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

Sydney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

There are plenty of lessons I’ve learned from prior jobs/experiences but one in particular sticks out to me. This was well before I thought about establishing my health and fitness business. Back in college, I interviewed for a job at a local spin studio. During my time there, I showed up, worked hard, and loved it. I established myself as a leader and continually put myself out there as far as wanting to grow more in the business and get to a “higher up” position. That meant going from general retail to operations manager (keep in mind, I had no experience in operational tasks at all at this time).

Being able to rise through the ranks at this job from more front-facing positions like checking customers in, helping with customer service, etc. to more behind the scenes as a general manager and operational manager taught me a lot about how to manage my relationship with my current coworkers and establish a more managerial role. It was a transition that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and unfortunately sacrificed my friendships because I was gaining more and more experience and being put in positions that required me to be more of a “boss.”

From that experience, I now fully understand what it’s like to start from the bottom and work your way up, how to maintain a professional relationship but also grow friendships, and ultimately earn respect from current and former employees. It’s something that most everyone has to go through and going through that in college when your career and life is barely starting is a pivotal time, and it either sets you up for success or failure in your next endeavor.

Sydney, 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’m a current Under Armour-sponsored athlete and own my health and wellness business, which offers one-on-one coaching programs, ebooks, and a membership site that includes follow-along workouts, challenges, etc. So, it’s quite a few things, but I got to this point from my history in athletics. I was a swimmer growing up and had the opportunity to be a part of the Women’s Swim Team at the University of Texas, Austin (hook ’em!). While in college, my love for fitness started to blossom, and I got my personal training certification along with my undergrad in Nutrition.

Over the years, I’ve worn many hats – spin studio front desk associate, operational manager, personal trainer, nutritionist, swim instructor, and a few more jobs sprinkled in here and there.

I pride myself on being able to connect with my clients and help them figure out the true root of whatever problem they’re facing. After years of diet trends, crappy workout programs, and information being pushed in mainstream media that is completely backward in living a healthy lifestyle, my goal is to pretty much undo all that!

Nutrition is simple. Working out is simple. And I help people fall in love with the process.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

ABSOLUTELY. I am completely obsessed with helping others and would choose to study nutrition and persuing personal training repeatedly.

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

Having a clear goal and speaking to your niche. When you get more specific, and when you’re able to let your personality shine through, I’ve found that especially with being in the health and fitness space that it’s what resonates with people and what encourages them to share their experiences without you doing any traditional marketing or sales pitch.

Contact Info:

• Website: spinsyddy.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/spinsyddy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneytorabi/
• Youtube: youtube.com/sydneytorabi

Image Credits
Andi Lynn, Chris Kim