After graduating from King's College, London, I entered a Graduate Scheme as an Account Manager for Verizon. I spent 4 years working as part of the global account team in the Verizon London office before entering the world of fitness.
I was truly burnt out after leaving a corporate role, and took six months off to get my head in order. During this time I had a few months of career counselling and trained for several big triathlons which made me realise that Personal Training would be a brilliant role for me. I started as a receptionist at ONE LDN in August 2019 and qualified as PT in March 2020. I coached people both online and outside over the course of 2020 and officially starting as a PT at ONE LDN in June of that year. Personal growth and continued professional development is important to me, and I have recently pivoted towards online coaching, with about 75% of my revenue coming from online clients.
The biggest high without a doubt is the relationship between myself and my clients. I find this the singularly most rewarding part of my job. The inherently 'personal' nature of personal training is what makes me love it so much. Knowing that I represent a safe space where individuals can be themselves, share their fears, and open up without fear of judgement is everything to me.
Interestingly the lows were before I even became a qualified PT. I found working as a receptionist incredibly tough. Long hours, earning a fraction of what I had been in the city, plus the fact that I was terrified I'd never get any clients made for a really challenging six months. I reflect on that time now with so much pride and gratitude to my past self that I pushed through.
That the standard of coaching is so low. This is super depressing I know, but I am shocked at how terrible some PTs are. The qualification is not worth the paper it's printed on, and many coaches don't bother to take further qualifications to enhance their coaching style.
When I first entered the industry it was just about getting enough clients to survive, then it evolved into wanting as many clients as possible - this was not due to the money as much as my own ego. I wanted to be seen as successful by my peers, and thought that being as busy as possible was the answer to that problem. I ended up coaching between 8-10 clients per day and (no surprise to anyone) totally burnt myself out.
Now, my number one aspiration is not about money. It's about sustainability. I want to do this for as long as I can, and ensure that the deep love I have for coaching never leaves me.
I want to continue learning and developing as a coach, to offer my clients the best service possible, whilst having a life outside of the gym.
I love its honesty. The fact you can genuinely be yourself and won't get judged for it.
The fact that you don't need to pretend to be someone you're not, or be interested in something you're not, or saying the right things just to please the right people.
Authenticity is simply obvious - and people gravitate to individuals who know themselves, don't try to be perfect, and don't try to fit into any mould.
Because I work in this industry, I can be 100% myself, and the ripple effect of that never ceases to amaze me.
