Joel graduated with us in 2011, after studying his Certificate III & IV in Fitness. Over the last 7 years, Joel has built a successful business as a Personal Trainer and Club Manager and has learnt a lot along the way! Joel’s shared his journey and expert advice on what it takes to be a successful PT.
Where did your passion for health & fitness begin?
I grew up playing competitive basketball since the age of 5, I was always looking to improve my fitness. I had tried every training and plyometric program on the market. By seeing improvements through training, it made me passionate about seeing how far it is possible to improve.
What led you to decide to become a Personal Trainer?
Funny enough when I look back I did not do it for the reason that I do it now, I started because girls thought being a PT was attractive. Let me emphasise this, this is why a lot of PT’s start, but this attitude will not keep you doing it or make you successful. My reason for doing it now is as follows:
“To make people realize and do things that they never thought were possible, my passion is showing them that the impossible is possible”
Also, the best part about transforming someone is not the physical, it is the mental. By improving a person’s mental health, it can literally save a life.
Can you share your career journey, and how you got to where you are now?
I started out doing my Certificate IV in Fitness on the Gold Coast campus in Ashmore. Following that, I became a PT at Crunch Fitness in Liverpool (2011-2014), loved it with a passion!
From there I moved onto Anytime Fitness in Bondi as an Assistant Manager and PT (2014-2016).
I got out of the industry for a year and could not handle the stresses of running my own business at the time.
I then got back into the industry in 2017 as a Club manager of Jetts in Kogarah, NSW to which is my current role. I also do PT on top of this as well, this is by far the best place to work in the industry, this is due to all the members being in the beginner- intermediate level range. Every member is a potential PT client and can all be helped.
What do you enjoy most about your job and career in the health and fitness industry?
My purpose is to make people do things that they thought were impossible.
As a Gym Manager, what do you look for in Personal Trainers who you’re considering hiring?
This is an interesting question, I personally do not look for a PT with all the knowledge in the world. I look for a PT that is willing to learn, can approach people and who has the ability to sell. I have seen thousands of great PTs but most struggle to find clients because they are too shy to approach people and cannot sell themselves, I believe this is the biggest hole in the industry.
I am also a Fitness Business consultant and I specialise in a system that helps PT’s sell themselves to clients with a very high success rate. The system also includes a strategy to make the potential client stick things out for the long term. I know you can run an amazing PT session and get your clients to their goals, all I do is teach you how to build your clientele instantly and at a rapid rate. Feel free to contact me if you would like some info about my system.
What advice do you have for Fitness Professionals/students who want to make their career as long and successful as yours?
Spend the first 2 years improving yourself through personal development. Read as many books as you can (try to read two books a month), when I started I was very arrogant and thought I knew everything, I now know that you can always improve and learn, there is always another level.
Two books I would recommend would be “How to Win Friends and Influence People- Dale Carnegie” and “Relentless- Tim Grover
Learn how to sell, I cannot emphasise this enough. I know so many amazing PT’s who were in the industry, but they could not get clients and they quit the industry in the first 12 months, they blame the industry, the gym, the people. All they needed to do was learn how to sell.
I will leave you with a quote from Jim Rohn. ” If you want things to change, you have to change. A formal education will make you a living, but a SELF education will make you a fortune”
Joel’s Contact Details:
0421 799 183
FOLLOW JETTS KOGARAH ON INSTA AND FACEBOOK
Insta/ FB: @Jettskogarah
