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

Gabriella, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I have worked in the fitness industry since 2013 and have generally worked in gyms that cared about clients as a whole versus pushing body goals. However, the mainstream fitness industry is still consistently pushing the narrative that we all need defined abs and that bouncing back like a celebrity should be the thing we all seek. I run my business far from this. In the 10 years of working in the fitness industry I have learned that how our body looks does not equate to health and health is what we should be seeking. I do not advertise major physical transformations but rather a holistic transformation, where we focus on helping people overcome mindset blocks, develop a healthy relationship with exercise and food and focus on how exercise can transform their life and not just their bodies. I have had several women who started working with me who thought feeling nauseous after working out was a win or that avoiding carbs was a must or even that they are failing because they do not have defined abs. They end up putting massive mindset roadblocks that make the process dreadful and causes them to fall into a cycle of start-stop. I work with clients to learn about mindful eating (and yes carbs are okay!), how exercise is supposed to build your body up and not make you feel sick or injured and most importantly, our bodies are all unique and that is okay. Instead of trying to be like someone else, I work with clients to focus on being the best version of themselves in the bodies they have. More often than not, clients realize it wasn’t the weight loss they wanted but the ability to feel confident. As for clients who have weight loss goals, with some mindset shifts, clients end up losing the weight they wanted to lose but in a healthier mindset and with long term results.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was introduced to fitness as a child in very intense way. There felt this sense of urgency for me to perform well and quickly. I felt the need to be a certain size in order to be accepted by my loved ones, as a result, I placed my value on my body size and expected relationships to be directly impacted by that. I ended up developing a very bad relationship with food and exercise and would often fluctuate with gaining and losing weight on and off. I loved being told I look great but I also did not feel great mentally and so it was hard to maintain the body I thought I needed to have. I never felt like I really enjoyed exercise until, I started to work out for myself. It was about feeling stronger and having a hobby, not my size. I felt free and it was an amazing feeling. I started doing research on nutrition to understand what balanced eating truly was and when I found out that yes, desserts can be included, I was ready to go. After going through a cycle of weight gain and loss and finally realizing what helped me stay consistent was focusing on how my body felt and how confident I felt in my strength, I wanted to share this with others. I started teaching group fitness classes and I loved watching clients have “aha” moments where they would do a move they never could before or they would increase the weight and accomplish the set. I loved being their to cheer them and to support them on days when they felt like they had no motivation to workout (because those days happen and thats okay!).

I worked in the fitness industry for several years working with people aged 13 to 90. My goal for everyone was to ensure they felt confident and had fun because I knew that would keep them moving forward on their journey.

In 2020, I was furloughed, like many and had a client reach out to me about doing virtual training. I gave it a try and realized this was my next step in my career. Starting a business is scary because it is unknown but I loved have the opportunity to create this space for my clients where they are seen, heard, understand and supported, no matter their goals or circumstances. I was able to create Bliss Fit LLC officially in 2021 and haven’t looked back since.

I currently offer personal training online, as well as behavior change coaching (habits/mindset) and nutrition coaching. For females who want to reset and get back into a healthy routine, I have a specific 90 Day Program called Ladies Reset and Renew. This program is the most in-depth program I have created because we look at all aspect of your health (within my scope of practice of course!) and help you formulate goals that work with your current life and help you plan steps so that you can achieve them with confidence. I created this specific program after struggling with my own health after having my second son. Stress, lack of sleep and medical issues made me forget how to take care of myself (despite working in the fitness industry). After over a year of practice, studying and research, I found systems to help me workout regularly, eating balanced and feel good in my body, while chasing two small children and running my business. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it and I’m here to help other women find that same healthy balance.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My business has been growing mostly due to referrals, which is huge. Most of the people who are referred to me, usually close without hesitation because their friend/neighbor/family member already helped them gain confidence in me before meeting them.

The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone looking for referrals is to make sure you really connect with your clients/customers. Learn their names, their children’s names, trips they are looking forward etc. People want to feel like they matter outside of the fact that they are the reason you have income. I personally, love getting to know my clients on a deeper level because it helps me provide a better service for them. If I know they will have stress around holidays, I can adjust their program to include more mindfulness around eating and handling challenging environments. If I know they are anxious about a job situation, we can incorporate some fun workouts to help distract them. The more you know, the better you can serve your clients. The better you serve your clients, the more likely they are to refer you.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I started my business, I knew my mission was to help others create sustainable healthy habits and find joy in fitness, I just didn’t know how I would go about it. I followed a few businesses on social media to get some ideas and would see certain fitness influencers do events where they could meet, network and connect with clients. I was pumped at the idea of doing big events and meeting people. Well, I learned that hard way that event planning is a lot more work and difficult to market when you are a brand new SMALL business. I have planned my own personal events and have had to cancel them due to lack of interest. It hurts when you put effort into planning and prepping, only to have no interest from people. I have also tried being a vendor at events but have only lost money from investing in a spot and have no clients actually purchase or commit to working with me. All these event blunders made me question what I was doing. Why does no one care? Well, it wasn’t that no one cared but rather, I was dipping into an area that was 1) Not my thing to be begin with 2) Is very competitive.
I took a step back and asked myself 1) Are my clients happy? 2) Is my business growing without these events? The answer was yes to both. I do not need to do events and that’s okay. I do not need to try to match other fitness businesses with their pop ups and events full of balloons and champagne. That just isnt for my business and that is okay!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blissfit.net
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/blissfitllc
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/blissfitclt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellaenniss