We recently connected with Melissa Bell and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Fit With Mel is known for training clients to overcome their own barriers within their fitness journey. Each client requires a different training method, nutrition plan, level of accountability coaching, and understanding. Building a bond and level of trust with each client is what makes our programs so successful. Health and wellness is a personal thing and we apply that mindset to each part of training. Nowadays you can buy premade programs from most influencers or trainers but it’s made with the idea that one size fits all…some people thrive with that but the majority of people who want to lose weight or make a lifestyle change need detailed guidance and a program that is tailor-made for their body, age, hormonal level, and goals. Fit With Mel also specializes in gut health and autoimmune diseases/deficiencies.

Example:
I had a client named Amy come in for a consult, she had been training with a different trainer for 2+ years, lifting heavy weights and on a nutrition plan. Amy wasn’t losing any weight and had the goal of losing 35lbs. Amy also had an autoimmune disease that affected her thyroid. I ended up taking Amy on as my client and I changed almost everything she was doing. We eliminated lifting heavy weights, focused on higher reps + body weight, and changed her nutrition plan by giving her more foods to eat but eliminating the foods that we causing her inflammation. Within 4 1/2 months she lost 40lbs, got off her thyroid medication and has been able to keep the weight off/enjoy the foods he loves.

Melissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Melissa Bell, I am the owner of Fit With Mel. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, I’m a mother, humanitarian, and entrepreneur. I think my life was always going to lead me to health and wellness. I played almost every sport when I was younger, I did dance, cheer, motocross, water sports, etc. I have always enjoyed being active and moving my body. I became obsessed with lifting weights in 2009 then that evolved into getting my certification in personal training. I started Fit With Mel during COVID in 2021.

Fit With Mel started as me training clients in private sessions 1:1 in Orange County. I specialize in weight loss, fat loss, strength training, and overall fitness. I provide clients with manageable nutrition plans and guidance on how to reach their goals. Because I’m educated in autoimmune disease, gut health, and vitamin deficiencies – I am able to help more people handle the root cause of their health/wellness issues.

I’m the most proud of the bonds and relationships I have built with every client. To see their entire transformation from start to finish and still be in touch like friends gives me peace that I did my job and I helped change their lives.

I want people to know that your health and wellness are the most important things you can have. Understanding what works for YOUR body and how to care for yourself is a superpower. When you feel good about yourself you can achieve so much more in life. Your health sets the tone for the life you’ll end up having.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yea, haha. This is actually how I ended up in the fitness industry and creating Fit With Mel.

I was suddenly let go from a company during COVID-19 – my position was literally eliminated overnight. I had recently just moved to South Orange County with my son, I had no friends or family here and I truly had no idea what I was going to do, especially during a pandemic where nobody was hiring. I had about $2050 left in my bank account (that wasn’t even enough to cover my rent haha). Randomly that same week, I ended up being invited via Instagram to a private gym that had just opened in the area, I actually thought the tour was for the purpose of working out there but it was actually to see if I was interested in becoming a personal trainer. I spontaneously said “Yes”.

So, I hit the ground running… I started networking like crazy, talking to strangers in coffee shops, stores, other gyms and, passing out flyers, etc. I had to create a clientele from scratch! I needed people to know who I was so I did that every day, spent time in the gym (by myself) every day until I got my own clients. Eventually, my name kinda blew up and I went from 0 to seeing 17 clients a day 6 days a week, working ungodly hours, and having a waiting list.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think because I did the opposite of what most personal trainers do I stuck out in my environment. The first thing is, that I rarely posted images of myself on IG. I only posted my clients and I was known for my cinematic IG videos of my clients working out – I got really good at filming content.

And more importantly, I wasn’t selling the typical nutrition ideas/plans that most coaches do. I wasn’t advocating that everybody should overeat chicken and rice and I was pretty vocal about gut health/issues, hormonal imbalances, and autoimmune diseases. I was selling the fact that fitness is not the same for everybody, each body responds differently to weight training and that cardiovascular health is vital.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fitwithmel.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitwith.mel/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/melissa-bell-rancho-santa-margarita

Image Credits
Profile Picture (headshot): Ian Duly