We recently connected with Melvin Harden III and have shared our conversation below.
Melvin , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
To be completely honest I never seen myself starting a personal/online training business until I had a friend who wanted to get a revenge body after her last relationship. I love to workout in general and she basically bullied (forced) me to get her in shape and she would pay me around $20-$30 a week for 2-3 sessions. Now that was the cost of my membership per month so to start off it made since to me and she was a friend so I was not trying to charge above and beyond just starting out.
After a few sessions with her and looking up the potential income personal trainers could actually make, my attention was hooked on training people. To be one of the main building blocks in people’s lives (like tree trunks), and help them push past limits they didn’t believe they could was so fulfilling to me. It didn’t hurt that I was able to create my own schedule as well, which allowed me more freedom to build up the business while still maintaining a job to pay my bills.
I knew this was a worthwhile endeavor when I had other people comment on my friend’s progress and ask me to create them a program to begin at their residence. That’s when online training caught my attention. Having my own app and uploading workouts so people could use them at ANY time with NO excuses. That was my motto. It’s no excuses here. “Just shut up and work” – LéWork
Melvin , 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?
I am an overly optimistic person who hates excuses and does not care about focusing on what you can not control. Your physical health is a medium that can be controlled with consistent efforts and since you need it to live daily it should be something we actually care about you know? So my goal was to make being healthy “cool” again.
So I decided to start dabbling into health products for my clients and really give them products that could change their lives and not just 100 nutrients packed together without care or certain intentions to heal the body. I researched and studied sea moss which is one of the top superfoods to ever exist. Sea moss helps a plethora of issues in the body and I wanted to help people see the benefits of what making a few small changes can do for your body.
Sea moss has a “healthy” taste so what I did to help out those who pretend they only can eat foods that taste good (sadly those are usually the worst foods for us like desserts) so I put on my thinking cap, went to work, and made multiple flavors along with a healthy sugar free lemonade (Charged Lemonade) as well to help people transition into a healthier lifestyle without down right hating the whole process.
What I am most proud of is that people know me for not giving up and not accepting anyone else’s truth as my own. I focus being solution oriented and to know people come to me for that and know me as a person who will always somehow persevere is what truly makes me proud. My clients know that I will give my all and some to make sure we accomplish the goals we set out to complete. We may adjust as life throws curveball but we NEVER QUIT!
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Being yourself and getting vulnerable with them so they can see too, that you are human and make mistakes just like everyone else. Letting people know you aren’t perfect, yet striving to be accountable and an upstanding human being not just a “awesome” trainer.
With health and fitness, I wish I was taught earlier in life a lot of the health hacks/tips/tricks/etc. A lot of the things I know I felt could’ve helped certain family members have a better understanding and other ways to elevate our health with small consistent actions daily.
So the things I have learned I make sure to get those tips and tricks out to my clients, family, friends, etc so we can stop acting obvious to knowing what healthier route/steps that can be taken. When you are openly honest and let people in on your daily struggles as well, it allows them to resonate with you more and see no one is perfect. That alone is one of the most effective strategies for growing clientele.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social media is a tricky place but if you can focus in on a niche, building a social media audience is not that hard.
The BIGGEST way to build your audience starts with two things. Be authentic. Be consistent. Without those two things, it is VERY has to build an audience on social media organically. Now hashtags are every important to get others who may love what you post to engage with your content. Now realize this.. Anyone can buy followers, but those followers are bots and usually don’t interact, and Instagram removes bots randomly all the time so you would be wasting money steadily buying followers.
You can have 1 million followers and not make one sale at all (happened to a very popular IG model) and you can have 100 followers and sell out every week! The goal is to build an organic following that loves your message/purpose/mission so you do not have to pretend to be someone you aren’t and keep up a facade.
We want genuine people in our lives and we attract them by being ourselves, and the same goes for social media and building your audience. You’d be surprised but you can make a page about collecting bottle caps and people who genuinely loves that will start following/interacting with you.
I know it is “cliche” and I thought the same when it was told to me, but it is very true. Be yourself, and be consistent at being your true self and people will come naturally. In all walks of life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leworkfitness.com
- Instagram: @leworkfitness
- Facebook: LéWork Fitness
Image Credits
Dez Santana