Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Gonzalez.
Kelsey, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
An athlete. That was my identity. Through high school and college, I lived for athletics and loved every minute of it. I lived in the St. Louis area where I met the love of my life, and shortly after graduation, got married and began mapping out our life.
Graduate, get a job, make money and pay for your lives. That’s what you are supposed to do right? Well, what happens when you hate your job and it makes you cry? Because that was my reality for far too long. Starting with a job as a waitress, I found myself being screamed at for not bringing out the salads fast enough. Next, I worked for a furniture store and found out, I was only hired to make the other employees work harder, then once they did, I was fired… by mail. This pattern continued with a dead end, meaningless, frustrating jobs that lead me to tears and tall glasses of wine, but three things maintained my sanity – family, faith, and fitness.
We had a daughter, and were pregnant with our son when my husband got a call for a job opportunity in Plano, TX – so I quit my customer service job (that also made me miserable), we packed our bags and went. After a hectic move, with distance from everyone we knew, my husband and I went for a walk around the pond outside our apartment. It was there at the pond, under the warm Texas sun that my husband asked me a simple question that set the pace for the rest of my career – if you could make a career out of doing something you actually wanted to do, what would it be?
It seemed so obvious! There was nothing I felt more confident and passionate about than fitness and building relationships with people. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to become a personal trainer. I want to take what I know and help other people be happier, healthier and more confident in everything they do.
Through intense study, fierce fitness planning and long nights of research and paperwork, I am now the owner of Coach Kelsey Fitness, based in Plano, TX. Having only officially launched in January, I have already been blessed with incredible opportunities to coach, partner and support many beautiful women and incredible organizations in the DFW area. I am honored to be counted among the entrepreneurial women in North Texas, and I want nothing more than to encourage every one of them to be confident in their craft. There is still a lot of room to grow for this business, but there is no limit to what a confident woman can do – and I am going to prove that more and more each day. Who’s with me?
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been a smooth road where my time and resources worked perfectly for me. I would say having the hiccups in my dead-end jobs after college allowed me to get to the root of what I wanted to do, and why, faster. I was forced to determine what the most important parts of my business are.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a certified personal trainer. I teach people to exercise and design training programs both online and in person.
I specialize in highly personalized training programs. This means I do an extensive consultation with my clients before I design their training program. This allows me to design the program around each person’s goals, previous experience, preferences, injuries, and lifestyle. The consultation also helps me to assure we have chemistry together and to verify that my coaching style will be motivating and effective for them (I’m not the type of coach that screams in the trainee’s face).
What I am most proud of as a brand is something we say a lot, which is “the goal is to be happy, healthy and confident.” My clients’ feedback has been just that. I am proud that women have told me they are more confident in their marriage, work and other relationships. I am proud that I have had clients become healthier by things like resolving knee pain and choosing healthy foods. I am proud that clients have come to me saying they’ve finally found a way to exercise that’s enjoyable.
One thing that sets me apart from others is my philosophy. One of my goals as a coach is to teach everything I know, even if that means coaching myself out of a job. I do not think most people will need personal training forever. I want to coach people to meet their goals and empower them to continue on their own. I want to see women gain the confidence to workout wherever they want and feel like they belong – and carry that confidence in every aspect of their lives.
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
My advice is to stick to your “why.” You bring something unique to your industry that only you can bring. In this age of information, it is easy to get confused and second guess your business because someone else is doing the same thing you are in a different way. Let other people do what they do and stick to what you do and what you bring to your industry.
Keep notes! Notate all of your business ideas along the way. Maybe you’re in the research and planning stages of your business. Maybe, you’ve just launched and you’re recognizing new opportunities. Write down every idea you have for your business. Big or small, for tomorrow or 10 years, you want to get everything out of your brain and onto paper (or phone/computer).
Lastly, stop and celebrate every win. Every success you have in your business counts. While entrepreneurs at heart will never stop looking forward, it’s important for those times you feel like you’ve failed to remember your wins.
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
In some cases, women were not raised to think of themselves as entrepreneurs. For them, the concept of dreaming big, asking for a raise or stepping out in their own business is scary or unrealistic. In other cases, it’s standing out or getting respect in a male-dominated industry.
Pricing:
- 1 day/wk – $200/mo
- 2 days/wk – $300/mo
- 3 days/wk – $350/mo
- online training – $150
Contact Info:
- Address: The Shops at Legacy
Plano, TX 75024 - Website: www.coachkelseyfitness.com
- Phone: 469.493.2263
- Email: kelsey@coachkelseyfitness.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecoachkelsey
Image Credit:
Joshua M. Photography
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