Fitness business owner.
Personal trainer.
Online personal trainer.
New mom.
These are just a few of the titles I seem to have taken on, and although life is very busy these days, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
I have been working long hours for the past 11-12 years since graduating from university with my Kinesiology degree to get to this point and although I seem busier than ever, I actually have a lot more free-time than I used to. If you have dreams of one day owning your own fitness studio and/or being an online personal trainer I will tell you it takes a lot of hard work and continued hard work, but it’s worth it!
I had a baby on October 9, 2017 and it was the first time in the history of my fitness career that I had taken 4 months away from training at my studio and left it in the hands of my team of trainers (who are amazing, by the way).
It was probably the scariest and most rewarding experience to be able to sit at home with my new baby and just watch clients continue to show up to my studio to train without me there. My studio was still profitable without me!
I was also able to keep up with all of my online training clients right after I had the baby, because—lucky for me!—babies sleep a lot when they are fresh and I was able to use that time to work on and build my online personal training business.
I’m now at the point where I’m training a few in-person clients and teaching a few classes at my studio each week (because I really missed all of my clients and I truly love in-person training), training clients online, and doing a lot of blog writing while I get to spend more time with my rapidly growing 5-month-old!
Here is an example of what an average day looks like for me. Not all days are this busy, but this is pretty much what every Monday looks like:
Monday
3:52 a.m. Alarm goes off.
4:00 a.m. Drink a single shot americano & eat an apple with some almond butter while I’m pumping “the girls” (sorry if TMI – but this is real life of a new mom lol) before heading to the studio.
5:00–7:00 a.m. Down at my studio training clients
7:30 a.m. Home in time for my husband to leave for work, eat my oatmeal, and play with my little man, Jaxson. 🙂
8:00–10:00 a.m. While my son is napping, I handle many tasks that need to be done to start the week. How much I get done really all depends on how long my little guy decides to nap for, but these are a few of the things I work on:
- I always create a to-do list in my notebook each week to keep me focused on the tasks that need to be done, and to make sure I don’t forget anything lol! It seems to get longer and longer as the week goes on, but helps me stay focused if I get any free time throughout the week.
- Answer any emails or text messages (work related) that are urgent and then highlight others that I can answer a little later in the day.
- Take a look at the online schedule for my studio to see what the week is looking like for myself and all of my trainers.
- Check-in with online clients, answer messages and ensure they are all good to go for the week. I also adjust or create new programs as needed.
- Check social media, respond to direct messages and comments/questions and plan social media posts for the next few days (if I have time I plan for the week).
- Begin writing one of the blogs I have scheduled to write that week and/or begin writing ideas for future blogs I want to write.
10:00 a.m. By this time, the baby is usually awake now, time to feed him because he wakes up HANGRY just like his Momma. While I am sitting feeding my little guy, I am normally on my phone continuing to respond to emails and messages.
I also use this time to work on some of my scheduled posts for social media for both my personal and studio Instagram and Facebook pages. I sometimes use this time to create a workout in Trainerize or programming for my in-person clients and group classes.
11:00 a.m. Get my little man ready for his “MyGym” class and get myself ready and roll out.
11:30 a.m. Hang out with my son at his “MyGym” Little Bundles class. We sing songs, use jolly jumpers and swings and do little skills stations to help the babies develop. It’s great for Jaxson to socialize with other babies and for me to socialize with other moms with babies of similar ages. Of course, as a business owner, I’m already thinking….hmm, Mommy and Me workout classes at my studio? How do I get these moms to come workout at my gym? Hahaha… You just can’t turn that entrepreneurial mind off! 🙂
12:30–2:00 p.m. I use this time to do any running around I need to do ie. Groceries or anything I have to do for the studio, sometimes it’s meeting a friend for coffee.
2:00 p.m. Me and Jaxson get to my studio and I feed him then lay him on the mats for some tummy time while I get in a quick strength workout. He loves watching me workout and is pretty good about just laying on a gym mat with a toy while I do some strength training around him. This is the energy boost I need usually by this point in the day.
3:00-4:00 p.m. I train a few soccer players while Jaxson lays/sits on a mat with his toys and watches them train. My clients love when I have Jaxson there while they are training (I think they like seeing him more than me, and I really don’t blame them LOL).
4:00 p.m. Time to head home. My little guy usually falls asleep on the way home, so when we get home I use his nap time to prepare dinner, tidy up around the house, and then get back to my laptop and that neverending to-do list.
5:30 p.m. Feed the baby again (I use this time again to check on social media & online training clients and answer any messages that have come through during the day) then pass him off to hubby when he get’s home from work to play while I finish making dinner.
7:00 p.m. Shut down the laptop, put my phone and work phone to the side flipped over so I’m not tempted to look at it (but still with ringer on just in case because classes are still running at my studio at this time and I need to answer if any clients text or call——rarely happens, but have to keep it near) and use this time to catch up with hubby and play with Jaxson before his bath and bed time.
9:30 p.m. Trying my hardest to stay awake, I usually give in and head to bed by this time! Tuesday mornings I get up about an hour before my son wakes up to get some work done without distraction, usually 6:00 a.m.
P.S. At some point in there I do shower, I promise!
If you are looking to build your online training clientele it is going to take a lot of work and continued work to ensure you are providing good service. Even posting on social media for marketing takes a lot of time and strategy! My advice is to build your business up gradually and be strategic in all of what you do. Make lists, have templates for emails, and schedule time for both your online training and in-person training clients to ensure you aren’t slacking on either.