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

Jackeline , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I separated from my husband after almost 8years together in 2019. I was the loneliest, most broke & most stressed I’d ever been.

Keep in mind, I was a stay at home mom while I was w him., at the time and was in bit of a limbo..Wasn’t really working towards anything, when we separated I didn’t know who i was without him. He’d provided for me for so long that I became dependent on him & was nothing without him. I had no career, no goals, not dreams. I had sacrificed a lot to make sure he’d achieve his. I didn’t mind that I loved him but I put myself and my dreams on the back burner.

At the time I had really started to love fitness. I had lost 40 pounds at this point, I was loving the gym and had become more and more confident and I started to think what if I made a job out of this? What if I Helped people with what I so desperately needed help with?

Dripping my saving dry, I invested just under $1300 for my books and testing to study to become a trainer. At this point in time, I didn’t even know if I could afford the mortgage next month, dropping almost an entire mortgage payment on your hopes and dreams was a huge risk to take but I took it. Nervous as hell. Tired as hell. Confused and emotional as hell. I took the risk not knowing if the reward would ever come but it did.

I got hired off my social media a month after I got certified, I was one of the fastest growing rookie trainers brining in 13k monthly to my job in recurring revenue & I also made enough to pay my mortgage, not just for the following month but for months and months to come.

Jackeline , 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?

I’m a 29 year old personal trainer who specializes in weight loss, strength and conditioning training, competitive powerlifting training and overall health wellness training.

I’ve training over 100 clients on all different types of fitness journeys from weight loss to strength training to body recomposition and everything in between.

I provide my clients with the tools and knowledge to never fail at fitness. Guiding them through food, sleep and stress management and daily accountability to ensure that everyday we put in the work to reach those goals they have in mind.

What sets me apart from others is that I’ve been that overweight girl before, I’ve struggled to keep going and not give up, I know what it’s like be fat shamed & laughed at and ridiculed but I’m also the girl who is a national qualified and worlds qualified competitive powerlifter.

I’m the girl who believes in you when even you aren’t believing in yourself. Who pushes you passed those current barriers to uncover your true and fullest potential. I’m the girl who’s been in the spot you’re currently in and have made it to the other side against all odds. There’s nothing different about me and you, except I didn’t give up.

I’m most proud of being in the exact spot I’m at currently in my life. Understanding the cards I’ve been dealt and still pushing through regardless of what statistics say will happen to me.
I’ve prayed to be in this exact moment. I’ve worked my ass off for this, working on everyone else’s goals while still working on mine. I’ve dreamed about Answering questions for a magazine interview like this all.

I’m so proud I didn’t give up, I’m so proud I’m still going and I’m so damn proud of foughtinf though those suicidal thoughts back in 2019.

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

Honesty. 100% honesty.

Being myself and being open when it comes to what I struggle with through my journey. Being open about my good days but being even more open on my bad days.

The people are looking for someone to relate to and that’s me.

I’m vulnerable and I think there’s strength and beauty in showing a side of you that might get you laughed at but also a side that a lot of people are in need of, to know someone understands them and they’re not alone.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Communication and honesty.

When I first met w a potential new client, we sit down for about an hour, asking questions, getting to know them & digging deeper into injuries, surgery’s and even their “why” as to what will keep them motivated in the gym.

I tell them my professional opinion on how long I think it’ll take them to teach their goals & what are the required actions to get to these goals.

I don’t do cookie cutter things. All of my clients receive personalized and in-depth personal programming and training. I adapt to my clients and not the other way around. I meet them where they’re at and push them forward to their best potential.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jbanfit__ @jban__

Image Credits
Time and space collective