We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Russell Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Russell below.
Hi Russell, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I have been in the fitness industry for 17+ years. For most of that time, I have been a group fitness instructor, and in person fitness coach. The pandemic truly changed the way that I think about my life and the things that I wanted to achieve. One of the first things I wanted to achieve, was getting some of my time back. Being stuck home in lockdown really made me appreciate how valuable personal time is, and I no longer desired Stuck in one place all of the time. I searched around for quite some time trying to decide how I was going to operate in my business virtually. At the same time I want to help as many gay men as possible, develop the confidence, strength, and positive self image that I had of developed through the use of fitness. I know this group of people struggles with acceptance of who they are from the time they are very young. I decided running an online coaching business would help me reach as many gay men as possible, not just in Miami, where I live, but throughout the world. The reach in this type of business is in comparable to any other discipline, I have worked in the fitness industry. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to launch an online coaching platform that has already been a stepping stone for dozens of gay men to improve the way that they feel about themselves when they look in the mirror.
Russell, 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?
The FAB90 Modified Macro Method is a system I developed to teach gay men how to develop healthy habits that stick with him for a lifetime. Here at Stathom Fitness we avoid extreme dieting and workout plans that only deliver short term results and lead to a state of hamster wheel and yo-yo dieting. Our approach prepares our clients for long-term success by teaching them ways to make small changes in their diet and exercise routines that they can maintain and stick with long after their time in the program. We use scientifically proved methods around diet, exercise and habit formation to make sure that our clients are successful not only at the beginning of their journey, but well in to the long and healthy life’s we teach them how to live. Our clients are allowed to eat the foods they love while still losing body fat and gaining lean muscle.
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 used to believe in extreme dieting. I have tried on myself and my clients, every single fad diet that has been brought to market. Atkins, Keto, South Beach, diet, no fat, no carb, Weight Watchers, Paleo….
Finally, I decided to make sure that I knew exactly what the science was behind the way the human body uses food. I came to the conclusion that none of these fad diets are necessary. There’s a simple equation to lose body fat. Remain in a calorie deficit. Don’t get me wrong, the things you choose to put in your body affect your health. But for my pure weight loss standpoint, it’s pretty simple. Once I stopped, trying to force my clients into extreme situation is that we’re never going to be sustainable. They started to see incredible results that lasted far beyond any extreme diet we have tried in the past.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I never thought I would be somebody who is concerned about building my social media audience. As an in person, coach and manager for a large fitness chain, it was not something that benefited me in business, for the most part. That being said, when I began the FAB90 modified macro method Organic marketing on social media became a key tool in getting the right clients for my program. My biggest advice to anybody starting on out on social media is just showing up. Putting out bad content is better than putting out no content . The more contact you put out the better your contact will get and the more interaction you will have with your posts . The worst thing you can do when beginning social media outreach is not doing. Post every day, show up in your stories every day, review your posts every week and decide how you can get better, and hire a coach to show you how to do it. Even coaches need coaches, especially when it comes to marketing or anything that you are not an expert at.
Contact Info:
- Website: Stathomfitness.com
- Instagram: Stathomfitness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stathomfitness?mibextid=LQQJ4d