We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jonathan Carpenter. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jonathan below.

Jonathan, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

I got my first job personal training during my senior year in College. For us to graduate, we had to have 150 hours of internship work. I wasn’t sold on personal training. At that time, I wanted to do athletic training due to the income opportunities. However, one random moment changed all of that for me. My wife, who was my girlfriend then, would come to work out with me during the day or after my shifts. A lady by the name of Leigh Ann came to the gym regularly. I would see her do the same routine every day and I wondered what differences could she make if that routine changed. On one particular day, my wife wore shorts to the gym. Leigh Ann spoke to us occasionally as we trained together. Before leaving the gym, she approached me and said, “If you can get my legs to look like hers, I’ll hire you as a trainer.”

This moment was the moment that changed my entire life. I quickly agreed because that was a challenge in my opinion. Also, I wanted to experiment with her training routine. She was that person you see in the gym all the time busting their butt, only to see the same results. I strongly felt I could change that.

However, there was a catch to me training her. I had to be certified. I was a broke college student that worked at Lowe’s part-time. I couldn’t afford NASM. I told the gym owner about the conversation Leigh Ann and I had. He said to search for a personal training cert that I could get fast. I came across Expert Rating. I took the test the next day and got my digital cert. The next week we began training. Fast forward two months, and she was down 14 pounds.

The amount of joy, confidence, determination, and sense of achievement she exemplified turned into my passion to help others. I’ve always had the heart to serve others and this was my way to do that. I knew at that very moment, this is what I want to do. I wanted to continue to bring joy by solving problems no one thought they could achieve.

My only goal before Leigh Ann was to make money. I didn’t care if I would be miserable, I just wanted a good job to make a living. I’m so thankful that I took the opportunity to train Leigh Ann. It was no longer just about money, but about who else could I help. Because of Leigh Ann, I started my journey in training and have not stopped yet. She trained with me for approximately three years. The passion to help others that was ignited then, is still there, almost 10 years later.

Jonathan, 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 name is Jonathan Carpenter. I’m from a small town known as Hernando, Mississippi. I grew up being a very active kid. I do not recall a day where I wasn’t outside playing unless I didn’t feel well. At an early age, I understood what hard work meant. My Mom worked 2 jobs and my Father had a lawn care business. I worked with both my Mom and Dad which was a nice blend to form my characteristic traits for becoming a businessman myself. My heart of servitude began to grow when I started helping my Mom at her second job, which was a cleaning service. I knew that she was tired from her first job so I would help her so that she could get home to get rest. When I worked with my Father, I saw the work ethic and effort he put into each one of his clients’ lawns. Combining both the act of service along with work ethic formed my discipline and business mindset.

Discipline is only one factor that plays a role in being a personal trainer. I have found that commitment is why people hire me. People have seen my output, my results, and my determination. The discipline, is your pitch. The commitment is your closing. Once a client hires me as a trainer, I’m fully committed to helping them achieve their goals. I’m here to celebrate their successes. I’ve always asked my clients, “Why do you choose to work with me?” The answers that come up the most are education, compassion, ability to listen, attentiveness, and that they see that I truly love what I do. Those are the things that clients crave, along with trust. I have been given a gift to coach others. That gift solves their problems. When I started my personal training career, I sought to help as many people as possible. I offered free sessions several times to get my name out there. People would tell me all the time that they were going to come to the free workouts. Did they? No. But that’s where the commitment kicks in. Inky Johnson said it best. He said, “Commitment is staying true to what you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has left.” Therefore, I committed to be at those free workouts for 2-3 hours by myself regardless if anyone showed up or not. Many times, no one would show up.

Honestly, during those moments, I questioned if this career was for me or not. I’m a firm believer in Jesus Christ. I remember vividly praying one night about the heartache basketball had caused me. While I was praying, I felt peace come over me like never before. I heard in my heart, that basketball is not something I should pursue anymore. I ran into my brother’s room crying. I kept repeating, “basketball isn’t it for me, there is something else God wants me to do.” Here I am today training professional athletes, which I thought would never happen. .

I started my training career in 2014. I quit my job at Lowe’s in 2015 to become a personal trainer full-time. Transitioning from Lowe’s to training full-time was not peaches and cream. I was still broke. However, I had a lot of freedom from the misery of doing something I did not enjoy every day. Even though I was broke, I was joyful to build something that was unseen. I want readers to know that I relied on faith. Faith has put me in front of hundreds of people. Faith has put me in rooms with billionaires. Faith brought me my first big job in 2020. In 2020, former NBA and Professional Basketball Player, Tarik Black hired me full-time to train him in Woodland Hills, California. That was big for me. Covid damaged a lot of businesses. My business also took a hit as a result of it. However, two months into the covid lockdown, Tarik reached out to me about moving to his home to train him. I’d lived in Hernando Mississippi for 30 years. Moving to California was a huge culture shock for me, but one that came with the biggest salary I’d ever received as a trainer. I am forever grateful for Tarik and his family. Since training Tarik, I’ve worked with NBA Players Thaddeus Young, Langston Galloway, and Bones Hyland.

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

My ability to be reliable and being able to discover a client’s “why” have been the most efficient strategies for building my business. Being reliable builds value and value builds success in a business. My clients automatically feel appreciated whenever I’m on time for training, which is a form of reliability. I write out all of my training programs for each day that we train. I also keep track of my client’s weight and measurements. I had a client, Brittany Hanlon, reach out to me 4 years after our training, for her previous measurements. I was able to locate those records. She wanted to compare her starting results with her current progress. If your clients can’t rely on you, they can’t trust you. As a result, this decreases your chances of getting referrals.

Discovering a person’s “why” helps you discover your anchor. It is the nucleus of your focus to solve their problem. Amazon discovered how to solve both business owners’ and customers’ problems. I’m sure we can all agree that they have a very successful business model. If my clients have no clue why they are wanting to improve their bodies, the motivation fades and soon they will also. Discovering their why brings forth the right for me to hold them accountable to their why. Sometimes the why isn’t discovered right off the bat. You’ll need to ask questions and ask them often to build the best strategy to help them win. This concept will bring you more clients in the future because they recommend you to their family members and peers.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson I had to unlearn was saying “yes” to every person or opportunity. At one point during my career, I had to pivot on how I was making money. A lot of my regular clients were ending their sessions and money wasn’t coming in. To attract new clients, I temporarily lowered my prices. I had a program that would run for 8 weeks, at a temporarily discounted rate. The plan worked and I gained a client. However, she tried to manipulate me to further decrease my prices, after the temporary price decrease and her 8-week package were over. During the 8 weeks of her training with me, there was a weight loss contest going on (the contest was not ran by me) that the client wanted to win, and she did. She wanted to continue to train with me after the 8 weeks were over, but she only wanted to pay the special discounted price she had previously paid. I told her, I’d love to, but that price was only for a certain amount of time, as previously mentioned. It also was not a sustainable price for my business. I was called a liar and accused of saying that it would be a 12-week program. She said that she could have achieved her goals for the contest without me. I would not allow this client to manipulate me in to lowering my prices for her and I knew I never said that it was a 12-week program. She was no longer a client after this conversation. This unlearned lesson taught me to form contract agreements specifically stating what the client is signing up for, the price, and the number of sessions that they’ll be training with me. Although this situation was stressful, it was necessary for my growth. It taught me that barriers are healthy and that not everyone will appreciate what I do. You have policies in place to protect yourself. Money isn’t worth it whenever discouragement and manipulation attack your joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fitforglorytraining.com
• Instagram: FitForGlory_
• Facebook: Jonathan Darius Carpenter

Image Credits
Brandon Walker (Fiftytwo Dallas)