Fitness Freaks: Coach Ernest Taylor Overcomes Administrative Overload

In our Coach Profile series, our global community of successful professionals answer our questions about building a fitness business, taking great care of clients, having a personal life, and other interesting facts.

Our Guest Fitness Coach: Ernest Taylor of Fitness Freaks

Coach Ernest Social Channels:

• 01

  https://www.facebook.com/people/easymoney615/100063629224139

• 02

  https://www.instagram.com/easymoney615/

• 03

  https://www.youtube.com/@365fitnessfreaks

Ernest, we’re always excited to talk with talented fitness entrepreneurs that need help taking their business to the next level. You’ve been very successful as a competitor and also as a coach for people seeking to achieve different types of fitness goals.

Your clients love what you do. So much so that you’ve built a client-base of ~70. We’ll talk about what keeps your clients coming back and referring their friends to you.

With all those clients, you’ve also got quite a heavy administrative load, that we’re excited to help you reduce with an all-in-one fitness platform. We’ll talk about scaling a fitness business as well, while keeping time for family and friends.

That said, let’s get to the good stuff…

Professional Trainer Ernest Taylor Answers Our Questions

Q: Give us the Ernest Taylor origin story. What happened early in your life to get you interested in fitness? What are some of the competitions/awards you’ve won personally?

A: I actually did not start my fitness career as early as people assume. I am 38 years old now and I started working out when I was 28 years old in 2013. I weighed 160 pounds. Never lifted weights in my life. I obtained a basketball injury and I was only looking to pass time until I healed and walked into a local gym and have been there everyday since.

I researched nutrition, workouts, and supplements from scratch and wrote down my plans by hand. All of which I still have to this day! This path led me to powerlifting.

Over time I ate better and performed better and started to challenge myself more. I went on to set numerous Georgia state records in powerlifting. Deadlifts, squats, bench press, and pushup records.

As I continued to improve my craft I began to look better. Which was not a goal in the beginning but happened during the process. Which led me to bodybuilding. In Natural Bodybuilding, I won 1st place and obtained my ProCard in my first competition. I returned for another bodybuilding show and won 3rd place out of 11 as a natural bodybuilder in a non-natural bodybuilding event.

Q: When did you decide that coaching was right for you?

A: I woke up one day and thought about how many people consulted with me for help. I thought about the questions I answered versus the questions I could not answer.  The questions I could answer far outweighed what I could not answer.

People were misinformed, lacked knowledge and experience. When I knew I had the ability to speak to others and give them the knowledge and guidance that I never had, I knew I was in the right place doing the right thing.

Q: You coach people for a number of goals. You have busy executives looking to drop weight and better cardiovascular health. You have already fit people looking to get in body-builder shape. What are all the types of client personas you serve? How do you use your personal experience in that coaching?

A: My clients range from 10 years old to 77 years old, so the personas and attitudes are vast: from quiet and reserved to energetic.

My personal experience plays a very big role in my success. When I speak to clients, I speak from experience: relating to how they feel and what they are going through, empathizing with them on many levels. It definitely helps my coaching ability and is a main attribute to leadership.

Q: Tell us a little bit about how you work with clients long-term. What are you doing in-person or on video? What homework are you giving them between live sessions?

A: The in-person training and video training share the same concepts, which are the clients’ goals along with what I think the client needs as well.

Every client is different so every program/workout is customized. The homework that they have is also based off the goals that I have set to help them be successful and independent.

Q: Before MevoLife, you ran a paper-based process for assigning your clients their tasks…Tell us a little bit about that. How many hours a week did that take? How did you manage to squeeze that in on top of actual coaching and fathering a nine year old?

A: Custom workouts were done weekly by hand. Nutrition advice was done by app. The hours were countless. Between 12 and 16 hours per week were dedicated to writing weekly workouts. Late nights and early mornings, daytime breaks, writing in the carpool line, writing while training clients. And to say it took a lot of time from my family is an understatement.

Q: On top of the fitness books, you used a number of pieces of software for administering your business. What were those?

A: Pt Minder, Vagaro, Trucoach and Zoom. Along with different apps for payments like Cash App, Zelle, and Venmo.

Q: You’re now coaching globally via video session. What types of clients should consider working with you that way?

A: Fitness is for all levels of experience. Workouts are tailored to meet the needs and standards of each client based on their desires and the equipment they have at their disposal. Anyone and everyone is welcome.

Q: What’s next for Coach Ernest and Fitness Freaks? Where would you like to see your business go as your back office gets tamed?

A: I would like to see myself along with my brand grow from a local business to a nationwide business. I would like to be in a position to help teach and educate other trainers: owning my own gym and being able to collaborate with other professionals. 

For me, that would be a “Wellness Experience.”

Q: Anything else you’d like to share with aspiring fitness coaches?

A: Believe that you can change the world one person at a time!