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

Rhema , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Sometimes I just have to take a long moment and look back on my life. I have to look back on everything that had to go right for me to be in the position I am now. I am currently a 23-year-old personal trainer working on a leave that I didn’t even dream about. The only reason I am doing so well now and have the characteristics to grow further is because of the sacrifices my parents made.

My mother, who is my rock, grew up in the projects of Detroit. My Father, who is my fixed point, was raised in a time when black men could only grow up to be drug dealers or athletes. By the grace of God, they also grew up with the passion to help others. This passion led them to complete medical school. And their passion for saving lives also brought them together in marriage, for they got married the day before they graduated. Later on, the passion they had between the two of them led to the creation of three amazing children.

I was the second born out of my family and had all the characteristics a secondborn was supposed to have. There are countless things that my parents did right for me to have the life I do now. One of those things was investing in my gymnastics dream. Between the ages of 4 and 15, I trained as a gymnast. I had a lot of natural talent and worked hard at my sport every day. However, somewhere in the 5th grade, I started to lose a lot of confidence in myself. I would compare myself to every other girl on that team and was convinced I could never be better than them. When my body started to develop, I got tall and thick. I was not like the small and skinny other little girls on my team and I noticed. On top of that, I did not have the training that some of the other girls had and my dance was extremely far behind. But my Mother was not going to let me give up on my dreams. She put me in dance classes to help me improve. She was also a dancer growing up and would coach me for hours making sure my head was in the right position and that my arms were straight and my movements strong. More than that, my Mother spoke to me, words of greatness. Before every gymnastics meet she had me sing “Girl on Fire” by Alisha Keys. She also wrote me a daily devotion, which I still say to this day. She reminded me every day of my worth, my beauty, my talent, my value, and that I am a child of God. And I remember how annoyed I used to be because she made me do so much extra work than my other teammates. But then I started to win and my smile came back. Even at a young age, I noticed that the love that she has for me is unconditional and vast. It was this vast love that caused her to give up so much of her life for the hope that I could do something that I love in my life.

During this entire story, there were two key things that my Mother taught me. The first was that I am a child of God, and it is by His grace that I am where I am today. The second was that she taught me how to work hard and work right. No matter what I was doing, I could be cleaning, doing my homework, or just playing around with my gymnastics, but she wanted it done right. If I was going to clean, I was not to do it halfway. If I was going to do my homework, I was not going to do it unless I understood the subject first. If I was just practicing gymnastics, I was going to do it the right way. Now, that I am an adult the quality of doing things right and working hard has brought me to the level I now perform at. I do right by my clients, I work hard for those I work for, and I put in hours of practice behind the scenes to make sure I always have the knowledge to grow and be 1% better every day. More so, as an African American woman in the United States, this lesson also taught me not to be bitter when others treat me wrong. Instead, I learned how to work to be great at what I do, so no one could question why I am here. She taught me that what God has for me will not pass me by.

I could go on for pages talking about my parents and everything they did right. But this story brings me to tears because I did not fully appreciate her sacrifice and my Father’s sacrifice until I was older. Currently, I work with a lot of mothers and I see the countless hours they put into their children to give them the opportunities they need to grow. They remind me of my Mother and despite the resistance I gave her, she pulled me up every time and pushed me to look past my current circumstances and ahead to the beautiful future God has in store for me. Lastly, I want to end with a quote from her, “The time is going to pass anyways, might as well use it to do something to better your life” (Kimberly A. Phillips).

Rhema , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up, becoming a personal trainer/group class instructor was never on my mind. I wanted to be a food scientist, a journalist, a TV personality, or a professional athlete. However, God had different plans. When I moved to Boca Raton Florida from Connecticut, I did not know what I would be doing besides school. I transferred to Lynn University during the summer of 2020, which was right during the heart of COVID-19. I was on the track team down here, but I was not super passionate about my sport and at this point, I was just participating because I did not know anything else besides being an athlete. However, that changed when I got a job working in the athletic communication department for Lynn University editing videos and taking pictures. I loved that Job and realized that I would much rather spend my time preparing myself for after college. During my senior year of college, I quit the track team and started working for my school’s marketing department doing event photography. I thought that this was my calling and I loved what I was doing, but again God had different plans for me.

Additionally, during this time I was also working/ working out at a gym called “Johnny O’s Gymnasium”. I was an intern there over the summer and worked on several different projects for the gym. One day, my boss asked me if I would want to teach a group class, and I was nervous, but I said yes. Little did I know, this would be the start of finding my true love. Later that year, one of the trainers who trained at the gym approached me casually and told me that he needed extra help because he was getting too busy. On a limb, I told him I could help him, and the following day I officially got started working with him. I got certified through NASM and also shadowed him every day to learn. He is one of the best in the industry and I was honored to be able to learn from such a person. I shadowed him for about 6 months, then I left to do it on my own. It was rocky at first because I did not have the confidence just yet. However, one day it just clicked and my life started to change.

I went from having no clients to over ten in a span of 3 to 4 months. I starting to work for Johnny O’s Gymnasium as an on-site trainer. Without this gym, I would not be where I am now. The owner gave me room to grow not only as a trainer but also as a woman. I found that I had a true talent for teaching group classes and closing sales. I learned how to quickly relate to people and talk to them in a way that reassured them that I was there to help. This was the truth. And every day I wake up feeling blessed that I can help so many people. More so, in about two and a half years, I have grown to become the lead trainer at this gym. I have worked with about 40 individual clients and currently train over 170 people a week. I am also the youngest trainer at the gym. I do not say any of this to brag but to highlight the blessing that God gave to me. I have been able to help every one of my clients in all different ways. I was able to help many young athletes excel in their sports ranging from pickleball, to track and field. I have aided in several weight loss journeys, helping both men and women reach their ideal body shape. A good majority of my clients come to me because I help them to exercise pain-free! I am very particular about body form during an exercise, and I help to strengthen the smaller muscles of the body which leads to creating an overall strong person. So many people are not working out anymore, due to aches and pains all over the body. But I have found that this does not have to be the case. Many of my clients are doing things they have not been able to do in 20 years because of the way we now train their bodies. I have learned that movement is medicine and we do not have to live in constant pain.

During my time as a personal trainer, I was surprised by how emotional I got over my client’s progress. However, if I could pick just one thing that never fails to bring tears to my eyes, is the return of someone’s confidence. Fitness is so much more than about looking impeccable. Fitness for many people is therapy and the one thing in their lives that they can control. Being fit brings them confidence and comfort. I saw people come out of their shells and strut into the gym knowing that they looked good and felt good! Seeing my clients reach their goals and become more confident is my favorite part of my job because I see what it takes behind the scenes to get them to where they want to be. When one of my clients decides to start training, they will have to come in when they feel like it and when they don’t. They come to the gym when they are stressed out and tired. However, they don’t give up and they stay consistent until that one day when they finally notice the fruit of their hard work. The smile that they have is so beautiful, men and women alike. And this is why I love doing what I do because I truly get it to help people change their lives. A lot of my clients came to me as a last resort to fix whatever problem they have been facing. I don’t take this lightly at all and I tell people who are working to become trainers themselves, that it is an honor that someone is trusting you with their body. More than that, I always tell people that being a trainer also means being a therapist. I find it so interesting that people who are twice or sometimes three times my age are confiding in me about their daily problems. Again, this makes me feel honored that I can help them in a multitude of ways.

Lastly, to the ones reading this article, who may be struggling with your fitness, decide to start today. Whether you go on a walk or head down to the beach, make a decision to just start moving. Your fitness journey does not have to start in the gym or at a Pilates class. Start your journey with a form of fitness that you enjoy and this will make it easier to stay consistent because you are doing something you love to do!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Being raised in the sport of gymnastics, I had to unlearn the lesson that practice makes perfect and that perfect practice makes perfect. This is not the reality that we live in, for practice makes for progress. Sometimes it is progress in the right direction or sometimes you have progress that is taking you backwards. But this is a lesson I had to learn or I would not be where I am now.

For those who do not know, gymnastics is a sport that strives for perfection. You have to be in complete control of your body and you must be aware of every little detail to do well in the sport. This idea of perfect did not just apply to my gymnastics, but my life as well. I had to be perfect in school, perfect at home, perfect doing anything that I put my hands to do. This mindset led me to get straight A’s throughout high school and college. This way of life taught me how to stay out of conflict and not to make my parents worry for me. I was the best-behaved child, for the most part, out of my family. I excelled at most things and I made many achievements as a youth. However, this also led to many disappointments because I was not satisfied unless I was perfect. I had to be in control of everything around me, which led to several things that aggravated me. As I got older, this mindset definitely started to change and I was learning to have more grace for myself, but I was still struggling a lot. I took every moment that I was not perfect as a personal defeat. Whether I did.t get a particular job, or the boy that I liked did not like me back, the answer as to why was always because I was not perfect enough for them. This led to depression and having zero concept of self-worth. I struggled mentally for years and years, achieving great things, but never happy because I knew I could do better. However, this all changed when I started to take my relationship with God seriously. Through finding Jesus, I found myself. I learned of my worth, my value, and my beauty. I learned that God gives us grace when we don’t deserve it, so why can’t I give myself that same type of grace? So, I started to have grace for myself and enjoy the process of becoming someone great. God taught me that practice makes progress. Due to this shift of mindset, I started to enjoy life more having realized how much I had already done by the age of 23. But I have also learned that I am just starting my career and I need to be patient. Now, I live such a peaceful life, having let go of the burden of perfection. I still work hard every day, but I also now give myself time to rest and recover. I have learned, but also still learning how to always live in the present, for it is a gift from God.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

One of the most effective ways to grow your clientele is to be real. I work in an industry where a lot of things are facts and fads, creating an unrealistic expectation for the ideal body type. People are sick of trying things that don’t work, and being honest and genuine can be your best sales technique. Also, you need to have confidence in yourself. When I first started personal training, I could not close sales and none of my clients stayed with me forever long. This was because even though I genially wanted to help them, I did not have confidence in myself. No one is going to want to train with someone unsure about themselves. You need to be able to confidently sell yourself as a service to help them reach their goals. Even though you want to help people and you have the knowledge to help others, you need to make your potential clients believe and see that they need you in their lives. You need to build yourself up as the most priceless thing on the earth. Currently, I can walk into an evaluation knowing that I will get this particular person on some type of program with me. But you can’t be money-hungry, you have to want to help others and want them to succeed. Individuals can tell when someone just wants to take from them, you need to have the mindset of, “What can I give to them”. Furthermore, fitness charges lives, and if you can keep this first on your mind when approaching new clients, you will be able to build up your clientele and also positively impact the lives of many!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Rhema_lp
• Facebook: Rhema_lp
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits

Sandro Miala