Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JAIME FILER. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

JAIME, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

I was 15 years old, and I had snuck myself into the local Jewish Community Center by lying to the front desk staff about my age *you had to be 16 at the time to get a membership*. There was one personal trainer who worked in the fitness center named Nelson, who took me through my standard, free 30-minute assessment / orientation. I fell in love with the machines, the weights, and the process of weight lifting.

After the orientation, he sat me down (trying to sell me sessions, obviously!) and said, “Jaime, what goals do you have?” So I said, “Muscle gain and more strength.”
He said, “What else?” I said, “10 push ups in a row.”
He said, “What else?” I said, “Higher jump for basketball.”
He said, “What else?”… We must’ve been doing that for 5 straight minutes. He literally pulled every goal out of my little brain / body, but he also forced me to stretch my mind in terms of what was possible for myself. He wanted to know more. He wanted to show me that I was capable of more. That ANY goal I could dream up could be possible – if I worked hard and long enough.

I now implement that with my clients – 19 years later. When they tell me they want something, I ask them ‘What else?” at least 7 more times. I want them to know that nothing is impossible. They’re capable of having, being, and doing so much more than they believe.

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’ve been a personal trainer for over 15 years, and every year, I feel like I get better and better at serving and impacting people. The reason for this is because with every year of experience comes a new precedent of clients. New traumas, new mental health concerns, new physical health concerns; which means I’m constantly being challenged in terms of having to level up. I am most proud of the fact that people don’t just come away from working with me with a better body, but a better mindset and heartset as well.

What sets me apart is that I’m not just a rep counter. I’m not someone at a big box gym with a purple shirt correcting your form and telling you that you’re doing amazing. I’m challenging you from behind a computer to question your limiting beliefs about why you’ve not been successful in the past and why you keep sabotaging yourself. I dig into your heart and your head in order to improve your physique; they’re not mutually exclusive.

I am proud of the fact that I’m not a coach with a massive “team.” Honestly, the only assistant coach I have is my wife because not only do we love working together to impact our clientele, but she has struggled with severe depression in the past, AND she’s a competitive athlete as well, so I feel like she’s the most qualified to serve alongside me.

We offer mental health services, individual and group empowerment calls, in addition to online nutrition and training programs.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I save lives. Why? Because I had to save my own. I started my first diet at 11 years old. I can’t pinpoint the reason why, I just remember started to cut back on snacks, throwing out my lunches at school, and then at 15, starting to count calories. By the summer of 11th grade, I was diagnosed with anorexia and spend the summer + the last two months of the school year in an inpatient / outpatient program for women with eating disorders.

After being released, it took another six years until I was fully recovered. I’m proud to say that I’ve not relapsed or been tempted to relapse ever since 2008 (I was 21 at the time and am 34 now). I lost too much of my life to the disease and vowed to never go back there. I also vowed to make fitness an integral part of my life.

Weight training saved me. It helped show me what my body was capable of and that there was so much more to me than just what I looked like. I wanted EVERYONE I met to fall in love with themselves and what they could do. I got a university degree in Kinesiology, a diploma in exercise physiology, and a personal training certification. It was time for me to help my community feel better about themselves from the outside – in.

I have been a personal trainer for over 15 years and have taken my business online since 2019 in order to be able to reach more people. I specialize in helping people who struggle with anxiety who don’t believe they have the capacity or emotional bandwidth to be able to incorporate/integrate their physical health with their mental health. I show them it’s possible (and advantageous!) to do both.

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

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been to pick a niche.

I didn’t want to be like a trainer at a box gym who was just assigned people / clients based on their availability.
I wanted to pick and choose my clientele based on what kind of people they were, what they were struggling with, and how hard they were willing to work. I started off by working with everyone at first (I needed money). But as my reputation and online presence grew. I narrowed it down to women.
After my first year of business, I narrowed it again to LGBTQ+ and women.
A year after that, LGBTQ+ and women who struggle with anxiety.
And now, I tell anyone who will ask that, “I help women and the LGBTQ+ community overcome overwhelm, reduce anxiety, and increase confidence through fitness.”

My programs aren’t about lunges and lunches. You can go anywhere for fat loss and muscle gain. I help with EVERYTHING, inside and out.

Contact Info:

• Website: jaimefiler.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jaim91
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jaime.Filer1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaime-filer
• Youtube: youtube.com/jaim91

Image Credits
Jade Timmons Antonio Pandolfo