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

Marco, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I was two years into an exercise science degree at a school I followed a girl to, I was just below a 3.0 gpa wise, I cut ties with my fraternity and my relationship of 4 years had ended. Its easy to say I had nothing really going for me at that school left, except for two things: my job as a personal trainer at the school’s gym and $26,000 of debt coming my way. So I called all the people in my life that I loved and trusted and asked them all what they thought about me dropping out of college. My Father, Mother and Brother all had similar answers, something along the lines of “if this isn’t something that you’re enjoying and you don’t think it’s worth the money, then you’re not meant to be there.” So about half way through the summer break I went to the random ass office I’ve never been to once and asked the lady at the desk, “so how do I unenroll as a student?” She smiled at me and in such a nice tone said, “its just that lime green paper on the wall.” I literally grabbed from the only lime green stack of paper on this wall of paper organizers. It had me write my name, my student number and then check one of two boxes indicating if I’d ever consider coming back. I left the lime green sheet of paper and my mail box key with the nice lady at the desk and then I just left.

It took a few days of thinking and sleeping on a friends couch for me to come up with the idea of selling all my shit and moving to Wisconsin to become an online personal trainer. Why Wisconsin? Because my older brother Fabio lives there and he has a two bedroom. In a matter of days and thanks to the help of my family, I had most of my shit gone and I had a flight to Wisconsin. It only took two days of me being there for Fabio and I to decide I should cancel my flight going back to Florida. Instead I stayed in Wisconsin for two weeks and then Fabio and I drove his car down to Florida. We stayed there for a week and then drove his car, filled with the rest of my stuff, back to Wisconsin. Both ways of that drive we did in one straight shot, no stopping to sleep, I do not recommend it. The most important thing I brought with me was an iPhone 5 that my uncle gave me. That iPhone 5 is what I used to start my business.

Leaving college may have been a huge risk and meant I took on some decent debt with no piece of paper(degree), but it saved my life and put me onto a better path. Now my brother and I run two businesses that we started together and I’m living a lifestyle that I always dreamed I would.

Marco, 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?

I am Marco Bonacquisto and I started an Online Personal Training firm, MGB Training LLC, you can find us at www.mgbtraining.com. I first got into online personal training after I dropped out of college and moved from Florida to Wisconsin. But I’ve had the idea of online personal training since I was in high school. In 10th grade I got really into lifting weights and running so I would also watch YouTube content on that. That’s when I found content creators like Chris Jones Physiques of Greatness, Dana Linn and Rob Bailey, The Buff Dudes, and at the time The Hodge Twins were still making a lot of fitness content. But Chris Jones always stuck out that most because he spoke a lot about his online personal training clients, often times ending his videos on the couch getting ready to answer client emails before bed. So all throughout high school I was obsessed with lifting weight and fitness content on YouTube.

I made to the move to Wisconsin knowing that I would for sure go into Online Personal training, all I needed to do was get certified. So I studied for 3 months, took my test and passed. The first few months of personal training were more fun than anything else. My prices were stupid cheap, I was selling 4 in person sessions per month for $50 and doing online personal training for $30 per month. I didn’t have anyone at the time telling me this was an absolutely terrible idea, and I felt I wasn’t providing a product that was worth more. Over the next year I get a part time job, a business coach and a website. In 2 years I am officially online training full time. The third year of business I brought another trainer into the mix, formed my LLC and switched the business model all together. I was now focused on establishing an online personal training firm where can pair people with a trainer that’s right for them and their goals.

We specialize in online personal training and every program is personalized. All of our clients have a profile in our app that we use, Trainerize. With this app the trainer can is essentially in the palm of the client’s hand. They have their full program in the app, can customize their own workout calendar, upload progress photos, track their weight, view their progress on specific exercises and they can message their trainer at any point. On top of the app our trainers reach out to their clients weekly, even daily in some cases, and have a monthly hour long video chat to go over their progress.

What we pride ourselves on the most is that we’re not all about the money. We want our trainers to get paid! An in-gym personal trainer normally gets 25%, or less, of a clients payment to the facility/owner. At MGB Training LLC we take just 10% of the client’s payment, everything else goes to the trainer. That means 90% of the client’s payment goes to the trainer, compared to the 25% or less in a normal in-gym training scenario. My hope is that MGB Training can help trainers make their dreams come true. Whether they just want a side hustle or want to open their own gym one day, I want to make sure MGB Training can help them get there.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Funding for my business has always come from me. Literally just my personal checking account. Of course I use credit as a tool but I’ve never even opened a credit card that has given me more than a $3000 limit and I’ve never asked anyone or any institution for a loan. No, everything that we have we pay for. If I even needed or wanted something for my business my only thought would be “how do I get the money to get this thing?” I start there and then come up with a plan. I’ve taken on more clients, started offering more services, got a part time job, bought and sold stock, started another business with my brother and much more. The point is that anytime I’ve needed money for something, I just went out and made more money. Money is everywhere, you just gotta take the time to figure out how to go get it.

Any advice for managing a team?

Show empathy to everyone around you. If you can listen to your team members and truly understand what they’re going through it will make doing business much easier. I like to focus on my team members goals more than the businesses, because their goals are in line with ours and if they are achieved then the goals for my business will get achieved as well. If a team member is passionate about something and brings that thing to your attention make sure you’re really listening. Take the time to hear your teammates out and be happy for them when they have cause to celebrate and be supportive of them when they need a helping hand.

I always make sure to encourage my teammates no matter what it is they’re going for: a new client, a new way to market or whatever. If they feel the drive to do something I am going to cheer them on and support them in any way I can. I believe in the old way of doing business, if you focus on your employees growth and treat them well then they will be more encouraged to do more for the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mgbtraining.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mgb_training/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-bonacquisto-b371371a6
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmhnt8nM7dB3pxy0eeJFrw