We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Audra Mazie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Audra below.
Alright, Audra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I created Move More with the hopes to encourage those that come in to my life to recognize that movement (exercise), doesn’t need to be a daunting experience, but to simply move a bit more each day. It is a privilege to be able to move our bodies, and any movement is better than no movement.
While my take on fitness and approach isn’t revolutionary by any means, I’d like to think that I was filling a hole that can seem intimidating from an outsider who is not used the the fitness world. Social media can make personal training and fitness in general looking like you need to go 0 to 100 and give maximum effort each day. When in reality, the hardest part half the time is showing up.
I always strive to make a comfortable environment that welcomes all at any level they’re at. I can’t tell you the amount of new clients I’ve started that have come in, looked at the gym, and told that they were nervous to be in a gym – and then upon meeting me realizing that it’s not so scary and their journey will look completely different from anyone else’s.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My journey in fitness began with a lifelong love of sports. Growing up, I played a variety of sports from fifth grade through high school, but gymnastics and competitive horseback riding were the ones that stuck. After high school, I coached gymnastics while taking college courses, continued riding, and stayed active. It wasn’t until some friends at home in Michigan introduced me to weightlifting that I discovered a new love for strength training.
In 2018, I moved to Texas and started working at a gym’s front desk, where one of my now best friends and mentors introduced me to personal training. I loved it, got my certification, and it’s been a blessing to build my own business while working with so many cool people.
My wheelhouse consists of corrective exercise/mobility, weight loss, and strength training. One of my favorite aspects is corrective exercise—helping clients with both new and old injuries regain the ability to work out pain-free. The majority of my college background was in biology, anatomy, and physiology, so I enjoy analyzing movement patterns, identifying the root cause of pain, and creating solutions that allow my clients to move comfortably. I’ve had many clients with various injuries come in, and they no longer work out in pain. Seeing that transformation is truly rewarding. To me, this is what sets me a part from others. Being intentional and making sure the exercises are done correctly is near and dear to me.
Speaking of corrective exercise, one of my proudest moments was showing my mom just how much fitness has evolved. Back home in Michigan, when I tell people I’m in personal training, they don’t always realize how different the approach is here in Dallas. My mom had knee surgery a couple of years ago, and she mentioned how stiff she gets—just walking up the stairs can be a pain. I put together a simple mobility routine for her hips, and within 10 minutes, she was blown away by how much better she felt. There’s something special about hearing your parents acknowledge the impact of your work and seeing firsthand how much you’ve learned.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I first started training, the gym I worked at was a small boutique gym with limited access to clients and for me, personally, it was not working out. One of the members at that gym was an operator at a company for physician recruitment and offered me a position on their sales team. I took that job the week Covid kicked in. Monday I was sitting at a desk getting my bearings. Friday we were all sentenced home and I had no idea how to do my job yet. At three months all the physicians were furloughed and I was out of a job being the newbie on the block.
I spent 6 months applying to jobs and had no luck. December of 2020, my friend Luq was headed to massage school and asked if I wanted to come back to training because he had new clients in January he would not be able to take. It was a completely different situation than the first gym I worked at and I figured, “why not”. I started training again for about 3 people, and slowly started building clientele.
It was a blessing in disguise losing a comfy corporate job and I’ll never be able to thank Luq enough for extending the opportunity to me.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best sources of new clients has been so kindly other clients word of mouth, a paid lead company, and social media.
When I first restarted training, I used Thumbtack, which is a company that allows you to set up parameters for the type of clientele you’d like and they can reach out to you, but you have to pay for that lead. While it can at some times be frustrating and seem like a waste of money, I have had many clients come through this source and it immediately pays off.
Social media will always be free advertising to find your people. I by no means have a following, but I have had some very loyal clients find me through it! As long as there is content for someone to see what you have in store for them, the leads will come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://movemoree.com
- Instagram: @audrajo
