Confessions of a Fitness Manager

Early fall is one of the best times to begin thinking ahead to the "January fitness rush". Staci and Jessica talk about the actions they like to take during early fall and into the holidays to prepare themselves and their teams for January.

Clear, concise, motivating and productive communication is one of the most important skills fitness managers must have. In this episode, Staci and Jessica share their own mistakes and lessons when it comes to communicating with their teams and their favorite strategies to improve communication.

Everyone has the same amount of time, and as fitness managers we are asked to accomplish so much on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to be considered successful at what we do. Staci and Jessica share some of their stories and experiences with the tasks they believe are "time wasters" and strategies to eliminate them. They also dive deeper into ways to repurpose and systemize tasks and communication in order to save time and prioritize working ON the team and offerings versus always playing catch up and feeling overwhelmed.We also speak about Staci's Fitness Manager course and Jessica's upcoming retreat, links to both of those below:Fitness Manager Course:https://staci-s-site-a2bf.thinkific.com/courses/fitnessmanagerbootcampFitness Retreat:https://www.panacearetreats.co/jessica/

In this episode, Staci and Jessica will go into detail about what they learned, who they met, and what they saw at the expo of the IDEA World Fitness Convention in Los Angeles.Here are some honorable mentions to check out:TeamUp: Club and Studio SoftwareStruct Club: Music Mapping Software for Group Fitness InstructorsWIFA: Women's Fitness Business Networking and Education GroupACE: American Council on Exercise Education ProviderSiri Chilazi: Presenter, Instructor, Influencer, Winner of the 2023 IDEA Trailblazer AwardShannon Fable: Business CoachAmanda Young: Consultant and SpeakerAshley Selman: PT Studio Owner

Staci and Jessica share their thoughts on overall compensation for Group Fitness Instructors AND Personal Trainers. They some ideas for creative ways to research what other facilities are paying and ways to compensate teams in the form of money AND education/opportunities.In this episode Staci also talks about the new way to calculate commission for personal trainers. Here is the margin calculator from the Fitness Business Development Academy with Nicky Seghal that Staci recommends: https://www.thefbda.com/margin-calculator 

The last episode talked about the initial onboarding process, having a schedule, and ways to help them feel comfortable and prepared for the new role. In this episode, we will go further to how to get them officially started, when to check in with them, and what to do with feedback if they are taking over from another instructor or coach.

Onboarding fitness professionals so they feel prepared and comfortable in their new role is challenging AND important. We broke up onboarding into two parts, the initial weeks and the check-in to ensure they continue to feel supported.Staci and Jessica share some of their stories and experiences with new instructors, coaches, and Pilates Teachers. They also share some challenges and horror stories along the way and how they handled and learned from those situations. What are some tips for other managers when onboarding new teammates to ensure they feel welcome and supported?Follow us and message us on Instagram or leave a note in the comments.

Hiring fitness talent has so many steps and parts that we had to break this topic up into FOUR episodes. This fourth and final episode of this series tackles the art of making the final decision.Staci and Jessica share some of their stories and experiences with evaluating the experience with each applicant and at times bringing them in for a second interview. They also share some challenging applicants who made it through the process to be hired only to be a problem in the future. Then they both share their favorite strategies and recommendations they've learned over the years to help prevent making a bad hire... but it still happens.What are some crazy stories you have after you hired an applicant and realized you made a bad choice?What are some tips for other managers when making the final decision whether or not to bring the new talent onto the team?Message us on Instagram or comment on this episode.

Hiring fitness talent has so many steps and parts that we had to break this topic up into FOUR episodes. This second episode of this series tackles conducting and evaluating auditions.Staci and Jessica share some of their stories and experiences with auditioning fitness instructors and trainers both in-person and online.Then they both share their favorite strategies and recommendations they've learned over the years.What are some crazy stories you have while auditioning talent?What are some tips for other managers when auditioning applicants?We'd love to hear from you on our Instagram page @fitmanagerconfessions!

Hiring fitness talent has so many steps and parts that we had to break this topic up into FOUR episodes. This second episode of this series tackles conducting an interview with a fitness applicant.Staci and Jessica share some of their stories and experiences with interviewing fitness instructors and trainers both in-person and online.Then they both share their favorite strategies and recommendations they've learned over the years.What are some crazy stories you have while interviewing talent?What are some tips for other managers when interviewing applicants?

Hiring fitness talent has so many steps and parts that we had to break this topic up into FOUR episodes. This first episode tackles reviewing resumes. Jessica shares an intense story about a trainer who made a scene at the front desk as he tried to secure a job. Staci reads a bit of the back-and-forth she had with an applicant as she asked relevant questions that the applicant couldn't answer.Then, we vent a bit about what managers have to make sense of while reviewing resumes. Some examples include...- Not putting any relevant information- Odd order of events- Aren't specific about certifications, where it's from, when it happened and if it's still up to date- Doing things that are out of their scope of practice (and acting like it is an asset)- Look pretty but have no information- Our Issues with Cover LettersAs hiring managers, how to get past the crap? We share our direct strategies and recommendations. After listening, we'd love to hear from you:What are some crazy stories you have while reading resumes?What are some tips for other managers when reviewing resumes and inviting applicants?

This first episode of the podcast is meant to be an introduction of the two of us as well as set expectations as to what this podcast is all about.We will be sharing more about our experience...- Managing luxury health club team in multiple locations- Leading Private Pilates, Personal Trainers, and Group Fitness Instructors- Attending and presenting at conferences, working with other educator and education companies- Career changes during the pandemic and more!We will also discuss why we made this podcast and the value and entertainment we hope it provides.