We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Duke recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica , looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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.
I never set out to own a business. When I was in personal training school, we had professional people come in to talk to the class about what it was like to work for this studio and that gym. We had people talk about what it was like to own their own business. I thought that was the one I least wanted to do. I just wanted to work for someone else and not worry about the day to day operations. But after working for a big box gym, a community center, and a couple of boutique studios, (and signing non compete agreements for all of those places) my options became quite limited. So I decided to set out on my own. At first, I had 1 client. I had a job as a barista at a coffee shop to make ends meet. I thought about giving up so many times. Slowly but surely, I built my base up and in 2015 I was able to quit my barista job and work for myself full time. I’m so happy that I didn’t give up. I’m doing the thing that I love and still have time to go to lunch with my mom or take a coffee break with my husband. Even though it’s the thing that I thought I wanted to do the least with my personal training certificate, it ended up being the thing I wouldn’t trade for anything.
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 background and context?
Before I started my company, I was working in a boutique studio and I had a client named Lindsay. I loved working with her because she was about my age and fun and cool and we spent the whole time laughing. One day, she came in for her session super excited. She told me that someone at work had challenged her to an arm wrestling match. She said “…and I was feeling strong, and skinny, and so I said yes.” And I told her that if I ever started my own business, I was going to call it Strong and Skinny Fitness. Lo and behold a couple of years later, I did just that. And just as the word “skinny” started to fall out of favor with many people, Lindsay passed away from cancer. She left behind a husband and a young son. So even though some people may be turned off by the name of my company, I keep it, as a tribute to Lindsay.
I’m a one woman show. I go to people’s homes and train people in their homes. They don’t have to go anywhere, they don’t have to pay gym fees or deal with feeling like everyone is watching them. It’s just the two of us. And when the session is over, they can shower in their own bathroom and move on with their day. No commute, no flip flops in the shower, no meat head trainers trying to sell you stuff. It’s a win win.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
The ability to be a chameleon. Some clients need you go be their drill sergeant, and you should do that. And some clients need you to be their cheerleader or friend and you should do that too. You should be able to tell from that first meeting what kind of trainer your client needs and be that for them. If you don’t figure out what they need, they will find someone else who asks better questions and gives them what they’re looking for.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
If I could go back and do it all again, I would do it almost exactly the same way. Every decision I made at every crossroad led me to the point I’m at now, to the knowledge that I have now, to the house and the husband and the son I have now. If I changed any of those things, I wouldn’t be where I am with the experience that makes me… me. I love my job, every day is different. I love being a company of 1,. My staff meetings always go smoothly and sometimes my boss even lets me take a nap!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.strongandskinnyfitness.com
- Instagram: Jessicatheduchess
- Facebook: Strong and Skinny Yoga and One on One Training
