We recently connected with Greg Hill and have shared our conversation below.

Greg, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

At ideal core we focus on small group and private training. We are one of the only areas in Michigan where you can get your reformer Pilates and strength training all in one package!

Greg, 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?

My wife Lindsay and myself opened Ideal Core 7 years ago after working in “big box” fitness for a few years. We each had our own clients. She was a Pilates instructor and I was a personal trainer and nutrition coach. We noticed that some of the areas our current clients needed extra attention could be solved by sending them to the other person. If one of Lindsay’s Pilates clients was having a hard time building leg strength or wanted to change their nutrition, she would send them to me. If I had a client who needed better mobility and core strength, I would send them to her.

Not only were our crossover clients getting amazing results, they loved the dynamic of being able to work with a husband and wife. For us, it was great to be able to no only have our clients work with someone we trusted, but together we were also able to come up with a more comprehensive plan to get them to their goals.

We knew we had something that was truly unique in the fitness industry. We decided to open our own facility.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

A few years prior to opening our business we were broke. Like deciding what bills were the most important to pay that month in order to not get a utility shut off. Like many Americans, we had racked up a lot of debt in credit cards, student loans, car payments, and repairs that needed to be done to our home.

As new parents we knew that was not the life we wanted to live. We were both successful at our jobs, but our employer kept a large portion of the sales we were creating.

We were presented with an opportunity to attend a financial and goal setting seminar. I emptied my bank account to attend. It was the best investment I have ever made. In the seminar we learned great ideas about keeping our goals visual and tracking our progress towards them. We learned so much about managing our finances and budgeting that we were able to eliminate our debt. In about 2 years and start to build the finances needed to start our business.

We still had to take out a loan to open, and the thought of going back into debt was nerve racking. We knew we had something special. We made the jump and 7 years later we haven’t looked back. We are so grateful we were able to attend that seminar and learn from someone else’s experience to get our start.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time in my life when I needed to pivot was when I decided to become a personal trainer.

I graduated college from Central Michigan University with a double major in Physical Education and Earth Science education. I had always loved seeing the connection when someone learned something new that they could apply in their life. At the time the teaching market was super saturated in Michigan and other states were in high need for teachers. Me and Lindsay (my long term girlfriend at the time) decided to moved down to Maryland so I could teach High School science.

After a year in Maryland we had gotten engaged and we were excited to start a family. Both of us are huge on family, so we decided it would be best to try to move back to Michigan. Teaching jobs were still very hard to come by, so I decided to take my love for teaching others and physical fitness to parents instead of the kids.

Thinking it would be a temporary job while I searched for teaching jobs, I fell in love. I loved having such a huge impact with improving peoples lives. Coaching in health, fitness and sport is my true calling.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.idealcorepilates.com
• Instagram: idealcoregreg
• Facebook: IdealCore Greg Hill
• Youtube: Ideal Core Pilates Fitness Nutrition