We were lucky to catch up with Nikki Pepper recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nikki, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a time when the advice you provided to a client was really spot on? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

The best advice I’ve ever given to a client is to focus on balance. What that means is 80% of the time focusing on dialing in those healthy habits, whether that’s your workouts, your nutrition, and making sure you’re making choices that are best going to benefit your health, and the other 20% of the time focus on things that bring you enjoyment. Have that treat meal, have a little piece of dessert, because that way you’re going to be able to stay consistent for longer.

I often find when clients try to do this all-or-nothing approach, it sets them up for failure because they’re only able to sustain it for a few weeks. Then they end up binging on different foods, skipping their workouts, and feeling defeated at the end of the day. It’s crucial to find what works best for you and something you’re able to make a part of your lifestyle. It’s all about creating a healthy lifestyle for the long-term, rather than turning to quick fixes which won’t give you the results you desire.

In terms of a specific client, I found she was severely restricting her meals. She was weighing and measuring her food, completely cutting out different food groups, and that led her to feeling super deprived and unhappy in her day-to-day life. When I was able to help her make the shift from extreme deprivation to eating well 80% of the time while still enjoying the foods that she loved, she was able to sustain that lifestyle for months. She finally saw the weight not only come off, but stay off, rather than going through this yo-yo cycle of dieting that I see all the time.

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

To give a little background on myself, I’ve been involved in sports my entire life. In fact, my dad was a coach as well as my grandmother—I think it was part of my destiny to become a coach too! I grew up doing competitive gymnastics from the age of 5 onwards. I even started coaching young gymnasts at the age of 16, so I have many, many years of coaching experience.

I went onto college and was captain of the cheerleading team. From there, that’s when I started using the campus gym and learning all about resistance training and ways I could strengthen my body, which helped me feel empowered in not only just the physical sense, but all other aspects of my life.

Going to the gym taught me you are stronger and more capable than you think. Whenever you’re facing a challenge, you’re able to apply that mindset you learn in the gym to your personal and professional life. In terms of my mission, my goal is to empower people to become their strongest and most confident version of themselves.

My offering is extremely different and unique than many fitness offerings that are out there because I take a holistic approach to health and wellness. Reason being is I started off with doing strength training, which helped me build my physical strength as well as confidence, but learned along the way there are so many other critical aspects to consider and implement to ensure success.

Once I got into strength training, I realized that the other piece of the puzzle was nutrition. As we know, we can’t out-train a bad diet, so I started to learn about different foods to fuel me and provide energy to support my goals. It’s fundamentally important to shift your mindset by approaching nutrition in a way of viewing food as fuel, rather than restricting yourself.

Once my nutrition and my workouts were super dialed in after years of studying and practicing these methods, I found there was still a piece to the puzzle that was missing. Despite doing all these things for my physical health, I still wasn’t feeling like my best self. That was when I really started to dive into the mindset and energetic work.

As we know in these most recent times of how stressful our world has become, your mental health is just as important (if not more important) than your physical health. The two are so intertwined that you can’t separate them. Going into the last few years, I became a Karuna Reiki master practitioner and started doing various forms of energetic and sound healing. I found this was truly the missing link for myself as well as my clients, because if you’re not feeling good on the inside, if your mental health is lacking, then all the physical stuff doesn’t matter.

One example of this that I like to compare to is if you ever feel anxiety, you feel tension in your chest. If you feel any stress, your neck is going to be locked up. Your body, in fact, stores this pent-up energy and it deeply affects your systems and your quality of life in every way.

In terms of my services, I combine the physical fitness of the workouts and nutrition, and then more importantly, I integrate Reiki-infused sound baths healings for my clients. When we align their physical bodies and get their flow of energy moving, the physical results happen exponentially quicker. We’re able to clear and break through a lot of physical and mental barriers that have been holding them back, so that they can step into their absolute best selves.

What I’m most proud of that I would want potential clients to know about my brand and my work is there is nothing I recommend that I have not personally tried myself. In the past I’ve had to lose a lot of weight, I’ve had mental health challenges, I’ve tried every single diet out there. I have over a dozen years of experience in trying all these different methods, so I know the exact ones that work and the ones that don’t work.

I’m able to empathize with you every step along the way of your journey and I truly care about your success and wellbeing. I will never, ever give up on you and I will be there every step, every rep of the way to support you to ensure you reach your goals.

I pride myself on the fact that my programs are completely customized to you and your goals—There are no cookie-cutter programs here! A lot of times in the fitness industry, I see trainers who prescribe the exact same workout program and meal plan to all of their clients, when in reality every BODY is different, which means they have different needs. It’s crucial to your success that you find a fitness professional who truly listens to your specific circumstances to develop a plan that was designed with you in mind.

I work with clients both virtually and in-person, and I love being able to serve people’s needs regardless of their location and budget—My ultimate goal is to be able to positively impact as many lives as possible and allow people to live their healthiest, most fulfilled lives. People who feel good, do good, and positive change starts with YOU!

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

What I think helped build my reputation in the Miami fitness market is a few different key things. The first course of action I always encourage people to take in getting into the health and wellness space is to study and educate yourself on the exact science behind the training and nutrition methods that you’re learning.

The first step I took when getting into fitness is I received a several accredited certifications. I was taking seminars and courses, reading textbooks, and asking other trainers about their methodology.

The number one thing you can do is focus on your education and make sure you are an expert at what you do. Even better, once you have a foundational understanding, pick a specialty and dive deep into that, so you can build a niche within your expertise to set you apart (for example, specializing in training athletes, seniors, pre-/post-natal, etc.).

The other aspect to build your reputation goes beyond your knowledge of the specific industry and is something that could help entrepreneurs in every industry. In terms of my clients, I work with top performers, CEO’s, executives—These people don’t mess around. When it comes to top notch customer service, it’s all about being professional.

Doing things like following up, for example when I’m scheduling with clients, I always send reminders the night before our session to confirm. It’s a nonnegotiable to be crisp and clear in your communication and hyper organized with your schedule. Remembering the little details and nuances that show clients you’re truly paying attention, even remembering their kids’ names, will go a long way!

The other aspect that has built my reputation is providing the results that you promise. You never want to promise something that you can’t deliver on. One piece of advice I have for other entrepreneurs is to slightly under promise and over deliver and be true to your word.

A lot of people will make these false promises or claims and it’s super important to the integrity of your businesses to uphold the things that you say you’re going to do, and to truly uphold your values. Your word is key to your reputation, and once you lose someone’s trust, it’s over. Stay true to your word and your clients will be raving about you to all their friends!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If I could go back, I would 100% choose the same profession and specialty. For me, I’ve always been passionate about fitness, about really anything in health and wellness. Being involved in fitness from a young age on, I highly value health and how important it is to your quality of life. If you don’t have your health, nothing else matters!

My advice for people who are trying to decide what profession or specialty they should dive into:

So long as you’re following your heart and your passion, that will never lead you astray. If you’re doing something that doesn’t light you up or inspire you, that’s a clear sign you are in the wrong profession.

Think about your hobbies. Think about something that you love so much you would do it for free. That is the type of profession I recommend pursuing. It may feel scary to take that leap of faith, but your passion will fuel you with the willpower to achieve what you set out to do, especially when you feel inspired by the impact your work will have on those around you.

In terms of health and fitness, the workouts, the nutrition, the sound healing, I could do this stuff all day every single day. I absolutely love it. It’s a part of my lifestyle and it’s a part of who I am. I’m beyond confident that I chose this specialty for my personal career path.

Not only is it my career path, but I also truly believe it’s my life’s calling. I’m here to live, sleep, eat, and breathe wellness, for the rest of my life! It’s an honor to serve others and I can’t wait to see the impact my holistic approach to wellness will have on the world in the years to come. It’s time to revolutionize the way we take care of our health!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nikki-pepper.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/salt.n.peppah/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/salt.n.peppah/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCsHpBwHxMDSA8wI3Cu5D_-Q
• Other: poplme.co/nikki-pepper

Image Credits
Renato Macassi