We were lucky to catch up with Rene Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rene, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

I chose this topic to write about because often times as we are going from job to job from our high school years to our adult years, we ask ourselves, “what am I doing here?” I know I asked myself that question when I worked at a movie theater, at Abercrombie & Fitch, as a Resident Assistant in college, at a night club, as an Investigator, and then as an Intelligence Analyst in Counterterrorism. At the time, I had no idea how everything would connect other than I needed money, so I needed that job; and because reputation is very important to me, I wanted to be the best in what I was doing.

It wasn’t until later in life that every skill I learned at each job, was molding me into the person I am today, and into the person that I needed to be to do what I do now, and that is to coach people to get in shape, but more importantly to teach people how to be confident again. The physical transformation is amazing, but the mental transformation is priceless.

So what is the most important lesson/experience that helped me as a business owner. It is that everything you learned in life from all the jobs you’ve done and all the skills, will come together again later in life and be useful tools in your journey.

Rene, 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?

I was always into fitness and sports, and I always wanted to look muscular, like a superhero. In college I would eat healthy and do cardio, and train every day, but I was not getting the results I wanted. After college, I moved to the Washington, DC area and essentially started my “big boy” job. I continued playing sports in recreational leagues and would go out after for drinks and just general socializing. In 2018, I looked at myself in the mirror and I did not like what I saw. Not just physically, but mentally I was comfortable and not growing as a person.

I hired a body composition coach, and I finally did what I wanted to do. Get in shape, have a six pack, and I even did a professional fitness photoshoot in 2021. I then began coaching others to get in the best shape of their lives. I’ve always been very passionate about helping people and giving back. Even when I didn’t have much to give, I would find ways to volunteer, go on Global Brigades, donate clothes. Just help in any way. In 2021, I combined my passion of fitness and helping others and I got into online coaching. I help both men and women learn how to train correctly and eat, while still being able to have a social life.

The one thing I am most proud of is my consistency. You don’t have to be special or be genetically gifted to have an amazing physique. All you have to do is be consistent, which most people are not. Since 2018, I am consistent 24/7, 365 days a year. I’m not perfect, but those one off days do not cause any damage when you are consistent the other 99% of the time. I want my potential clients/followers/fans to know that all you have to do is be consistent, and be patient with the process. It gets easier the longer you do it, as with anything else.

How did you build your audience on social media?

This is an area that I am still working on and as my business expands and grows, so does my following.

There are two separate ways that build an audience. The first is physique pictures. The internet loves the shirtless pictures, modeling pictures, creative pictures and the second is social proof. In other words, client transformations or even my personal transformation.

Personal transformation pictures do very well as the audience follows my page because of me. Client transformations don’t do so well in terms of likes, but it doesn’t matter because that is what actually drives the business. Someone looking to get in shape will come to my page and see client transformations, and they will inquire about my coaching services.

For someone who is just starting out and wants to build the social media presence, you have to have a mix of both. You can’t just post the same thing over and over again, it gets boring. A mix between social media proof of your services, and some professional work will help you grow. Of course being authentic and having a personality always helps. Mixing your stories with you talking and just being normal.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There are many situations where I could have called it quits and not kept working on my physique. The Covid period where gyms were closed, being broke and not knowing how I was going to pay for my coach or food. Or in general, just being busy. These are excuses that I see from clients all the time as well, not just ones I could have used.

The one thing that I fear the most is being labeled as a quitter. I don’t care if I fail, but I never want to be known as a quitter. I am too stubborn to quit, and that is why no matter how hard it gets, I will always hit the gym, I will always diet, and I will always do what needs to be done to move one step closer to building my physique, which in return builds my business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: rene.r.garcia
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/profiles/1051554233
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rene-garcia-610a3833

Image Credits

Professional photoshoot pics were by Arsenik Studios. The other pictures uploaded I took.