We were lucky to catch up with Laura Moore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Laura, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I have had great bosses and terrible ones in the past and all of those experiences led me to the conclusion that I would be happiest if I were in a position to manage myself. So for a very long time I knew that I wanted to have my own business, but what would it be? Originally I thought it would be some kind of restaurant or cafe but I wasn’t really sure. What I do know is that I always had a vision of community. A vision of a space and a specific vibe that made people want to be in it. I wanted to create an environment of positivity, beauty and inspiration. That has always been the primary mission.

Once I started getting into fitness for my own health and wellness, I knew that this was the market where I could create the environment that had been living in my head for years. Fitness needed me as much as I needed it. I have hours of gym time under my belt, just watching, observing, and of course, working out. I saw very few women in the gyms I frequented around my area, let alone working as personal trainers. That’s when the dream of being my own boss, creating a positive environment and my passion for fitness merged together.

My mission has always been to create a beautiful space for people to be their best selves. I could have done that with a restaurant or cafe, and who knows, maybe one day I will still do that, but for now the mission of a positive environment for others where I get to be my own boss is perfectly balanced as a gym owner and personal trainer.

Laura, 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?

In my late 20’s I decided to pour myself into fitness for my own personal health and wellness. Everything in my life started to get clearer as a result and that is when I realized that I wanted to share this gift with other people. There weren’t a lot of women in my area working as personal trainers and I wanted to be the one to provide that service to my community. Since my brain had long been dreaming up a plan of being a business owner, it didn’t take long for me to start building my personal training business and gym in my head. Once I was in a position to make my dream a reality I went for it!

After several years of working two jobs while building a business plan and working on certifications, I finally quit my main job to take on PG Strength Club full time. I started training clients out of half of my garage with minimal equipment and not very many luxuries. Eventually I transformed my entire garage into a functional, climate controlled space with all the equipment I needed to help my clients achieve their fitness goals. Two years in and I am now ready to expand into a larger space to offer even more services to my dedicated clients.

My personal fitness niche is powerlifting and although I have a lot of clients that train in a powerlifting style, I work with all kinds of people with all kinds of abilities, needs and interests. I am certified as a pre/post natal specialist and working with women through their pregnancies to stay strong and focused and then meeting their beautiful babies has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. I also weave boxing, yoga and group fitness into my services for my clients.

I think being a woman in this profession is the first thing that sets me apart from the majority of trainers, but I also think my relate-ability is another thing that has helped me be so successful. I haven’t always been in the best shape, and I still struggle with motivation sometimes. My approach with my clients and with myself is very down-to-earth and realistic. I am a real person who eats real food and sometimes I don’t feel like exercising and I am transparent about that. My job is to help other people power through those roadblocks and the amazing part is that their dedication is what often pushes me through my own roadblocks. I feel a strong responsibility to my clients and my community and I know that sets PG Strength Club apart from the others.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I worked for a big company with a job that paid well, had great benefits and one of the best retirement plans that you can get but I was dreadfully unhappy there. I played around with the idea of moving around within that company to see if I could use my talents more and stay interested but no matter what I did I was miserable. I knew I wanted to be my own boss and I knew I wanted to be a gym owner, but I didn’t necessarily know how I would make all of that happen. The first thing I did was get certified as a personal trainer and found a job at a commercial gym. I worked both jobs for a long time, just trying to get as much knowledge and experience as I could while still having a reliable paycheck. COVID catapulted me into starting my own business much faster than I had anticipated because all the gyms shut down. That’s when I really started getting serious about setting up my own place for more private one-on-one training.

As miserable as I was at my main job, it was still a hard decision to cut the cord and go completely on my own. The final step was to lay out my income for both jobs, which was almost equal at the time. Once I realized that I was maxed out with income at my main job and that I was just getting started with my own business and already almost making the same amount, the decision became easier to make. I was willing to make less money doing something I loved but I realized that there was even more money to be made with my own business if I freed up the time and energy that my main job was consuming. That’s when I put in my notice for my main job and I haven’t looked back since!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Referrals have hands down been my biggest source of new clients. When you offer a service that people both want and need, and you are good at it your clients are going to want all of their friends to know about it too! I have had multiple people tell me that they feel like they are my only client which I think has helped in that referral process. In reality I am juggling workout plans for 20-30 people at any given time, but the personalized service and the meaningful relationships I build with clients makes my business successful and keeps those referrals coming. I live in the DC suburban sprawl and the community of people, especially ones with small children is very tight knit. All it takes is one person to give you a shout out on the local listserv, community Facebook page or something similar and your business will snowball from there. Before you know it you will have a wait list and be spending your time trying to figure out how to clone yourself!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pgstrengthclub.com
• Instagram: @pgstrengthclub
• Facebook: PG Strength Club
• Linkedin: Laura Moore

Image Credits
Emily Schofield