We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Castillo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

As a personal trainer, clients will inevitably come and go. And with that, your income from time to time varies. It is challenging sometimes to keep your business going strong and your client list full. You constantly have to make sure to find new & creative ways to keep your current clients happy. On top of that, make sure you’re putting in just as much effort to recruit effectively for new ones!

There have been times where I have thought about how it might be if I went back to working a regular job.. But than I quickly get reminded that when I did, I did not have the best mental health. Going to work back than felt forced.

With making the decision to own my own business, I no longer feel forced. I truly love what I do and I look forward to each session with each individual client and having the opportunity to make a positive impact on someones life and help potentially change their life. I am also able to have the freedom and utilize the time I want into spending more time with my family, raising my kids and watching them grow. You cant stop your children from growing up, but you can definitely be present to watch it happen and I am glad I am able to do just that.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a wife, mother to 3, cat mom to 2 orange tabbies, and a lover for all things fitness and Disney. When I am not training my clients, I love to spend my spare time hiking, going to Disney, doing Crossfit, Olympic Weightlifting, Obstacle Course Races or going on adventures with my family.

Fitness and health became my passion as soon as I gave birth to my firstborn daughter. I use to be in your shoes, My road to being strong and healthy was definitely not an easy path, paved in gold! It all started in 2016 when I had back-to-back miscarriages. This led me to be depressed, and in a result – I did not have the drive or motivation to exercise and would often lead to food as a “way out”. I spent my time after that finding that “one thing” that would fuel my fire again and I discovered that in 2018, after the birth of my first daughter. I have always been into fitness but was not consistent or even motivated. She was my “WHY”, and gave me the push and the drive to further my knowledge, grow my passion and enthusiasm for fitness to better myself.

I began to enroll and take classes in fitness to gain knowledge of what I wanted to do so I didn’t have to hire a personal trainer. At that time, With the busy schedule of being a new mom… I was not financially or mentally read to hire a trainer for myself.

After studying and obtaining a few fitness certifications, I developed a love for fitness and saw the opportunity to help those in her community and beyond. I now live and breathe fitness because it has truly changed my life and has TRANSFORMED me in every area of my life for the better!

Fast forward to now, I am currently a NASM Certified Personal Trainer out of Santa Clarita, CA who works independently. I train out of a local personal training private gym that is exclusive to its trainers and their clients.

I offer small group classes, one on one personal training, and small group training.

I currently specialize and am certified through NASM in the following: Women’s Fitness, MMA Conditioning, Weight Loss, Fitness Nutrition, and Corrective Exercise. I am also certified as an ISSA Body Building Specialist and Strength & Conditioning Specialist. Most importantly, I am completely happy and the most confident I have ever been both mentally and physically.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I first began as a personal trainer at a commercial gym, however, after just a few months of working there.. I knew I needed to branch out and do my own thing as that specific commercial gym did not truly care about their clients, but only about the amount of money they profited from. I truly wanted to make a difference in peoples lives and I knew starting my business was what I needed to do.

When starting a business in the fitness industry, Ultimately the only marketing material you essentially have is yourself and your own personal journey. It is up to you to have the courage to put yourself and your own personal fitness journey out there and document and post it on social media and that is what I did.

I started off with creating my own Instagram page dedicated to fitness and health. I documented my journey, my struggles, my transformation pictures, etc. I started off with just friends and family as my following and after awhile of constant documenting, they soon would ask questions about what I was doing, what I was eating, etc.

I offered free advice on nutrition and exercise tips and even a few complimentary in person sessions in exchange for a simple “repost, like, or share” on my posts to further my reach than just friends/family. With the support of friends and family, My audience soon began to grow slowly but surely and began go attract more people outside of my inner circle.

If I can give any advice to someone starting to build their social media presence, I would like to advise them to be patient and stay consistent. Your following wont tremendously happen overnight, but with consistently it will grow slowly but surely. Stay consistent. Even when you may feel like no one is watching, just know they are. Unfortunately not everyone will take the time to “like, share, or comment” on your posts as you would ideally like but I promise that they see it and sooner or later when the time is right, there will be a few that will come around and reach out for services. You just have to be patient, be confident in yourself and trust the process.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what helped me build my reputation was just being transparent and putting myself out there. I am not your typical fitness influencer you see on social media with the tight toned belly and rock hard physique who makes it seem like their at the gym everyday with little to no struggles.

I am very honest and show the difficulties of being a mom of multiple children who struggles from time to time finding time for self care, the mom who is still working on her post-partum body, etc.

And with that, I feel like I relate to alot more people cause I am transparent and show that I know the struggle. I am human just like you and I know how hard it can be but that it is doable. I have been in most peoples shoes so I am able to relate on a more personal level because I was once them.

I also dont claim something that I am not or pretend to know everything and anything when it comes to fitness. These days its hard to find genuine people who truly have the knowledge and background in the fitness industry.

I take pride in being honest and transparent about who I am and what I know, and for that I feel like it attracts the right people.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: jessicaj_castillo