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

Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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?

The biggest risk I have taken is certainly buying the personal training studio I worked at for several years and now own. I had been an independent contractor for several years at Evolve Personal Fitness, and even started subcontracting some trainers to work with me. The former owner was looking to get out of the industry and to put time and effort towards another business venture. I knew I had to buy then or would be stuck looking for a different place soon, completely unestablished and short staffed. So I put together an offer and made a move. It was nerve-racking, there were intense negotiations, and at the last minute I almost got beaten by a different offer from a big corporate gym. But it worked out, and Evolve is now one of the top studios in Austin, and is locally owned.

It was not easy getting there though. The first year was rocky, and within just the first few months I had a couple of employees back out of contracts on short notice that cost me tens of thousands of dollars. Not long after, COVID-19 hit, and gyms, including my studio, had to shut down. To overcome these obstacles, I focused on turning the negatives into positives. I replaced the employees I’d lost with new ones that turned into fantastic longterm relationships. I used the the gym shutdown as an opportunity to ‘COVID-proof’ the studio and make improvements to our equipment and facilities.

Since then things have been going great. We recently expanded and our fantastic team continues to serve Austin with the best personal training available.

Chris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We provide personal training for our clients. Our program is unlike any other because we don’t just give our clients workouts, we take a holistic approach and provide personalized training sessions, nutrition guidance, and everything they need to achieve their goals.

Many people are held back from achieving their goals by more than just the exercise part of the health and fitness equation. Often there can be mindset blocks, nutrition problems, obstacles related to sleep or stress, injuries, and other areas. By providing guidance in these areas in addition to the typical exercise help, we can get clients through these issues and help them lose weight, build muscle, and get into great shape and health, even if they’ve been stuck in a plateu or never worked out before.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Yes absolutely. The only thing I would change is I would have started sooner.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

In personal training, being knowledgeable on exercise science, nutrition, and other areas of fitness is extremely important. But relationship building is also paramount, because clients need people they can trust and feel comfortable working with to get the best results possible. In addition to knowledge, it is incredibly important fro trainers to be empathetic to the struggles people go through on their fitness journey. A trainer is not just a coach telling the client waht to do. They are also a teammate, and somone the client can trust to have their back even when the jouney becomes arduous.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chrisprotein.com/
• Instagram: @evolvepersonaltrainingatx
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chris-protein-personal-training-austin-austin-2

Image Credits
ABM Photography