How a YMCA trainer built a Full Client Roster | How to become a trainer at YMCA

Most personal trainers working at the YMCA struggle to build a consistent client roster. Many get stuck around a handful of sessions per week and eventually burn out or leave the industry.

In this episode we sit down with trainer Von Porter from Martha’s Vineyard to talk about how he built momentum inside the gym and started growing his client base after implementing the Show Up Fitness systems.

We discuss:

• Why most trainers struggle to get clients

• The confidence gap new trainers face

• How assessments build instant trust with clients

• The difference between being certified and actually being qualified

• The systems that helped Von grow his schedule

If you’re a personal trainer trying to grow your client base, build confidence, and turn training into a real career, this episode will give you a clear roadmap.

Follow Von on IG: @von_training

For trainers looking to pass NASM faster or level up their coaching skills, check out Show Up Fitness resources and weekly live calls.

KEEP SHOWING UP. 💪

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

Transcript

Community Funds A Dream;

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It was like Von Trey we raised money for you to do the certification show up fitness in California. That touched my heart. I started to tear up. I was like, yo, you guys really did this. But that just goes to show, right? If you apply yourself and try the best that you can with any aspect where you're at, people will see that and support it. And I had a lot of support from these people. That's why I decided to come back and train here. Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made.

Meet Vaughn From Martha’s Vineyard;

Lifting Numbers And YMCA Start;

SPEAKER_01 0:26

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. Howdy all welcome back to the Show Fitness Podcast. Today we have this young hunk, Mr. Vaughn. How are we doing, sir? I'm doing well. Out of where? I was gonna say out of Boston, but you're not out of Boston. You're out of Martha's Vineyard. Yes, sir. How do you get the 495 back squad for 10 reps?

SPEAKER_00 1:06

That's my first question for you. Consistency, man. Consistency. That doesn't happen overnight and genetics. And genetics.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Absolute monster. And you are helping people at the YMCA. So let's talk a little bit about how you started working there, some of the struggles, some of the things you love, and how you came across show up. So take the former man.

Training Older Members With Care;

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yes, sir. So beginning with the YMCA, it's a great starting point, a great foundation. Um, I started working here. I used to come to the gym after I went to work at my old place. I was doing a trunking company, and it was fun. It was a lot of work, it was a lot on your back. And I started coming to the gym. Everyone here was so welcoming, so supportive, and all wanted they all wanted to see me do better. And so eventually my friend started working here, my best friend, Michael Trusty, who's also took the program internship and certification. Uh, very good trainer, uh, told me that he sees me doing very well as a trainer and I should just come work with him. I applied here to the YMCA. They were all open arms, took me in and allowed me to just be who I was. And that was a great start because it's the first job where I don't have to act a certain type of way. My personality, who I am, brings in my revenue. It brings in people that attract to me, and I love it. I applied here and got the job, and ever since then, it's been three years, and I'm I'm loving it. I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

I know the YMCA kind of has a stigma around mostly older folks. Would you say that's pretty common to your gym as well? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Oh yeah. If you look around, I don't know if you can see, but you can't really see right now. But half the cardio machines, it's all older folks, definitely above the age of 60. Um, but I find it very good though, especially being a trainer, you have to learn how to deal with all types of people. And it's kind of cool to train with older folks because you learn them more about pain and how to listen, really listen to someone, you know.

How Vaughn Attracts Clients;

SPEAKER_01 3:05

I like that because most people have a really difficult time just relating to individuals. Because if you're 20-something and they're in their 60s and 70s, their mindset is you don't know what the hell you're doing. You're just some young buck, but you have to overcome those barriers. And so, how do you approach clients? How do you get clients at the Y?

Turnover And Why The Y Matters;

SPEAKER_00 3:24

I would say a lot comes from word of mouth. People love to talk. And since we live in a small island, word goes around very quickly. You sneeze in Aquina, they're gonna say, God bless you, and show mark. You know what I mean? So word gets around here very quick. And if you're doing a great job applying yourself to be the best trainer that you could be, not just through how you train people, but how you talk, how you communicate, it goes a long way. Um, also, too, helping people out on the floor. Because a lot of people, like before we started this podcast, someone just came up in here and goes like, Oh, can you help me with the bike? I don't know how to operate it. I went over there, helped him, talked to him, asked him how his day was going, asked if he's liking the snow, try to communicate with them, make them laugh. That's how you get clients, you know, just being a good person. People, like you saying in your book, you know what I mean? People pay for like to have a to feel like they're welcome, to feel like they like they're someone, you know. And as long as you're doing that and being genuine about it, I feel like that's a good way to get clients. Have you seen a lot of trainers come through the Y? I so when I first started here, it's a completely whole different new team. I first started working here, it was Michael and a couple of older individuals. They all left the YMCA. One joined the military and the other moved to Michigan to work at a at a different gym. It's a good stepping stone. A lot of people will come to the Y and eventually want to branch off and do something better. I advise any trainer who's starting at the Y to don't think of yourself lesser than at all because you have so much to offer. It's great education for you to understand how to deal with people. You deal with people, you learn how to deal with rude people, you learn how to deal with nice people, old people, young people. You have a very broad, you got a big pool of people to deal with. Um, I have seen trainers come and go, but a lot of the trainers that come here and want to do better go to somewhere way greater. As long as you believe in yourself and stay focused, opportunities are gonna open up.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

So, what would be that piece of advice for a trainer who's starting at the Y? What would you suggest for them to do to build their business? Because do you have to go out there and get your business or are you given leads? How do you generate your own business?

Don’t Rely On Leads Alone;

SPEAKER_00 5:42

So, the manager here, um, at least for my YMCA, and at least I think a lot of the YMCAs across the United States, they all have people, people will come and call and say, I want to train, and then they'll call my manager, and my manager will put up uh right here on this wall we have, we'll put up like sticky notes and stuff for like under our names, and then eventually like we'll call them and see if they can train. That's great, and that's a good way to get started. You will have a manager that's gonna give you clients, and that's good, but that's not always like like uh you can't you can't rely on that. You have to be able to talk, communicate with people, get people off the floor to build your book of clients. If you just rely on the manager to constantly give you clients, and it's like that everywhere. YMCA I know is like low tier. Now I know low tier, I work here, okay? Okay, I work here. We we're high tier over here, okay? But um, YMCA, Crunch Fitness, low-tier gyms, they're very similar to Equinox's and Lifetimes. You have a manager that has people that want to train and is going to give them out to people, uh trainers to train. But you have to be able to communicate with people and get your own book of clientele because then you want to start to allow yourself and have more confidence as a trainer. At least I feel like, and it's what I'm learning from show of fitness and a lot of the people.

Presence Beats Pitch On The Floor;

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Well, that's 100% true. It's just a great mindset, and you can tell that not only you have an amazing personality, you looked apart, your everything helped Nick that I discuss in my book, but your mindset's there, which is really important because you could go to a spot, doesn't matter if it's the nicest gym in the world or the lowest gym in the world, it's the same model where there's gonna be opportunities to train people. Now, whether if they're asking for you, who knows? So you got to go out there and be present. And how you interact, if you go up to someone and say, Hey, do you want to train with me? It's very transactional, they're not gonna like that. So you have to be smiling and and being present. You don't want to just be cleaning up the gym because then you're not present, you're just you're keeping your head down. How can you be present so people see you? You get eye contact, you smile. If you see them doing something with the shoulder, you ask what's going on. If they're on a bench press, you ask for a spot. What have been some of the techniques that you've done that help kind of open up that door and start the conversations? Whether it is just walking around and saying hi or given a spot, what are those techniques for you? Of course.

Humor, Listening, And Trust;

Seasonal Gym Dynamics;

SPEAKER_00 7:59

So some of the techniques that I've learned has been just to communicate with people. A lot of people come into the gym, you don't know who they are. You know what I mean? Everyone's here to try to feel better physically, mentally, spiritually, all across the board. It takes, it could change someone's whole perspective if you're saying, hello, how are you doing today? What'd you eat for like what'd you eat for dinner last night? Oh, that probably wasn't that good. You shouldn't have eaten that. Maybe we should start training. Maybe we can help you learn a little bit about more nutrition. And it just makes them laugh. You know what I mean? That's like a joke. You know what I mean? Obviously, not asking to train, but it's just like a joke and a lot of humor, a lot of humor I use. So I would go up to someone and say, like, yo, I think your shoes are untied. And then they go look down at their shoe, I'm like, ah, made you look, you know what I mean? And they got so they start laughing, they start communicating and just asking, just talking to people. That's the best way that I've gained clients to just talking to them, trying to see how they're doing throughout the day. And they value that so much to have someone just be willing to listen to them. We don't have people listen to us no more. A lot of people don't have a lot of uh friends or family when they go home. You'd be surprised. A lot of people live alone, and we're just being a ball of good energy that people can just attract to. That's what really brings it in. Um, never uh never went up to someone and go, like, you should train with me because you're doing this wrong and this wrong. Like, no, you don't want to scare someone in a training. You want someone to jump right into it. Hey man, nice to see you. Oh, you're squatting, what, 315? That's fire, man. Let me show you this video. This is me doing 495. And they go, like, oh wow, that's crazy. I'm like, you can get there too, because your form looks great. A little things that we can practice, let's do a little day where you train with me and see how you feel after. And then they'll train with me. And next thing you know, I have a client, and that's I feel like the best way to go about it. Relate to people, make people feel good about themselves. That's the best way to go about it. How many members are at your gym? Oh, probably well over a hundred thousand because people come across, uh come across a hundred thousand? Probably. No way, there's a mad people in that system, man. And there's a lot of people in that system currently active. I would probably say like 2,000, but there's a lot of members here because of summer. A lot of a lot a lot of people come here during the summer and they go back and forth, back and forth. They'll come here in March, they'll come here in from September to October, they'll go back to where they're from. A lot of people come here. We had Terry Cruz coming here one time, man. Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah. So I see what you're saying though, because it's definitely more of a I'd almost compare it to like a Malibu where you know people will live here for parts of the season and they'll go somewhere else, one of their other houses or whatever it may be. But it's just really neat to be able to get that exposure to the clientele. Because if you can build a book of business in that environment when people are constantly gone, then you can build a book of business anywhere. And it's really just the fear that trainers have. And you've been to our seminars and you came to the in-person with Megan in Santa Monica. People have that fear of, well, how am I gonna get clients? I have to sell, I have to sell. Do you consider yourself a salesman?

Are Trainers Salespeople;

Private Clients And Going Extra;

SPEAKER_00 11:06

You have to consider yourself a salesman. You know, we're we're selling a act of kindness, that's what I like to call it. You know what I mean? And people will constantly buy that act of kindness. Everyone in their life, no matter who it is, all deals with health. And we have to be the health professionals to show them that we can make their health lives 10 times better than what it is. I would consider yourself as a salesman. You have to. Sometimes what I where I messed up in the past was I wanted to help people so much that it felt weird to be like, okay, well, this is how much it's gonna cost. Like, no, they should be willing, like you said, to pull out that freaking pink Amex card and and and and pay for it right then and there. You have to be willing to go a step ahead. You know, I've learned that you have to sell kindness. That's the best way I figured it out. Sell kindness, people are gonna gravitate towards that. That doesn't mean be like a nice guy or anything like that. Definitely not. You don't want to be a nice guy, you want to be respectful, look the part, be the part, and step uh step ahead of other people. You know what I mean? Take that extra step. That's how I feel like you become a great salesman. And when you get more into it, like when you're making your own transactions, say you go into private, people are gonna respect you more because they're going into your house. I have a couple of private clients I do have, and they love the fact that I come there with equipment, a whole workout for them, and they're just you just have to give, you have to give to people, and they're gonna pay for it. If they're nice, if they're right, they will pay for it.

Finding Show Up And Mentors;

SPEAKER_01 12:35

I love your mindset, and that's something I've said over and over again because you are super positive, and I love how you took the initiative to get out of your comfort zone by coming to California. So, how did you come across show up and how did you come out here to Santa Monica for two months?

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Of course. Um, I was working here at the Y and it's it was going pretty good. I started to get my own clientele, and I I was just felt lost in a sense. I learned a lot from my co-worker. It's my manager, so you want to say hi. Who are you?

SPEAKER_01 13:10

How are we doing? Got a good young man here. Yes, sir. He is a home, he's he's great. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, I'll let you guys continue, but uh, he's a good one.

Community Surprise And Support;

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Yeah, sorry for the interruption. No, it's okay. Um, so my um uh best friend, he was working here and he went to do the certification. He said he found you guys online and started applying a lot of stuff that he learned from you guys online into his own training. And I just seen the way like it was different. He was confident, he was moving around, and I started to see him build a lot more business around him. I'm like, wow, this guy's like really doing this. Uh eventually, he went to um California for about two months for the internship. You know what's crazy? During that whole time when I was working here, everyone left. Everyone left. Like my coworker moved back to uh Serbia. One of my other co-workers moved to um uh not moved to California, but he joined the military. And Michael went to California for two months. Everyone's clients came towards me. I had I was the busiest I had ever been. Very grateful, but I was stressed. And I would call Michael while he was in California, and just that just the idea of like how he's learning more, I was like, I I love that. Um, he came back and he took off. Like not even not even one week was he not busy. He took off. He got a full book of clients in one week, new people I'd never even seen before. I'm like, yo, this is this is pretty crazy, you know. I mean, he's he's killing it right now. And then he would always tell me, Vaughn, Vaughn, that that's one of my biggest role models, man. Always push me to do better. You need people like that around your table. You need people like that are gonna push you out of your comfort zone, push you to do better. And I'm grateful that Michael sits at my table, man. But um, he tells Vaughn, Vaughn, you need to do a certification, you need to do a certification. I'm like, uh, you know, like I I get it, but I don't know, maybe I'm not good enough for that. You know what I mean? Maybe, maybe I'm not, maybe it's not my cup of tea. He and a whole bunch of people here in the community got together behind my back, right? Raise money for me to go to California to experience, first of all, being away from home and experience education to a T. And I love that. That's how I figured out. I I walked in one day and I got told Vontra, you're you need it downstairs. And I'm like, oh great, I gotta talk to CO. What did I do? What I do see, I'm following CEO. I'm like, what did I do? My heart's racing. I'm like, was that how I told all my client, like, he needs to work on his like belt buckle size? I hope it wasn't bad. Like, and then we walk into the office, and there's a lot of people in there, there's cameras up. I'm like, yo, what's happening right now? It goes like Von Trey, we raised money for you to do a certification show of fitness in California. That touched my heart. I started to tear up. I was like, yo, you guys really did this. But that just goes to show, right? If you apply yourself and try the best that you can with any aspect where you're at, people will see that and support it. And I had a lot of support from these people. That's why I decided to come back and train here for the time being. For the time being, and give back to the community that believed in me so much. Uh, Michael, my co-workers, how I figured it out. Instagram, of course, YouTube. I've seen you a couple of times, and I was like, yo, this guy knows what he's talking about. And it was kind of like God, God just led the way, and it was nice.

Seminars, Confidence, And Momentum;

SPEAKER_01 16:36

That's so cool because Michael is a great uh student, and I remember working with him a lot. And you know, we would talk about that on continued education and how you can grow your brand. Here's some ideas. And I would come in denting about you know, the average trainer is a victim, and they like to complain about how they can't make money and they don't continue to education. Here's how I would do it if I didn't have money, and I talked about, you know, do a little fundraiser. And it's just so cool that he took that and he went back and implemented, and you can see it proof is in the pudding. And then, you know, we went to New York, you were at that seminar, and you were able to bring three, four other trainers from YMCA. And it was neat when we were leaving. The manager came up to me, he's like, I want that guy on my team, he's a great trainer, and it just shows that how great someone is when you're out there and you let your true colors flow. People are gonna notice it, that energy is contagious, and they're gonna want to work with you in management season. And so, you know, the sky's the limit for you. You can do whatever you want, and it's cool to see that Michael is clipping his wings and he's going off to new areas. And and who knows what the future will have for you. Where would you like to be in the next one to two years?

Pay Ceilings And Opportunity;

SPEAKER_00 17:40

I want to be definitely somewhere where I'm comfortable with myself. You know, I feel no, not comfortable with myself, a little bit uncomfortable. You can't say comfortable. But right here, I got very um stagnant. You know, I've reached like a cap. It's only so far you can go. I understand, like I said earlier, that working in the YMCA, don't think down of yourself, don't think less of you are, don't think less that you're less of a trainer than you actually are. But it gets to a point where you do try your hardest, continuing education, going to seminars, taking internships, reading, constantly educating yourself. Where you get to a point where you go, like, maybe I could go somewhere else where I'm worth more. I definitely want to eventually try to move off the island, probably move to a city, maybe Santa Monica, because it was beautiful when I went out there. Um, and try to expand. It definitely that seminar we went to a week ago helped me with confidence a lot more as being a trainer. Because as you said, we came out there. I felt so good bringing my my friends, my co-workers out there. I go like, damn, like people, people really will follow you if you're setting yourself up to be the best you can be. And then just to see the fact, like you said, the manager saw how great we were, gave me so much confidence in myself to feel comfortable to go anywhere I might please to to get a job, to to work better. I I want to see myself in a city working full books just like I'm doing here at a better higher end gym for sure.

Value Selling In A Costly Market;

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Just the the opportunities there. You're saying it's not knocking the YMCA, but if they're charging maybe between 60 to 80 bucks per session, and top rate would be bringing home maybe 50% of that. So you're bringing home maybe 30, 40 bucks. If you're working 10 hours a week, that's three, four hundred. If you're working 40 hours, that's maybe maybe 1500. And then you times that by four, six thousand, that's on paper. So then maybe you're bringing home 4500. And then how do you enjoy yourself? Are you able to take time off? Because when you take time off, you're not getting paid, so it's just a little more challenging. Whereas it's a lot more challenging. Yeah, if you're at a spot and you're charging 150 and you're bringing home, you know, 50, 60, 70 bucks. Now it's more opportunities will present themselves. I was just talking to one of the top trainers at Lifetime, and he brought in over to the company$350,000. That's for the company. So he probably brought home$175, close to$200. And you know, it's always depending on where you're at, but Martha's Vineyard's not a cheap area. And so it's not, it's not.

Skills From Low-Tier To High-Tier;

SPEAKER_00 20:13

And our the highest end gym we have here is a boathouse. It's a private club. You know, you have to like pay to be in there. You know, you got there's a there's a membership, you gotta pay the fee to be in there, and not a lot of people go there. Um, I would like to say too, like Martha's Vineyard is a very rich place, but it's such a small group of people that are abundant like that. A lot of people who live here have families, have jobs just like me. And when it comes to training and paying for it, if they tend to not be able to. You have to be, I'm you have to be a shark out here. You know what I mean? You have to like really get people to see the value in the training. One thing I will say I'm grateful though, is that the fact you said that we only bring home$40. You know, they take 50%. But what it made me want to do was get more clients, constantly get more clients. I don't want someone to think that I need you to train with because I can't pay my bills. No, I want someone to think that I want you to train because we can make progress in life, and that go correlates to my bills, you know what I mean? But I feel like that helped me learn so much. So if I go to a gym where people are straight to it, like they're here to work out and that's what they want to do, I feel like it would be. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, nothing's easy, you know what I mean? And I've never been in a situation like that, but I feel like being in a lower end gym, crunch time, YMCA, Planet Fitness, you learn how to gain more people because you need it. So when you go to an equinox or lifetime or show fitness, you're gonna gain people easier because you know how to communicate with people, how to get people out of their comfort zones and just want to grow better as a person.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I love that, my man. As I talk about in my book, you are everything help, Nick. You're a super humble individual. I'm proud of everything you've done. And where can people find you on social media?

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Uh Vaughn Training. It's my name, Von Train. But Vaughn Training uh on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

That's my social media account. I'll do a couple posts today highlighting how much of a badass you are. And remember, big biceps are better than small ones. Keep showing up. Love it.