for a coach for 2011.