We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Scott Elliott. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Scott below.

Scott, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I graduated as an engineer. A few years in the industry, I came to realize that this was not my passion. The daily responsibilities of being an engineer became a struggle due to lack of passion and desire to improve. The struggle bled into the rest of my life and I saw myself becoming very passive aggressive with family, friends and work relationships and girlfriends. I fought the inner voice to change, because of the investment to graduate with this degree and the fear of disappointing my family.

Not seeing any light in this endless tunnel, I turned to seeking WHO I am with the hope of understanding MY PASSION and PURPOSE. I began reading books on the subject, listening to audios and attending seminars that deal with self development. I realized that taking this action was the first time I ever put time into ME. Growing up, my time was spent on school work, sports, family, fun; but never had I spent time on figuring out the WHO, the WHY and HOW of my life.

I would sit down in the coffee shop several nights a week to begin writing a business plan on personal fitness training. Fitness was a something a huge amount of passion to be apart of. I didn’t event think that it could be a career until I realized that I was the only one in my circle of friends that felt this way of exercise. Huh, I thought everyone loved it as much as I, guess not.

This business plan planted a seed that over the next several months grew into something believable and achievable. I call this business plan my BLUEPRINT. This blueprint gave me the courage to submit a letter of resignation to my boss at the engineering company. The Vice President visited the office a few days later and sat me down. With an open checkbook, he asked me how much would I like if he could get me to stay. I gave him the courtesy to say I would like to think about it. Although, I already knew the answer… Thank You but I decline your offer.

It was at the moment I metaphorically became a personal trainer. That was 15 years ago. The journey has been an epic story of serious struggle and amazing success. The passion of what I do as a personal trainer and for whom I do it for gave me to strength to show up each day. It was the expertise that attracted my clients to me and the passion that keeps them coming back. I get to give my clients the opportunity to figure out who they are and it all starts with becoming a stronger, leaner version of who they were.

Looking back, the RISK was not about quitting a secure job, but rather it was a risk of walking away from WHOM I WAS MEANT TO BE.

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?

HOW I GOT INTO FITNESS I got into the fitness industry growing up in a family with heart disease and diabetes. Having either or both of these conditions was not a matter of if, but rather when. When I came to the realization that one day I would have to experience my dad and one day myself go through what my grandparents experienced, I decided that I needed to learn more to change what could be the bleak future.

Since then, I have put my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins through my fitness and nutrition plans. Happy to say that my dad has lived well passed his dad.

SERVICES
I provide my services through private training sessions here at my studio in Del Mar, CA, on-line custom programs accessible any where in the world and mindset programs to keep your mind in the right place.

What sets me apart is I design programs based on your body type and longevity training.

BODY TYPE:
Not all bodies are created equal. When you look at the picture of each of these body types (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph), common sense tells you that the modality of exercise and nutrition recommendations for one body type can not possibly be the same for the other.
You start with my quiz to determine which of the 3 body types you are.
You can take the quiz with this link: https://koolbody.com/body-type-quiz/

LONGEVITY TRAINING:
The focus on the fitness programs is to lean out, tone up and longevity.
Thanks to modern medicine, society is living longer but our quality of living is poor.
The aches and pains we feel in our body could be from years of being rough on our bodies from the falls we have taken, the hits we have had and the overuse of joints. Compound that with lack of movement and poor nutrition and we have a broken down body when we get older. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Longevity training focuses on supporting the body as we age to keep those joints, heart and mind happy. To give us hope to continuing skiing when we are 80 or running with our grandchildren.

WHAT FANS SHOULD KNOW
Body type and longevity training all sounds good, but lets be honest, we are all busy people and time is limited. My programs are quick interval training. The heart rate fluctuates up and down throughout the time to provide you an effective and efficient workout. They say the hardest step is the first one. My social media is full of 3 minute routines designed to simply get you up and moving, because if you don’t have 3 minutes then your priorities are off.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most expensive part of doing business is marketing. So, when you get a new client, you want to give them the best experience so they want to stay.

1. Location.
Having a personal training studio nestled within the neighborhoods, walking distance from most homes, sets me apart from other training studio that are off the beaten path. If someone doesn’t now you, they will tend to go with a location that is most convenient for them.

2. Reviews
Dealing with an audience that only knows you from a Google search, TRUST factor is a must. The reviews on YELP and GOOGLE have given me the edge over the surrounding training studios.

3. Networking
Get out there and meet people. I regularly attend business networking meetings and social events to get to know other business owners. These connections give me the ability to create collaborations, enter into new social circles and most importantly build TRUST. When any of these connections refer someone to me, the level of trust with their referral and my services have already been created prior to the referral ever contacting me. Having this trust given to me from another is so important.

4. Keep the clients you have.
The most expensive part of doing business is marketing. So, when you get a new client, you want to give them the best experience so they want to stay. Clients come and go. But if they see value in what you provide and they genuinely appreciate you, then they will either stick around or come back. They become a client for life. You want to add to your list of clients, not replace.

5. Let the clients have the ideas that grow your business.
No one knows what they need better than the clients themselves. I have built my services based on recommendations from my clients. I have even named some workouts after a few. Doing this has really built a sense of loyalty on both sides, I am committed to them as much as they are committed to me.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I was taught by my mentor that everything you do in life needs to be done with integrity. It seemed to be very cliche statement, but there was many moments in my career where I was faced with a choice and making the decision of integrity became a game changer.

One particular time, I was given a referral to train a gentleman new to town. He lived in a very nice part of town, business owner and ready to get in the best shape. I showed up at his home to do a fitness consultation and workout. At the end of the workout, he could decide if he would like to continue doing business or look elsewhere. He liked the workout and was ready to pursue with more, so he wrote me a check for a package of workouts.

When I got home, I saw that he wrote a check for $50 over the amount. It would have been easy to deposit the check and move on. Or should I contact him and tell him what had happened and I could get a new check when I saw him next. I was just starting my business, so having the extra money would be helpful. Anyway, I reached out and told him about the incorrect amount. He responded with, “Oh, thank you, go ahead and keep that extra money, And congratulations, you are my new personal trainer. “.

I realized that this was a TEST. He wanted to see if he could TRUST me being in his house and this was his way of doing so. That moment of integrity led to 6 workouts per week for the next 4 years. He got into amazing shape, wrote me incredible testimony, referred me more business to other business owners.

Integrity has its place in business. Without it, you have no business.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://koolbody.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scott_ryan_elliott/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoolBodyPersonalTraining
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koolbody
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KoolBodyFitness
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kool-body-personal-training-del-mar

Image Credits
Terri Rippee of Rippee Photography