Corporate Wellness & Making 200k as a Personal Trainer w/ SUF-CPT CodyMayFit

Checkout Cody on IG: CodyMayFit

Want to see how one trainer turned a free session into a $200K plan and a corporate wellness blueprint that wins boardrooms? We walk through the exact steps: earn trust with results, capture the data that matters, and translate those outcomes into clear ROI that executives can’t ignore. Sick days down, blood pressure down, low back injuries down—when the metrics move, pricing power follows.

Cody breaks down the shift from coach to operator: how referrals compounded into a book of business, why he attends seminars to sharpen skills, and what changed when he started hiring in his own name. We get specific about standards. Resumes stacked with acronyms are easy; applying anatomy, progressing programs, and defending your choices under pressure is what counts. You’ll hear how a practical interview works with a real client, what professionalism looks like on the phone and on the floor, and why protecting the brand requires a high bar for every coach who touches a client.

We also map the scalable play: launch a corporate wellness pilot with a tight intake—vitals, grip strength, movement, injury history, and strength benchmarks—then deliver a year of consistent coaching and report the outcomes in dollars saved. That proof of concept unlocks enterprise contracts and fuels a one-stop model that brings trainers, physical therapists, registered dietitians, and concierge MDs under one roof. Community grows, care improves, and the business becomes repeatable across locations.

If you’re serious about leveling up, this conversation is your checklist: set standards, document outcomes, build a team, and package your wins so decision makers can say yes. Enjoy the episode, share it with someone who needs a push, and if it helped you, subscribe and leave a quick review—it makes a real difference.

Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!

Want to ask us a question? Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!

Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Cold Open: ROI Pitch To Corporations
• 0:46 Show Intro And Certification Plug
• 1:15 The $200K Goal And Cody’s New Role
• 2:01 From Free Client To Referral Engine
• 3:43 Pricing, Frequency, And Early Revenue Math
• 5:19 Seminars, Skill Stacking, And Mindset
• 6:51 Inside The Hiring Lens: Resumes vs Reality
• 8:15 Competency Checks And Anatomy On The Spot
• 10:03 Brand Risk And Setting A High Bar
• 12:00 Professionalism Tests: Calls, Emails, Etiquette
• 13:38 Building A Team Without Wasting Weeks
• 15:21 Designing A Practical Interview That Matters
• 16:54 The Why Behind Programming Decisions
• 18:08 No What Ifs, Only What Happened
• 19:40 Raising Standards: 17 Shoulder Muscles And Beyond
• 21:12 Document, Prove, Repackage: A Playbook
• 22:40 Corporate Wellness As A Scalable Business
• 24:05 Data That Sells: BP, Grip, Sick Days, Injuries
• 25:09 From Trainer Cap To Entrepreneur Cap
• 26:00 One-Stop Shop: PTs, RDs, Concierge MDs
• 28:10 Community, Retention, And Future Of Gyms
• 30:05 Leveling Up: Earning Opportunities At Top Clubs
• 31:40 Farm System And Long-Term Growth

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

There's a lot of companies out there that have a boatload of money and they want to offer this. But you know, just like you were lucky enough to have the interaction and you showed him. But if you were to go to a company, a board, and basically say, here's my deck. Here's why you need me. I'm the best trainer out there because of this hiring process. But let's look at what happened at this company. I was able to, over a 12-month period, we started out doing blood pressure on day one and grip strength, and we had these strength standards that the clients were going through. And then 12 months later, let's look at the data and we're able to showcase that okay, sick days went down this amount and blood pressure went down this amount, and low back injuries went down this amount. So the amount of money that this company saved was in the millions from investing into me. And that's why you need to hire me. And my ticket now is$700,000. And that's when it starts getting kind of cool because the numbers are literally, that's the negotiation part. And you're gonna start thinking like, welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry one qualified trainer at a time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showufffitness.com. Also make sure to check out my book, How to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Hi day y'all. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness Podcast. 30 days of podcasting. We have this big hunk, Mr. Cody. How are we doing today, sir?

SPEAKER_01: 1:23

Good, good, Chris. Thanks for having me back on. It's gonna be exciting to number three. This is number three, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:30

That I love it. And today we're gonna talk about getting to$200,000 as a personal trainer. And you have a really cool story. That's our BHAG for next year. But you are now in the role of hiring trainers and physical therapists, and you've sidestepped, you're still a trainer, but you are in that world of corporate wellness. So let's talk a little bit about how this came to fruition. Did you find a gig and you applied, or was it a client? How did this opportunity present itself?

SPEAKER_01: 2:01

Yeah, so it's um where I'm coming from is referral after referral leading to this opportunity. So uh my first ever client, she was she took a risk and she came with me and we were training, got her some good results. And she oddly enough, she was at a bar. This couple comes in and they hit it off with her well. The wife and the bartender, they were chit-chatting back and forth about how she was in good shape. They liked her energy, everything like that. Next thing I know, I get a referral call, and it is the the lady, the wife that was at the bar. And uh her and I we trained for six, seven, almost probably eight months before she comes in. Hey, my my husband, he he's liking what he sees here. So I think he wants to talk to you. Talk with him, we kick it off, and next thing you know, we've been training for roughly six months at this point in time. And I get a kind of a side-eye look one day while we're training. I think we're on leg extensions, and he goes, I think I've got a business opportunity, so let's let's talk. Okay. And now we're where you're at, or you said we're in the throes of full expansion plus uh an expansion into the corporate wellness, uh, my personal business. I am hiring, so uh yeah, there's a lot of stuff moving for 2026.

SPEAKER_00: 3:32

I love it. So let's decide, let's take a step back and start with from the start date when you were training your sister-in-law, no sis stepsister, sorry, got that right now. This time, and she started getting results. What was that process like? How long before she started seeing those results?

SPEAKER_01: 3:50

Uh so she came in and it did, you know, was the standard, you know, I go to the gym consistent, not consistent type thing. So it was a fair amount of base building, getting back into it. I would say, really, after about four or five months, that's when the the changes started to happening. And then from there, once that ball got rolling, it was, you know, month seven, eight, nine, all the way up to a year. She was, you know, plugging along and got her in the best shape, admittedly, of her life. And uh just kind of coincided perfectly with um them meeting uh while she was working there.

SPEAKER_00: 4:29

So look at those seeds that you were planting. How much was she paying you in the beginning? Zero. There you go. So that seed that you planted, if you took that scarcity mindset, you know, I don't want to train people for free, I just I want to start charge you two dollars an hour, but you have to build that confidence. And not saying you weren't competent in the beginning, but it was an opportunity. And we do this to help people, and you have somebody you can help, and they started training with you a year later, an opportunity presented itself. You get that referral. And how much did that lady who signed up with you? How many times a week is was she training with you?

SPEAKER_01: 4:59

Uh, when she started, it was at three. Well, she started out right at three. She, you know, obviously she came in with some um pretty nagging injuries, and we were able to, you know, she she bought in and we were able to rehab some some pretty significant injuries that she'd been dealing with. And so that that point we were really focused on that, but also still getting total results, and uh, you know, based off a schedule, she's still three to four times a week. And um, she's how much is she paying? Uh$100. All right.

SPEAKER_00: 5:32

That's roughly$7,200 right there. If you're training her three times a week four weeks, that's 12 sessions times that by six. But you've been training a little longer than six. But then the referral from wife to husband, he comes in and tell me more about what he signed up for.

SPEAKER_01: 5:47

Yeah, so he pretty much set similar deal, some existing injuries. And again, the consistent, not consistent, worked out a lot in his his past years. Um, but he was he came in with an open mind, more than open mind. He was like, I've got I'm gonna have zero ego in this. You're leading the ship. And he grasped onto it and came in at uh three days a week. Then we went to four days a week, and now we're kind of hovering around that four to five day time frame, depending on his schedule.

SPEAKER_00: 6:21

And how long have you been doing that for?

SPEAKER_01: 6:24

Um, roughly the last probably four months has been we've upticked as as the conversations of the future have increased, so has the uh intensity and the frequency. How much is he paying you? He's he came in right at the same time, and uh so a hundred dollars.

SPEAKER_00: 6:44

So, how cool is that? So, we got 6,400 you roughly made from him, 7,200 roughly from her. I have that up. It's you know, roughly 15 grand. If you would have thought on day one training that first client for free, that that relationship would have turned into 15,000. I I guarantee you a lot of trainers don't think like that. They're thinking, I need to get paid now, I need to make money now. And I think that's part of the reason why so many trainers don't make it is because they don't have realistic expectations. Where they're gonna listen to this podcast and they're gonna see, because I'm gonna use a flashy title, how to make$200,000 as a personal trainer, because that's what you're gonna do. And they're gonna want to be able to do that, but they don't know your background. Where you've been to what now, four seminars. How many have you been to?

SPEAKER_01: 7:27

Yep. I I attended two on the uh incoming side, and then I've been to two now as uh helping instruct. So yeah, four in total.

SPEAKER_00: 7:38

And other ones have you been to? You went to one in New York, right? Yeah, went to uh Dr.

SPEAKER_01: 7:42

Pat Davidson in in New York.

SPEAKER_00: 7:44

So every three to six months, you're definitely getting out there, surrounding yourself with other trainers, and I think that gets you, and this is where we're going to transition now, talking about the hiring process, because as a trainer, your main focus is to train your clients. And now it's almost like you're putting on a different hat because you're more entrepreneurial. And you can attest to that training people isn't hard. As a new trainer, it's like, okay, these are problems, it's fun to solve, but it takes time to get them results. But you know, if I were to throw you, I love the light in your eyes and you got excited when um we were talking about the hiring process that we do at Show Up, and also how Derek, he the one of the last ones at Lifetime, is like 80% don't make it. And he said the very first thing we do is throw you on the floor. You're like, ooh, that'd be fun. I guarantee you a lot of trainers will be like, oh my God, that's how they freak out. But you can tell you're a different cat when you're when your mind goes, Oh, I would like to almost try something like that because that's a challenge. And I know I'm competent, which you are. So, but when you go to these seminars and you look at the other trainers, you're looking at the 1%, like literally the 1% of trainers are working at lifetime in Equinox. And now you're on the other side of the table where people are sending you the resumes. So you're checking out the resumes and you see what they have, but then you're also talking to people. And I thought it was pretty funny because you sent me a resume, and I said, I guarantee you, this is what that person kind of looks like in their background and how they hold themselves. I've been doing this for 20 years and I know. And you were like, What did you say about them? Oh, I said you were exactly right.

SPEAKER_01: 9:12

Well, you said he's hiding, he's hiding behind this uh, what was it, the the accolades of his resume.

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

And so, what are some of the observations that you've maybe experienced so far interviewing trainers? And again, we're not here to bash trainers. That isn't the point. The big picture is we want trainers to level up and become more qualified. The entry standards are pathetic. You read a book, and now you think that you're on the same level as trainers that are significantly more talented than you. And that's why I love sport, is because you were your background, you can go back and listen to your podcast and F1 racing. I can't, I can say, like, oh, I'm just as good as this driver, but you'd be like, okay, well, get on the track and let's see. And then he absolutely smokes me and the proof is in the pudding. But with our profession, there isn't something like that where it's like, okay, we're both trainers. You could have someone who comes in day one and someone who's been a trainer for 20 years, and they have that same title where there's no distinguishing factor that separates you. And I think that's why some trainers throw so many, you know, acronyms in their bio because it makes them feel better. But what are some of the things that you've learned in this hiring process with the observations and the trainers that you've talked with?

SPEAKER_01: 10:26

It's like I like I just said, the the accolades of a of a resume, the they mean as much as what they're typed out to be. And I've there's been numerous that come in with, like you said, accolade or um um acronym after acronym. And the application behind what all of those the certifications and the even there's been some that have had degrees, and the degree is yeah, it's in you know, exercise science, biomechanics, whatever it may be, but there's still a lapse in the application of anatomy programming. Um, the you just made a great coast about being a chameleon, and that even on a phone interview, I've been able to realize that there's the the a lapse in in being able to pivot on the fly. If I'm asking, you know, I ask about your training philosophy and how your assessment process looks, and I instantly flip over to what are the you know, what are the the sits muscles, and you just uh uh flare up and it's like okay, so then that opens my door. What are the 17 muscles of the shoulder and crickets or a lot of stammering? And or sometimes you get lower body muscles as upper body muscles and upper body muscles as lower body, you you know, so you never know what you're gonna get in uh the hiring process. I think I've told you my this is a very eye-opening experience, just as the seminars are, but um, now that I'm looking for in my company, my business that's gonna have my name attached to it. Um, you know, I've I've told a couple people that I have high expectations, and those expectations, if they aren't met, then you know, there's there's gonna be work to be done, but I'm also not trying to to break anyone down. I do want to help people and educate everywhere I can. Um, but there's also a fine line with that.

SPEAKER_00: 12:25

And that's uh the conversation we had was most people in your situation will say, like, I'm just gonna find a trainer, I'll teach them my methods, and they're gonna then train my clients. But the problem with that is that's your time, and time is money. So if you have a trainer who comes in and they have they're certified, great, and you decide to hire them because maybe they have a great personality, whatever, you're gonna have to invest numerous hours with the assessment with how to pivot. Okay, your client comes in and we're gonna do a back squat, and all of a sudden you can't back squat. So, what are you gonna do next? That day is gone helping them program. And before you know it, two, three weeks onboarding. And then the trainer shows up one day and says, No, this isn't for me. So you just wasted three weeks trying to find a good candidate. Whereas if you're in a gym, this conversation might be a little different for you because you have to look through Cody's lens, where he's giving this trainer his book of business. Where if you're at Lifetime, you don't care who Lifetime hires. If you're at Equinox, you don't care who Equinox hires because you're trying to find a book of business. That's where they talk about dog eat, dog world. You are going out there, finding clients and training them. You'll hear some, you know, people who are like politicians be like, oh no, I want the best team. That's what a manager says. Trainers don't care who's on their team, they just want to get business, they want to be able to provide. But now, when you take the different perspective, like you're doing, you are essentially, as I ask a lot of people, like, how many people on your staff would you let train your mom? And I hear trainers at these best gyms say, uh, two. You have 40 trainers there, and you would only let two train your mom. Well, now this is kind of what you're doing. So it's not your mom, it's your your client who's 70 or your client who's 18. You're now pushing that onto someone, and your rep is on them. So all they need to do is some stupid fucking exercise on a boshu ball or an overhead squat and give people fear-based mongering. Oh, you have an overactive lactissimus door side. That's a representation of you. And if that client gets hurt, they're at the bar and they're now talking shit about you. And they're saying, Oh, that you know, that Cody guy, oh man, that's training sucks. That's your brand. And they talk about, you know, Rome was built over years and years, and it just took a couple days to crush it down, and that's what you're going through right now. And I, you know, I give you a lot of credit because you're humble, but you're thinking big, and you're thinking that you know, I don't want to hire someone and have them mess up my brand because you're essentially giving someone a hundred plus thousand dollars because you're booking business, you're charging a hundred, a hundred and fifty per session. And in the conversations that we've had, it's like, how much should I pay them? And well, what if they take my clients? So it's an interesting perspective. And you really want to see what the quote unquote saturated personal training market is like, put an ad out there and say you're hiring trainers. Start looking at the resumes, have calls, and it's like you said right there, like you will learn so much in the beginning. I will call you at three today. You call someone and it goes the voicemail. That's already, I'm not hiring you because that's a client saying, Oh, I need to move my session back two hours. Can I come in then? Oh, yeah. And then that trainer's now late. That is a representation of you, and you can't have that. So the professionalism goes so far. It's like, how do you communicate? Are they are they talking to you like a bro? Like, hey, what's up, man? How's it going? Are they? Hello, sir, how are you doing today? Are they talking to you as a professional because that's how they're going to talk to your clients? Those are the little things that you're starting to notice. Have you seen anything that kind of opened up your eyes? Like, wow, the professionalism isn't there, or you already talked about the foundation and the competency, not so much with the sample you've gone through, but what are some other things that you've observed?

SPEAKER_01: 16:05

Uh, yeah. So one in particular was I did I've gotten a uh hey man, hey bro, and then this the even you know, the the little things of you know, you're not your text message just doesn't make any sense or your email. Um, your email is Colby fuzzy bear at gmail.com or whatever, and it's like, oh, come on, all right. The a little bit of professionalism, you know, at that point, and that's where I'm thinking of like if I bring you in, are you going to be able to stick to you know wearing what I want you to wear? How do you speak? How and that's you know, kind of like my assessment process is you know, from the time if if you do answer the phone, from the time you answer, how you address, how you talk, how you speak, are you stammering? Are you can I tell if you're are you sitting down? Did you actually care about the phone call that we're doing? Because this is a phone interview. I I pin it as that so that you, you know, prepare for in that manner. And are you walking around? Are you doing something that you're not you know interested in? Um it's like you said, it it's the the perspective shift of my expectation to my business, to my clients that have been with me, you know, a lot of them for over a year now. So, you know, being able to to hold on to a high retention rate even through a transition, that'll be something that I'm you know, I'm I'm am striving for. So finding somebody that is, you know, my wife gives me a hard time. She's like, you know, there might not be somebody that's like you that is as passionate, as knowledgeable, has that same drive. And I'm like, well, if that's the case, then we're in trouble because it's you know, I I believe that if you're in this for the right reason and that's why you're doing what you're doing as a trainer, you should strive for that professionalism, that knowledge, and that drive to to be as good as the top dog, but then also whoever's hiring you or you're gonna work under. You want to, you know, like I think you just said something about uh with Derek in Texas. Um, what would you say if somebody walked in and said, Who's the highest charging trainer? And they say, Great, I want to be where they're at in however long. He was all for it, he was fired up. So that's the you know, that's the type of thing that I'm looking for.

SPEAKER_00: 18:26

I'm gonna read to you a uh post from Dr. Coleman performance, and he's a PT and he did a post this morning. And it says, I spent the first five years of my career obsessed with becoming the best. When you see PT in a post, that means physical therapist, not personal trainer. But he's trying to be the best PT I could be, shadowing brilliant minds, observing surgeries, stacking credentials, outworking my peers. I cannot tell you how many times I talk to trainers who pass that first certification and they don't do any of this. Or even worse, when he says stacking credentials, what he means is getting a CSCS and leveling up in that regard, not the next textbook cert like a CES where you're not interacting, interacting with professionals. So, how if you're listening to this and if you wanted to get hired at someone like Cody's gym, this is what you would do. Now tell me how I would do it. I would go to your Instagram, and if I saw some stuff that I liked, I would reach out and I'll address you by your name as not, hey bro, how's it going? I would say, Mr. Cody, you have an amazing page. Your business is doing phenomenal. I would love at the opportunity to potentially be part of your team. How much do you charge per hour? When can I schedule a time to take you through a workout? And if I pass, then maybe we can have a conversation over coffee, however your hiring process goes, to see if I would fit your team. If I don't pass, you just picked up an extra hour. How does that sound? What goes through your mind if that would happen?

SPEAKER_01: 19:52

That would jump to the top of the list of you know, A, you reach out, you know, competence as well. You know, that's a big thing. I've also noticed, you know, going back a little bit here, is you can you can tell the the shift of confidence, even in a uh hey, how's it going? Yeah, um uh thanks for having me for the opportunity. And then after that first question, and it can be a very simple of you know, what is your what is a training philosophy or what is your training method look like? And then well that that you can hear, you can feel, and over the phone, you can almost see the decline of confidence. So someone were to reach out in that manner, you know, very straightforward to the point, but yet respectful enough of like my time and my process, I would be all for it. And you know, again at that point, if you're gonna put yourself out there and you feel as if you were to that point that you can just cold, you know, either cold call, cold DM of of an employer or uh a peer, even that you're gonna want to train them and you feel confident in that, then I would be all for that. So anybody out there, uh feel free. And if you want to uh relocate to uh North Carolina, that would be uh we'll be open to talking about that.

SPEAKER_00: 21:06

That's right. And so when you look at that professionalism and how we want to raise that bar, because I get emails all the time and it's an attached resume, and it's literally just say, Hey man, I see that you have a gym in Santa Monica, love to train. Here's my experience. And the first credential they have on there is NASA. And I always chuckle because that just shows me you didn't do your research. Because your email can say, I think, Mr. Chris, I know I've just watched your videos, I listened to your podcast. I know you're not the biggest fan of NASAM, but I have that on. I know it kind of sucks, but I'd love for an opportunity to show that I'm not a NASA trainer. I would entertain it. What that just shows me is you just went through a very laxadaisical search, just like you did on how to become a trainer. You clicked on the first couple of things, and now all of a sudden, oh, I did my research. No, you didn't. You did it half-assed. Because if you reach out to me like that and you don't do any research, I want you to say, I love listening to your podcast, or I saw that you did this over here. Oh, I looked at your book. Reach outs today are so pathetic because people will either use AI or it's just so half-assed. And that just tells me having numerous therapists and doctors and nurse practitioners and RDs on my team, if you were to reach out to them, it would be in the same manner, which is a bad reflection on me. So if there's a day where I'm training a client, or maybe I'm doing a wellness talk at your corporate event and you're off your phone for four hours and they're trying to get a hold of you and they can't, and they need to reach a physical therapist, now they're gonna reach out to them and say, hey man, uh what? And they're not gonna have that professionalism. So again, that comes back to you, and that's a bad reflection, and they could burn that bridge with the company that you've built and the rep that you've established. So the hiring process is the most important thing. And I give you a lot of credit because the standards that you have are high, as you heard on that podcast with Derek. 80% don't make it through his process. But that's better because if you just hire on anyone, you're gonna be wasting so much time trying to level them up, but their mentality is more of a victim mindset versus growth mentality. So, have you found some good quality leads so far?

SPEAKER_01: 23:15

Uh yeah, uh, we were talking a little bit before we got started here. Actually, have a uh a practical interview coming up here. Um, I did give him a little forewarning that there is going to be a practical portion. Um, he did uh did do pretty good on the the phone interview. Uh so this is you know one of about six that has made it this far. Uh so look looking forward to that. Um, there's been a couple of can he expect?

SPEAKER_00: 23:42

What can he expect when he comes in for the practical? Is he gonna take you through a workout or is it like a hypothetical scenario? What's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_01: 23:49

Uh so as far as he knows, there's just going to be a practical portion on the gym floor. But what uh I can divulge here because he's he's not gonna hear this just yet. But uh he's gonna have a client of mine that I've been with um for almost two years now, and so he understands the expectation, the knowledge, the the explanation, everything that goes behind training with me. Um, and that was one of his questions when I told asked him if he would be a part of it. He was like, What is the grading scale? And I was he was like, Are of you? Is that the grading scale? And his eyes got real big, like, okay, uh, that's a big scale. And I was like, Yeah, I was like, but that's and he's a he's a corporate guy himself, so he understands um the hiring process a little bit. So I that was why I wanted to bring him in. Um, but yeah, I'm expecting to see uh from essentially a quick assessment and then programming right then and there on the fly for for what is going to do. And um I'm just going to sit back and observe.

SPEAKER_00: 24:55

I love it. And for those listening, it's not like you have to take them through a CCA, you have to have thought processing behind the why. So if you do a stability ball squat curl press afterwards, it's not like I mean I could be wrong, Cody, but you're not gonna be like, hey, why are you doing that? You're just gonna observe. And afterwards, you're gonna say, okay, great workout. You didn't kill my client. Thank you. Why did you do this? And if you can't speak confidently on the why, and trainers can't, that's the scary thing. Uh, why did you decide to do a bosu ball push-up? Why did you have them do a RDL on a bosu ball? Well, because they wanted to work their hamstrings. Okay, well, couldn't you do an exercise that's gonna load them more effectively? Why did you have them do an RDL with their heels raised up? Because they feel it more. Wow, that's your rationale behind that. So that's gonna tell me a lot about your programming if you can't tell me the why. And so it's it's a fun process. Yeah, sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01: 25:54

Yeah, I was just gonna say, because I know we've talked about it after the last handful of seminars, is and again, something that I'm realizing even through phone interviews, is just the the forward thinking. You not even a half a step forward, uh, let alone you know, one, two, three, four, five steps ahead of of where you want to be in the program or in the the session, um, is is definitely lacking. So um I do I did uh to to bring it in kind of you know, we go back and forth quite often with with episodes now, but um, I listened last night to uh episode of the founders, and it was uh have you heard the Monty Moncrief, the oil, the Texas oil? They he said something, and there was a quote of his, and it was a simple quote, but it's been sticking with me, and I wanted to bring it up and because it I seem it applies really well here. Was he was talking about oil, but bring this to personal training. There's no what if, there's just what happened. And I've been thinking about that quite often of like, all right, there's if I'm when I'm hiring somebody or if I'm you know expanding into my new role personally and in my business, there's there's no place for for what if. There's only going to be what happened. And I want that what happened to be, you know, success on all fronts, whatever, whatever success may be, whether it's you know, I I be able to add a new location, foster this, uh, a wellness, corporate wellness facility, bring in a trainer that's gonna hit the ground running with my book, but also build his own book. If I've got to hire more than one person, you know, that's I don't want there to be what ifs, especially if I'm hiring somebody like, oh, what if I hire this guy? What's gonna happen? Or, you know, God forbid, the the what happened end up being somebody gets hurt, or you know, I that's that's about the the biggest what happened, uh bad what happened could happen. So I just I wanted to bring that up because I know we we talk about the the founder podcast quite often, so it's uh that one stuck out to me.

SPEAKER_00: 28:02

That's my favorite. When you learn from other industries, Titans who are doing an action-based and our industry, the quality is just continually going down. And if you're not familiar with Eric Cressy, he went to Yukon as I did, and he did one of the most um famous studies on unstable surface training. And ironically, now some even has it in their textbook, not realizing it contradicts their whole model, but that's another conversation. One of the things that he talks about is the 17 muscles of shoulder. And I had a physician who I live with when I was in the Bay Area, and that was the first person who really planted that seed that that's something that's really important with anatomy. And he wrote a book. His name's Dr. Paul Roche, and it's about the 17 muscles, and he's an orthopedic surgeon. And so that's when I first started incorporating it within uh my teachings. But I wasn't familiar with Eric until after I met him. But I heard that Eric had an internship out of you know, Massachusetts. That's how I got connected with Tony Gentilcore. But one of the things within his internship is you have to know the 17 muscles of shoulder. And so that's how we kind of, you know, he baseball guy, UConn. So we just kind of connected. And someone said at one of his seminars, and Eric will talk about this, that you speak in words that are confusing. You need to dummy it down. And Eric said, that's exactly what I'm not gonna do because the industry standards are already so low, we need to raise them up. And I just love that because trainers today want to make$100,000 by just showing up and doing nothing. You answered a bunch of questions in the textbook and you think that your information is good to go. Now that should be like your, okay, that's your ticket. Now, as Dr. Coleman was saying, like, okay, now you got to spend the next two years actually learning how to train. Are you investing in going to therapists, going to trainers and paying them to take you through that experience? Or are you just trying to gain experience without supervision, which just blows my mind? But one of the benefits of having a mentor like Cody and I is I plant little seeds in his head. And I'm like, well, if you track this, this is something that you could replicate and you could license and you could potentially sell it. And you're like, oh shit, that's perhaps a good idea. And then the cool thing about knowing your clients when they are entrepreneurial, like your client is, and you brought that up to him. How did he feel about that scenario? He was all for it.

SPEAKER_01: 30:16

He was before I could even get the the final word of the sentence out, he rattled it off. He said, document, record, proof of concept, repackage, sell. And I was like, all right, yep. And then uh I was like, all right, we're on the same page. And he and I have had uh a couple, oh, we're on the same page moments like that of like his vision lines up uh you know clearly with with what I my vision and what my goals and expectations are, which is where we're we didn't even get into any of that, but uh that can be a whole nother one when that uh is up and running, whole nother podcast there, uh, because there's a separate hiring process happening on that front as well, which is uh inverse there. So it's uh yeah, it's been interesting.

SPEAKER_00: 31:03

Without diverging too much, because you know we have to keep certain things um you know NDA, but you're essentially taking your current book of business that you built and you're driving in significantly more than 100K per year, you're gonna be giving that business to someone under your name, and you are going to now be working for a corporate wellness, a startup. And I'm just throwing numbers out there. Let's just say it's a$25 million company, maybe a$50 million small cap company, and they have the funds to invest into wellness for their employees. Because when you are profiting millions of dollars, it's one, it's a tax write-off, but two, you're looking out for the best interest of your employees. So by having this corporate wellness structure, you're able to give back to your employees. But what's gonna happen is you're not gonna have them getting hurt and the amount of money that people spend because of low back injuries, hypertension, sick days, that the wellness costs from that are just astronomical. So by investing into this, you're able to lower those costs. And that's exactly what you're doing. So you're gonna be, you're still you have your company, but you're coming into this under their umbrella as a third party. And this is really cool because you can essentially start contracting for more gigs with that proof of concept, because there's a lot of companies out there that have a boatload of money and they want to offer this. But you know, just like you were lucky enough to have the interaction and you showed him if you were to now, you'll be confident now, but if you were to go to a company, you know, a board and basically say, here's my deck, here's why you need me. I'm the best trainer out there because of this hiring process. But let's look at what happened at this company. I was able to, over a 12-month period, we started out doing blood pressure on day one and grip strength, and we had these strength standards that the clients were going through. And then 12 months later, let's look at the data and we're able to showcase that okay, sick days went down this amount, and blood pressure went down this amount, and low back injuries went down this amount. So the amount of money that this company saved was in the millions from investing into me. And that's why you need to hire me. And my ticket now is$700,000. And that's when it starts getting kind of cool because the numbers are literally, that's the negotiation part. And you're gonna start thinking, like, wow, there was a point in my career, and there's nothing wrong with this. It's just when you put on that entrepreneurial hat, and it's just it's a different game. So it's like you're playing tennis, say, and you're done with tennis and now you're getting into pickleball, it's just a different game. It's not to say it's better or worse. Nothing wrong with tennis, nothing better with pickleball. But if you're a trainer and you like training, cool, you made 100,000. But now it's like, is there a cap? What could I potentially do? How many people could I help? Because you're training, how many clients you have right now, Cody? 18. 18. So that's tells you he's in charge of his book fairly well. Some people will be like, I have no idea. Like, wow, that's your business. You should freaking know. 18 clients you're helping. You got into this to help people, but now you bring on a trainer who's good and he is up to your level of excellence. He's helping those 18, which are a reflection of you. So now you're helping 18, but now you're in this corporate office and you're helping 50, and you bring on another trainer and you bring on an RD. And then you also said you're starting to hire physical therapists. How cool is that that you are a stupid ass trainer like myself, and we're hiring respected individuals like therapists, like nurse practitioners, reaching out to concierge, doctors, and saying, hey, we got to link up because this is gonna be the future. And so, have you started thinking about what that's gonna look like for potentially therapists and registered dietitians?

SPEAKER_01: 34:35

Absolutely. Yeah. And um, that's that's where, you know, I'm getting more and more excited. And like you said, the the business side of things. And even though as frustrating as beating your head against the wall of this current hiring process is, it's still exciting and invigorating thinking of, you know, building out and and envisioning the space and the outcome of bringing that physical therapist in, uh, having them on staff in hand in facility at all point in times, whether it's, you know, uh a revolving, hey, they're just coming down from their office because their back is hurting, or it's actually, you know, we're working hand in hand um to where they can build their, you know, their own book there. And then um the the one-stop shop of of an RD, uh, uh a concierge, MD, whatever it may be, that we can offer any sort of biofeedback markers that you may want, whether it's you know, um getting involved with blood work and having that, because that's part of this, you know, this craze right now is is wellness that encompasses wellness and um being able to hit each different market and and have all of that under one roof, but under one umbrella that is you know deciphered down, and then you know, it all leads down to essentially the my passion for wanting to help people, like you just said, being able to my 18 that I've got right now that I pour my heart and soul into. Yes, I'm gonna still pour my heart and soul into them based off of who I'm hiring, but then you know, you add 20, 30, 40, 50 on top of that. Um, you know, uh that's that perks me up pretty good to and to be able to not only invigorate my business, but another individual, another company, another, you know, livelihoods is is where I get get real jazzed up and excited. Um I'm having to hold myself back here.

SPEAKER_00: 36:41

I love it. And again, your mindset is that growth mindset. I talked to a trainer not too long ago, and and he kind of he called me out. He was just like, this one podcast I listened to, it's like you're just highlighting the best case scenarios. It's not reasonable and realistic for a trainer like myself to make 100K. And yeah, you're right, because you don't have what I talk about in my book that helped Nick. And the first chapter, I talk about the future being these communities. And if you look at big successful brands like Lifetime, what are they doing? They're incorporating living spaces now, not like a WeWork, which they do have where you can do work at Lifetime, but now they're like in Miami where we're at, they actually have apartments there. The future, especially with AI, is going to be so based around communities and the community that you can build. And people don't want to go over here to your massage therapist, then go over there to your doctor, then go over here to your specialist. They want to go to a one-stop shop where you can then facilitate where they need to go. And you are that person. You have pain, come to me. You need some help with nutrition, come to me. Have you been sick for a prolonged period of time? Come to me because I have a doc on our team. That's what the future looks like. And there's nothing cooler when you, especially when you start hiring therapists, because I've I've hired some therapists and I've interviewed a ton of them. But the very first thing that I do is I go and get a session done. I pay them their hourly rate. I just observe, what do you do? You know, how's your personality? How are what are the techniques that you're using here? And how do you talk to me as a patient? And then how do you talk to me as a patient knowing that I'm a qualified trainer? And so then it's really neat because at the end, a lot of times I'll say, I think this partnership would be great. But one of the first things that we're gonna have to do is bump up your pricing because you don't charge enough. And they kind of look at you like, but you're just a you're just a trainer and you're telling me I need to level up my business. Yeah, because you know, you're you're worth a lot more than 150 bucks an hour. And again, go back to some of the podcasts that I've done with some therapists who are charging 300, 400. They see the value in what they're doing. And you know, the the the industry needs qualified coaches, and that's exactly what you are. You have any uh questions for me before we call her a day on anything that you're doing or in the future?

SPEAKER_01: 38:46

Uh, I mean, we we covered uh a fair amount of things, and I know you and I's text thread has been back and forth with quite a few different things. Um if if I were to, you know, going back to my current hiring process, and you know, you deal with this a lot more than I have, but I've you know kind of had to play the pitch man a little bit on you know where I came from and and what I'm involved in and and how I've gotten to where I am now. Um what do you find like obviously there's two different ways people will receive the criticism or the constructive criticism of hey, you need to level up, you need to uh because these are my expectations. I'm not just telling you that because I'm not gonna hire you, and you kind of understand that now, but like when you tell people, hey, level up, there's the all right, I'm gonna do it. They get punched in the nose, I'm gonna do it, or I'm not gonna do it, and they just bury themselves even deeper into another certification. Like, what how do you how do you kind of walk that that line and that tight rope of like, I want you to level up and just because I want you to, but and I don't want you to muddy our water. Of our profession. How do you go about that?

SPEAKER_00: 40:02

Yeah, I think that's just part of the process of learning and giving someone a challenge. And I talk to the managers lifetime all the time. And, you know, the ones that we've really established close partnerships with, the ones that say, if you have three or five years of experience, we'll interview you, or if you have your SUF CPT. That's pretty powerful because they see the quality that's coming in. And when they have candidates that don't meet those expectations, I'm going to talk about one on our video podcast today because he was actually our 6,000th person that we helped pass NASA. And he went to Lifetime and the manager said, Nope, you're not good enough. But here's what you can do to get another chance. Go get the certification. And so what this kid did is not only did he get RCPT, but he went to a seminar. So he exceeded those expectations. And then when he came back, hired him on the spot. Whereas if he wouldn't have done that, he's like, you know, screw this. I'm already certified. I know my stuff. He's going to have to go to a lower-end gym where he's getting half the amount that he could potentially make at lifetime. So this like two-month pivot that he did is going to set him up so much further for success. It's like two steps forward. Great, you got certified. Now he takes a side step. Now the sky is the limit. And you look at like what Joe did at lifetime, got hired there, management. Now he's opening up a gym for lifetime. The pace that he did that, the speed is just unheard of. That's what we're setting you up for. So if you're that trainer says, no, screw this, I got my ACE, my ISSA, but you're gonna have to go to a low-end gym for a couple of years, probably about three. And you're gonna have to just burn the candle at both ends because you're not gonna be making more than maybe$35,000,$40,000. The average is like, I think 46 or something that trainers could potentially make, but you have to really grind it out for numerous years before you're even given that shot to go back. So that kid is so exciting for me because it's like I gave you a challenge and you did it. That's the type of person who I'm gonna be able to have a conversation with and say, hey, you know, we just got off a call with three locations and Denver and Austin and San Francisco. I need someone to level up. And, you know, if you want to start running your own thing within my company, this is an opportunity for you. So it's like you're giving them that carrot and you're exciting them, but it's not all financial. I use finances because people are attracted to it. You need to be able to make a living, but you're doing this to help people, and it's just fun when you're given a new challenge. And that's why I love those podcasts that I send you all the time and the founders, because they they tell you that if you're not in a business right now or a career where you're getting challenged, you're probably not growing. And your business isn't doing what it potentially could be doing. And so I love challenges, and it sucks when you're in them because you're like, fuck, you know, we I reflect on 2025. I'm like, shit, you know, I'm not nearly where I want to be. I have high standards for myself. And I see all these trainers that are getting in these other certs, and I could just sit on my thumb and drink bottles of whiskey and just be a victim. But it's like this is a challenge. I have to figure out a better approach. I need to bring on better instructors, I need a better, you know, therapist and improve the material to make it. It's already at an A. We need to make it an A. And what can we do that the industry is not doing to continue to provide excellence? Oh, we got a trainer hired over here. Oh, wow, now they're a manager. We just got a trainer hired in North Carolina who didn't work at Lifetime, but he came in as a manager. It's very rare that they do that because he was a competent coach and he knew how to run a business. He had a lot of life experience. Most of these gyms won't do that. So you're a small gym and small business in yourself. And it's really neat to see that you're gonna want to essentially have like a farm system, that's why you have show up where, you know, as we grow, you can just say, just like you said earlier, hey, who wants a job? Relocate, come out here. And this is an opportunity for you to start making good money as a trainer. And you don't have to settle for a low-end gym making 15 bucks an hour because you'll be making significantly more working for a coach like you, but you're also gonna give them so much continued education.

SPEAKER_01: 43:58

Absolutely, absolutely. And I just in as you were going there, uh you I was you probably saw I was shaking my head, nodding yes, yes, that because that's all things that um you know, sparking more thought, more interest, and and more growth. That's you know, could be another year, two, three, four, five down the road. But it's like, you know, all right, like you just said, where's the there is no no limit to to what you can do whenever you're continually learning and being challenged. And you know, the this current challenge is you all be able to look back and be like, ah, man, that wasn't that bad. And um that was uh that was the one of the more simple challenges as opposed to what could possibly lie ahead. But um, but yeah, it's the that's exactly where I want to be is to be able to to farm, have a farm system and and have a um, what is it, Dr. Chow you just talked to? The his his system and his business is that was fascinating to me, being able to uh think about that as moving forward. And you know, it's again just opens my mind up to um future endeavors.

SPEAKER_00: 45:09

Life is short, but it's also one of the longest things we'll ever do. Don't settle for mediocrity, level yourself up. If it makes you scared or uncomfortable, that's the right path. And you're a testament to that. I'm proud of you everything you're doing. I like to leave them off on a funny little quote and not quote, but a little saying, and you got some big ones. So big quads are better than small ones, and keep showing up. Thanks, my man.

SPEAKER_01: 45:34

Ah, thank you, Chris. I appreciate it. That was awesome. I feel like