We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brigitte Rentiers & Jane Ogle N/a a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brigitte Rentiers & Jane Ogle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

BR: Greeting each and every person by addressing them by their name and remembering something they may have told me in a previous visit.

We are a studio and in theory one on one with our clients. Customer could choose anywhere to go to work out. We want a space that feels warm and friendly and safe for them to work out keeping a very positive motivating atmosphere is what we charge for daily.

JO: Because our business is wellness related, it requires a pretty fast track to gain a customer’s trust right from the very start of our work together. So demonstrating our expertise and compassion on visit one is essential. Good active listening skills are a must, as are finding common ground and common interests. We could end up spending a few hours a week together, so if we can’t discuss and connect with a client’s preferences and needs quickly and make those a priority at every meeting, things just aren’t going to go well.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

BR: As a young person, I grew up in a family restaurant business, and understand the “behind the scenes“ work and energy behind the businesses. Even though, I am in the fitness industry, dedication and commitment is key.

I started in the fitness industry as a teenager teaching fitness classes and adding personal training my mid 20s. It was perfect job for raising a family because I had a lot of flexibility with time. At this point in my career, I intermixed working with physical therapy in occupational therapy, which gave me a much better perspective when working with clients.

In my late 20s, began working solely at fitness resort club…for over 20 years. Moving into management in addition to fitness teaching and training enhanced my leadership skills while making me appreciate management from a standpoint of clients as well as employees.

This is the place I met my future business partner.

JO: Suburban New York childhood. Punk band with my brother to alleviate the boredom. Liberal arts college, jobs in the state legislature, advertising copywriting, public relations agencies, freelance feature writing… learning the difference between being good at a job and loving what I was doing took a while. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Personal training didn’t really exist when I started attending fitness classes with my “starter spouse.” But before long I was teaching the classes, then training clients in my converted basement, and freelance writing part-time. One thing led to another and I was training full time in clients’ homes, teaching classes in apartment complexes and businesses and community centers, managing corporate fitness centers. I had my own business for 10 years, then became a fitness director with a big ol’ budget and lots of staff, and quickly ditched that toxic environment to work with a friend of mine in a nice upscale fitness center. I also kept singing in blues and jazz bands. My keeper spouse and I ran away from winter 14 years ago to take jobs in Savannah GA. Thankfully we don’t have to explain to people what personal training is anymore.

Brigitte was my manager for a time, but we were colleagues and like minded with our client-driven focus. We called each other “sis” long before we became co-owners of CustomFit.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

BR: I am an advocate of communication and planning … But there is something called too much – too soon!

At a previous job I was a manager, and was being upfront with my coworkers about a position change… And it backfired. I also have learned that with a large client base to take things by the day or week… Because life changes. Too much planning ahead can lead to unnecessary energy… realize that you’re having to change your plans again and again…

JO: I can echo Brigitte’s answer a little bit. I was taught to value candor in communication, and I have also come to find out candor is not always appreciated in the spirit with which it is given. An instance that comes to mind was a company-wide S.W.O.T. organizational analysis session (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats), that candid feedback I was directly invited to provide was turned around and used to attack. You really have to consider and adjust for the culture you are working within. And carefully measure your responses with individuals who are not working directly within your sphere.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

BR: As a fitness professional in a field that you “make your own schedule” and juggling family and personal time. Typically I could use the kids and husband schedule to use as parameters for my beginning and ending times… As my children got older, and I had no boundaries with my time and had to quickly learn that “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Boundaries for work times to take care of yourself to be the best for clients, coworkers, family, most importantly, oneself.

JO: March 2020. Did you know that St. Patrick’s Day is like a national holiday here in Savannah complete with a 4 hour parade? The day before the parade, the announcement was made to cancel the parade because of the COVID-19 menace. We decided that day to close our studio and go all virtual. Except we hadn’t yet done any virtual training AT ALL. We had avoided it fiercely because we are so hands-on and corrective in our training approach. But we dove in and took all day on St. Patrick’s Day to buy equipment, test settings, try the meeting apps… it was the longest day.

Although we had many long days after that somehow we managed to keep our staff busy/paid, keep our clients moving, and reopen 3 months later. And shower love on the people who stuck with us during that time.

Contact Info:

• Website: customfitcenter.com
• Instagram: @customfitcenter
• Facebook: @customfitcenter
• Twitter: @customfitcenter

Image Credits
Photography by Robert Cooper