We were lucky to catch up with Courtney Andersen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Courtney, we appreciate you joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

My defining moment actually happened when Covid hit. I had been teaching fitness classes in several local gyms, and that obviously stopped, causing me to pause and think about the future. I realized that I could bring my workouts to the world by starting a YouTube channel. I also wanted more creative freedom to do the workouts I wanted rather than be tied to a specific format used at a gym. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner!

Courtney, 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?

From as long as I can remember, I’ve been one of the most disciplined people I know. People ask me why, and I honestly don’t know. I guess I was just born with it! I grew up as a competitive dancer, and while I wasn’t the most talented, I rose up to the highest level because of my consistency and hard work. I went on to dance at UCLA, and then I moved on to triathlon after college. I’ve always loved working my body physically, and I didn’t mind putting in long training hours, so I spent about 8 years in triathlon. I completed countless triathlons and running races, including 5 full Ironman races. For those that don’t know, an Ironman includes a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bicycle ride, and a full 26.2 mile marathon…all in one day! But once I started a family, I had to pump the brakes on triathlon, and I was actually ready to rejoin the world. Triathlon training can be done in groups, but I did almost all of my training solo. That’s when I got back to gym life and decided to get my license as a group fitness instructor. Although I loved teaching live, I realized that I could reach so many more people by starting my own fitness channel on YouTube, and have the creative flexibility to format my workouts differently than the gyms I worked for. There are 2 significant things that my YouTube brand represents. The first is that people don’t need a gym with fancy equipment to get fit. Most of my workouts require a mat and a set of weights, and many of them use no equipment at all. The second is that in order to make the most of a workout in a short time, incorporate active recovery rather than long segments of rest. Keep moving is my mantra! I can honestly say I’ve never felt fitter and stronger than I do now, even during my Ironman days. My YouTube workouts are pretty hardcore, but they’ll get you fit for sure!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I attract people on YouTube who want full length, tough workouts. But, how did I get this reputation? I started with producing short workouts. These workouts were only 5 or 10 minutes long, but they were intense! As more subscribers joined my team, they requested longer workouts that encompassed everything a person would need for the day. I realized that most of my followers don’t want to spend extra time piecing together short workouts to get in 30 or 60 minutes. They want to click on one workout and be done for the day. Sometimes I’ll still throw in a short abs or cardio, but most of my workouts are at least 30 minutes long.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I think that if you want to give YouTube a go, whether it’s fitness or not, you need to upload new content often. My channel has grown a lot faster since I started posting more workouts, and I currently put out 5 new workouts per week with an extra YouTube short on top of that. People always love something new, and there’s a higher chance of going viral with more content. Of course, I’m still waiting for my luck! I currently have 18.000 subscribers, but I’d love to reach 100,000. Maybe one of these days I’ll be an overnight success, but for now, my channel continues to grow with each new workout.

Contact Info:

• Youtube: Courtney Andersen – youtube.com/CourtneyA
• Instagram: @courtney_fitio
• Facebook: fit io with Courtney
• Other: TikTok – @FitCourt