Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mona Pretorius de Lacey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mona , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

As an elite-athlete, I represented my country for over 20 years in 3 different sports. During this time I also managed to get my Honors Degree in Sport Psychology and run my own business. It was by no means easy, and there were times where I wanted to just give it all up. But I also knew that giving up on my dream wasn’t something I could ever see myself doing no matter how tough things got.

Mona , 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 the owner of Lift Big Eat Big – which consists of a fitness app with over 30 programs to choose from, an online community where you can have contact with your coach, as well as online courses like my weightlifting mastery and future video courses.

I previously was an elite-level weightlifter, CrossFit games athlete, and a six-time karate world champion. My passion has always been to better myself as an athlete, and now it Is to help athletes like myself achieve their highest potential. On our app, we cater to a wide variety of individuals from beginner level who have never touched a weight before all the way to elite-level athletes. Our goal is to help you become the best version of yourself, no matter the level. We also provide a community where you can have access to your coach to ask questions, share your training, or even ask for video feedback on your training.

One of my biggest achievements that I am proud of is becoming a mom in 2023. This has led me down the path to sharing not just training advice but also my training journey during pregnancy and post-partum and how I worked my way back to an even better fitness level than before. I am a big believer in working with what you’ve got. I didn’t have much time; I was running a business with my husband, a mom full-time, and I also wanted to show that I could work on all of these things whilst working on my fitness goals.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

There have been numerous ways over the years to grow my clientele in the health and fitness industry. The first way I built my clientele was with my sporting accomplishments. I also had numerous experiences behind my name by having a Sport Psychology degree, coaching in person, doing workshops, and coaching certificates. Those are all very important, and I am a believer in constantly learning and educating yourself, even as a coach.

The second way is through social media and Google. My husband and I have a website called liftbigeatbig.com, and we make sure to use ranking keywords when posting our blogs so that when people search our information on Google, it will pop up as some of the top informational blogs.

Another way we have built our clientele is by having an email list we have built over the years.

These have all contributed to growing our business and getting more clients.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I am very lucky to have the cofounder as my husband. James and I bought Lift Big Eat Big in 2021, and that’s when we decided to merge my coaching expertise to grow and build Lift Big Eat Big. We now have an app we use for all of our programs and workouts. Since I had my little girl, it has been easier to build a clientele and have them all have access to our app instead of doing 1:1 coaching. This way, we can still grow our business, and I can look after my little one.

James and I both have a big passion for strength training, and we both have a background in olympic weightlifting. I believe our strengths are very different and unique, and that has made us a good team in business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://liftbigeatbig.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strongbymona/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monapretorius
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mona-pretorius-de-lacey-b8a534a4/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindsetMona
• Youtube: Strong By Mona: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeQdcKJWI6TQAoVpUoktFkQ