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

Conor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

If I am being honest, it depends on the day whether I’m happy or not as a business owner. The upside AND downside of being a business owner is that there is always something that can be done. The upside part is always having that next step, next goal, or next benchmark to achieve. It keeps you working hard and never lets you settle so you always have a sense of accomplishment when you are constantly crossing things off your to-do-list. However, that comes with a caveat – you feel guilty for relaxing because you there’s always something you can be doing. You’re truly never “off the clock:” so to speak.

I have had these thoughts last winter as it is a very slow time of year when it comes to training clients. Everyone is traveling and spending money on gifts and other things rather than personal training. I am still putting in the work, creating new content for social media and yet I see less and less income as the months go on through the holidays. So part of me during this time wished I had a 9-5 where I had a consistent paycheck and could clock in and clock out so I can put full focus into my life outside of work like my partner, my hobbies, my friends, travel, etc.

At the end of the day though, I am glad I took the risk and started a business because I was never a person to just skate on by and not consistently pushing myself to bigger and bigger goals. I would feel too much in a rut and life would feel too routine if I fell into the 9-5 regular job which I know would be a life I would feel lost in.

It’s why I got into training in the first place. Same principles apply when you are trying to get stronger or put more muscle on as you are when owning a business – you have to progressively challenge yourself more and more to receive more gains.

Conor, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in Manhattan Beach, CA and was exposed to sports very early on. I settled on volleyball where I ended up playing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2013, I graduated with a BS in Kinesiology before taking an internship at the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) in Colorado Springs, CO. I had the opportunity to work with olympic athletes (Judo and Figure Skating), the Colorado College D1 hockey team, and the Colorado Springs SWAT team.

Upon completing my internship, I received a job to be the Director of Sports Performance at Redline Athletics in Temecula, CA. From 2015-2018, I worked with a wide range of athletes from age 8 to college baseball players in their 20’s.

Wanting to be closer to the beach, I moved to San Diego in August 2018 where I got jobs at F45 and Renegade specializing in group fitness.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 and all businesses shut down, I viewed this more as an opportunity versus a burden. I completed my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification and constructed a gym that lead to where my business is today! I do personal training, semi-private training, nutrition coaching, and design custom workout programs for my remote clients.

My mission is to empower and motivate others to take steps towards bettering themselves. A healthy lifestyle is more than just working out and eating right- It’s also about practicing mindfulness, building relationships, and forming habits to help you discover the unlocked potential you never knew you had.

Life is about balance and enjoying the journey to success; whatever that success means to you. I enjoy getting you there with hard work, but with even harder laughs. I believe in getting 1% better every day throughout this journey, and letting the compound interest of success lead you to your desired goals.

I got into fitness/training because I saw how the benefits from it directly affected me, not only physically, but mentally and psychologically as well. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how those same benefits can help others and I try and share that knowledge with them in a fun, humorous manner. I know starting your fitness journey can be very intimidating and scary so I try to dispel that notion by providing laughs along the way.

Most of the clients I have are beginners to intermediate when it comes to training experience. I’m MOST proud of the times I have gotten clients to see working out as a HIGHLIGHT of their day vs. a CHORE that they have to get done.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The most obvious example of having to pivot of course came during the pandemic. Had to shift all training to a remote/virtual setting since all gyms were shutdown. The hardest part was customizing these workouts to each individual client primarily based on the equipment they had available to them. I could have saved a lot of time by generalizing these workout programs and giving everyone the same basic exercises that can be done in anyone’s home, but that would have felt much too watered down for my liking.

Then another challenge was the lack of face to face interactions and how that affected motivation and accountability. I’m confident in myself that I provide an uplifting atmosphere during my training sessions and I’m able to hold my clients much more accountable since I’m right there with them. Take away all of that and it’s for people to have that drive to workout by themselves when I’m not there pushing them and correcting their form.

Once quarantine ended, I noticed all the remote clients I gathered were ready to be out in the world again and wanted to go join a gym on their own just for the social aspect of it that they have sorely missed. No one was working so most of my clients didn’t have the money to pay for a personal trainer. This came in conjunction with myself not wanting to train clients remotely anymore so it was almost as if I had to start over from scratch to gain new clients.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Atomic Habits by James Clear has been one of the best and most influential books I have ever read. I can take so many principles from that book and apply it to so many different aspects of my life, both personally and professionally, as well as my clients when discussing their eating and training habits. The whole concept of the book is to do small tasks or habits that compound and eventually lead to big gains.

I originally would be so overwhelmed when starting and building my business with all the high aspirations I had and the copious amounts of steps I would have to take in order to achieve them. But after reading this book, it has helped me not feel so overwhelmed and allowed me to be more patient. Instead of “I’m going to be making 6 figures in the next 6 months” it’s “I’m going to write down an idea for my next social media post”. Focus on the little things and the little bit of progress you make each and every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ffitsd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conorfitandfunny/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FFITSD

Image Credits
Will Mondet