We were lucky to catch up with SHAMAINE MCVAY recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, SHAMAINE thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I would say in terms of what my parents did right was my parents allowed me to do what I felt was for me to do. My parents allowed me to make mistakes. My parents taught me that I could do whatever I put my mind to. They didn’t always necessarily agree with some of the decisions that I’ve made or some of the paths that I’ve taken but they never tried to talk me out of anything. That has allowed me the strength, the courage and the will to pursue my dreams.
My dad has been a chef my whole life. So growing up around good food, having the experience of learning to cook good food impacted my second business endeavor. So my love of food and cooking combined with my fit lifestyle turned into another business for me which is my meal prep business, Reddy to Eat Meals. So I could say that my dad really impacted that part of my life greatly.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was always an active kid. I’ve always tried to be pretty health conscious or at least what I thought was health conscious at that time. Then in my early 20s, I became a police officer which obviously required me to still incorporate fitness and health conscious decisions into my lifestyle. During the last few years of my law enforcement career, I began bodybuilding. So obviously, my interest and love for fitness went to a completely different level. As a result, I guess you can say I started loving fitness more and loving law-enforcement a little bit less and less. At that time, I had already earned my MBA. I decided it was time to put that thing to use. Lol. So I decided to leave the force and start my own personal training business. Redd Fitness was literally built from the ground. I didn’t work at a major commercial gym. I was literally scraping up clients in which ever way I could. Thankfully, we already had social media. So when I would get a client, I would post them to my social media and then it really just turned into a word of mouth referral. Eventually, there was one after another after another.
In my personal training, which is one on one training, it’s exactly that. It’s personal training. So each client’s program is personalized for them. If you are trying to lose weight, or build, strength or mobility or whatever your goal is, I put a program together specifically for your goals.
As I was growing my personal training business, I had entered into a new sport, powerlifting. I became pretty successful in the sport of powerlifting and I wanted to share my knowledge with others who were interested in the sport. I began powerlifting coaching in 2021.
With cooking being another passion, I created a meal prep business. So not only would I have the ability to help people reach their fitness goals through training, I could also have a hand in their nutrition. Especially considering that’s a major part of any fitness goal.
I think one of the biggest problems that I have solved for almost all of my clients would be self-confidence. Not in a vain way, but from an inward perspective. When I have a client who doubts their ability or is uncertain of trying something because of how others may view them, or even someone who has been talked out of doing something that others don’t think they should do. I am the trainer that is going to give you the confidence to try it and to push you to the point of success with it.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What has helped me build my reputation in the fitness industry is my authenticity and integrity. I think anyone who has been a client, a fellow competitor, a fellow trainer or anyone else who knows me by way of the fitness industry would say so. I’m very honest with my clients and others. I’m not a trainer or coach that will provide misinformation. I pride myself on telling my clients what they need instead of what they may want to hear. I’m confident in saying that.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
I would be dishonest to say that I ever saw myself as a personal trainer/coach. But I could also say that I never saw myself as a police officer. So with that being said, I don’t choose my careers. They choose me.
Contact Info:
- Website: Reddytoeatmeals.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/figureredd?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shamaine.mcvay?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100061390707233&mibextid=2JQ9oc
Image Credits
Jay’Lin Mullins