We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ramoni Overton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ramoni, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I never planned to create a personal training business, but when I think back, it feels like it was destined. As a teenager, I realized that I’d been overweight throughout my entire life. In high school I decided I wanted to change my life and I lost 30 pounds in 2 months. I was able to keep the weight off until I left for college and gained over 20 pounds back. I knew what I had to do because I’d done it before, but this time I had an audience. People on my college campus saw my daily workouts and was like “I want to train with you!” I’ve always been a business savvy person so I told myself “ok, I’m going to make this a business.” In January of 2018 I trained one of my college friends for free in exchange for photos of her progress. She lost so much weight and her progress photos were amazing! A few young ladies on my college campus saw the work that I was doing with her and they wanted in. In February 2018 I began to train them. I didn’t charge much because I was new to this, but I established myself as a personal trainer with a personal training business: Glow with R.O. Fitness. With all of these progress photos from my new clients, I was able to make an Instagram page and post them. I was gaining traction from more students on my college’s campus, people who lived near my college and had heard about me, and people from social media. So many people who followed me on Instagram wanted to train with me but they lived out of state. I immediately thought of creating online programs. I researched how to create an online program and created the 30 Day Weight loss Plan. The 30 Day Weight loss Plan gave birth to other online programs like my 30 Day Weight Gain Plan, 3 Day Detox Meal Plan and 6 Week Sculpt. Over the past 5 years I’ve been able to sell over 4,000 online programs. I saw the demand, had the idea, and just went for it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I stepped into the personal training industry because after changing my daily habits and ultimately changing my life, I knew that I wanted to help other people experience that. I help my clients learn that being healthy doesn’t always have to be the daunting task that we were taught it was. Healthy eating can be enjoyable and getting active can be enjoyable. I truly believe that this mindset sets me apart from other trainers. I know that when people think about personal trainers, they think of a person yelling in their face telling them to get down and do push ups, but I’m just not that person. My clients know that I’m not going to scream at them and I’m not forcing them to do anything that they don’t want to do. That’s not to say that their sessions aren’t intense because they are. But I’m not a baby sitter, I’m a trainer. I help people that want to be helped and I do it with a smile on my face.

I’m super proud of where my mindset, dedication and ambition have taken me. Glow with R.O. Fitness now offers in person training & yoga sessions, virtual training, online fitness programs, online meal programs and shapewear. I’m only 24, but this 24 year old is changing the way that people view themselves. This 24 year old is teaching people that they deserve to live a healthy life. This 24 year old is changing the world one person at a time.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being myself. And that answers this question, but that’s also the answer to all questions. Just be yourself. I’m not trying to train like anyone else, I’m not trying to teach yoga like anyone else, I’m not trying to operate my business like anyone else. I come to the table with my own personality, my own thoughts, my own methods and my own ideas. When you stay true to yourself, you give the world something that they can’t get anywhere else. People don’t buy products and services, they buy people. When you treat every customer or client like a human being instead of a sale, they support your business. When you walk with authenticity no matter how that looks, they support your business. When your audience knows that you care about them, they support your business. Be yourself.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that the world owed me something. When starting a business, you want your friends and family to be the first people to throw their money at you when they’ll likely be the last. You will have to become a big deal to people who don’t know you, for people who do know you to finally catch along. And that’s ok! The people around you are not obligated to support you. It’s a harsh reality but a reality nonetheless. When you spend your time being frustrated that they aren’t showing up how you need them to, you rob yourself of the time that you could’ve spent showing love to the people who do care. I had to stop worrying about whether people were with me or not and start focusing on showing up for myself every single day. You show up every single day no matter who’s on your team, and you’ll look up and be in spaces that you could have only dreamed about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.glowwithro.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xo_ramoni/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glowwithrofitness/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4CVM_SGlMCl8qGxKFPBkrA
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@glowwithrofitness