We were lucky to catch up with Corie Campbell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Corie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
As a parent of a special needs child I am definitely happier as a business owner than I was as an employee. I knew when my kids became school-aged I would need to go back to the work place and by this time I would have an 8 year gap on my resume. I knew it would be difficult to re-enter the work force after such a significant time off and be able to find a job that allows the flexibility I need to be home for my kids and available for anything my son may require due to his disabilities.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic our school schedules have been ever changing and on all of the extra “off-days” I am so thankful to be a business owner with the flexibility to work around the school schedules. I realize how difficult it is for people to be available for their kids or find childcare on a random Monday or Friday so on these days I am extra thankful to be my own boss.
When I decided to become a personal trainer and open my own gym this was one of my primary goals, to be available to my kids when they need me. I required the ability to create my own schedule in order to successfully go back to work. As the mom of a special needs child I really desired the flexibility to cancel my day for my son. I needed to now I would not have to ask permission to leave work if the school called because he had a seizure, or needed attention. I knew in my heart I needed to create a business that would allow me to fulfill my desires as a creative working professional but also support me as a full-time mom.
Corie, 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?
Absolutely! I am a wife and mom of two kids and I currently live and work in Houston, Texas. My husband and I are high-school sweethearts, we have been married since 2009, and we are both are from Calgary, Alberta Canada. Our oldest son is the bravest most persevering person I know and he has a rare genetic condition called KCNB1. And our youngest daughter is our spicy all-star cheerleader who is her brother’s fiercest advocate and my mini-me in all of my best and worst ways (that is the most humbling part of parenting for me).
I grew up as a competitive gymnast and was very physically active throughout my life. I attended University in British Columbia where I received my bachelors degree in Business Administration in 2007. I always knew I wanted to own my own business, at the time I thought I wanted to own a spa, so I made my way from a spa receptionist to a spa manager and eventually became the Spa & Fitness Director at the Omni Tucson National Resort and Spa. I loved working in the resort, but when I became pregnant with our second I decided to become a stay at home mom.
When my daughter turned 1 I knew it was time to get serious about my fitness and get back in shape so I joined a gym and started attending a 5:30am workout class. At this same time we had just discovered our son’s disabilities and began the long journey towards his diagnosis. This class provided me life-long friends and the strength (physical and otherwise) during one of the most challenging seasons of my life. The strength I found in the gym translated outside of those walls and into my life as I walked through every doctor appointment, assessment and test that was done over the next 4 years as we searched for answers.
When it was time for me to think about going back to work as my kids became school-aged I knew I needed to create my own business to support our family’s unique situation. You should have been there when I first proposed to my husband that we turn his beloved tool-filled garage into a gym – the dream could have died there – but thankfully it didn’t – he was all in and we got the ball rolling and took the leap by forming Pure Joy Training (I was terrified). I had this desire in my heart to help others find joy in their struggles as I had and discover their own strength through fitness and nutrition.
Personal training is a unique environment – its almost therapeutic. In order to make real change with your body and your behaviors you have to be really honest about your goals and your struggles. You have to be vulnerable enough to be transparent about why you haven’t been successful in the past and what you are willing (and not willing) to do in order to get from where you are to where you want to be. That’s really what I help people do, is find out what they really want out of fitness and nutrition and then support them through it.
There is no magic to fitness and nutrition (if anyone is trying to tell you there is please run) -the “magic” is to find sustainable habits and exercises that work for YOU. And those things will be unique to you and may change in different seasons of your life. What worked for your friend may or may not work for you but more often than not it won’t be YOUR best fit. The real key to meeting your fitness and nutritional goals is consistency and time. Most people give up before they learn to be truly consistent in their habits and before they have given the process enough time. (It really does take time)
I coach long term success, I am not a short-term trainer. My desire is to give my clients the tools to their success so they can one day come to me and tell me that I’m fired. That’s how I know I’ve done my job, when I have given the tools, the knowledge and the confidence to know they can do it on their own. I love exercise basics and I’m passionate about form and training in a pain free zone – I want my clients to be able to continue to exercise for the rest of their life – not “the last 10lbs”. So I teach the fundamentals of fitness and exercise so my clients can go into any gym and know they are safe. I really provide the manual and offer the accountability – but my clients are the ones that have to be willing to do the hard work.
I focus on one-on-one training because that is where I find people have the most success. The environment has to be safe enough for people to try new things and talk about what they are struggling with. “Gym intimidation” is VERY real, be that the environment of the gym itself, or the actual personal trainers. I try and make sure my space feels safe to everyone regardless if they are a beginner or a professional. Pure Joy Training offers a complete private commercial gym where my clients are able to try new things and talk about their barriers to success. We celebrate all the victories big and small and start at the beginning wherever they are in their fitness journey and build the map from there. Each person needs different things, each person has different goals, so each session is unique to the person, their goals and where they are at that day.
As for the problems I solve for my clients that is different every day! I started as a Certified Personal Trainer, but realized in order to really help my clients I needed to be able to speak to the nutritional component of fitness, so to solve that problem I became an ACE Nutritional Specialist and a PNL1 Nutrition Coach. After that I realized how many of my clients were suffering with joint pain or some other type of chronic pain or pre-existing injury. I wanted to be able to help program effectively and help ensure my clients would be stronger and pain free so I became a Corrective Exercise Specialist. And after spending time training my niece (who is a Varsity dancer) I realized how much I LOVE working with young athletes so I am currently working on completing my training as an ACE certified Youth Fitness Specialist so I can continue to train with young athletes in their various sports. I would absolutely love to be able to work with more young athletes because I am so passionate about teaching them how to be confident and safe in the gym.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
I started by business when my youngest was in pre-school and my goal was to have an actual contributing income by the time she was in school full time. My first year I worked 3-days a week very part time and my goal was to net $10K that year which I did…barely by the close of December. The next year I doubled my income slowly building my client base from word of mouth and repeat clients as my daughter was in her last year of pre-school. I remember setting my prices in those early years and my husband said “babe I love you but you’re not a $50 / per hour trainer … and he was right … I wasn’t AT ALL…I think my sessions were $15 or $20 / per hour. I was learning, and making mistakes my gym wasn’t complete it was a 2 car garage and had enough equipment to just operate the basics. When I look back on my programming in the beginning I have to laugh at myself but that’s how I know I’m growing as a trainer and hopefully a few years from now I look back and I laugh again. Now I’m charging $85 / per hour and I have a complete commercial gym and I have had a wait-list for the last 2 years. One of my first clients is now one of my dearest friends and she has taught me just as much (if not more) than I have taught her as she has trusted me to grow as a trainer. To her I am forever grateful.
Be patient, believe in yourself believe and in your product and keep learning more. Someone once told me that you don’t have to know everything to be successful, you just have to be a few steps ahead of someone else on their journey. That has stuck with me. I don’t know everything about fitness and nutrition, but I do know a bit more than my clients, I have been at it a bit longer and I have a few tips to help them along the way. Continuing my education and listening to what my clients need has been my biggest asset. Each year I try to add a new certification that supports my clients in some way. It challenges me to continue to grow and it adds value to my product and my credentials.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
For me the most effective strategy for growing clientele has been building relationships and delivering results. When I started my business I would get leads from social media and I would meet all of my clients at the local Starbucks to vet them and ensure they were safe to work with. My uncle would even stop by the Starbucks at random to ensure I was safe. Now all of my clients are referrals from existing clients and I have had a wait list for the last 2 years.
Personal Training and Nutrition Coaching is a unique industry. There is so much information out there it is almost impossible for everyday people to determine what information is good and what information is garbage. One person tells you never to do something and another will tell you to always do that. In fitness and nutrition the answer always DEPENDS. Everything depends on the client, their goals, their stage of life or any number of other factors. There is no one size fits all – there is only that client – where they are and what they are ready, willing AND able to do. The client has to be all three: ready, willing and able in order to be successful. So that’s what I do, I meet my clients where they are and we create a road map and we try some things. Some things work, and some things don’t. We take what we learn and we keep on going, because in fitness and nutrition any progress is progress. Then we rinse and repeat until we start to chip away at where we want to go. I am constantly reminding my clients that progress in fitness is NOT always linear sometimes we are heading right at that goal and then life happens, or that vacation or someone got sick and we take a few steps back. But the key is getting back at it, when life happens and you get back at it, or make the next meal healthier quicker than before that’s how you know you’re making progress. When you are really on a long term fitness journey you rebound so much faster from those little life setbacks. I guide my clients through that process and help bring them back to their goals when they may have given up on themselves without support.
I think my personalized strategy is what has built my clientele. I don’t do stock workouts and I don’t to fixed meal plans – they don’t leave room for life. Life is always happening, and we want to enjoy it AND meet our goals. So that’s how I coach – I educate my clients on how to find exercises they are willing to do long-term and eating habits that leave room for the things they love and I teach them how to incorporate new things they need to reach their goals. And also trust. The biggest complement I can receive is when a client trusts me enough to refer a friend.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.purejoytraining.com
- Instagram: purejoytraining
- Facebook: @purejoytraining
Image Credits
Loryn Payne – Loryn Payne Photography Sontera Mader – Lighthouse Boudoir Photography