The Hustle
Years in Tampa Bay
I was born and raised in Clearwater, attended college at FSU in Tallahassee, and moved to St. Pete in September 2018. I love St. Pete!!!
Hustle (job)
Strength Trainer. I take the effectiveness of a strength coach and combine it with human, caring, attentive side of a personal trainer.
What do you do?
I teach strength training to beginners. Anyone that needs to lose weight, build muscle, confidence, and strength that has chosen to use strength training as their vehicle to attain those things – I want to help by teaching those skills to you.
Why do you do it?
Strength training can be used to improve flexibility better than yoga, fix posture, build muscle, strength, confidence, burn fat more effectively than cardio, improve coordination, balance to prevent trips and falls, and has the best carryover to daily life. I have chosen to teach everyone how to use strength training safely and effectively so people can step into the gym with confidence, and accomplish their goals.
What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)
I started lifting weights for wrestling in high school, then for fun in college, and continued to evolve my training beyond college. When I graduated from FSU in 2010 with a Business Management degree, I couldn’t find a job due to the recession, so I decided to take my personal passion and turn that into a job. I studied for a year to pass the exam, then began full time work immediately at a big box gym. Within six months I knew I needed to create my own business to teach people, instead of keeping them on the metaphorical treadmill. Seriously Strong Training is focused on equipping you with the skills and confidence to take fitness into your own hands for life.
What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?
People think strength training is dangerous (it is one of the safest Olympic sports), it makes you muscle-bound (again, Olympic weightlifters have INCREDIBLE flexibility), and that cardio is the best way to lose fat (it isn’t. Strength training burns fat during exercise, after, and permanently raises your metabolism). Oh -and sometimes women think they will get bulky from weightlifting. This is simply not true. No one has ever woken up accidentally too muscular. If it were that easy, I’d be out of a job!
What’s the most challenging part of your Hustle?
It is EASY to teach strength training, educate you about nutrition and provide you with all of the tools and skills necessary to accomplish your goals. The HARD part is motivating you to prioritize your health and fitness goals. People lose weight on every diet imaginable when they stick to it – it doesn’t matter what diet it is. Getting you to stick with it is always the challenge. If that were easy, again, I’d be out of a job!
What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?
Don’t pinch pennies. Make dollars. You should operate with a mindset of abundance, positivity and willingness to give. Focus on how to improve your customer’s experience and your revenue will rise.
