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

Jay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I don’t advocate drug use to attain fit physiques.

The advocacy and glorification of bodybuilding drugs in the fitness world is a poisonous route. Many fitness influencers, bodybuilders and trainers glorify it simply by using these types of drugs themselves. In the event they are also trainers, they typically push these enhancements on their clients. It’s common.

The message these people are sending is deceitful and chalked full of lies. In the fitness industry, it’s commonplace for those who don’t use performance enhancers to rally behind and support drug abusers. In some weird realm outside of reality, many people seem to correlate a drugged physique with well-being and health. When drugs are abused, this is very far from the truth.

And for some strange reason, these bodies in the fitness industry are praised and exalted. Instead of glorifying drug abuse, we should instead take a stance against it. We live in a bizarre world where alcohol and meth abuse is deemed as bad, yet when bodybuilding drugs are abused, it’s okay. Even crazier is that accolades are given to the user. WEIRD.

What I do differently is that I don’t put my clients on any type of bodybuilding drugs. Many of my clients compete and we enter natural (drug free) competitions. They get fantastic results without abusing drugs.

My coaching is different because this is extremely common, especially in the contest prep world (even with the women).

The abuse of bodybuilding drugs and health will NEVER coexist. In fact, I enforce that my clients drop other rec drugs, such as alcohol and marijuana.

My business. My rules. Drugs suck.

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 started changing lives in 2006. I got pretty good at changing bodies, so around 2013, I began entering my female clients into drug-free bodybuilding shows. My team has attained many pro cards and secured multiple team awards.

My primary skill is body REcomposition, stage or no stage. I specialize in coaching type-A women and always get the best results with this demographic. I also prefer this demo since they tend to listen and take action, and as a result, they achieve better results.

The foundation of my philosophy is rooted in being drug-free. Not subscribing to the use of bodybuilding drugs while achieving health and fitness is an important aspect of my brand. It must be clearly understood that health and the abuse of bodybuilding drugs cannot coexist with each other. However, the core belief goes deeper than this as I am a diehard advocate of being substance-free from recreational drugs and alcohol. I believe these substances have no place in a healthy lifestyle and can be potentially harmful and detrimental, especially when abused.

I love exercise science and have a deep passion for teaching and writing. I’ve written four books, have a peer-reviewed publication and I used to teach an advanced personal training class at college. I have also developed a personal training certification to help trainers in the industry become better skilled at their craft.

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

Superior results.

Many trainers have results with their bodies only. The “fitness influencers” are the worst. They get some abs or booty and then share it with the world on every posted photo. Then they sell programs to the masses. Typically though, they have no results with other people (just their bodies).

The best way for clientele growth is to produce great results and customer service to clients. Making this about them instead of about you.

Make customers happy and they will refer you. As a result, you stay busy.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Responsive communication is a key player in creating loyal clients as it comes down to being attentive to their needs.

This seems to be a difficult behavior to engage in, generally speaking. Many people are too consumed in their lives and don’t give much respect to others and it shows in their lack of responsiveness (ghosting). This segues into business, should the person have one.

Being responsive (support) to your customers is imperative. The only time I’m not responsive to clients (or anyone) is if I’m training a client. In such an instance, I don’t have my phone on me (because I’m not a “phone trainer”). But after I am done, I’m quick to respond to any needs of any of my customers.

That said, I don’t displace clients into a FB group and say to myself “GOOD LUCK” . No. My clients are able to get a hold of me in various ways: Voxer, phone calls, Facetime, Zoom, etc. It’s important to ensure the customer (client) knows you are there and you actually care about their hiccups they may encounter and the end-result of your service.

This is a better practice versus throwing them into your “Awesome FB Fitness Community Group!” or being overly obsessed with your own bodybuilding workouts and chicken ‘n broccoli Tupperware feedings every two hours.

Contact Info:

• Website: FNfitt.com
• Instagram: @FNfitt