Could your next top trainer currently be a member working with one of your trainers? In a recent USA Today article by Nanci Hellmich, more and more people are finding training as a second career.
Hellmich interviewed several individuals that have used personal trainers to lose weight, only to find inspiration in the process and become trainers themselves.
We developed a similar article last year discussing an Anytime Fitness member that lost weight through the assistance of a personal trainer. In 2011, Betty Lou Sweeney, then 71, started using a personal trainer at her local Anytime Fitness. The training helped her to come off a slew of medications, as well as lose 110 pounds. Additionally, Sweeney then went on to claim the Guinness World Record for plank time.
In 2013, Sweeney, who had kept focusing on fitness and training, decided that her story was inspiring enough, and her knowledge was deep enough, to become certified and help people like her. Armed with her ACE certification, Sweeney hopes to help people like her, using her story as extra motivation.
Hellmich, in her recent article, discovered former teachers and businesswomen that were leaving the classroom and conference room to help people become more fit. Not only is there a financial opportunity to be made in personal training, but also the personal rewards of helping others.
Many trainers we speak with have deep personal stories that begin with a weight-loss battle. At some point in their lives they had to fight off the pounds and discover a lifestyle that would help them enjoy life.
Those trainers are exclusive to the people that apply at your club. Do you ever dig deep enough into the lives of your raving clientele to discuss their professional passions and goals? Do you believe that the person working through that last set of sit-ups could be a future star trainer?
Encourage your trainers to keep an eye out for the next great trainer coming from your membership list. Not only could it add to your training employment list, but you might also discover a diamond in the rough looking to share a compelling story and help people live a better life.
Tyler Montgomery is the editor of Club Solutions Magazine. Contact him at tyler@clubsolutionsmagazine.com.
