Personal Trainer Los Angeles – Suzanne Reilley
Nov 7
Interviews
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Suzanne Reilley is listed on PT WALL – Personal Trainer Directory.
She is from Los Angeles, California. Here is her Personal Trainer page on the personal trainer directory.
We are also looking forward to her contributions as a guest author on this blog where she will share some personal trainer marketing skills and tips from time to time.
We thought is was time to ask her a few questions about her career, inspirations and methods.
1. Where do you train and how long have you been Personal Training?
I currently train in West Los Angeles and I’ve been training for about three years. I’ve been in the fitness industry in one capacity or another since 1998.
I also teach personal trainers the marketing stuff they should have learned in school. Clients who work with me learn to set their own schedule, make more money, and live the lifestyle they choose.
2. What made you start as a Personal Trainer?
I was a little chubby towards the end of high school (just 10-15lbs overweight) and it was really eating at me. Hee-hee, pun kind of intended. I started working out, learning more about nutrition and got to my goal weight in about 3 months. It was a lot of hard work, and I actually did it while doing a lot of things right and also making a lot of mistakes! Man, it could have been a lot easier if I had all the info I have now.
When I was in the gym, I loved eavesdropping on the trainers so I could hear why this exercise worked, or some other bit of exercise physiology. It was so cool! When I had to pick a major in college, I went for Kinesiology and really loved it.
3. Is promoting yourself as a personal trainer something you work at and do you have methods you say work for you?
Yes, I work at it every day and hence I’ve gotten quite good at it. If you want the whole deal and all the nitty gritty, find out how to reach me at the bottom of this interview. In a nutshell, it’s all about the client. Understand what they want and then fulfill their needs and heal their pain within the scope of your practice. This works in interviews and other business conversations as well.
I’ll give you an example. I love teaching adults over 50 so I found this guy who owns a balance center in the area. Someone had told me that he had a teacher going out on maternity leave in the next month or two and that he would need teachers to fill in. I sent him an email and said hey, I just moved here from the East Coast and I’m an experienced trainer. I love working with older adults. So-and-so told me that you have a teacher leaving next month and I just want you to know I’m here to help out. Let me know how I can assist you in teaching these classes. This guy who doesn’t have a free moment to breathe in the day emailed right away and said, I’m calling you tomorrow.
All about him, right? I did not go into, my certification is this, me, me, me, etc. I spoke from what HE cared about most, which was making sure he had class coverage by a solid, qualified, personable fitness professional.
4. What certifications do you have and do you have any specialty training or sports specific training?
I’m certified by ACSM. Most clients have no idea which certifications are best, and what they all mean. With this in mind, it’s best to get your certifications to prove your worth to employers and/or your colleagues. ACSM is highly regarded and it speaks to a high level of academic knowledge.
As far as ongoing continuing education, I love RTS, Resistance Training Specialist because they take all our base level knowledge and put it to the test. Is it really that bad to have your knee over your toe in a lunge? What happens to the forces at the joint when you put a weight in your hand? The in-depth information they teach will change how you view the body, and will add a ton of value to your training sessions (which means you can often earn more for your work and your clients will feel really comfortable working with you for a long time).
http://www.resistancetrainingspecialist.com/
I also love Johnny Seitz’s Bio-Typing. Johnny can teach you how to read someones major psychological and biomechanical strengths and weaknesses within 15 minutes of meeting them. Often you don’t even need to speak with them to gather all this information.
Check him out here: http://biotyping.com/book.html
5. What is the worst/best thing about being a personal trainer?
The best AND worst thing is that there is a lifetime of information to learn, infinite ways to grow as a trainer and an unlimited platform to exercise your creativity.
6. Do you have some advice for someone new in the industry to help build a solid client base and earn a good living?
A fitness center can be a good first start, but compensation varies widely. It varies very widely. Do your homework, interview with many clubs and talk with people who work for each. Make sure you can afford to live on the rate you agree upon, considering that you’ll want to shoot for about 5-6 training sessions/day, about 5 days/wk. Some people can handle more or less – that’s just an average ballpark figure.
Understand that you want to overfill your schedule a little beyond what you think you can handle. Cancellations and vacations will drive you nuts (and kill your ability to pay rent) unless you have a bit of a reserve.
Learn as much as you can about sales. It’s not something they teach us in school, and it is absolutely integral to your success. You’ll likely be responsible for marketing yourself within the fitness center and signing interested members on as clients.
7. What Personal Trainer Certifications advice could you give to an aspiring Personal Trainer.
Get certifications that are highly regarded by your peers, as well as those that are authentic to your values as a trainer. Always keep learning!
8. Do you have any examples of things to definitely avoid (traps) when setting up a new Personal training business?
Yes. Understand that you’re in charge of your own business and you’re the one who creates your policies and hours of business. This is often true even in a health club. Know when you’re committed to being at work and when it’s time for your personal life…if you don’t, you’ll be up at 5a, training till 9, napping, training again, running across town, on your third cup of coffee, and still going at 8p. I see trainers doing it all the time and it’s the fastest path to burnout.
9. What are a few “must dos” before or whilst setting up a new personal training business?
Make sure you have a cancellation policy. Mine is 24 hours. Always get payment in advance of doing any training sessions with a client. Always stick to your rates. Always continue to add value to client sessions. This can be done in the simplest way. Remember birthdays, remember little tidbits about client preferences, and wow them with just how much you care (in a professional way of course).
10. Any last thoughts?
In order to get more clients, always educate clients on what you have to offer and ask them to work with you!
If you’d like to learn how to set your own schedule and make more money to live the lifestyle you choose, visit www.suzannereilley.com to get your free report “The Five Most Effective Business Skills They Forgot to Teach Us In Anatomy Class.”
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