We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lisa May a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lisa , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I spent 30 years in morning radio in Los Angeles. I loved my job as a traffic reporter and on-air personality on The Kevin And Bean Show on 106.7 KROQ. I assumed that this would be my last job and then I would retire and volunteer and travel.
While I was working in radio I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, a thyroid disease that’s very common in women and had to do a complete health overhaul. I started working with a naturopath, adopted an anti-inflammatory diet, worked on my stress level, quality of sleep, etc. My focus changed from trying to get and stay thin, to being healthy. That led me to a strength training studio in Burbank called The Strength Code where I started doing one-on-one 30 minute training sessions just once a week. A cascade of good things happened after I started training. I felt better and more energetic. The stronger I got the more I was willing to do things like go on hikes with friends, try a spin class, check out pilates, try a rock climbing wall and go zip-lining. I was hooked and never wanted to stop.
When I was around 55, I looked for a similar studio in Palm Springs, where my fìance and I intended to move in a few years, and I couldn’t find any. That’s when the idea hit that if I wanted to continue this workout, I would have to open a studio.
I had zero business experience, no desire to be an entrepreneur and I wasn’t even a personal trainer. YET. But in 2020, 1 week before Covid lockdown, I signed a lease for a space in Palm Desert, and almost 5 years later, the studio is thriving and I have a second personal trainer that works for me.
The owner of The Strength Code in Burbank, Sheila Melody, had become a friend, and was instrumental in helping make all this happen. I got my personal training certification while still in radio, then a High Intensity Training certification and started spending my weekends at Sheila’s studio, observing and learning from her trainers. After a time, I had friends come in so I could train them and eventually started getting my own clients.
Sheila had so much enthusiasm and was so willing to share all she had been through with her studio. We spoke regularly and when I started buying equipment I always got her opinion. These are big machines that weigh anywhere from 500 lbs up to 2000 lbs for the leg press. Sheila allowed me to sign a licensing agreement with her so that I could use all of the branding she had created. Honestly, if I had had to start from scratch, I wouldn’t have done this. It was incredibly difficult WITH her help. It never would have happened without her.
Covid was a real problem. I couldn’t get my equipment, which was coming from all over the country, delivered to my studio until late July of 2020. I had signed my lease in March of the same year. The good thing about the wait was that the space needed a lot of work and I had the time to get it done. A close friend of mine, who has a wonderful eye for design, was so helpful in finding a contractor, picking out tile and carpet and paint, and the design of the studio. Thank goodness for friends!
I had a “soft” opening in September of 2020. I had a few close friends that came to train with me and a few clients who already had previous experience with the high intensity slow motion training method we use. I wore a mask and my clients wore masks and I only had one client in the studio at a time, and that’s how it was for the first 6 months or so.
The snow birds started coming to the Coachella Valley in the beginning of 2021 and I got a few more clients, but it was very slow going. The Coachella Valley is far more seasonal than I had realized and it’s a tough place to open a business. Many restaurants close for the summer and a lot of them never reopen. The heat of the summer means $400-$500 electric bills for my 1,208 square foot studio, and of course that’s when I have the fewest clients.
One thing I did to help grow my business during that year was connect with studio owners in other states who had clients coming to the desert for the winter. That started to bring in a few more people and then I got some referrals, as well. I also found a networking group of people that I really liked and that helped me to start feeling like I belonged somewhere. I didn’t find it super helpful in getting me new clients but it has turned out to be an amazing resource. A gentleman in our group works with a local magazine that’s hyper-focused on a few key cities in the Coachella Valley. I started running an ad in the Rancho Mirage Insider and a woman in the group who used to own her own ad agency created the ad for me. That started bringing in a trickle of clients as well.
I have to admit that I didn’t have an actual business plan, a 2-year goal or a 5-year goal. Or a mission statement. I picture this whole enterprise as me closing my eyes and taking a step, and then closing my eyes and taking the next step. I honestly couldn’t think beyond the next step or I would have bailed. I had spent my entire radio career woking with a group of people, as opposed to being alone in a radio studio, because I knew I didn’t enjoy working alone. And now here I was, alone in my studio, waiting for the next client, which could be in an hour, or three hours. It was a lonely, discouraging time.
In the Fall of 2022, almost all of the snow birds who worked with me the previous year returned to me for the new season, and I got more clients through referrals and my ad. Although they all left at the end of May 2023, my full-time clientele was building.
I was able to hire a part-time trainer in the summer of 2023 with the expectation that I would have enough clients in the fall to keep her busy for two and a half days a week, and that has worked out well. I’m hoping that this winter we’ll have enough clients that she can quit her parttime job and work with me full time.
We spent this past summer working on our social media – I took a class from a realtor in my networking group – and now we’re regularly showing up in the top three of the map pack when you search through Google for a personal trainer or strength training in Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage.
So here we are – still standing. I’m kind of amazed. To be honest, when you have big heavy exercise machines, the idea of throwing in the towel isn’t as easy as just not signing the next lease. You have to sell those machines and get them transported and all that can take a long time. That’s probably what kept me going as much as anything when it was really hard and lonely.
I had to live on savings for the first two years, but the studio now pays for itself, even through the summer, which makes me really happy. And having a second trainer is wonderful. Someone to bounce ideas against, someone with a different point of view. It’s great. And every client we have is someone I genuinely enjoy. Even when it was really hard and lonely, I loved connecting with our clients, knowing about their lives, and helping them to enjoy their lives more by working with them to make them stronger.
Lisa , 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 think I may have covered a lot of this already, but the product I provide is a method of resistance training that’s incredibly safe, effective and efficient. There’s a book called Body By Science by Dr. Doug McGuff that explains the science behind this workout.
We use mostly machines, because you can work your way up in weight on machines in a way that you never could using free weights. Using our slow motion method, we eliminate momentum, and that’s what makes this workout so safe. Momentum is responsible for the vast majority of injuries in the gym. So when you’re moving the weight slowly and you feel something catch, or you don’t feel right, you have time to stop so we can figure out what’s happening and how to fix it. Another benefit of going slowly is that you really get to feel the muscles you’re using to lift and lower the weight. You kind of drop into your body in a way that you can’t when you’re moving more quickly. We also insist on perfect form on every exercise, to keep you safe.
Our method of resistance training is also very effective. We set the weight so that you can only lift and lower a weight for about 2 minutes before you discover that you can’t move it another inch. Then we tell you to keep pushing for another 10 seconds – that’s call the threshold push – and then you lower the weight and we move to the next machine. If your form starts to deteriorate before you reach “momentary muscular failure” we will also have you stop. We need you to be able to maintain perfect form before we can raise the weight on a particular machine. This method allows us to exhaust all of your muscle fibers, from the slow twitch to the fast twitch, on each exercise, and that provides maximum stimulation of your muscles. Only working for 2 minutes on a machine means you’re only doing 6-12 repetitions, which is very kind to your joints, tendons and ligaments.
Lastly, our slow motion, high intensity resistance training is very efficient. Since you’re only spending a maximum of 2 1/2 minutes on a machine, you can get a full-body workout in just 30 minutes, but you”ll still walk out of the studio feeling a little bit like a noodle. Sure, you could spend an hour or two hours in a gym 3-4 days a week, but why would you?
Most of our clients come in twice a week. They always work with us one-on-one, and there are never more than two clients and two trainers in the studio at any one time. All we ask them to do is come in and do the very best they can. And that’s different from week to week, depending on their stress level, the quality of their sleep and nutrition, etc. We take care of the rest – what exercises they do, where we set the weights, and the protocol. We don’t count their reps, we make their reps count. :)
Rest in another component of this workout. Our clients are encouraged to do other activities if they want, like a pilates class, a round of golf or some pickleball, but those two training sessions with us are the only weight training we want them to do. Muscles aren’t built during the workout. They’re built during the rest period, when muscle fibers repair and get a little bit thicker, so rest is absolutely necessary.
We tend to work with an older clientele – mid 50’s all the way up to mid 80’s, with most of them in their 60’s and 70’s. While someone doesn’t have to be the same age as their clients to understand them, we do think the fact that both Wendy and I are in our 60’s means we truly understand the aches, pains and limitations that our clients deal with. We challenge them, but we’re not trying to crush them. Our goal is to help them continue to do the things they love to do for as long as possible.
Our motto is “we make it quick, we make it safe, and we make it fun!” And we do. The work our clients do in our studio is important, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be fun. We both make sure we know each other’s clients and make sure clients who come before and after each other are introduced. Our studio is a little community and we want everyone to be a part of it.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I’ve found that connecting with other health professionals has been very valuable. It’s been a slow road finding people who are willing to spend the time to meet with me, but it’s been so helpful. I have a wonderful chiropractor that I use and have recommended to clients, and if we have their permission, we will discuss them during my chiropractic session. Maybe they tweaked their back during a long car ride or pulled something playing golf. I can’t know everything but I can create a group of people that I can use as a resource. I made a point to meet a PT that a client of mine was using, and an excellent pilates teacher that works with one of my clients. I also have massage therapist that is really quite talented in helping people with long-term back and neck issues.
I belong to a group called High Intensity Training. We all do the same type of training and we have mastermind meetings several times a month where we discuss all the aspects of running our businesses, the wins we’ve had and the challenges we’re dealing with. Some of the members have owned studios for years and have already been through it all. They are wonderful resources for those of us who haven’t been at it as long. And I make use of podcasts that are about this type of training. So much good information is available once you know where to look! I wish I had joined this High Intensity Training group at the beginning, but it felt a little too intimidating and overwhelming at the time.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
In the beginning, I wasn’t making use of social marketing, or much of any other kind of marketing. I was just treading water and those things, although important, just weren’t things I was able to tackle at that time. The more I found my sea legs the more I was able to start looking at how we could use social media and other forms of publicity to our advantage. My trainer, Wendy, used to work in PR, and she pitched me to be on a local TV show called Eye on The Desert. It was a great opportunity to talk about my back round in LA radio and also talk about how and why I opened up The Strength Code Palm Desert.
I’m also going to be on a podcast next month that focuses on local business and their backstory. I’ve found that my radio back round makes for some lively conversation and good stories and tells potential clients about who I am, and why I’m passionate about what I’m doing and that makes them more comfortable coming into the studio.
We’re also using an ad in a local magazine that allows us to do an editorial every 4 months. We always ask two clients to tell their story and talk about how working with us has helped them. That’s a very powerful way to establish a good reputation.
I think our reputation is enhanced because we offer a complimentary workout to anyone who’s interested. We do that because we believe in what we do and we think people will “get it” once they experience it. We also tell clients that we don’t have a contract. If you come in for two months and decide it’s not for you, or it’s not for you right now, that’s ok. We do understand that although we think this is truly the best and safest way to improve your strength and mobility, it’s not the only way and it’s not always a perfect fit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thestrengthcodepalmdesert.com
- Instagram: @thestrengthcodepalmdesert
- Facebook: @thestrengthcodepalmdesert
- Linkedin: The Strength Code Palm Desert
Image Credits
Flash Frozen Photography Inc.