“Making It” in the Fitness Industry
Eleanor Roosevelt
“For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.”
By Cayley Kruhm
In any vocation you will hear people say they want to “make it” to the big time, rise to the top of the industry, climb to the top, etc. But what does that really look like in the fitness industry? Is it who you can say you’ve trained? Where you’ve worked? Who your mentors are and the names you can drop? Or what about your numbers (money, clients, etc.)?
I would argue that, in the grand scheme of life, none of those things matter. Now hear me out… I have been blessed to work in a number of environments with some extremely successful people. I’ve witnessed the development of fantastic athletes and have seen firsthand some life changing transformations. And while those people were fantastic trainers and coaches, they all had more in common than an enhanced working knowledge of their craft. Every one of those mentors was wonderful at connecting with people.
We are in the business of people and because of that we must be people persons. That’s an easy thing to be… on the surface. What’s much harder and actually matters is your connection with people. Establishing relationships and building other people is the true business of the fitness industry. Sure, physical health is important and it is super impressive to help someone lose 100 pounds however your lasting impression will come from how you interact with people.
Our goal in what we do should be to better lives, spark joy, to encourage and build others up in every relationship with clients and peers. That is real success. If you can do that then what you do will have a lasting impact. If you can do that, then you will have “made it.”
Cayley Kruhm, MS, CSCS
Cayley is a strength coach and organizational fiend from North East, MD. Outside of work, she enjoys baking, training to become harder to kill, and being a wife and mom. Cayley works for Mad Lab Performance as Administrative Coordinator and may be contacted at: