We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allison Goldsmith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allison below.

Hi Allison, thanks for joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

Every single day is heartwarming. It is a privilege to help all different populations of people learn to exercise safely to improve their quality of life.

A few small anecdotes –

About 4 years ago, a client, a woman in her early 50s, was unable to walk up and down stairs due to arthritis in her knees. Her job required her to walk up and down stairs frequently, and she was going to quit. We worked safely, progressed steadily, and stayed consistent. In one year she lost over 30lb and can now walk up and down stairs with no pain. She was able to keep working, pain free.

I have a client with breast cancer, she is in her mid 20s and was also diagnosed with cancer as a child. She has a heart of gold and became a nurse oncologist because of her childhood experience. I started training her when she found out that she had cancer again. She felt defeated and weak. She was so determined to exercise during her treatment because she knew that it would help her manage the side effects. We were working towards doing a forearm plank, which she believed she could not do. We focused on her core strength, and through modifications and progressions, she finally did that plank. She started to cry and said, “I thought I would never be able to do that again, thank you so much.” I get emotional every time I think of that moment.

I teach yoga to children with autism. There was one teenager who had never done yoga before – he was timid, but open to trying. During his first class we did a cat-cow and he lit up and smiled. He followed the instructions beautifully and never gave up when we did a challenging pose. He loves yoga and now comes to class weekly. He’s fantastic and I love seeing his shyness melt away.

A client, woman in her late 60s, was experiencing depression from chronic pain. We worked on mind-body connection, breathing and incorporating exercises that were manageable. With each session she grew stronger, more confident and happier. After a few months of training she told me she was finally starting to feel like herself again, and said she couldn’t have done it without me.

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’m Allison Goldsmith, a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor, yoga teacher, barre instructor and Pilates instructor. I am a cancer exercise specialist and older adult fitness specialist. I’m also a nutrition coach. I offer one-one-one personal training sessions in-person and virtually. I teach weekly classes in-person and virtually for all different populations, i.e. yoga for autistic children, strength training for people with cancer, barre for older adults, and the list goes on.

I got into the fitness industry because I love fitness. Working out it is my coping mechanism for my OCD and anxiety. When I start to feel intrusive thoughts I use exercise and wellness tools to help alleviate the symptoms. For example, I practice breathing techniques, go on meditation walks, journal, and do all types of exercise, especially yoga. Exercise helped shape me into the person I am today. I don’t run marathons or lift huge weights, but I’m consistent. Consistency is key! I help people learn to want to move and do good for your body and mind.

Exercise saves lives! I’ve watched countless people with extreme trauma (from cancer treatments to being hit by a car) increase their strength, mobility, flexibility, endurance, and power – physically, mentally and emotionally!

My mission – I believe movement is medicine. Everyone should have access to safe and fun movement. I want to one day be able to teach virtual classes for thousands of people across the globe at a very low cost so that people can get healthy and improve their quality of lives without breaking the bank.

I host affordable community pop classes every month that include collaborations within my wellness network. Here are a few events I have hosted in the past –

Yogalates – hybrid class of yoga and pilates
Balance & Reset – 20 minutes of functional body weight strength training, 10 minutes of guided meditation and 10 minutes of guided journaling – cohost with a board certified wellness coach.
Pilates & Sound Bath – 25 minutes of pilates and 25 minutes of sound bath – cohost with a sound healer.
Fit & Fueled – 30 minute pilates sculpt class, 20 minute lecture on nutrition and 10 minutes for Q&A – cohost with a registered dietician.
Exercise Snacking – I teach people how to get in small bouts of exercise throughout the day – i.e. ankle mobility while sitting at your desk, calf raises while waiting in line at the grocery store, and dynamic stretches on a plane.

I post short workouts that you can do anywhere on youtube, Instagram and Tiktok. All of the workouts I post are meant to be realistic and accessible for the everyday person. People get intimidated by 1 hour workouts, or exercises that are extreme and then end up not working out at all and feel defeated – my job is to stop that. That’s why I like making exercise attainable, safe and fun for everyone – no matter your experience/level.

Have you ever had to pivot?

This makes me laugh! I never knew what I wanted “to do” with my life. I loved being a student, went to college and studied communications because I enjoy making genuine connections with people and know that communication is key to all successful relationships. After college I tried working in human resources and failed miserably. I felt trapped at my desk, every email that dinged in my inbox left me feeling like I was going to faint and after only a few months I quit. I felt like a complete failure. I was lost, I tried to find a job that suited me and nothing felt right. I worked on the sales floor at Bloomingdale’s for 3 years, that’s a story in itself, I then became a marketing coordinator at a nonprofit wellness center, and then finally figured out that all of these years after while I was working and trying to figure it out, the only thing that was consistently making me happy was fitness. I decided to make exercise my career and got my certification in personal training. It’s been 5 years now and I love every day of it. Yes, I pivoted careers and jobs many times before coming to the realization that I could make fitness my career.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The wellness/fitness field is oversaturated with personal trainers, fitness instructors and influencers. So how to stand out and grow a clientele has been a challenge.

I know I can’t compete with everyone so I made sure to have a niche and understand my scope of practice. I found clients that I knew I could help – i.e. people going through cancer treatments, older adults looking to maintain independence and children who need to learn mind-body awareness. I looked for clients that reminded me of myself. People who want to utilize exercise to increase quality of life, not necessarily to become a professional athlete or body builder. I know my lane.

Another very important aspect is to focus on exposure, networking, attending events and word of mouth. I attend all different wellness events as much as possible to meet new people in my field and adjacent fields to learn what they’re doing. I create genuine connections and meet other professionals to collaborate. I ask a lot of questions and also share my mission – that movement is medicine and should be accessible to everyone.

For word of mouth – I treat each client with a lot of love and care – you’re not just my client during our 60 minute session – you have access to me whenever you need clarification on a workout, a question about stress management, or simply to tell me you worked out and give you a virtual high five!

When it comes to teaching group classes – I love making fun playlists that cater to the population I’m teaching. I offer a lot of modifications and progressions. I learn everyone’s name and talk with my students before and after class. Everyone is going through something and I want them to know I will always listen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.allisongfit.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisongfit/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allison.kamin.5, https://www.facebook.com/AllisonGFit
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonkamin/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@allisongfit
• Other: Tiktok – https://www.tiktok.com/@allisongfit