We are so proud of all of our graduate of the Fitness & Nutrition Expert program! To celebrate their amazing achievements and inspire you to take action to go after your dream career, we are going to be featuring some of our amazing grads on the blog who have had great success in creating their career in health and fitness since graduating from the program.
This week we are super pumped to introduce the amazing Cheryl Guidry to you! Cheryl began the FNE program in Sept 2016 and is now spreading the healthy love as a trainer and the owner of G48 Fitness in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Check out her awesome story…
Tell us a little about your business?
My name is Cheryl Guidry, owner of G48 Fitness in Regina, Saskatchewan. In addition to personal, partner, and group training, I also teach a number of strength and circuit training classes. My clients are mainly women, although there are a few men brave enough to come out to my classes! I have 30 years of living a healthy, balanced, and active lifestyle behind me, so I use the experience of training myself to train others.
What made you decide to get certified and start a business or become a trainer in fitness and nutrition?
What has been your biggest success since starting your business?
One of my biggest successes thus far was discovering the amazing Wellness Revolution Studio where I train (also one of the biggest challenges as discussed below). The studio is badass,yet homey (kinda like me) and private (kinda like me), and the team of trainers is professional, supportive, and accommodating. We all stand for each other’s success. Having a space to workout and train in that is full of positive vibes is so important. Both for the trainers and our clients.
Two of my clients, both ladies in their 50s, have achieved some outstanding results over the past few months. They are stronger, more confident and doing things they never thought they could. One client had trouble performing a bodyweight squat and now is not only squatting with weights, but doing push ups on her toes and unassisted chin ups. Sometimes it’s just about removing barriers and doubts for people just so they can see what they actually can do. My other client said that her new goal is to do 10 Turkish get-ups by her 60th birthday. I have no doubt she will achieve it.
Financially I’m doing much better than I anticipated. I started off with steady growth the first three months, with things slowing down a little over the summer. After four months I had made more than enough to cover all of my costs for the entire year. Profit in the first year? Not too shabby.
What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Once I decided to go it on my own, my biggest challenge was where I was going to train my clients. Living in a smaller city, most of the gyms are larger chains with very few privately owned gyms that allow independent trainers. How did I overcome it? I threw it out to the universe and the universe answered me. Actually, I put up an ad on a couple of free classified websites and a fellow trainer from the Wellness studio answered my ad. I contacted the owner, went to meet her, and that was that. Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and take a chance. Most often, it will pay off.
How do you feel the Fitness and Nutrition Expert Program helped you create your biz or dream job? What part of the program helped you grow the most? What was your fave moment of the program?
What I liked most about the FNE program and part of what drew me to it was the fact that it is all encompassing. You learn the fitness, nutrition and wellness components, but you also learn the business component as well. And for me it was the personal stories from Laura and Amanda that I found most fascinating. The obstacles they encountered, their successes and failures and advice that they are able to give as a result of their experience was so valuable. It was during one of the business lessons when Laura described how her partnership with Amanda started out with a handshake and a promise to always put their friendship first. How they left their day jobs to follow their dreams. That feeling of freedom they must have had overwhelmed me and that’s when my mind shifted from thinking I’ll just work for someone else to I will work for myself. Succeed or fail, I decided to go for it.
How do you stay motivated? What keeps you motivated?
Pretty simple: my clients! No matter how busy the week or how exhausted I may be, I always, always look forward to my classes or my sessions with clients. They give me energy and I always leave the studio feeling refreshed and happy. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing my clients succeed and get excited about their accomplishments or doing something they never dreamed they could do.
I love my clients and I am truly honored that they have chosen me to guide them along their fitness journey.
Where do you see your business in the next year? What do you want to achieve and how do you plan to do it?
Over the next year I would like to maintain the hours that I am currently working. While I would love nothing more than to be in the gym every waking moment, I still have a day job, a family, and life outside of work. Maintaining that balance is important and so I’ve committed to that. It’s so easy to let your business take over your life, but you can’t let it. I wouldn’t be doing this without my family’s encouragement and support. I need to ensure that I have the energy left at the end of the day to be there for them too.
I do want to work on expanding my clients base, ensuring that my classes are full, and that I am making the most of the hours at the gym that I have. Creating exciting programs, promoting via social media, and my own personal network of colleagues and friends will hopefully do that. I have so many ideas for the upcoming year for new programs and classes that sometimes it’s hard to sleep!
If you could give one piece of positive advice to a chick who is thinking about getting certified or just starting on her journey to working in fitness and health, what would it be?
If this is your passion and what you truly want, then go for it. Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly how you will use it or what you will do. I had no idea. I figured it out along the way and you will too. The FNE program and member group offers so much support you won’t have to figure it out alone. Find your people. People who you connect with and give you energy. Take that energy and give it all back to them (and maybe a little more). Use your instincts. Don’t take on a client if you don’t feel good about it or teach a class that’s maybe popular but that isn’t you. Over time it will show.Be authentic. Take on the clients that you want to take on and teach the type of classes that speak to you. Teach what you love. I’m doing what I truly love to do and what I believe I should be doing. I think it shows.
Follow Cheryl on Facebook at or on Instagram @g48fit to learn more!
We would LOVE to help you realize your dream of becoming a health and fitness professional through our Fitness & Nutrition Expert program! Download our FREE 30 page program brochure here to learn more about how to start creating your dream life, health, and career!
