We recently connected with Tara Allred and have shared our conversation below.

Tara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents have always been advocates for health but not in the way you see on ads for anything promoting health and fitness. My mom has always promoted whole foods and natural remedies. I remember being jealous of friends when I was little who always got fun happy meals. Little did I know the damaging affects that kind of beef can potentially have on young girls at the time. My mom never forced me or my siblings to eat everything on our plate but did expect we at least taste everything. I now do this with my own children in hopes they will listen to their own hunger and fullness cues. While I was young, my dad worked a lot of hours to support our family of 6. Somehow he would find time to take us to a park and chase us in a game of tag that was renamed “Monster” so he was it and if we were caught, we were put in a “prison” and if any of our siblings could tag us then we could escape. It was a lot of fun! By engaging in fun, physical activities with us as kids, my parents modeled food and movement to be positive things rather than a chore.

Tara, 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?

I am a personal fitness trainer. I got into the industry long past my “prime” if you will after I had my 3rd baby. I never would have imagined myself starting in the fitness industry this late in my life. When some fellow mom friends invited me to do group training with them as a more affordable way to work with a trainer, I was stoked! I had not been very physically active after having kids compared to before kids and had forgotten how good it feels to just MOVE regularly. Once I realized how much it helped improve my mental health, I couldn’t think about much of anything else. I ask our trainer all sorts of questions about how to certify, which route is the best, etc. I was a full time stay at home mom with no income of my own and felt too guilty to use the family budget towards certifying which was nearly $1000. Then a close friend of mine asked me to babysit her little boy who was the same age as my kids while she was working. It was perfect and gave me the ability to pay for my certification course and test. I kept it a secret from my husband and most people as I was embarrassed to go after something like this when- in my own self deprecating opinion- I looked nothing like what a personal trainer “should” look like. My lack of confidence was apparent as I started working under the trainers who trained me in the first place. Men would frequently correct the way I was training others or tell me I would injure myself with the weight I was using, etc. without realizing I actually WAS doing everything correctly. Through the years my confidence has grown and I know I am a valuable trainer to work with. I’ve learned a lot about nutrition and continue working and learning on how to improve.
This career path is important to me because I want to empower others with confidence I was able to gain. We can be healthy and strong without looking like a fitness model 24/7. We all have seasons in our lives and some do not allow as much time on our own health as we might want, but we can always make small changes for the better.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Staying curious. There is so much to learn about the body but not only how it functions but also how mindset and emotions play such a huge role in perceived success. Listening “between the lines” to clients is essential. Many of us are people pleasers and will just tell our coaches what we think they want to hear rather than opening up and being 100% truthful. I hope my clients truly understand I am not there to judge ANY of their choices but simply try to guide by asking so many questions. I feel the key to success in this industry is understanding what drives each person individual and what their true “why” is for seeking out a personal trainer in the first place.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was that I was not and never would be good enough to teach or help anyone with anything. I never did well in school. I have a really hard time focusing. If I am asked a question that I know an answer to but feel out on the spot, I freeze up and stare blankly. I was CONSTANTLY saying sorry for, well, existing? My trainer at the beginning told me to snap the hair band on my wrist every time I apologized. It actually helped! I am slowly but surely learning to step into who I am and owning my knowledge and am always upfront if I don’t have an answer but I usually do some research until I really can answer and help. I am not completely sure where my insecurities come from. I was shy as a kid and we moved a lot when I was little. That combined with bad grades made my self esteem go down for sure. Now that I have my own children, one of which was diagnosed with ADHD, I am positive I have it too but assumed everyone had the same kind of thinking processes but I was just broken.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://trainerize.me/profile/totaltraining3
• Instagram: @train_with_tara
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrainerTaraAllred

Image Credits
Nakia Armstrong took the group pic that’s says Reach Fitness at the top.