We recently connected with Christina Specos and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Christina , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
In June of 2018 I quit my Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach Job and moved to Miami Beach. I thought I wanted to work in an “elite” fitness facility however, once on the inside, I realized I wanted more than to have my 20+ years of skills leveraged for minimal pay. My entrepreneurial side was itching. But I was scared. After feeling like that had become a toxic work environment of basically “working for free” as I was told (as if it was some sort of badge of honor), I realized I had to take action and gamble on myself. It was SCARY AF as I was also competing in pursuit of earning my IFBB professional bodybuilder status so, energy and time resources were stretched! I didn’t know what to do but to get out of that environment and aligned with people who supported me without judgment, and recognized my skill set as valuable. Funny enough, one of the reasons, other than the entrepreneurial itch, was that I left my previous job because a new boss came in after 6 years of rocking the darn thing, and basically demoted me, told me I wasn’t good enough and questioned my lifestyle. It was an everyday torture to go from excelling every year, to now, having a new person come in and have no context and make judgments based upon her personal biases. Frustrating and unprofessional. Fearing that I was seeing this pattern again, I knew I had to make a move and trust myself. I survived somehow through the COVID shut down and now continue to see a select *few* special clients in person yet am under the guidance of a stellar business coach helping me expand my online offerings so that I may help more women believe in themselves and transform their minds and bodies! The reason why I was able to get out of my toxic situation is because every day in the gym I tested my own mind and body. If I broke myself every day in order to rebuild stronger, I knew no one externally could break me!
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 got into the fitness and performance industry with curiosity from when I was a weak teenager in high school, trying to play tennis. Lo and behold, this was all through the 90’s when the “anorexic model” diet culture was running rampant and I put myself through the diet ringer way too young. I started to truly want to learn about food rather than following trends that were posted in magazines. “Butter is bad, butter is good… meat is bad, meat is good…. cardio is bad, cardio is good” and the like. It drove me nuts. Getting into sports performance and working specifically with athletes, sports nutrition and tailored specific programming were the key to longterm success. After working in the private sector, I was appointed to the position of Associate Director of Sports Performance at Purdue University, where the stakes were high to produce results and attention to details matters as the margin for error is small. We also had a very holistic department that serviced our athletes in all areas: mental, physical, nutrition, education, leadership, and specificity to the goal. When I jumped into entrepreneurship, I had a dream to create a web based model that serves clients all across the globe in a personalized way that is accessed online but feels hands-on and personalized as if it was in person. No other coach that I’ve ever seen has done this well. They always focused on volume of clients and not value. I am most proud of changing the game on this to give people a more affordable option to work with me 24/7 virtually compared to what an hour a day with a personal trainer would cost. In that model, the trainer is burnt out and time is money. In a coaching model, there are more touch points to secure a path to success. This makes me proud and motivated to continue to help my clients, followers and community in abundance. Because of the nonsense that is out there in the industry, I’ve prided myself on the brand of “No BS Approach to Training and Nutrition.” I don’t sugar coat, but I do support with love. I don’t judge but I am honest to help people get out of their own way. I don’t make false claims and promises, but I do provide a solid plan that is proven to work. I encourage dedication and consistency and progress over perfection. People need to know that I am so proud of this brand and model and that it is what WORKS. It’s about time we revolt against the gimmicks that don’t work and be open to and coachable to strip our habits down to how we are sabotaging progress… and fall in love with a new process toward a new lifestyle. I firmly believe all our dreams can come to fruition when supported to approach our goals this way.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Definitely the book “Relentless” by Tim Grover. Hands down. It gives me the mental tools to overcome daily struggles in my professional bodybuilding journey and in entrepreneurship.
This book showed me how to trust my instincts, “get in the Zone” and to control and adapt in any situation with an elevated mindset. Often we are our own opponent…. we need to be able to attack our own weaknesses and rise up. It is an instinctive drive that we all have to be great, and tapping into it is the key.
Truly anything is possible.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Laser focus on the goal: I am here to help clients elevate their health, but more importantly the mindset for change. It is very important to me to support my clients mentally and stay out of my feelings, and disconnect my emotions from their progress. And, this is hard because I am a very genuine heart-centered service based coach. I have had to learn that it is never about me or my feelings. It’s never about feeling like a loser if I don’t make a sale or gain a client. It’s about service. A mistake I made early on is internalizing everything which is not the right way to run a business. When you care so much, it can be draining… however when you are aligned with the right clients, the experience is a little easier. Understanding that not everyone wants elite results is key. Communicate expectations clearly and what is required to achieve the goal, or help them re evaluate the goal if their readiness, willingness and ability to achieve it is not commensurate with it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/christinaspecos/clients
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinaspecos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christina.specos/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-specos-specos-enterprises-llc-17aa8a7
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristinaSpecos
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLNP0l2EBpg64s79jtNWy7g
Image Credits
Chris Headshots Alexi Weeks Photography Dennis Cruz MonstaPhotos