The shift from fitness coach to business partner

I met Mel in 2022 when she reached out to be coached by me. Essentially, she asked me to make this wobble less (shakes bingo wing).

As we got through more one to one sessions, I got to know more about her and what she did as a career. I started asking questions, about logos, about how she would rebrand the team I was coaching with at the time, as well as the gym I was based in. Her answer to those questions was essentially ‘I’d need to sit down with the person and talk more in depth about it’, so it’s not just a new shiny face on top of a business then I’d wondered.

Six months later, I left the team and went out on my own.

Holy fuck, what do I do...?

I knew I needed a brand. Or at least, I thought I knew — I figured I needed a logo, something that looked the part, and I'd be set. That's what most coaches do.

The word "brand" gets thrown around like it just means a logo. I'd been part of a team that had one, had it redesigned, but nobody was ever told how to actually use it. You’d slap it on a few social posts and call it done.

That doesn't make you stand out. It doesn't get you remembered.

Having been in the fitness industry for years, on the floor, with clients, to then building a coaching business from scratch, I understood better than most how crowded it is. I'd seen what worked and what didn't. I knew that if I was going to go out on my own, I wanted something that looked as impressive as my client results. I wanted a brand with real substance behind it.

What I didn't fully appreciate yet was how much deeper that goes than colours and a logo.

When I worked with Mel on All Round Coaching, the process surprised me. She asked about my values, how I worked, why I started coaching. We were already talking about far more than a logo. That approach, getting to the root of something before you build anything, felt familiar. It's not unlike how I work with clients.

There needs to be structure, consistency, and a real sense of you coming through. Otherwise you're just another pretty picture that looks like everyone else's.

More than a brand designer

The brand wasn't cheap. So naturally I thought: hmm, maybe I date her, and well, that worked out, because I now have something amazing for free. (Joke.) We’ve been together for 3 years now and she knows my dry (albeit slightly dark) sense of humor.

We did get close. I love how Mel thinks and how she creates, finding connections most people wouldn't see. That creative spark, the sense of collaboration in her world, honestly resonated more with me than a lot of what I'd experienced in the fitness industry.

I'm a creative person, but I'm also sharp at business. Organised. Direct. Possibly somewhere on the spectrum, we move on and come back again after 15 other side quests have been completed.

When Mel was building Trumpet Creative, it made sense that she focused on the creative side and not get buried in the operations and admin. That's where I came in. I've been integrating into the studio, learning how it works, how to run it, and how to look after clients. I'm more direct than Mel and I know the importance of clear boundaries, which I hold too.

I'm still an online coach. All Round Coaching means a lot to me, we built that brand together and it stands for everything I believe in. But I also love building something new alongside my partner, and watching Trumpet grow.

Keep a close eye on what we're doing. It's going to be a good journey.