We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carlos Mata a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Carlos, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

As with anyone starting a new venture, risk is the biggest set back for many to advance in life. I always saw risk as leverage to challenge myself and go further into my career and self improvement. Risk creates uncomfortability, leading one to either regress to what is safe, or challenges one to push themselves to achieve greater rewards. In my case, being a leading trainer in a corporate fitness facility was safe. However, I gave up more of my passion to live through the ideas of a company’s vision rather than what my mission and vision was. That lead me to opening my own fitness facility and transferring my mission and vision to my business. It’s a huge risk, as 90% of gyms fail in the first 2 years of operation. But I truly believe if you have the passion and discipline to leverage risk, you can build a valuable business that can survive and evolve to something special.

Two questions I ask myself when I’m faced with risk: 1) who would be involved when I take risk & 2) can I be true to myself and aligned to what I believe in when I take risk

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started about 5 years ago full time as a fitness professional by quitting my corporate position as a supply chain director for a large fortune 100 company. While it wasn’t my passion and mission in life, my corporate careers taught me how to understand and speak to my clients who are in these professions. My goal was very simple, to create value in personal training by understanding the needs of my clients, understand their lifestyles, goals, health and wellness, as well as mental health and synergize that into a transformative person.

I believe most, if not all, fitness professionals focus just on the physical aspect of training their clients. What I noticed from that focal point is the lack of attention in mental health, as well as understanding the complete client perspective of their lives. Do they have a family, travel for work, work in an office, struggle with diet, maybe discipline issues that bleeds into their physical training. All of these components create a true case study for each client I work with so we can better tailor their programs to achieve real time results.

Over the span of 5 years, not only was I regarded as one of the nations leading fitness professional, but I have worked and connected with over 200 clients, educate hundreds of other trainers in the nation on their business, while starting my own brand and gym to expand that passion to others.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

In todays market, gaining capital funding for a business is tough! SBA loans are very strict and limited, banks are nervous to lend, as well as the market being very unstable. My business was funded from a few clients who were apart of the mission since day 1. Over the last 5 years, I connected with these remarkable clients, created value and relationships and exposed them to my system and beliefs. I pitched my business plan to so many banks, lenders, etc; however, what I learned was that these individuals really didn’t understand what Sigma Performance Training provided because they have never experienced what we do! After feeling down about it, I realized the best solution was to pitch the product and brand to those who not only experienced the vision, but also spoke highly about Sigma and would always push others to be apart of the brand. My investors not only backed up the capital, but truly cheered us on, knew the success we would bring, as well as understanding how serious we are about their capital as well as how to be smart in growth and forecasting. I continue to speak to them, update about the business, as well as educate them on progress.

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

Listen! I always tell this to every fitness professional… just listen. Let your client guide you on what they need help with and be creative in solving their problem and needs. Do not treat them like every other client. Instead, create a unique experience that they need. Every person has different bodies, different experiences, different expectations, and different values. Your success is based on the ability to listen, evaluate, educate, and build a relationship to pivot them to success.       

Contact Info:

• Website: Trainatsigma.com
• Instagram: Sigmaperformancetraining

Image Credits
Chris Gillett