We recently connected with Siriji Lamenzo and have shared our conversation below.

Siriji, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I began my Personal Training career in 2009 and right away I had imaginations of having my own space and my own business. I’ve never been good at working for others, so Personal Training suited me great. I could learn and grow at my own pace and I got very lucky early on in my career with a good internship at a small gym where the owners taught me so much about training and honing my craft.
I spent 10 years working for myself at other people’s Personal Training gyms as an independent contractor and that always went very well for me.
When the Covid pandemic forced us into lock down, I continued for the first year working through the gym where I had been for about 5 years on zoom.
It worked great and I was able to maintain my work load and my income.
But, I was still semi-obligated to the gym owner through it all. That was ok with me because all that time working at other people’s gyms I never felt confident or financially secure enough to venture out and find a space just for myself to work from.

After the first year of working on zoom, I knew that the gym I was working from was not going to re-open. The owner at that time was not making any moves to re-open or to secure his space and I knew that it was time to move on from that situation.
So, I found another space where the owner rented out space to Personal Trainers and that situation suited me perfectly.
Nearly all my clients stayed with me as I transitioned to being fully independent and I began working out of the new space right away.
2 months into working there, the owner informed me that she was moving out of state and asked if I’d want to ‘buy her business’.
I had no interest in her business the way she had been practicing as I had my own way of doing things that was different.
There were about 5 or 6 other trainers there renting from her as well, and none of them wanted to move forward with taking over the space or her business.
So, we talked a lot about options and I spoke with the landlord of the space and through that, I learned that I could in fact take over the lease on the space, and that I could afford to buy all of her gym equipment for the price she was asking.
So, I took the risk. I jumped in head first and went for it.
The other trainers agreed to continue training there under my ownership, so I already had passive income and I began rebranding myself and setting up my own practice.
This happened in October of 2021, still in the middle of the pandemic. I had a few small hiccups in the beginning with a renter, but I was able to remove them and now I have a group of renters that are all amazing trainers.
I’ve not once regretting my decision and my practice is successful.
I finally work fully for myself and it’s an amazing feeling!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My business is Temescal Fitness & Movement in Oakland, CA.
I’ve been in Personal Training since 2009.
I focus my work on strength training, movement, body positivity, self determination, partnership and equality.
I work with people that are looking to be strong, fit and healthy for life.
I strive to dispel diet culture myths and propaganda. I strive to help my clients find their own strengths and ways to overcome the industry brainwashing.
I never push anything on my clients that does not fit with their needs and goals.
I do however push them to test themselves in the gym. I work mostly with women, mostly middle aged or older women who, like myself, have heard our whole lives that we must be thin, we must be quiet, we must be nice and we dare not be too strong. I reject those notions whole heartedly!
I strive to empower all my clients to take up space, to find their physical strengths which I’ve found leads to more confidence and more power to be comfortable in a world designed to weaken them.
I am most proud with my work when a client begins to feel their own strengths and when they acknowledge in themselves how strong they truly are. When they begin to understand the process of changing and when they tell me how good it feels in their lives.
That is why I do what I do.
More specifically, I offer 1:1, Small Group and Partner training. Every workout that we do is based around strength and movement skills. As well as balance, coordination, cardio and all the rest of it. I try to push clients outside of their comfort zone and I work with them on any and all of their own personal fitness goals. Everything is individualized and scaled to meet their needs.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My entire adult life has been spent unlearning.
I was born and raised in a high demand religious cult.
I was sent away to a boarding school in India at the age of 7. I was neglected, abandoned, abused, manipulated, brainwashed and humiliated through it all by my parents, by the cult members and basically everyone around me.
I learned later on in life how much harm that truly did to me. I suffer from CPTSD, anxiety disorders and depression.
Because of all of that, I never truly believed that I would even be alive by the age of 30. I never planned for any future. I didn’t see it for myself. I didn’t want it for myself.
I went through most of my life in a fog. In such distress and crisis that I barely had enough energy to function.
I somehow managed to make it through and at the age of 30, I realized that I was in fact still alive and healthy and strong and began my very hard work to unravel all the trauma.
Since then, that’s what I’ve been doing. Unlearning and relearning how to exist in the world without the barriers of a cult.
I knew I wanted to help people in some way, and I knew I was pretty good at coaching so I invested in myself and began personal training as well as lots and lots of therapy.
I feel now that my history and my trauma does help me to relate to my clients and to have empathy and compassion for any struggles they experience.
I’m still and will always be learning and unlearning about my own trauma and how it affects my day to day relations with the world and with people. But, as I grow more healthy and more confident, it also makes me a better coach.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I believe firmly in the notion of ‘personal’ in the Personal Training field.
Building relationships with clients. Earning their trust and listening to them.
Exercise is the easy part.
Clients won’t return if they feel unheard or dismissed.
Many of my clients have experienced that with other trainers and I think if you can slow down, listen, learn about them and never dismiss them, you’ll have a client for the long term.
Learning and educating yourself on all things fitness and health is important, but if you cannot help a client feel better in all ways it’s pointless.
I also think that it’s easy as a new trainer to want it all right away–clients, money, esteem etc. Slow down. Learn. Develop your own voice and your own way that resonates with the people you serve. That way may not be for everyone, but every trainer that I know who’s had long term success, operates in this way.
It truly comes down to the relationships and the trust that’s built between you and your clients. All the rest is easy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.temescalfitnessmovement.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/temescalfitnessmovement
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/temescalfitnessmovement
• Youtube: @temescalfitnessmovement4482

Image Credits

Siriji Lamenzo