We recently connected with Dr. Megan Johnson McCullough and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Johnson, appreciate you 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.
Opening my fitness studio, Every BODY’s Fit, was a huge risk that I had to take a chance on. Ten years ago, at age 26, I decided that being a corporate personal trainer was no longer serving me. At that time I had a Masters degree and was making minimum wage and very restricted in how I could operate my schedule and how I could help my clients. I felt overworked, undervalued, and underpaid. I quit and started looking for possible businesses to buy or locations to rent. The funding to open my own place came from taking every ounce of savings and putting it towards my own facility to start up. Whether I’d make it or not was of course the risk. Patience, 24/7 drive, resiliency, and trusting God, have led to my success. Building a clientele is not an overnight process. Keeping clientele while getting clientele is a constant stress. Luckily, I’ve never backed down to a challenge and will continue to stay on top because I believe this business is my purpose.
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’m a Doctor of Health and Human Performance with an MA in Physical Activity and Health Science. My background is basketball and being an NASM Master Trainer. The original career path I sought was being a high school PE teacher and basketball coach. Life had a different plan for me. As such I got into personal training simply because the gym manager asked to hire me. Low and behold I’m a successful female business owner now. My niche is addiction recovery. I have written 4 books about the influence of exercise on substance abuse as well as two books about metabolism. I’m also a world champion professional natural bodybuilder and fitness model. Pugs and butterflies are my favorite and my husband is amazing.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I had really wanted to be a high school PE teacher and coach. Both my parents were teachers and I played basketball my entire life. I got my Masters in Physical Education and Health Sciencewith a California teaching credential so I did a couple years of substitute teaching. However, the full time positions were few and far in between and health was cut from the curriculum. That left me taking one temporary position after another. I felt defeated and questioned what I was supposed to be doing at this point in life. When a manager at a local gym literally recruited me to be a personal.trainer while I was working out, I was in a place of “sure why not?”. Being a personal trainer started off feeling like coaching but with a sales job element to it. From experience and persistence I’ve committed to the long haul and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Being able to meet the needs of a wide array of people has really helped me stand out from other trainers. Because of my education, I have a medical fitness approach so I’m able to work with special populations that require modifications and accommodations. Understanding the human body and making people feel like they can do more than they ever thought they could, is an especially amazing reward of my profession.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.everybodysfitoceanside.com
- Instagram: @dr.megan_everybodysfit
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/megan.johnson.374549
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/megan-johnson-mccullough-1b603a80
- Twitter: Everybodysfit
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fitlifeeverybodysfit
- Other: Amazon https://www.bit.ly/meganjohnsonmccullough
Image Credits
Lorenzo Gaspar Chuck Lapinsky Kathy Magerkurth Alex Castro