If you dream about it follow it. Today I want to share my journey to opening my own studio and helping women like you live a healthier lifestyle. If your dream is to open a hair salon, or travel the world. It is possible, set your mind to it and your dreams can come true. The 9 things I did that have made a difference in my business can help you too!
Where it all started
I have always had a passion for fitness and it has always been a part of my career. As a graduate from the University of Massachusetts, with a degree in Exercise Science, I went into the world looking for a good job in my field. However, at that time, a great job in yellow pages advertising sales was offered to me and I could not turn it down. In the 90’s yellow pages advertising was huge and I was making a killing. During this time, fitness was still a huge part of my life. I became a part time fitness instructor , teaching classes after work. When the internet hit in the late 90’s, the yellow pages business was in a quick decline.. this is when I was really struggling financially and decided to leave the advertising world and do what I love to do every day! I became an ACE certified trainer and Yvette Salva Fitness was born. I left the gyms, as I knew this would be a conflict of interest, and started my own personal training studio. I first started in my home with just a pair of dumbbells, a bench and one client. Yikes.. this was really rough.. but I did not give up. I knew that I wanted to help women get fit and women love classes. So I rented out a space in a small gym and started teaching kickboxing. AMAZINGLY as the women in my area got word that I was teaching … many of them followed me. I could not believe that people were paying me 10 dollars a class to take something they could take for free at their gym. I then started teaching other classes like Zumba and Pilates and from those classes I was able to pull clients for personal training. At this time, I was hustling… going to corporate gyms, high schools and church basements! Since then I have been able to open a small personal training studio and have 5 trainers working for me. My business has changed so much since then… I now have a online gym for people who can’t make into studio or do not live local to the studio. We offer Facetime training for people who are traveling. What I have come to realize is that in these economic times people don’t want to give up training they just want it to be affordable so I offer ways to get your workout and be as healthier YOU through the means that work best for your lifestyle. Personally I also am very accountable to the service I give my clients both in the studio and online. 1. I NEVER cancel an appointment and if I do without 24 hour notice I always give them a free session. 2. I always get back to all emails, phone calls and texts within 3 hours. 3. I am always attending conferences and learning the newest techniques. I remember ten years ago I could never have imagined doing personal training without a huge gym full of equipment .. but honestly now personal training has become much more functional.. My most used equipment are sandbags , kettlebells , TRX and dumbbells. 4. I do every small group workout ahead of time and have it all written out and the room is set up accordingly . Clients love to come into a room with different stations set up and ready to go. We waste no time figuring out weights and set up.. it’s all done ahead of time. 5. Every class I teach is different.. I use different music and different modalities. My classes run in 6 week series so I Mix it up so there is something for all of my clients.. booty barre… kettlebells… strength… kickboxing… Pilates and yoga 6. I walk the walk.. I hold myself accountable to be my very best … I eat clean and train hard and try to be a role model to other women. 7. I have a Facebook page, I used to not really keep up with it but after attending a few sessions at the IDEA convention, I realized I was missing out. I recently hired a social media marketer who handles my Facebook, linked in , twitter and Pinterest. 8. I invested in a great website. All my classes are listed there and all sessions and classes are purchased through pay pal 9. I send out a monthly newsletter, in this newsletter I also post a client of the month.. Everyone loves a great success story especially when it’s a familiar face from the studio.. I always give the client of the month a free session I hope this helps anyone who is out there struggling financially in this business.. It has been a process for me but I have found the recipe that works for me and my business.If your dream is to get into the best shape of your life, and feel great everyday I can help you with that now! Try the YSF3 online gym for 2 weeks FREE and start living that healthy lifestyle and getting that amazing body you have always wanted.
