Becoming a Personal Trainer
After graduating college I worked as a Paralegal in Erie for a little over a year. Then I moved to Pittsburgh for a Paralegal job that ended up falling through when I got here. I was living in a new city with rent due and no job. I decided I didn’t want to be a Paralegal anymore and went through a recruiting agency that landed me a job in Insurance. I liked the job and the coworkers were great but everyday as I sat at my desk something in me just felt like it wasn’t were I was supposed to be.
I later got fired which ended up being a huge blessing even though I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I thought, well I love decorating why not try interior design? Then I shadowed a couple designers which was actually so fun and I got to stage Ben Roethlisberger’s house. But that’s the kind of career you need money to invest in decor to even start and I wasn’t in a position to do that at the time. So then I thought maybe real estate and looked into getting certified online but I didn’t have the money for it. So I asked my parents if they could help me and they just weren’t convinced I would stick with this either.
Going back to the drawing board I decided why not try to do something with my minor, Marketing. I began going to networking events, met a ton of great people, and landed an interview at what felt like the best next step in my journey. It was a 3 week interviewing process and I made it down to the final pick, but they chose the other candidate over me. I was devastated and needed a job asap so I could pay my rent that month. Then a guy I met at one of those networking events reached out and said they had an opening where he worked. It was for a chaotic start up company and it wouldn’t be for very high pay but I was desperate so I took it.
This ended up being the worst, most draining job I’ve ever had. I was working 10-12 hour days without receiving any overtime pay, would have to drive into the city at 2, 3, 4am for emergencies constantly, and I ended up mentally and physically running myself to the ground after 6 long months. Then one night when I got the call for me to come down to the building once again at 3am and I just sobbed in my bed so exhausted I could barely get out of bed. I thought to myself enough is enough, I was at my breaking point and began thinking about what my next step could be. Then one morning instead of the usual “I hate my life and would do anything not to go to work right now” I changed the script to “What would I be excited to get out of bed to do right now?” The answer, working out.
I was working constantly at this job to the point that I had zero energy to do what I love most, moving my body. It was at that moment I thought how could I do this for a living and help other people get fit too? “That’s it, I wanna be a personal trainer!!” I sobbed with tears of joy because something about this just felt so right, it felt so me. Only thing was, I didn’t have any money to buy the certification course nor did I have the time to complete it at my current job. So when I went home for Christmas in 2019 I begged and pleaded to my dad that this is what I’m meant to do, I could feel it. I promised I would pay him back for the course as soon as I had the money. He reminded me that they almost paid for the Real Estate course and asked why this would be any different. This is when I broke down and said I just feel in my bones this is right for me. I have always loved fitness and love teaching people ways to improve their life, this is it.
After days of convincing my dad finally decided he would help and the night of December 31st, 2019 before going out with my friends for new years I made the decision to change my life once and for all and signed up to get certified. Now as many of you know February/March of 2020 the pandemic happened and due to the company I worked for not making enough money to pay employees the best day of my life was finally here. February 14, 2020 I got let go from the job that truly pushed me to my rock bottom and I was finally free to start studying to be a Personal Trainer. It honestly came at the most perfect time, I got to stay home and collect covid unemployment while working towards my dream and sometimes I still can’t believe it worked out so perfectly.
After getting certified gyms were still shut down and at this point I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to work for someone ever again. But I found out very quickly that it is hard to get clients when you’re just working for yourself and what I was making was not enough to fund my life. On top of that, I just wasn’t making the impact I wanted to make. I wanted to help so many more women than I was and that’s when the idea for an all female gym was born! I personally hated being hit on when I went to the gym and overall did not love the atmosphere. I thought, if I feel intimidated walking into a big box gym and I’m very comfortable lifting weights, how is a beginner supposed to feel? I knew women needed to have their own space but I had no clue what this idea was later going to develop into.
This is also when I decided to start selling feet content to pay the bills and that quickly became my full time job. That community grew so fast that I still sometimes struggle to keep up with the demand but it was the perfect job to have while I went on my hormone healing journey. I have always had super painful and heavy periods and end up taking that week off from the gym. But I never understood why my workouts were always so crappy the week leading up to my period as well. So I began doing research and realized that not only do women need their own space to workout but our bodies are SO different than men and we need something totally different than them when it comes to fitness as a whole.
That’s when I realized this space is going to be so much more than just a gym. I want to help women not only heal their hormones but also heal the relationship they have with their bodies. This journey has changed my life as well as my relationship with my body and that is what BODY is to it’s core. It’s time for women to step into their divine feminine in this masculine dominated world. There is so much power in our femininity and understanding how to listen to our amazing bodies. With fertility rates at an all time low it’s time we make some changes and build the community of support we need on this journey.
