Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Charles Turner, founder and owner of Movement-Lab, located in Saint Paul, MN, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am the owner and founder of a personal training business called the Movement Lab, based in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Prior to Covid, my personal training business was thriving. I had a full roster of elite clients and four corporate wellness accounts. For the corporate accounts, I would educate people about the dangers of sitting for instance. We now have the data to predict what type of orthopedic issues you can look forward to dealing with as a result of a lifetime of sitting. We also now have the tools and technics to change that narrative. I would also conduct mobility sessions teaching people, most of whom did not care about having a six-pack, how to perform maintenance to their bodies with everyday choices. In addition, I also rented space from various boutique gyms around the Cities, where I would do the personal training part of my business. My client base was affluent.
When Covid hit, I lost all four of my corporate wellness accounts in two days. All the boutique gyms are closed. And a week prior to all of this, the teachers in Saint Paul, Minnesota, went on strike. My wife works at a hospital and her job provides medical insurance for our family. So when our six- year old son was forced to do distance learning, I stepped up and managed his classroom from home. I also had to rethink my business model and my customer base within entirely new parameters, Fortunately, I owned a lot of gym equipment, so Movement Lab quickly became a home-based business with a studio in my double garage. I immersed myself in virtual instruction with my son and started virtual training for my clients who needed to isolate.
I call myself a trainer but I really believe I am a teacher with a goal of educating my clients on how comprehensive functional fitness and Well-being fits into their everyday lives. My clients range in age from 16 to 80, and I absolutely love what I do. Ever since I started personal training, I dreamed of the day that I would be able to give back and better serve my community of origin where most people don’t have room in their budgets for extracurriculars or luxury items like personal training. Recently, I have been working on a project that will allow me to remove some of those barriers by offering premium training sessions at the low-cost subscription fee of $20 per month for a virtual training experience. For $20 a month a client will receive, 12 live classes and participate in a closed Facebook page with a community of individuals seeking similar health and wellness goals through fitness. On that closed Facebook page, I will go live once or twice a week with different professionals in the field to discuss and answer questions about health and wellness. I will also start a Health and Wellness book club. And not just any book club where oftentimes you are assigned a book to read and in a month, reconvene and discuss the whole book. No, in this book club, we will read two to three chapters every three weeks. Then go live to discuss and digest those chapters in depth. I want to create an affordable, practical, quality space where people of all income levels and backgrounds can go and get the information they want to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
So my business model is expanding to think of personal training in the context of wellness, education, and motivation, And my client base is also expanding to include anyone who is ready to do the work and commit to positive lifestyle changes. My journey continues.
Tell us about yourself
The reason I want to expand my business model is because fitness saved my life as a young man. I come from a family characterized by substance abuse and escapism. Fortunately, I had an uncle who took me under his wing at a very impressionable time in my life and showed me how to take care of myself. When I got older, I once fell off track big time and remember having to make a decision. Am I going to lead a life of crime and drug addiction. Or am I going to live like my uncle did. It was an easy decision because all I had to do was think about when I was the happiest in my life. It was when he was picking me up at 5 am to take me to his gym to show me how to take care of myself. If it hadn’t been for him, I would not be where I am today. So I understand the importance of sharing information and providing support to the people of my community. Maybe I can help equip a few people with the same gifts he shared with me. And it is one way that I get the opportunity to pay it forward in memory of my uncle who is no longer with us.
Ironically, fitness was not the obvious career choice for me initially. Personal training is a second career for me. For a number of years, I was a mortgage broker. I worked for several mortgage companies over a 13 year period. It was a good profession in that I had the opportunity to help a lot of people purchase their first homes. And for those who owned homes, to help them gain access to their equity to put themselves in a better financial position. I made great money and initially found it to be fulfilling work. However it was a sales position and we all know how the rules kept changing, so high stress came as part of the package. It got to the point where I would literally be skipping to my car on Fridays because I was so happy to be done for the week. And then by Sunday, I was in my backyard in front of a fire, drinking till late in the evening because I did not want to admit to myself that I did not have any passion left for the job. It was an unhealthy time in my life, mentally and emotionally. One day I had to ask myself could I do this for the next 25 years. The answer was no. My mother-in-law suggested that I seek out a career counselor who could help me find a profession that would serve my needs along with fulfilling family responsibilities. This is how I found personal training and fitness as a profession.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Surviving the effects of COVID on my business and using that adversity to rethink things and rebuild toward a new future has been my biggest accomplishment. Today I am committed to a new business model, to growth, adaptation, balance, inclusivity, and excellence. Adversity can be a great teacher, but that’s not always clear at the moment.
When my successful business fell apart in a few weeks' time, I fell into disappointment and depression of which I was not completely aware, Somehow I managed to start the process of converting my garage into a full gym studio. Then I decided to double down by insulating it and having an electrician come out and install a heater so that I could continue to train clients once restrictions were lifted. In the process, I hurt my back and had to have back surgery. Some days, it all felt like too much.
Fast forward to now, I conduct all of my business from my garage studio. It has been a game-changer in that I am home more now than I was when I had the corporate wellness accounts and was traveling all over the Cities to the different boutique gyms to meet my clients. My family life has improved, and I am proud of my studio and new approaches. I guess you could say COVID was a blessing in disguise. Pulling myself out of depression, completing my studio build, adjusting my business model, and now finding this new subscription project have all been my greatest achievements so far.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
As a small business owner, the hardest thing to keep cultivated is my perseverance on multiple fronts. I need to keep myself technically well educated and committed to innovation and new ideas in my fields. I need to keep the physical plant strong and state-of-the-art. I need to cultivate my client base and always imagine how to better meet their needs as well as my own. I need to keep the finances in order, And it’s not just the big stuff:
As a small business owner, you are responsible for absolutely everything. For instance, if I'm laying in the bed after a long day of training people, spending time with my family, programming for clients for the next day, and I remember that all the towels in the gym are dirty, and I have a client at 5 a.m. the next morning, I have to get up and wash those towels. I can't pick up the phone and call someone (at least not at this stage) and tell them “hey make sure we have towels for the first client in the morning”. That's on me. Also, constantly thinking about whether or not the business will be profitable or successful can be draining. The best thing I found is to change my belief system. I have to believe that it will be profitable and successful. That I will not stop until it is. Once I discipline myself to think like that, all the worries and tasks fall into place and my energy stays positive and abundant.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
The three tips that I would give to anyone looking to start, run, and grow a business are. Number one; find something that you are absolutely passionate about. Starting a business is hard work. You’re going to have long days. Your belief in yourself will be tested. At times you will feel like it’s too hard and working a job would be easier. The only thing that got me through those hard times was that I was ferociously passionate about fitness. I was willing to do whatever it took to make my dream a reality. It was like (and still is) I never got tired of doing the work. I could get up super early, work all day training people, pick my son up from school (with the patience required), participate in family time, put my son to bed, then stay up programming till late at night. Then get up and do it all over again. All fueled by my love of the work. This was not the case when I was a mortgage broker
Number two; find a mentor, preferably someone in the business that you are looking to start. Someone that will help you organize your thoughts and hold you accountable to deadlines. This is something that I am currently doing with my new project, and let me tell you it has helped immensely.
Number three; be very clear on your “Why.” And what I mean by that is why are you doing this? Is it for you, is it for your family, or is it to serve a need in your community? Whatever it is, make sure you’re clear on what it is because it will fuel your drive and ultimately be responsible for your success when the going gets tough.
Number four; Bonus!! Take care of yourself! Love yourself! Believe in yourself! And protect THAT at all cost!! You can! You Will! You Must!!!
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I just recently started listening to motivational speakers and doing daily affirmations. These are two things that, in the past, I thought were corny. I thought that people who listen to motivational speakers and did affirmations were weak-minded individuals. That way of thinking changed after my experience with the Covid shut down, the social unrest when George Floyd was murdered, my back injury, and my bout with depression last year. After my back surgery, my life momentum started to pick back up. It dawned on me that I had planned for a lot of things, but not that. Once I had pulled myself out of that hole, I realized that as a business owner my mindset was something that I had to intentionally protect. I can’t take it for granted. I had to protect the input. Nowadays I start my day off with an affirmation and I listen to a few motivational speakers throughout the day. My current favorite is a gentleman by the name of Eric Thomas, also known as the hip-hop preacher. I like his no-nonsense approach to holding yourself accountable. He says that whenever we engage in an activity or purchase a product “We want a guarantee.” If the activity or product does not give us what initially drew us to it, “We want our money back.” But we never want our money back from ourselves! We don’t hold our end of the bargain. Not anymore! That way of talking really resonates with me. I suggest that you prepare yourself for things that you cannot anticipate by finding the right motivational speakers or consciousness-raising “tonic” for you. Good luck!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.movement-lab.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charles.c.turner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamchuckturnertraining/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-turner-9b63746/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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