Oakland Personal Training Seminar 1.0 CEU's at Providence Athletic Club

Ready to trade burnout for better results and better pay? We sat down with two Oakland gym owners who prove that education, assessment, and community can turn a small studio into a scalable, trusted brand. From expanding a 2,000-square-foot space to a 20,000-square-foot facility to building a loyal client base through local partnerships and community workouts, this conversation gives trainers a practical, boots-on-the-ground blueprint for growth.

Providence Athletic Club Address: 2134 Market St, Oakland, CA 94607

We get candid about why so many coaches stall: too much focus on programming, not enough on assessment, communication, and business systems. You’ll hear how to build confidence with a simple screen-plan-retest flow that improves client pain and performance in a single session—and why that transformation makes charging $100 to $200 per session both ethical and sustainable. We also talk mindset and mentorship: escaping rooms where people gripe about gyms and stepping into rooms where owners share the exact steps to raise rates, tighten packages, and stop working 60-hour weeks.

If you’re a fitness professional in the Bay Area—or anyone serious about leveling up—you’ll also get the details on our two-day, hands-on seminar at Providence Athletic Club. Expect real-world anatomy and assessment, business strategy you can deploy on Monday, and a network of mentors and peers who actually pick up the phone. We’ll break bread, swap playbooks, and show you how collaboration beats scarcity for long-term success.

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Transcript

Welcome And Mission

SPEAKER_02 0:00

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. Howdy, y'all. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness podcast. Today we have two big hunks in the Oakland area. And we're going to be talking about our seminar, Fear with Mr. Marcus, his gym, and then Camilo with Providence Athletic Club. My man, thank you for showing up today. Let's talk a little bit about what you're doing in the Bay because you're doing some awesome stuff. And then we'll talk about the seminar as well.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Marcus, go ahead and tell him about your spot, bro. Tell him what's going on with fear, man. Let him know.

From 2K To 20K Square Feet

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah, for sure, man. For sure. Yeah. So you what's up, you guys? My name is Marcos Mosi. I've been a gym owner now in the Bay Area for the last four years, and I'm getting set to expand into a luxury high-end gym that is getting set to open in June in San Leandro. Super excited about it, man. Super stoked about it. And uh it's gonna be it's gonna be really dope. So I can't wait till uh till we cut that ribbon and get those doors open. You're gonna tell them about that square footage, bro? You're gonna keep that square footage? You're gonna keep that. Yeah, no. So I'm I'm graduating from a 2,000 square foot gym. And this one, when it's all said and done, is gonna be about a 20,000 square foot gym. Um, so I'm really excited about this project. It's gonna be a long-term project, but I'm really excited about it. We're phasing into phase one, which is about 8,000 square feet. Um, so it's already what, four times the size of what I already had. So it's gonna be a dope project. Really excited for what's coming.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Congrats, bro. So excited for you, man. So excited for you. My name is Camilo. I own Providence Athletic Club. We're located in West Oakland. I've been a gym owner now for two years and some change going on, two and a half. I'm really excited. Um, you know, I I'm I'm locked into my space for the next four years, and I'm working on growing and establishing my roots here in this West Oakland community. Um, really excited to partner, not just with Marcos, but also with Chris to bring something really, really special to the Bay Area. Man, if you're watching this recording right now, if you're a fitness professional, you're not gonna want to miss this, especially if you live out here, you're gonna want to attend, man. Chris, tell them what's up, man. What are we doing here?

Why So Many Trainers Fail

SPEAKER_02 2:27

I was just having a call with our mentorships part of our program, and we were talking about just ideas. And one of the things I said on my drive to work this morning at 4 a.m., I was thinking about, you know, there's really not a career, in my opinion, that it's easier to make over$100,000. And I know a lot of people will think about that and be like, oh, that's that's crazy. But when you take a step back and you look at what everyone else is doing, everyone is struggling in the industry, everyone bitches and complains about, oh, the gym takes all my money, it's so hard to do this. But when you ask questions like, you know, what books are you currently reading? When was the last time you attended a hands-on seminar? Who are you surrounding yourself with? When you surround yourself with that toxic, that victim mentality, you're going to adapt that mentality. But when you are around guys like this who have been in the trenches, they see the value of education. And when they go and they learn, they level up by tenfold. You go from opening a gym, which most trainers are fearful of doing, pun intended, with the name of your gym, but then 81% fail. So tell me, how is it possible that 81% are failing when they open a gym? But Marcus over here is expanding into a 20,000 square foot location. Skills are there, the technical skills, the people skills you have, but the mindset is so important. And you have the people that you're surrounded by that you get to have conversations with, and you go, you know what? Here are some things I'm struggling with. What's been struggling for you? Now, not only is this going to be for gym owners, but also for trainers that want to level up because I've been in your footsteps. I know Camilo has, Marcos has where people are scared and they don't know what to do next. And so what they do is they just get into this rat race and they do the same shit over and over again. And next thing you know, you're coming to that client who's training at eight o'clock in the morning, you're getting there at 7:59, you're slamming that energy drink, you're stressed to the brim, and it's just this victim mentality. But you got to get in environments with people who see bigger because that's how you grow. I mean, think about it in sport. You think Kobe, when he was drafted, was like, you know what? I want to do the bare minimum in the NBA. I'm gonna be a, you know, an 18-year-old number one pick. I want to, he wasn't number one, he what was he, like eight?

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Confidence, Assessment, And Pricing

SPEAKER_02 4:41

I want to do the bare minimum. No, that mindset doesn't get you to that mamba mentality. You have to see what are the best doing? How can I become the best? And where are trainers struggling, making money? And so, what are you doing to level up your business? What courses have you taken? Who's your mentor? When was the last time you did a hands-on learning seminar? If a client were to come in right now and they have shoulder issues, what does your process look like? Oh, I'm I'm um, uh, I'm uh maybe maybe I'll uh have them do some uh squats because it's lower body. Like, no, where's your confidence? You gotta be able to have shoulder pain, I can help you 100% because if I can't, my physical therapist can't. But let me do these screens real quick, let me check out what's going on. Well, you have low back pain on brilliant. That's it sucks. I totally understand. But have you worked with a trainer who works with a therapist that can take you through a system and they give you hope? And then after that session, the client goes, Holy shit, my my low back feels better. That's that's amazing. And you go, it's a hundred bucks a session, it's 150 a session, it's 200 a session, and they grab out their black Amex and they go, Here you go. And you go, Holy shit, I I really am worth it. But it's because you have a confidence in your product. Trainers come into the industry by reading a textbook, it just blows my mind how that's accepted. So then when you take a step back and you go, okay, so trainers have a victim mentality, they aren't learning, they can't tell you shit from Chenol when it comes to anatomy and they're struggling. Well, I'm not gonna be like those trainers, I'm going to invest in myself. And so I think it's really cool to hear Camila, because we met what, four years ago now? You went to a seminar and just your observations of being around those people. What was it like at that seminar and the people who you were around, fast forward to today, and how much you've grown. And you look at those little seeds that you've planted along the way.

Seminars, Mentors, And Real Growth

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, it's been insane. It's been insane. I mean, I remember being in that seminar thinking about how much I wish I had had access to that information because I feel like I fit the mold of the trainer that you're describing. You know, I jumped into wanting to be a trainer because I wanted to pursue the career, read my my ISS textbook, felt incredibly unprepared, started coaching people, had no clue what I was doing. You know what I'm saying? And and I I struggled a lot with the confidence and the, you know, um imposter syndrome, feeling like I didn't know how to provide a service that would allow me to charge a certain amount. And, you know, it's crazy how valuable the information that you're presenting is to trainers that are barely getting started. You know, I feel super lucky that I'm still coaching, um, but I feel like there's been so many times where I just feel like I relate a lot to the trainers that you described that feel like they burn out and fizzle out because the the textbook education just doesn't prepare you well enough to be a professional in this industry. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Both of you have seen a lot of trainers come and go in the industry. And what are some of those attribu not attributions, but what are some of the things that you see that contribute to their failure? What are those things that they're they're not getting done?

Community Building That Drives Clients

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Uh personally, I mean, I've been mentoring coaches now and trainers for the last three years and having and have a developmental uh program that I run at my gym for trainers. And so having seen trainers come and go, and even the trainers that I have currently, I think the biggest component to those that fizzle out essentially has been that the lack of investment, investing in themselves, within themselves, and furthering their education in their craft. And so what I mean by that is that a lot of trainers, especially in the industry, they rely on, they, you know, we talked about it, they they are influencer trainers, right? They want the physique, they they get on supplements and then now they're influencer trainers and they just go about that one, right? But the actual education part of it or their business component of it is completely missing. And when they say, hey, invest in yourself or come to a seminar, um, invest in a mentor, they don't see the value of that because they're like, hey, I can put people through a program. But putting people through a program only is getting you so far. And that's where you end up coaching 60, 70 hours a week, right? And you're doing just session after session after session, barely making it through, is because you're only worried about the program. You're not worried about enhancing your skills, uh, furthering your education. How can I grow in this field to become more than what I'm currently doing? And I think that's where a lot of people get stuck because maybe they make three, four, or five K a month. They're like, oh, well, cool, this is this is good for me. And then you tell them, hey, this is what's going to get you to 10, 15, 20 K a month. And they're like, ah, I got to spend$3,000 first, or I got to invest$1,000 to do that. Like, what if it's not guaranteed? Well, you did three,$5,000 before it wasn't guaranteed. So what why not push yourself to get that, uh, to get to that next level, right? And I think that's the biggest thing where a lot of people in this industry tend to fail is that they get to a certain spot and then they're like, all right, I'm good. But you can't carry level one effort and try to get to level five with that same effort, right? You got to continuously excel in yourself. And I think that's why a lot of a lot of trainers in this industry fizzle out or get burnt out.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

And you said it perfectly right there, Marcus, because the difference between great trainers and average trainers, perfectly that is the influencer knows their body, great trainers understand the human body. And that's what you're gonna get when you show up to this. In two days, you're gonna learn more than any textbook's heard out there. But most importantly, you're gonna learn business skills. You get to talk to gym owners. And if that's something you see in your future, don't make the mistake of trial and error. Ask people like me, like, what was the biggest struggle in the beginning? And if you could do it all over again, what would you do? Who would you invest with? What would who would you want to surround yourself with? I mean, this guy over here, he's meeting the mayor. And that's how cool is that that you have the ability to think, you know what, if I want this gym to succeed, I got to go to the source. I always say, become the mayor of your town. Why not go and talk to the mayor? That's exactly what you're doing. What are some things that you've you've done within your gym business that you've noticed help move the needle when it comes to getting new clients for both of you?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I think for me, one of the biggest things that I've worked on is establishing relationships with organizations in my neighborhood in the community that I'm in. You know, I'm really lucky to be doing business in the city of Oakland, which has a rich environment of people that are just out here trying to get it. So being able to connect with sports organizations, you know, I'm thinking if I want to train clients, what better place to find people that like doing athletic stuff than at a sporting event in the crowd? Right. I'm just thinking, and so that's got me uh that that gave me the opportunity to, or at least the the freedom to think, well, let me establish relationships with sports organizations and um different entities that group people around together so that when I start to promote what I do, or when people see that I have a gym, it just makes a little bit more sense for them to go to my spot versus trying to look for a spot on their own online because they already know that I have that. You know, so for me, that's been a real instrumental part in, you know, also just giving my giving my services away to the people that I'm working on connecting with so that I can establish those relationships that bring me people down the road almost uh organically.

Collaboration Over Scarcity

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Yeah, and I think um one thing Camilo has done, like has excelled, and I give him props all the time. And I say, I use the term he's a foot soldier, right? He's he's out there doing 10, 12, 13, 14 hours. He's on his feet, he's going to places, right? He's making these connections. And I even told him, like, yo, I gotta learn from you on this, because the way that he's been able to grow his brain has been all organically, right? It's whereas myself has been a little more unconventional. I'm the premier trial and error, right? Like I stepped into this field and I was pursuing firefighting at first and got into this field once COVID hit. And so everything has been learning it on my own. I didn't even know about mentors or I didn't even know about uh seminars or nothing like that. So everything has been trial and error, learning it on my own, and then until I finally got a mentor and started developing those skills. And so honestly, the biggest thing is just like how Camilo said, is my thing has been really revolved around building a community and getting people to gravitate towards what we're doing. And so the biggest thing I figured is that a lot of people have this notion where um there's like this competition over collaboration, right? Whereas myself, I'm like, hey, if I can bring people through the door and funnel them through the door, maybe even create a dope community workout or whatever it is, there will be now people know my brand, people know I have a gym, and then they know that the workout is kick-ass, it's a great time. And then now they meet other people. And so the community has now grown. So I've done a lot of my building, um, has been a lot, a lot of it has been, at least I'll say like 99% of it has been all organic. Um, but that's the value of putting ourselves out there being personable. You're a friend, you're an acquaintance, you know, we're here to help one another out. Hey, maybe sometimes you have things that you're great at and I can learn from, and you can learn things from me. And I think that having that open transparency, whereas like, hey, you're not just here to do what I say. I want you to be a part of what we're doing here, too. Gives people that that openness to be like, wow, okay, this is more than just a transaction. And I think that's that's been the biggest key.

Seminar Details And Guarantees

SPEAKER_02 13:54

I love that because community is so important, especially when we get more into that AI stuff right now that people are freaked out about. That's not a big deal. That's just gonna complement your growth. There's a gym right next to us here in Santa Monica, body, I call it body fuck fitness, I forget the name of it, but BFT, and they went under. And when we first started, they were anti-relationship, they wouldn't talk to us, they were too cool, no collaboration. And we tried, and it just tells you so much, you know, five years later, they're gone. That makes perfect sense because if you have this scarcity mindset where I need all the clients, and it's just me, me, me, me. Well, a growth mindset's gonna go, you know what? You guys are a high-end gym. What if we were to funnel some of your our clients to you? And maybe we have a relationship. And if we sign someone up for 10 grand, I'll give you a couple grand. How does that sound? That's a growth mindset. And you two connected and said, you know what, we're in the same area, but I'm not intimidated by his gym over here. Let's collaborate and let's think bigger on how we can help more people because that's why we got into this to help more people. And when you're around that, those trainers and those business owners that are doing it, that's how you succeed. So if you're in the greater San Francisco, Sacramento, even Nevada area, you get to a seminar, you invest, you're gonna link up with people that you're gonna have now in your Rolodex that you didn't have before. So you can reach out to someone like Camille and say, you know what, remember, I went to that seminar at your gym three years ago. Now, you know, I need some guidance. Would you mind hopping on a call because I'm gonna open up my own gym? Whereas you didn't have that before. And so, you know, I'm just really excited to get back to Oakland and do this seminar in the greater area. If you're near your gym, you can always stop in and they can, you know, get you information about that. But it's gonna be a Friday, Saturday, 12 to 5. We're gonna have a great time. We'll we'll break some bread afterwards. Really excited about that. Anything last thing, hunks, before we call our day?

Final Invite And Call To Level Up

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Man, I think that, like you said, you said that at the very end. Like connection building is super important. You never know when you're gonna meet one person in five years that'll open the doors for you and the rest of your career. Um, so I think putting yourself in the room with people with the right energy, you know, it's you never know when it'll pan out. But when it pans out, you're always gonna find yourself incredibly grateful that you did it and that you attended and that you spend your weekend doing this instead of something else. So for anybody that's watching, you're more than welcome. We'd love to host you here. We got plenty of space, and we definitely want to see this career continue, this industry continue to grow and expand with a lot of people making a lot of good money, helping a lot of humans get healthy, man. Let's get it.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

You can head to showfitness.com. You can reach out to us on Instagram. If you want to pay in full, you get a discount if you go with a group. So maybe you're working at like an anytime fitness or LA Fitness or a crunch. You have a couple other trainers, we give you discount. Ticket price is$7.99. We have payment plans, and I guarantee in two days you'll learn more than any of your textbook certifications. I have a money-back guarantee. That's how confident I am knowing in those two days you're going to level up because there's nothing more fulfilling for me as a teacher of trainers to hear those stories like two days later, like, holy shit, man. I upped my prices from 75 to 120. I signed up a client whereas before my packages were just completely messy. Now I have more structure and I got that 72 package client, and I just made my highest transaction ever. Those are the victories that we hear, and we have so many examples of those. And that's what you're going to get when you show up. So that's going to be Oakland 27th, 28th, Providence Athletic Club. Excited to be there, 12 o'clock. We're having a great day. Until then.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

Chris, I'm excited to see you soon, bro. Be safe.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Love it, my man.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Keep showing up.