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

Anna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe success doesn’t require “natural talent.” It requires hard work, dedication, a clear vision, and daily pursuit of your purpose. Most successful business owners don’t have some crazy secret for their success. All had to go through the time and effort of acquiring and/or mastering the right skills. I wouldn’t say most of them are brilliant. They have more experience with building products or services that solve peoples’ problems. They have more “reps”, more messy action they’ve taken, and more connections. I also like to remind myself that success is subjective. We each get to define what success means for us. This is a great reminder to stay in your own lane and avoid unhealthy comparison. Make sure the success you’re after is meaningful to you with the right “why” behind it. If you want to be successful in business, it’s pretty simple (not easy). Solve peoples’ problems with heart and integrity. Share your mission everywhere you can and provide as much value as possible to help people.

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 created Strong and Healthy a little over 3 years ago today. When I stopped playing soccer, I fell in love with strength training. I saw all the ways it brought value to my life. After getting certifications in Fitness, Nutrition, and Mindset Coaching, I began my coaching journey. I’ve struggled with my mindset, low motivation, binge eating tendencies, emotional eating, hormonal issues, and more. As a result, I developed a deep passion for helping other women overcome (and/or prevent) these challenges in their health and fitness journeys. What sets Strong and Healthy apart is our focus on Mindset and Behavior Change. We are trained in Psychology as it relates to Health and Fitness. We help women achieve their desired fat loss, muscle gain, and health results through science-based and sustainable methods. Our top priority is long term maintenance of results, which is lacking in our industry. We know we did our best job when clients can “soar on their own” and, years later, maintain the results we got them. This is because we did the “deep work” together on their mindset. We also took the best approach to set them up for long-term success. We are proud to have transformed 250+ women’s lives. We are continuing to expand our message and support into the world.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

My personal training/coaching career started as a side hustle in early 2020. I was in college at VA Tech and working part-time for a well established business coach who helped fitness professionals grow their businesses. I was lucky to see first hand how the back end of his online business ran and how he helped his students grow their businesses. I learned so much and felt comfortable leaving college to go all in on my own dream. I earned many certifications and gained several years of experience. Years later I am now a successful full-time business owner and coach. We offer both 1-1 Transformation Coaching Online and In-Person Training. We’ve been able to serve many women this year, getting them incredible results. It’s rewarding to hear and see how happy they are to be getting stronger and building shape. They are losing body fat, feeling better in their bodies, and are more in control with their nutrition. We never get tired seeing our clients begin to thrive.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When I started my business, I knew nothing about acquiring capital. Luckily, online coaching required a minimal initial investment to start. However, over time, I needed more money to keep educating myself, build out my home gym for in-person training, and to hire some help to manage my growing business. I used “OPM” (other people’s money) to move fast and build on my success by leveraging credit cards with 0% interest. I invested those funds in my business for things like equipment, marketing, outsourcing, and improving my clients’ experience. By acquiring funding and investing it (to produce returns on those investments), you’ve found a hack to move at a much faster speed. You must be aware of the risks. Doing this definitely isn’t for everyone. But when you have full certainty in your business growth, using OPM will be a nice catapult for your growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: strongandheallthy.com
• Instagram: @annaclough
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.clough.9862/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@annaclough1

Image Credits
Deanna Taylor Photography