We recently connected with Tayler Schaller and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tayler, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

I’m sure most businesses can relate, but the most unexpected U-turn thus far in my career was navigating through the pandemic. Because most gyms flourish with in-person training, it was quite the adjustment for both my clients and me when we switched to virtual sessions. If you would have mentioned virtual training to me three years ago, I would have been skeptical. Flash forward to today- virtual training sessions have become a normal part of my day to day. In fact, it’s actually helped grow my business because now I am able to train clients who live out of state and/or who travel consistently for work.

My colleague, Zach Petrone, and I also had to think outside the box for our class members when businesses shut down. We still wanted to provide workouts for our members so we decided to rent out the gym equipment to them and hold daily Zoom workouts at 8am so they could follow along from home. Zach and I still joke that it was the best shape we’ve ever been in because we didn’t take a single day off (except Sundays) for basically 2 months straight!

It was a trying time for most of the world, but it showed me that we can always find a way to make it work!

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

I went to Colorado State University for my Health and Exercise Science degree and later received my ACSM certification to become a Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor. I now reside in the Denver area where I have my own personal training business as well as work out of Resilience Code and Rocky Mountain Strength.

Starting out in the fitness industry can be difficult because it is a saturated market. Between the commercial gyms and studio gyms, it can be hard to find what suits you best as a trainer. After dabbling in a few areas, I found that I was most passionate about personal training and group fitness. I love the camaraderie and community aspect of group classes, but I also love connecting on a closer level with personal training. I couldn’t pick just one so I chose to do both.

It might sound cliche but i believe I have found my niche by staying true to who I am and being myself. Some people respond really well to tough-love and harshness from a personal trainer, but that’s just not who I am. I am all about positivity, reinforcement and building relationships. That’s what I would consider my brand to be.

I have experience with a wide variety of clients in general wellness, sports performance, and special populations inclusive of autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, and geriatrics.

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

I’ve been training for about 6 years now and there is still so much to learn, but I believe there are a few things that have helped me this far in my career. First being, building meaningful relationships with my clients. For me, it’s just as important to create a bond/ friendship as it is to workout and see results.
Another thing that has helped me grow my clientele is marketing on social media. It was intimidating at first to put myself out there, but the response was extremely positive and supportive.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

This might sound cliche. but I think that staying true to who I am and what I’m passionate about has helped me find my place within the market. For example, I’m a pretty positive person so I make sure that I create a positive environment for my clients in the gym. My goal is to make sure they leave the session feeling better than they did when they came in.

I also believe that finding a niche that you’re passionate about can help trainers establish their brand. For me, I love to train lower body-I always joke that everyday is leg day ;) so about a year ago I decided to hold a lower body focused class. It ended up having a great turnout and we all had so much fun that now i hold one every month.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @taylerschaller

Image Credits
Greg Molony