Coaches/trainers/H&F professionals, come in please

[emilyinchile]

I know several of you work in H&F, and I'm curious: how did you decide to go from it "just" being a hobby to being (at least part of) your job? There is definitely a part of me that enjoys being able to help people out with my experience after 3 years of CF - I feel like even if I can't yet do something, by this stage I've probably made enough mistakes while trying to do it that I can offer some tips! - so it got me thinking about what motivated people to make the leap.

[sh10]

I teach fitness classes five days per week, one hour each day. I got my certification and started teaching while working full time still. In order to get more experience, I started teaching after hours at my full time job for a nominal fee for my coworkers (company was okay with that). No place wanted to hire me without experience and that was the only way I could get more experience. I did that for about four months before a gym hired me. About eight months after that I was laid off from my full time job so unpicked up more classes at the gym.

I don't teach enough to make a living off it, it supplements our fun money and it's great because DS goes to gym day care for free. My boss tries to make a living off it and it doesn't seem like fun to me. She teaches at multiple gyms, multiple times per day. I do it infrequently enough that it's fun to me and I get paid to workout.

Hope you don't mind I posted here, I saw it on the app newsfeed. Back to MMM I go!

[stackingtens]

Aug 25, 2015 9:06:24 GMT -5 sh10 said:

I teach fitness classes five days per week, one hour each day. I got my certification and started teaching while working full time still. In order to get more experience, I started teaching after hours at my full time job for a nominal fee for my coworkers (company was okay with that). No place wanted to hire me without experience and that was the only way I could get more experience. I did that for about four months before a gym hired me. About eight months after that I was laid off from my full time job so unpicked up more classes at the gym.

I don't teach enough to make a living off it, it supplements our fun money and it's great because DS goes to gym day care for free. My boss tries to make a living off it and it doesn't seem like fun to me. She teaches at multiple gyms, multiple times per day. I do it infrequently enough that it's fun to me and I get paid to workout.

Hope you don't mind I posted here, I saw it on the app newsfeed. Back to MMM I go!

You could stick around!  :-)

[venice2007]

I teach yoga full time. For me I know I wanted to teach when I started being jealous if the teacher and I had lost my job. I had the time while looking for a new job and hot my 200 hour certification. After I was done I still didn't have a job so I just took on any class I could and ended up with a full schedule. I couldn't do this wo my h's paycheck but I can with our joint accounts. I love it. I think I always knew I wanted to do something fitness related. I'm now looking into adding a group cardio certificate to my exp as well to add to my teaching schedule.
There's nothing else id rather be doing!
Good luck

[stackingtens]

My coaching started with high school athletics. I have a unique coaching/athletic niche (shotput/discus/etc) so I reached out to local high schools and found one that needed help. I was also unemployed when I first sought this out, as I'd just finished graduate school. I've been there 9 years and was even the head volleyball coach there for 3 years during that period.

With CrossFit, I started as an athlete/client and in my case, my boss approached me. She already knew I was coaching in the county and wanted to know if I ever had interest. It was a GIANT leap of faith because I had to pay for my Level 1 myself, and I didn't recoup that money for a solid year, probably... as our gym has a pretty intensive Instructor Training Program (ITP) that I had to complete. But, it was a great fit for my schedule/lifestyle because I was working part time/coaching high school sports part time, so it was another good part time fit. We have a few "bench" coaches that fill in from time to time, who work more typical 9-5 schedules, and that would be tough for me to commit to. I could substitute, probably, but it would be hard for me to work a solid 9-5 and still coach a few classes every week.

I usually coach 6-8 classes a week. Lately 6 has been the perfect fit for my schedule and still allows me to train in class when I want. I will say the challenge to this being my "hobby job" is that I have to seek out a lot of continuing education myself (I watch a lot of videos/read a lot of articles on my lunch break). My boss will reimburse me for seminars I attend now that I've been with them awhile, and those have been the best way for me to feel like I'm growing as a coach and able to offer something valuable in class. My boss has also become a friend and they are very appreciative of me, so that makes it easier.

THe perks are nice, but it certainly doesn't earn me a ton of $$. Free membership for me and a super reduced rate for DH, then an hourly rate per class. I can earn extra money by putting on seminars or having private clients, but I rarely have the time for that. I do handle all of our apparel though and she pays me extra on the side to manage that, but it's like 3 hours a month or something.

OMG I'm writing a novel. BUT I will end with this. It was a great decision for me-I love the challenge and the reward of helping people reach their goals and I love the community that I get to be a part of as a result. The gym had a baby shower for me a few weeks ago and I felt so, so loved and that was really special and affirmed my decision to invest in this.

[emilyinchile]

My coach has mentioned the possibility to me before, but right now I don't know that he really needs any additional coaches. Plus it definitely wouldn't be for the money! And that's not even considering that I'd have to pay for my L1 (although my box doesn't require that - most boxes in Chile don't, actually, probably because they only do a seminar every few months, and it's very expensive compared to salaries here). But every so often I do think about how it could be fun, and since I spend a ton of time at the box anyway and sometimes help out, I might as well make it official, especially since my real job is slow right now. Plus stackingtens hit it on the head with "I love the challenge and the reward of helping people reach their goals". There's another L1 in Santiago in October, which is what brought it into my mind this time, but I've wondered in the past about what got you guys into these jobs that you seem to really enjoy.

[oswin]

stackingtens - would you mind sharing what they pay you as an hourly rate? I am also considering getting into teaching fitness classes or coaching CrossFit eventually, though I suspect I'll need to wait at least until my kids are in school.