We recently connected with Pedro Molina and have shared our conversation below.
Pedro, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
After graduating SDSU, I was working as a personal trainer at a private studio La Jolla, CA. I further honed in my skills and did really well with a full load of clientele. The money was great and I was enjoying myself.
A few years later, after a series of bad personal and business decisions, the owner of the studio’s troubles were many. Consequently, he started treating me unfairly. My relationship with him suffered. I was no longer enjoying myself and I was faced with the stress that I NEEDED the job, so I was stuck because I now had a family and a mortgage.
After much advice and prayer I decided I can no longer stay. I was gripped with fear about what will happen next, but the negative affect on my life was now more than the fear that was keeping me there.
Stepping out in faith, I resigned. I had no idea what was going to happen next.
I hate clichés. Every time I hear one I cringe, but I can’t deny that most are true. “One door closes, another opens” comes to mind. If it wasn’t for that trying time in my life and the decisions that followed, I would not have the business and the success I have now. It was a defining moment that forced a paradigm shift in the way I used my skills to help others. It forced me out of my comfort zone and re-kindled my entrepreneurial spirit.
Pedro, 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?
After personal training, I was invited by a client to the fitness center available to him at work. I put together a fitness class for all employees and I had the lightbulb moment to expand my services to other employers. I started the grind with good old fashioned sales and started to contact companies throughout San Diego. From a fitness background, my corporate wellness skills were still growing, so I mainly offered fitness services such as:
-Health coaching (in-person and virtual)
-On-site (and now virtual) group fitness classes
-On-site health and wellness lunch and learns
-Health and Wellness webinars
-Personal training
-On-site fitness center management/design/maintenance
My corporate wellness training was furthered by developing relationships with health care brokers throughout San Diego. I learned about the many Healthy Partners and resources that are available to corporations to help their employees live healthier lives. I worked side by side with health care brokers to understand the gaps in their offerings and how we can promote engagement and increase the utilization of the Healthy Partners. I sat on their wellness committees and soon began building my own wellness committees composed of employees within the organization that helped us design programs that are tailored to their individual needs and culture. I’ve had the pleasure of working with companies like Hologic Inc., Scripps Health and Kaiser Permanente to name a few.
What sets us apart is personalization. Companies do a great job of providing resources for employees to thrive, but lack in the area of having an advocate that guide the individual through the continuum of the health and fitness journey. We make ourselves available as mentors and health coaches through a cutting edge platform that allow us to help employees in three main areas of need: meals, mindset, and movement.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
You can tell a tree by its fruit. In this field, we help others live better, healthier lives everyday and you can’t be effective unless you have taken on that same journey yourself. You have to do the work yourself. Ask yourself, what am I doing to further my mental health? What am I doing to eat healthier? What am I doing to keep up my physical health? As you partner with your clients in this journey you will discover resources that work for you and can share from your own path the challenges and victories that you face.
The country’s health is not suffering for lack of training and knowledge. Through the internet, resources are available now more than ever. People need to connect and realize that they are not alone. You can’t give what you don’t have so if you strive to live the life you are professing, you will succeed and help many others in the process.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The Covid pandemic led to a our greatest modern day collective trauma. The government led selective shutdown of businesses deemed essential and non-essential furthered this trauma. The Fitness and Wellness industry was one of the sectors deemed “non-essential.” Fitness centers and in person fitness activities were shut down. 50% of our business disappeared and we found ourselves with the need to pivot.
We entered the online space and we scrambled to familiarize ourselves with the technologies available – something that we had plans to do in the future, but now had to be done immediately. Platforms such as Zoom, Teams, and Webex become part of our our online toolbox. We moved all our on-site fitness and personal training sessions online and strove to keep the connection with our customers. We also shifted on-site lunch and learns and offered webinars that addressed the growing need for mental wellness.
Consequently, this pivot has allowed us to reach customers that were previously out of our geographical area. We now service clients and organizations in the East and West coast. Corporations with business units all over the U.S. now can take advantage of our online fitness classes and webinars through the platform of their choice. As many employees have shifted to work from home, we responded by making our services available to them.
Additionally, one of our most exciting pivot’s was the introduction of a new platform called SmartSwapping.com. Its focus is on the three main areas that lead to achieving greater health: meals, mindset, and movement. Through it, we can hep individuals create better habits that they will want to keep for a lifetime. Participants can interact with a health coach and have true personalization and engagement.
People’s physical and mental health continues to suffer and the consequences of the shutdown will be experienced for many years to come. This has taught us to not sit comfortably on “business as usual, ” but continue to innovate and pivot where necessary to meet the needs of our customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aztecfit.com
- Instagram: @aztecwellness
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedromolina619/
- Other: www.smartswapping.com