From working out in the park to opening my first Studio…
Sinead’s 3-year journey from her decision to start a women’s only fitness business to opening her first fitness studio.
What drives you to do what you do… for Sinead O’Meara Fitness in Torquay, it’s an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction, a feeling that puts goosebumps on her arms and a smile on her face… it’s the feeling she gets every time she talks about her clients.
For Sinead, the journey to a healthy body starts with a healthy mind. Starting her own fitness journey just 3 years ago, Sinead had been a long-time sufferer of anxiety, found it difficult to leave the house and was also diagnosed with depression.
“I found myself stuck in a rut, I was a single mum working as a dental nurse to support my family. I felt as though life was against me and I needed to do something about it. Finally building up the courage to join a local gym, I remember walking through those doors and feeling more anxious than ever. I felt like everybody in the gym was watching, and judging me.”
Not knowing how to use the equipment, and lacking the confidence to ask for help, Sinead decided to study outside of the gym. She enrolled on a Level 2 Fitness Instructor course to build her confidence and get the most from her workouts. After completing the course Sinead started to really see results and started to feel good about herself.
Sinead had discovered a new found love in her fitness and moved on to complete her Level 3, before enrolling into a foundation degree in Sport and Exercise Science.
“I couldn’t believe how exercise could make such a difference, and my degree revealed the effects of exercise on the mind. I discovered how your body increases production and release of both serotonin and cannabinoids in the body. Both of these are clinically proven to improve your mood and create a feeling of happiness and wellbeing. It was all starting to make sense, the more I was exercising, the better I was feeling, and the more sociable I became.”
“I started training in a local park with a few friends who had noticed the difference in me, and I just wanted to share my success with others. I decided that this was it, I was going to help other women who were struggling with their mental wellbeing.”
Using the Black Friday sale, Sinead managed to secure £700 worth of equipment for £300. She had made a commitment and was now ready to help other women to start living their lives.
I knew that I wanted to work with women specifically, for no other reason than I really enjoy them coming to me with low confidence and seeing that progress over the months, seeing them come out of themselves, not just seeing their body shape changing, but their perception of what they can achieve, and it’s impact across their whole life. Not just in a fitness perspective, if they believe that they can achieve, they will achieve, and that goes across whether they believe they are a good parent, a good work colleague, or a good wife, that confidence and that self-perception, in psychology, is more important than anything. It’s actually your self-perception of whether you are, or are not, able to do something that moves you forwards. So, my job as a PT instructor is to prove to women that you can do this, and I’m going to be there with you to coach you through and show you how this step, this step, and this step… all the micro-steps… come together to enable you to do more than you ever thought possible. And once their self-perception rises they start to tell you how it is having a positive impact across their whole life, and it is that I am addicted to. That is why I do what I do.
Having discovered her niche, Sinead’s passion and drive quickly grew her business from a few friends in the park to running several classes.
Using the Black Friday sale, Sinead managed to secure £700 worth of equipment for £300. She had made a commitment and was now ready to help other women to start living their lives.
I knew that I wanted to work with women specifically, for no other reason than I really enjoy them coming to me with low confidence and seeing that progress over the months, seeing them come out of themselves, not just seeing their body shape changing, but their perception of what they can achieve, and it’s impact across their whole life. Not just in a fitness perspective, if they believe that they can achieve, they will achieve, and that goes across whether they believe they are a good parent, a good work colleague, or a good wife, that confidence and that self-perception, in psychology, is more important than anything. It’s actually your self-perception of whether you are, or are not, able to do something that moves you forwards. So, my job as a PT instructor is to prove to women that you can do this, and I’m going to be there with you to coach you through and show you how this step, this step, and this step… all the micro-steps… come together to enable you to do more than you ever thought possible. And once their self-perception rises they start to tell you how it is having a positive impact across their whole life, and it is that I am addicted to. That is why I do what I do.
Having discovered her niche, Sinead’s passion and drive quickly grew her business from a few friends in the park to running several classes.
“When I think about it, my business grew really, really fast, most of my clients were hairdressers, beauticians and nail technicians, and they love to talk. When they start seeing results, they start telling their clients, and this word of mouth is how we grew so quickly. Even today, I make sure my business cards are in the top beauty salons in the Bay, I make sure that at least one of those beauticians is training with me, and I make sure that all of my customers have our GO Retrieve booking App on their phones, which is professionally designed around my brand. GO Retrieve has made it incredibly easy for my clients to book and pay for all of their classes, it removes any barriers and takes away the anxiety that surrounds a phone call. And I can keep in direct contact with everybody through push notifications.
As I grew I could see our own community was evolving and after 15 months of training in the parks, I managed to secure an indoor location at the local squash club. This enabled me to add more classes, and whilst I’d love to say everything went smoothly, I did introduce a range of classes that didn’t quite work. They weren’t the right fit for our community and as hard as it is, you just have to accept that if it’s not working, you have to change it. You need to learn from your mistakes early, you can’t take it personally, you just have to understand why it didn’t work and then change it.
After about a year at the squash club my current location at the local Tennis Club in Torquay became available, I plucked up the courage to pick up the phone and can honestly say I love it here. We have our own studio and outdoor training area in a beautiful location. I’ve really made it my own, we’ve re-painted the studio, replaced the flooring, added mirrors, new equipment, and created our own massage room.”
Understanding your niche and empathising with your clients are the key steps to building a strong business and community following. Sinead is keen to keep this as the backbone of her business, so much so that she is only recruiting clients that have trained with her and have experienced what it takes to change your mindset.
“We now provide personal training, semi-private training, and classes. I’ve just taken on Sam, who is amazing, she was a client of mine that I approached to see if she would come and work for me, and over the past year, she gained her qualifications to become a personal trainer. I now have my eye on another client of ours who would also make an amazing trainer. This all helps to ensure that our trainers really understand what our clients may have been through and can directly empathise with them.”
Having built and established Sinead O’Meara Fitness in Torquay, we asked Sinead – If you could go back and give yourself three pieces of advice, what would they be?
Work harder and smarter than everybody else, the harder you work in the beginning, the quicker you will get to where you want to be, and the easier it becomes later on. Be smart in how you work, don’t waste your time, there are only so many hours in a day, and this is where GO Retrieve really helps with growing your business.
Listen to others and keep learning, if you can learn from the success of others it will really help your business.
Find a niche, be creative and hammer it!
“We now provide personal training, semi-private training, and classes. I’ve just taken on Sam, who is amazing, she was a client of mine that I approached to see if she would come and work for me, and over the past year, she gained her qualifications to become a personal trainer. I now have my eye on another client of ours who would also make an amazing trainer. This all helps to ensure that our trainers really understand what our clients may have been through and can directly empathise with them.”
Having built and established Sinead O’Meara Fitness in Torquay, we asked Sinead – If you could go back and give yourself three pieces of advice, what would they be?
Work harder and smarter than everybody else, the harder you work in the beginning, the quicker you will get to where you want to be, and the easier it becomes later on. Be smart in how you work, don’t waste your time, there are only so many hours in a day, and this is where GO Retrieve really helps with growing your business.
Listen to others and keep learning, if you can learn from the success of others it will really help your business.
Find a niche, be creative and hammer it!
Lee co-founded GO Retrieve in 2016. He is the Managing Director and principle visionary, with a passion and drive to help fitness professionals to grow their business and free their time.
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Custom Branded Mobile App
Promote your brand with your very own custom-branded mobile app available for IOS and Android. A great way to keep your brand in front of your clients, allowing them to book and pay for all your classes, appointments and workshops.
Engage and re-engage
Send automated and targeted push notifications to remind your clients of upcoming classes and events. Re-engage with clients that have stopped booking with personalised “we miss you” messages. And automatically send ‘Happy Birthday’ messages with a free class if you’re feeling generous.
Secure Payments
Online booking and secure payments for your classes, appointments, and workshops any time of the day or night. Create recurring memberships, single and multiple class passes with added incentives.
Keep your classes full
With online booking and real-time scheduling, your clients can book your classes on the go. And when a class becomes full they can add themselves to your class waiting list. Automatically send Push Notifications when a space becomes available.
Recurring Payments
Create unlimited bespoke memberships with class and appointment flexibility. Automatically create recurring payment collections with a click of a button.
Staff Check-in app
Provide your staff with their own check-in registers, giving them instant access to client details. View emergency contact details, health information and more.