In 8 years, I’ve learned a lot of things…and I’ve messed up a lot of things. If anything, my experience can help you.
I was a broke actor in New York City when I decided to be a Beachbody Coach. I was working multiple part-time jobs, barely making ends meet…we were drowning in debt, we had a lot of credit cards…
I was 100 pounds overweight and the Beachbody community online was like this extra family that I didn’t have to play a role with or pretend I was something that I wasn’t. It was the first place where I could just be…me.
Q: What has been your proudest accomplishment as a coach in the last 8 years?
A: That’s a good question and the answer is twofold; one, that I’m still here. My success wasn’t huge out of the bat, I was a really slow starter. I didn’t see a lot of success super early so the fact that I never quit and the lifestyle that my family leads now is a testament to me being able to go slow and steady wins the race and showing up every day.
One of the coolest things I’ve ever done as a coach that was really like, “Wow, look at the power that this created…” was that we were able to fully fund a mission trip to Nigeria that my mom and step-dad went on a few years ago and that was really a passion project of theirs. You know my one hundred pound weight loss is awesome and watching my coaches succeed is awesome, but being able to do that for my family was super, super cool.
I grew up a heavy kid, I really didn’t feel that I fit in anywhere, and when I was introduced to Beachbody it was after I was a three-time college dropout, I was back at home in my early twenties living at my parents house, and I really given up on my dreams of performing.
I was really reluctant to do in-home DVDs because I thought that’s what chicks did, but I finally gave it a go and it was the first thing that really worked for me. It was the first thing I’d gotten excited about in life in over two years.
When the coaching part actually launched, I jumped in pretty quickly not because I thought it was going to be a big business, as a broke actor in New York, the 25% discount just made sense to me. If I never even make a dollar with this, I’m part of a really great community that’s going to be positive for me and that discount made it easier for me to stay on these products and continue the momentum I had created.
Q: What you have done differently in year 1 / 3 / 5 knowing what you know now?
A: Honestly, I would have taken this a lot more seriously earlier. I tried to pace myself and as you know as a coach, sometimes you have to sprint to get the airplane off the ground. There’s a great video with Zig Zigler talking about creating momentum and it’s talking about priming a pump. If there’s a well and you’re trying to get the water out of the well, to get that water running, you have to really focus and it takes a ton of effort to get going at first. Once the water’s rolling you can be nice and steady with the pump, kind of the same thing with your workouts, and I would say quit hesitating.
I was overly aggressive early on and did I alienate some people? Yeah, I did. Were there some relationships that were strained? Yeah, and some of my friends that rolled their eyes, but at the end of the day, was I more concerned about what people thought of me or where I wanted to go in my life? I was so miserable with where things were that I was willing to potentially alienate a few relationships and they were temporary. A lot of those people have come back around because what they wanted to see was if this was for real.
Quitting was never an option for me! Why in the world would somebody quit this?! Why would you unplug from a supportive community that makes you better and that gives you a discount on health and fitness? I never thought about quitting, ever. And that’s why I’m still here eight years later. I was just flipping stubborn enough to not go anywhere.
Q: How do you deal with not getting family members to start the business or even show interest with them not doing the workouts or drinking the shakes?
A: Simple, I stop talking to them. I had a mentor a long time ago tell me that, “We’re only looking for the people that are looking for us.” You know, I’ve swung at my family and said, “Hey, look. I’m trying to build a business here.” And maybe they’re not going to drink Shakeology, most of my family doesn’t. “Do you take a multi-vitamin? Would you be interested in helping me get my business off the ground? Here are some of the things we off, does any of them sound like something that appeals to you? I really would appreciate it. You know, family to family.”
And if they say no, then quit wasting your time with your family or that piece of your family. Maybe you have an aunt or an uncle or your extended family is desperate for what you have to offer. Sometimes though the people under your own roof, sadly enough, are your biggest detractors and not your biggest supporters. You know, eight years into this and my brother doesn’t do this, my mom, my step-dad, my dad and my step-mom at least drink their Shakeology, but they kind of on and off when they do the fitness stuff, they don’t really build a business. Kelly’s family, it took her mom about two years to drink her Shakeology, her dad doesn’t drink his Shakeology, and her sister does sometimes and doesn’t.
So am I failure because those closest to me on my family tree aren’t involved? No. I just had to go, “Okay.” And it’s hard, sometimes we feel like those should be the people that support us the most and a lot of times, they’re the least supportive.
People are like, “Jimmy, how do you have this huge following?” Man, early on in my social media days I had nothing! It’s about being consistent. No viewers, nobody watched my videos, nobody cared. Quit waiting for people to follow you, it’s not about followers, it’s about going where people are already having conversations that you can tap into that conversation and add value. Go find the people.
Cool stuff only comes when you make yourself uncomfortable. You only move when where you’re at makes you so uncomfortable that you have to move.
Go establish relationships. Go ask questions. Go add value. How’s your family? How’s the job? What have you been doing? How’s that going? People are real quick to tell you what they’re dissatisfied on.
Quit looking for the secret formula, quit looking for the magic words to say. Stop looking for that lightning bolt motivation because you’re not always excited to show up every day. I’m not. My workout sucked this morning. My business is frustrating, I’m not where I want to be, but I want to get there. I feel like I’ve done the work and I deserve that flipping ranking.
Just keep going. So many people just quit way too soon. Stick with it. Plug into the training that your team offers.