A couple months ago I woke up with an overwhelming feeling to grab my notebook and write down the words, “United States Posing Clinic Tour.” Tune in to find out how this idea all came about, where we will be heading this year, who has endorsed the tour, and all the things you will learn when you attend a clinic.

Want to chat about everything I discussed in this episode? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation.

Additional Resources:

-2024 USA In Person & Virtual Posing Clinic Tour Dates, Info, & Registration: http://www.learntopose.com

-Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com

-NEW Class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com

-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com

-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com

-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com

-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com

Key Takeaways:

*The moment I knew I was going to be a bodybuilder (2:43 )

*Why posing and stage presence became my focus (4:07 )

*The challenges of being a posing coach today (6:08 )

*How I discovered my virtual posing clinics and classes for all divisions and federations (7:55 )

*The birth of my collaboration with the OCB (10:33 )

*What you learn when you attend a clinic (13:02 )

*2024 USA posing clinic tour dates and locations (13:48 )

---TRANSCRIPT---

There have been many times in my life when an idea pops in my head followed by a strong feeling to do something with this idea.  It becomes overwhelming.  I can’t stop thinking of this idea and what I can create with it.  An outpouring of thoughts and feelings keep coming and coming as if a dam just broke loose.  When this happens you can tell me all kinds of reasons why the idea isn’t going to work and I will still feel the strong need to pursue it.  Often I do not have a clue how it’s all going to work out, but I just know I have to keep the faith and put things in motion.  My latest idea that I have an overwhelming need to pursue is my United States Posing Clinic Tour this year.  But first, let me give you some background on how it all came about.

It first started over 20 years ago when I went to my first bodybuilding competition to support my friend Shelley at her first show. At the time the only divisions were fitness and bodybuilding and Shelley was a bodybuilder. I remember that overwhelming feeling coming over me while in the audience watching her on stage. The feeling told me that I absolutely was going to be a bodybuilder starting right then. I was 20 years young and bodybuilding at the time didn’t have the appeal to as many people as it does today because there weren’t all the different categories that there are today.

In fact, after my first show I brought a picture of me with a thank you note written on it to the gym I worked out at and gave it to the staff at the front desk who always seemed so supportive of me while I was there training for my show. The next day, I noticed the picture was missing, so I asked the people at the front desk what happened to it. They said they were told to remove my picture because they didn’t want to promote “that type of stuff” here at this gym. 

I’ll never forget how that made me feel. But I had that overwhelming feeling that told me to keep going regardless of how other people thought or treated me. There will be judgement by others for anything you want to do, no matter what it is.  But, we wake up with our thoughts and live with ourselves all day long.  I’d rather be inspired by myself than repressed to please others. And now today over 20 years later bodybuilding is still a major part of my life, including here with this podcast, where I talk to you guys about all things bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding is also a major part of my life with my posing business too, which also came about from a strong, overwhelming feeling that I needed to create products and services all about posing and stage presence.  I started this business 11 years ago at the gym I owned by hosting weekly posing classes and booking private 1 on 1 lessons. When I sold the gym and focused primarily on posing and stage presence I definitely received a lot of backlash. People thought I was crazy to not want to focus on the nutrition and training component of bodybuilding in addition to the posing.

To others, posing was this thing over here that didn’t need its own focus. But I knew differently. After my experience with people literally traveling 4 hours each direction to come and learn how to pose and perform from me (before there was ever something called a posing coach), I knew 100% there was a market for what I do. I knew that there are people out there that have never been on stage before and will spend money to learn how to perform their best on stage in their underwear. I knew from experience there are people who do care how they present themselves and would pay for the right help. I also know as a bodybuilder myself that at the end of the day we want to win and will leave no stone unturned in order to give it our best shot. I don’t need the world to agree with me.  In fact, if you don’t value what I can do for you, then you aren’t my customer anyways, and that’s ok.

Even today with the popularity of everyone wanting to be a posing coach, it’s risky to focus on just posing because you still have coaches who do the nutrition and training component and want to control their clients in every way. I don’t blame them because they want their clients to look their best on stage, and with the amount of terrible posing instruction out there, how do they know who to trust to send their clients to that is actually going to elevate their client’s posing and stage presence skills? 

But on the flip side some coaches are holding their clients back from looking their best by not outsourcing the posing component to a true specialist.  100% of what you do on stage on show day is nonverbal. And when you are on stage with a ton of people, every little detail counts in order to stand out. Those details need to be isolated and refined by a specialist. 

Today everyone is a posing coach. It’s challenging to separate the quality of instruction out there and find a true specialist.  If you want to know if someone is decent posing coach, ask him or her to show their client transformations. If someone can take a person from hot mess to show stopper then you have my attention. If you are seeing transformations of customers who were already decent at posing and they show just a small tweak in the transformation, I’m not impressed. It’s like advertising an Olympian as your best student. They are an Olympian because they are already above average versus people just starting out are often awkward at posing.

I’ve had clients go from placing 4th and 5th in their contests to winning their shows. I know with every ounce of my being that posing wins shows.  But to those who don’t know me, I’m just another person showing people how to pose.  I have students that are always so supportive and posting about me in the groups on Facebook that they are a part of, but their comments are overwhelmed by tons and tons more comments of other posing coaches too. It’s not easy to stand out in a saturated market and some think that what I do won’t survive, but the overwhelming feeling inside me tells me otherwise.   

I’ve also had a lot of naysayers tell me that people want in person posing instruction and I’ll never be successful with an online posing business. I know with every part of my being that my virtual classes are not only effective, countless students have become really phenomenal with my 100% virtual class method.  So I don’t need the world to approve of what I do.  I know differently.  Plus, there are students in my weekly group virtual posing classes that have been a part of them for a year, so I know there are people who enjoy what I teach in my classes, because I teach more than just how to pose.

The way I see it, I’d rather have a smaller pool of people who are driven to succeed, and happy to be there, than a large pool of people who don’t care as much as I do.  My husband always says I care too much. He is right, so I’d rather have people want to be a part of what I do and care about it too.

A few years ago I created a program that included a bunch of posing courses and digital products I made for bodybuilding.  These products were designed to make people better at posing. The students that bought my program were willing to spend good money for all the things I made.  They were excited to have all of my tools.  But there was one major problem.  The people that bought my program weren’t who I thought they would be. The people who bought my program were either brand new to bodybuilding and had no clue how to pose, or they had some experience with competing, but their posing skills needed a lot of improvement.