Rachel Martin - Fostering Wellness and Belonging for the Over-40 Crowd at Connection Wellness Center
May 16, 2024
Alimond Studio
Have you ever stepped into a gym and felt like you just didn't belong? Rachel Martin, the dynamo behind Connection Wellness Center, knows that feeling all too well and has crafted an oasis for those over 40 who are seeking a fitness home away from home. Picture this: a warm, inviting space where your personal fitness journey is honored, and your strengths are celebrated, not just your athletic ability. Rachel's transition from a college basketball athlete to a personal trainer has been as unexpected as it is inspiring, and she's here to share how she's changing lives by melding the physical with the psychological, creating a sanctuary for growth and self-discovery.
We'll journey through Rachel's approach to building Connection Wellness Center, where the art of listening isn't just a skill, it's the cornerstone of her personalized training methods. It's a place where the victories are not just about pounds shed but about the relationships forged and the personal milestones achieved. Her story is a testament to how nurturing long-term connections can lead to mutual growth, and how the right support system can propel us toward our best selves. So if you're searching for that unique blend of physical fitness and mental fortitude, tune in for an enlightening conversation about finding the perfect coach and embracing the journey of self-improvement with Rachel Martin by your side.
Have you ever stepped into a gym and felt like you just didn't belong? Rachel Martin, the dynamo behind Connection Wellness Center, knows that feeling all too well and has crafted an oasis for those over 40 who are seeking a fitness home away from home. Picture this: a warm, inviting space where your personal fitness journey is honored, and your strengths are celebrated, not just your athletic ability. Rachel's transition from a college basketball athlete to a personal trainer has been as unexpected as it is inspiring, and she's here to share how she's changing lives by melding the physical with the psychological, creating a sanctuary for growth and self-discovery.
We'll journey through Rachel's approach to building Connection Wellness Center, where the art of listening isn't just a skill, it's the cornerstone of her personalized training methods. It's a place where the victories are not just about pounds shed but about the relationships forged and the personal milestones achieved. Her story is a testament to how nurturing long-term connections can lead to mutual growth, and how the right support system can propel us toward our best selves. So if you're searching for that unique blend of physical fitness and mental fortitude, tune in for an enlightening conversation about finding the perfect coach and embracing the journey of self-improvement with Rachel Martin by your side.
Speaker 1:
My name's Rachel Martin. I am the owner of Connection Wellness Center. We're in Annandale, virginia, and we help people find a place to feel comfortable in the gym. There are all types of gyms out there some for like group fitness, some still for membership-based. We're a personal training studio, so one-on-oneone. We help people that may not have found a fit in those other gyms because it might be intimidating loud music, lots of equipment. Maybe you don't know what to do when you get to the gym and you need someone to help you stay consistent. That's where we fit in.
Speaker 2:
That's where you fit in. I know sometimes I've joined multiple gyms and sometimes it is intimidating with all of the equipment and the people. So it's nice you offer a little bit of more one-on-one.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, we kind of noticed that and with our clientele. Most of our clientele is 40, 50 and up, and it's kind of an interesting thing because it happened accidentally. I'd say that wasn't who I was maybe reaching out to when I first started my first gym, but it just happened that there wasn't really a place for those people you know in our area. I mean, they didn't really have many places to go where there was that private part of the one-on-one, but then like where they felt comfortable that's the best way that I can put it because there's like the bigger gyms and it looks like everybody already knows what they're doing, yes, and if you don't, you're like well, I don't want to go there, it's intimidating, yeah, and if you're not like the high intensity group fitness style, that's not your place either. And so we found a home. But again, it kind of started without me knowing what we were going to and who we were going to attract. But now it feels just right and I'm so happy we get to serve our clients that way.
Speaker 2:
How did you get into fitness and wellness?
Speaker 1:
Another accident.
Speaker 2:
I find that sometimes Sounds like happy accidents, happy accidents.
Speaker 1:
life's purpose will come find you. So I just graduated college. I was a basketball player for the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg and I swear I went all four years without thinking that I was supposed to get a job after college.
Speaker 2:
You hadn't quite processed that part of it yet.
Speaker 1:
No, I was like, okay, you got to go to school, you got to get the degree, and then I was just on track to doing that. So then I, you know, was nearing the end of that journey and all of a sudden I was like, oh, you're supposed to get a job. What would that be? And my family was in the government, like my whole family, and so I started down that path of applying to agent jobs and government jobs and thank goodness it didn't pan out. I wasn't the right fit for that. And there was a gym across the street from where I live that was opening up. They were renovating and my brother had suggested hey, maybe you should go apply there and just be a front desk person until you figure out what it is that you're going to do. So I applied to be front desk. They said you're a great fit for personal training. Why don't you study to become one? I had a degree in biology, so it seemed like okay, that's not too hard.
Speaker 1:
Yes, I'm good at studying. I just finished doing that and that's where it all began, and I fell in love with the journey that people were going on alongside me, and that's why I continue to do it this day, wow.
Speaker 2:
Tell me a little bit about the training process to become a personal trainer. I have a friend that just went through it and it was a pretty long, intense process, right.
Speaker 1:
It can depend. So in the personal training world there's lots of ways to get certified and there's some national organizations that certain gyms say they require you to be certified through them and again, depending on your background, if I just graduated with a degree in biology, the human anatomy part of studying wasn't that hard because I just spent years doing it.
Speaker 1:
But yeah, it can take six months, it can take maybe three months, it depends. But really, and what I tell people that get that certification is that's hardly the beginning, that's just your entry ticket, you know, to be able to start. You can't study people unless you are actually working with people and personal training. And one of our mottos is like we keep personal training about the person instead of about the training, because, like, training is part of it. But if you can't work with a person in front of you that's like communicating with them, understanding what they need, what their desires are, their struggles that they're facing then you can't really help train them either. So you kind of have to enter that world.
Speaker 2:
Because everybody's different and they have different needs and their body responds to things differently and their capabilities are different.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and what they've been through is different. So we definitely spent our first session we call it a first step session talking, and I constantly have to remind our trainers trainers, they probably think I talk too much but the power of talking and listening, really, because if you can't and you don't give opportunities to listen to your people, then your training can only be so effective because you don't understand what they need until you listen to what they are telling you with their words, telling you with their actions, with their body language and words, and listening to their bodies is a huge part of the job.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, as far as your clients. What are you doing for marketing and advertising to bring people in? What's working for you these days?
Speaker 1:
So small business, the rules are always different, but yet in the training world everybody tells me the same thing. It's all about word of mouth referral. It has always worked for us. I'm two years into this business right now and I have tried the other ways of marketing, starting like a Google ad. You know Facebook advertising and it's just a little bit harder to get what you think you're supposed to get from those, because maybe you are a startup and you don't have like the face that you need, like our website. Our online presence isn't as clean or as pretty as companies that have maybe able to spend more money on that, so you're not going to get the return. But when your service speaks for itself and your people are raving fans of your work, they're going to want to bring people in because you changed their lives. So I can't run away from that and I encourage other business owners don't run away. You probably haven't poured into your people enough before you need to go, look at other methods of marketing.
Speaker 2:
So tell me how you started this business that you're in now. What was your journey to starting at the gym after the government jobs? Were your thing, you started at the gym and then where did it go from there for you?
Speaker 1:
So I actually started again training at a local community gym, and then I can say that I couldn't have thought of a better start, because there again a lot of different gyms out there. This one was about 10,000 square feet Not that that matters but they were a bigger studio than like the boutique style, which are 2000, 1000. And so they were attracting a lot of customers, but not too many, and so they made everything personal, which stayed with me. There were neighbors from the community and I loved that. I loved working there.
Speaker 1:
Unfortunately, it closed down pretty early on and I was forced with a decision of what to do next and so I decided to start a business instead of go to another gym, because I knew what I liked and I didn't. I just didn't think twice about it. So I started my first business with a business partner, still in Annandale. Again, I was in this little triangle of a place and I got to keep a lot of the clients that I had built, which is huge when you start a business and the one thing that we did that was really smart was kept it small, kept our overheads small.
Speaker 1:
The place was tiny, tiny. We had red, like the maroon carpet from the eighties no offense to people that have the maroon carpet we had wallpaper that didn't match and that's where we got our start and I was there for two years and then moved to a bigger space and finally started this company, connection Wellness Center, with a totally different perspective than when I started my first job, you know, as a trainer, which was post-pandemic, realizing how much attention people really need right now Because I had done a lot of group fitness stuff. That's great, but after the pandemic I was doing Zoom sessions in people's homes, sometimes going to their homes, and everybody just loved it. They needed it. So much.
Speaker 2:
Everybody needed it.
Speaker 1:
They are so grateful that we took the effort to do that and listen. So that was like the first sign of how important it was to really listen to people and to tailor the training based on what people needed, and so that led me where I am today.
Speaker 2:
That's amazing, and you started this one completely on your own right.
Speaker 1:
Completely on my own, and so it's very interesting. I thought I would be much further revenue wise because I'd had seven plus years experience as a business owner already. But when you start a new one, everyone starts at the beginning.
Speaker 1:
So we had a new team and we renovated the gym to also reflect our values and where we were headed. And yeah, you don't have a name when you start. And I luckily have some business owners as clients and they give me such great advice and tips and they're like just keep being a good person, Keep doing good work, it will work out. But it takes years to build your name. You can't fast track that.
Speaker 2:
No. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when you were opening up your own location?
Speaker 1:
Leadership. Okay, leadership was the first one Cause, even though I was a business owner before, I actually wasn't leading. I was really just training a lot and paying the bills. That's how.
Speaker 1:
I say it it's not the best combo. I worked a ton, paid the bills but didn't actually do the work that needed to be done as a leader. So when I started on my own, everything felt new and scary and I really struggled. Being a boss that name did not resonate with me, but luckily I took a life coaching course and that really opened the door to embracing a new perspective as a coach, and that's what I love to do. I love to coach, I love to train, I love to teach people and like guide them. I don't the way I had perceived what a boss was was like I'm up here and I have to tell you exactly what to do, and maybe that's wrong, but that's what I took from it.
Speaker 2:
It's an easy perception.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I was like I have to be this way, that's what the boss, like I, sort of took from it, and it was this persona, but a coach I readily identified with and I didn't have to try, I just am and I always have been.
Speaker 2:
Do you think some of your basketball days helped with that?
Speaker 1:
That's a good point. Yes, and it was very interesting because when I was a boss at my first job with my first business and I may have even taken on that role a little bit my dad had said something to me because I was like I'm so nervous or like I just things weren't feeling right. You know, kind of like a lock and a key, like I wasn't who I really am. He's like Rachel, I've seen you play for so many years. You were the captain of all your different teams, like you have it, like what's going on, and it was really that I wasn't being who I am, I was trying to be somebody else, and so our gym values very much reflect that. I am who I am. I don't have to change. I can get better, learn new techniques and skills to enhance it, but you don't have to be anyone except who you are.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I love that, so true right.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I think, personal training. We actually find that a lot of people are going through that. In their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. There's always yes, we can all say that there's either moments in our life or things that we've been through, people that we're around that make us want to be someone else. Yeah, and so we hope that when people come to our gym, that that's the 45 minutes where they don't have to be and hopefully, by feeling that 45 minutes, it carries over.
Speaker 2:
It certainly does. Yeah, I'm a big, I'm a bootcamp kind of girl, but it's 45 minutes and I just know if I can get myself there and get the work done, the day is better.
Speaker 1:
The day is better.
Speaker 2:
Mental clarity, physical clarity, and it all goes together. Yeah, and we're sharp and focused throughout the day.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely Well. I'm glad you do that for yourself. It's hard carving out time and thinking that you're worth it and all those things.
Speaker 2:
I carve out the time I put my phone away. I don't wear an Apple Watch for 45 minutes, I'm just thinking about getting through that workout, I got my.
Speaker 1:
Timex. I don't stay connected on the watch and it helps me zone out when I try to work out. Or when I work out, I try not to have my phone nearby because it's too easy for me to get distracted, to get distracted, and this is the one time that you have to not.
Speaker 2:
Yes, it's the one time for yourself, and I remind myself of that every time I do it. Do you have a favorite story that was like most rewarding to you in regards to a client that you helped transform their life? Is there someone that's kind of stuck with you to a client that you help transform their life?
Speaker 1:
Is there someone that's kind of stuck with you? Everyone's no, and because everyone's so beautiful because they show up as themselves or they're trying to right, and I think that's what we all have in common. So even when I was 21, 22, starting to be a personal trainer and working with people, they found me to be relatable, regardless of their age, background, exercise, background, and it was because we share that in common of trying to be ourselves. So the fact that people open up their hearts, their mouths to me, that's what I take away, and I've been privileged to work with people for over 10 to 12 years since I began training. To me, that's what's really special, because that's not out there, everyone doesn't get that opportunity to work with somebody two, three times a week for a decade, right.
Speaker 2:
For a decade. You're probably part therapist too. A little bit right.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know, and it's such a beautiful thing and transformational relationship for me as much as it is for them.
Speaker 2:
For sure, yeah, and it's probably taken all of their effort just to get there that day.
Speaker 1:
Right, yeah, sometimes, and sometimes it's not they're looking forward to doing it and they're excited to get there because they know what they're going to get now that they've been there, what they're going to get now that they've been there. And so that's where I try to encourage other people who may not understand that part of personal training, that you get somebody that's there for you, right, and like their sole purpose is to be there for you for that time, but also outside of the gym. Yeah, how often do we have that in our life? You may get that, but maybe you only have one person like that. It doesn't hurt to have two, no, it doesn't. And it just feels so great to have someone cheer you on and just listen, to be your cheerleader.
Speaker 2:
Who was that person for you? Who is the person who cheered you on the most?
Speaker 1:
I'm so lucky I've had, I've had so many. So certainly my, my family, and that includes my brother, my mom, my dad, who did so much to be at every basketball game, that's like the most beautiful thing I can think of. Uh, cause my brother, who's older he's four years older in high school he rearranged his college schedule to come to my games. Like who does that? You know they're a college guy. Yeah, he's a good big brother.
Speaker 1:
And I didn't know that until a little bit later, you know, after I had played or something, and he would bring his friends and that just meant so much. He'd bring his friends, and that just meant so much. My sister-in-law, too, that he's now married to, came to my college games, and coaches that have worked with me. They always showed that support. But I didn't ask for it. Yeah, I never asked for it. But I wouldn't be where I am today, the person I am today and what I want for other people, if I didn't receive that type of love my entire life. So that's what I want for everybody. They were always there for you, always there.
Speaker 2:
for me that's awesome. So you've been in your space for two years. Where do you see yourself going in the next five, 10 years? Who knows?
Speaker 1:
Yes, who knows? We are entering in the life coaching world Again. I just took a certification that was six months worth and it was super impactful to me. In fact it's called an impact life coaching certification and so we're trying to add more attention that we could be giving to people. So combining the fitness like the physical part with the mental part of life coaching, and my goal with that is to make sure that people know that that type of coaching is for them. You know, I think business people have an easier time. Athletes have an easier time hiring a coach for whatever aspect of life they need one. But not every person sees education that way, but it should be accessible to people. So making a formula and having a system for people to say, yeah, that makes sense, I can do that, Because right now it's sort of that field. If you've never heard of it, what is that?
Speaker 2:
What does that mean? I think sometimes people don't have the support that sounds like you had from your family and need that extra person, that life coach, to guide them in the right direction, because they don't have that person necessarily, and it's about sorry to cut you off, it's really about connecting the dots.
Speaker 1:
So if you're working on the physical, that's great, but again, it's only two hours of the week. How much of your life do you want to transform Just two hours? Or do you want to transform a little bit more? A little bit more? Well, chances are it's that little bit more. So we need somebody else to enroll in your process to help you through the rest of the hours of the day.
Speaker 2:
I like the way you said that enroll in your process. I like how you said that.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's really what it is. And again, people find a tough time investing in themselves. Sometimes it's easier to invest for somebody else your kids you're going to do anything for but then we put ourselves in the back burner. But it's like if you're trying to help your kids, then you need more help. The more people you're serving, the more help you need.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know the analogy of putting your face mask on before like on the airplane before you help anybody else. You can't help other people if you're not taking care of yourself.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, absolutely. And I think most people feel like it's self-serving, like we have that, that fear or that thought in our head that we can't make the time for ourselves because we have to serve others. Right, but it's the exact opposite. If your mission is to serve others. You need to serve you because self-mastery leads to you being able to help other people.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. Are there any last parting words you'd like to leave us with? You've said so many great, inspirational things. It can be fitness related, business related.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Get a coach, get a coach of any kind, whatever is easiest for you to see yourself making progress in. Try. If that coach doesn't work out and it's not the right fit, keep trying, because it doesn't always. In fact, it rarely works that your first coach whether it's a trainer, whether it's a therapist is the right fit. But they're out there. You just got to do the work to get there and know that you're worth it.
Speaker 2:
And do the research. I love that and remember you're worth it. Thank you, rachel, for being on the show today. Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure, thank you.
