We were lucky to catch up with Candy Hoke recently and have shared our conversation below.
Candy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?
The biggest mistake people make in life is waiting. We wait to take action, because we think things need to be a certain way before we start. I say work with what you have and build on it over time. I was a trainer for Golds Gym when Covid 19 hit the world and shut everything down. I only did fitness at my gym and had no equipment at home to use when the world stopped. My husband and I found 3 kettlebells on Craigslist for us to use for At Home workouts, and we hated it. During this time we had a Sprinter van we used for camping and motorcycle trips and I got an idea. My husband is a Fabricator and I asked him if he could figure out a way to build a rack in the van, so it could be our mobile gym to drive to the park. It wasn’t long and he built a fold out rack for us to do pull ups and TRX on, and off to the park we went to train. My friends started to complain about not being able to workout and I offered to teach them a class at the park with my 3 kettlebells, bands, and the rack set-up. Once we started making this our routine, I started getting a lot of attention from park bystanders and eventually people wanted to ask for my business card. I knew one day I wanted to leave Golds Gym and go out on my own, but had no idea or income to make it happen. This idea came up organically and was for my husband and I, and now I went from training out of a van for 3 years to having my very own fitness studio in Echo Park, CA.
Candy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a personal trainer who specializes in corrective exercises to help muscle imbalances caused daily posture for work, old injuries, etc… I also specialize in strength training, stretching, mobility, Animal Flow, Kettlebells, and Nutrition. I started out my career in fashion with a Bachelors degree in Fashion Marketing, and did that for 10 years before realizing I wanted to do something that helped others and didn’t harm the planet. I quit my job and moved into an RV while studying to be a Certified Personal Trainer, and then moved to LA to live in my Sprinter van while doing an internship in Pasadena to build my confidence as a trainer. Fast forward to Covid 19 and I was working at Golds Gym, and when the world ended I asked my husband to make our Sprinter Van our mobile gym. I trained at Elysian Park for 3 years out of a Van I once lived in and now have my own Fitness Studio in Echo Park, CA.
The clients I currently have are from my days at Golds, the Park, and walk-ins and they all say they love my style of training because I make them feel more mobile, strong, higher endurance, and they have FUN! I do 1 on 1 training, and Small Group Classes that everyone has a blast in! My groups are small (6-8) people of all sexes, ages (25-60) and all different backgrounds who just want to feel good, and I’m here for it!
I’m proud of the family I have built with my business and the love I give has been given back to me 10x. I couldn’t have gotten this studio without the support of my clients from the past to now.
I want people to know my Fitness Studio is a safe place to be yourself, love yourself, better yourself, and have FUN!
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Initially I started my business with what I had. I already had my Sprinter Van, a couple of kettlebells, and some resistance bands. I had my husband make a rack for the back of the van with plumbing pipe, until eventually he upgraded it to nicer square tubing.
Once I started taking a lot of transactions for training packages through PayPal and Stripe I was offered Capitol loans through them that repaid themselves with a percentage per transactions. These Capitol loans are what still help my business today. I was able to build up my credit with these invisible loans by paying off debts and increasing my credit lines on my actual credit cards with the Credit Bureau not seeing I had loans. I would pay these loans off quickly through transactions and be offered another one and often more each time. By the time I got my fitness studio I had a good amount of equipment already and available credit lines to use to cover costs of setting the studio up and covering rent, as I built the business up to cover my additional new overhead.
Now… when I got approved for the studio I needed $9,000 to get in and money to cover rent while using my credit to do things to set the studio up. These funds came from my clients…without me asking! When I found the studio I started talking to my clients about it and I kept updating them on the status. Once I was approved I told everyone I just had to find $9,000 to get in and I would surely be able to figure that out…and then a client of 4 years told me her and her husband would spot me and I could pay back or trade back whenever I could! I was so shocked and so grateful, but then I realized I needed more funds to keep me afloat while I took on setting up the studio and building more clientele to cover my new overhead. Again….another client told me they were saving up for a house in LA, and it was going to be a long time until they had it all and the money would just be sitting in their account, so they would front me and I could pay or trade them back whenever I could! I couldn’t believe it!! I never asked, I honestly just talked to my clients like they were my friends/family about what I was trying to do and the Universe helped me out.
I think when your purpose is to serve others, and its from a deep place that things will fall into place. Start now with what you have and build! Use platforms like PayPal and Stripe that offer Capitol and play the game. Keep your clients informed and let the world know your intentions and things will fall into place.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My first career was Fashion Marketing. I received a BA in Fashion Marketing in 2009 and from there started working for Forever 21 in North Carolina. They were the only retail in NC that had Visual Merchandising positions, and that was my passion. I loved styling mannequins, and creating the vibe of each trend in sections of the stores. Unfortunately the only way at the time to move up and make more money was to transfer to problem stores. I was in 5 different locations in NC, before I moved out to LA and worked for the same company. I started out in Burbank, and then was transferred to Glendale at the then corporate location. I couldn’t believe I was there, but my Mom became very ill and after 2 years I had to move back to NC to help her figure out her life dealing with kidney failure. I had to return to a retail store at an Outlet where everyone was intimidated by me because I came from corporate. They took me as a threat, when really I just wanted to help and be creative. It was an entire different vibe from being in the LA locations. I started to feel shut-down and my growth was stunted. I woke up not wanting to go to my job anymore and so I started to brainstorm about my life and my passions. One morning while out for breakfast I was talking to my husband and asked him what do you think I’m passionate about, aside from Fashion? He said, fitness and health. This was true! I had been obsessed with fitness since 2009 when I had lost 30 pounds. I never missed a workout, I would always invite friends to join me, and I posted on social media about it and my food like crazy!
Once I figured out my other passion, I researched courses and eventually started going to school online. When our apartment lease was up we downgraded our life to live in an RV and I quit my job at Forever 21. Minimalist living helped us live off just my husbands income while I studied. It was a difficult road, but I’m so happy I made the move! It was like the universe heard me and was preparing me to eventually move back to LA. As I mentioned before, I lived in my Sprinter Van before it became my business and this is how it happened. We came to visit for a vacation and once we got here, we realized we wanted to move back and so I stayed here in the Van and found an internship to attend to help me finish my Certified Personal Trainer program, and my husband flew back to NC to continue working and saving money for us both to move here. We already had most of our stuff in a storage unit from living in the RV, so moving back out here was easy! Once I completed the internship I started at Golds Gym in DTLA and when Covid hit I started using the van to train and now here I am in my Studio.
Take risks, and be uncomfortable. That is how you grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bodybycandyfitness.com
- Instagram: Bodybycandyfitness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Body-by-Candy-Fitness-100039128450640/
Image Credits
Meredith Devine