We recently connected with Phil Ross and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Phil, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

When I lost my job in 2004 making over $150,000 in the corporate world, I decided to go and build my own business. I had to pay for a mortgage, alimony, child support and my various living expenses. I took all of my available funds, leveraged my home and put my money, time and full focus on building my martial art and fitness facility. In a 2 year period, I had built my business, paid off the money I borrowed and was operating in the black and I was able to save money and then reinvest some of the proceeds into my S.A.V.E. Self Defense Fitness series. This 4 DVD Series became the #1 Self Defense Fitness series available on the market as rated by 2 separate ranking organizations and was nominated for an Award at the 2007 Hoboken Film Festival.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Phil Ross, MS, CPT and Black Belt in 4 Martial Disciplines, Lethwei, Taekwondo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Bando. I’m a college professor, author, former bodyguard, Master Kettlebell Instructor, actor and presenter and Mindset Coach.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Find your niche, now referred to as your “Avatar” and establish yourself as the expert. There are many methods to establish yourself. First, you need to have a reasonable amount of education in the selected field. After that, you have to have some measure of success; whether it’s what you have done or the results of your clients or athletes. Share information: successes, methods, philosophy, trainer hacks, etc…

Also, do not worry if everyone doesn’t like you or your methodology. This is a natural phenomenon. How many different ways are there to workout? Kettlebells, free weights, HIIT, Zumba, long distance running, MMA, tennis, yoga, Pilates, basketball, etc… Who is to say what is the best? Everybody is different and every body is different. Learn to accept this, move on and don’t waste your time trying to convince people to participate in your program. Focus on YOUR Niche, your Avatar. Also, people may like your speciality, but decide to train with someone else. Again, don’t waste your time. Move on to others that desire what you have to offer.

Communication. Have regular communication with your clients and your staff. Listen to what they have to say with an open and empathetic ear. You never know what you can learn from another. But don’t compromise your integrity.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Not to sound too dramatic, but it was a dark time in my life. I was a 9-11 Survivor and was recently divorced with 2 children. I had a very good paying job at a corporation located in Tower II. After the demise of the Towers, layoffs ensued and I was hit by lay-off number 6. The job market in the Information Technology industry then was down dramatically and securing a job at the salary level that I was accustomed to was not plausible. However, in the “infinite wisdom” of the court, I was remanded to pay the same numbers for child support and alimony.

I had to rent out my condo, sleep on the floor of my karate studio and go back to bouncing as I built my business. I had 2 private students and 43 in my classes. Within 2 years, my personal training clients grew to 15 and my classes were attended by over 155 students weekly. I was able to move back into my home and live with children. This worked out very well, because a few years after, I was awarded full custody of my two children from my first marriage.

When I think back, there were several times in my life when I found myself in seemingly desperate situations. I have to admit that the lessons that I learned as a wrestler and competitive combat athlete in Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Full Contact Karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, has equipped me with the “Never Say Die” attitude.

As a public Speaker and Mindset Coach, I often offer up that I’m “Too stupid to quit”. 😊 Giving up on something is a foreign notion to me. However, this is not to say that I’m not open to changing directions, because I have had to do that on multiple occasions.

So, I took a huge gamble and went out on my own and after 17 years of being “off the grid”, so to speak, COVID hit and decimated my business as a result of the draconian lockdowns imposed upon my industry. In 2019, I was at an all-time high in many areas. The income of my business was at it’s peak, I had just graduated with high honors and secured my Master’s Degree in Science and was selected as the Commencement Speaker from 10,000 graduate students in my class and I addressed the audience at the gradation on the National Harbor. The Trusted Butcher Chef Knife commercial was airing multiple times per day, the episodes and commercials for Knife or Death with Bill Goldberg and Bladesgiving Episode Forged in Fire that I was on were airing on the History Channel and even Pat MacAfee reviewed my appearance and I was booked to appear on his show.

Life was going great, then SMACK!! Another blow dealt. COVID.

The income at my business dropped precipitously, a 79% reduction of income from January 2020 through May. So, after 7 months of dealing with COVID and only bringing my business up to 25% of what it was in the beginning of 2020, I decided to shut the operation, sell the building and delve feet first into the online world.

I had to secure a meaningful, full time job, so I put out hundreds of applications and never was asked for one interview. In the meantime, I was getting involved with a few start-ups. Most fell by the wayside due to a variety of reasons, but two have survived and are poised to due very well. One is Health is a Wealth and the other is the P3 Training Group. HIAW is an interactive, virtual community outreach platform dedicated the health, fitness and wellness industry. https://healthisawealth.com/ P3 stands for Plan, Prepare, Protect https://www.p3traininggroup.com/ There’s a pressing need for both of these companies in our current health and safety climate.

One of the other endeavors that I’m involved in is peaking and coaching. I’m a Mindset coach with https://www.zwinningmindset.com/ . I conduct one on one client and group coaching as well as speaking engagements for them and for the Professional Speakers Bureau https://www.terrificspeakers.com/philip-ross.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://philross.com/ https://masterphilinyourcorner.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Masterphilindustries
• Other: [email protected]