AUTO-GENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Brianna Battles  00:01

Welcome to the Practice Brave podcast. I am the host Brianna Battles, founder of pregnancy and postpartum athleticism, and CEO of Everyday Battles. I’m a career strength and conditioning coach, entrepreneur, mom of two wild little boys and a lifelong athlete. I believe that athleticism does not end when motherhood begins, and this podcast is dedicated to coaching you by providing meaningful conversations, insights and interview topics related to fitness, mindset, parenting and of course, all the nuances of pregnancy and postpartum, from expert interviews to engaging conversations and reflections. This podcast is your trustworthy, relatable resource for learning how to practice brave through every season in your life. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Practice Brave Podcast. Today, I am here with crystal Williams, and she is a longtime pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, and I am so excited to share her story with you, because what she’s been able to accomplish over the last few years is honestly incredible and very inspiring for coaches of all different backgrounds and experience levels. And I’m just I’m really excited to bring her voice and her story on this podcast. So Krista, thank

Krista Williams  01:19

you for being you. Thanks for having me. This was so exciting for me. This was, like, a career goal. I’m like, someday I’ll be on Brianna’s podcast.

Brianna Battles  01:28

Yeah, and like, certainly have made it happen. And Krista came to the pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coaching certification, the live weekend that we had in San Diego a few weeks ago. And I was like, What are you even doing here? I had no idea that you were What are you doing? And then so fill us in, like, what were you doing there? And then tell us the rewind of how all of this has gotten started in the first place.

Krista Williams  01:53

Yeah, oh my gosh, it’s such a story. But how I got on the podcast was we got to hang out because I, you know, backtrack a little bit how these coaches got here, but I was bringing a coach to the cert for the weekend, and, you know, we’ll talk about how that happened. But you told me I need to build what I need instead of finding them. So one at a time, we are getting these women trained and comfortable and experienced, and I’m really enjoying the mentoring process, but it’s because you told me to just make it happen instead of, you know, putting ads out there for the right coaches, because that wasn’t ever going to happen. So no. So I decided to go to San Diego with a girl that’s been a client for a while, and just has such a great background for coaching and has worked in a coaching capacity in like the wellness industry in general, already. And I was like, I think you you need to do this. And she was like, I agree. And then I was like, and also, it’s in person in San Diego. Do you want to go? I’ll go with you, because something else I’ve learned about being a business owner is, if you don’t carve out time to work on the business, it just doesn’t happen. So I was like, I’m going to go to San Diego, not attend the course, but take her to the course and accompany accompany her. And I knew I would get to say hi to you and the team. And of course, ended up hanging out at the certification, but I was working at the same time, so got a lot done, got like my CEO retreat, so that I could work on building another studio,

Brianna Battles  03:27

which we’ll also talk about. Oh my gosh. Okay. And so you have coaches under you. You just mentioned that you’re building a second studio, but obviously it did not start there. What is your background as a business owner as a coach, or even previous to that life.

Krista Williams  03:44

Well, nothing as a business owner, because when you go to school for fitness management, exercise science, which I did, they don’t teach you any of that. They teach you to work for somebody else. Yep. So I was like, Okay, well, I guess I just have to figure this out. And not that I had any idea that it would head in this direction. But, you know, I think for a lot of coaches, when covid happened, you just run out of options. You know, the the gym I was working for closed, and at that point I had already been coaching for at least 10 years I think, Oh, wait, no, no, I started at the gym 10 years after I had already been coaching at that location, and then almost 10 years later, closed for covid. I was like, I’m not that young. I wish I was, but so that just I was actually seven weeks postpartum with my second C section, and I was like, I’m going back to work. You know, I’m only gonna work in a limited capacity, but like, I need to get out. It’s gonna feel great. I’m gonna do like, two hours a day, and my husband’s like, the gym’s gonna close, like, in a week. And I’m like, No, it’s not. It’ll be like, No one seems worried. It’ll be great. And sure enough, I went back to work. For a week and then had no job after that. So the direction was to do whatever I want and do whatever I can to make an income. And I was like, well, moms figure it out, so sure I will do that. So I started my own business, but of course, it was online at that point. And then, even when stuff started opening, moms weren’t comfortable dropping their babies off and coming to the gym with a lot of people. So it like slowly just grew into, you know, outside workouts. And then I was like, renting space here and there different places as it worked out. But things kept growing, and then just ran out of options that I needed, my own space. It just kind of happened really quickly. And, you know, because like people like us have no chill. I went on vacation, and from vacation, ordered everything I needed to open a studio, and when I came back five days later, we had our first class. So we’re just like, make it happen, you know,

Brianna Battles  06:05

yeah, no big deal. So post covid business ownership, but let’s talk about pre covid, because you reminded me of like when we actually first met. And I feel, yeah, I was in my own blur of postpartum back then. So I was like, really?

Krista Williams  06:19

Why was I was between babies, yeah, right. So that means you had to have been early

Brianna Battles  06:27

post baby. Yeah, I was a little bit older, hurting to travel again and teach and do live seminars. So tell everyone

Krista Williams  06:35

how that all happened. So January 2019, okay, is when we had the in person you did a workshop in Texas. Wow. And at that point, I had been following you for a while because, you know, I had taken a certification. I don’t even know if we can call it that, but right after college, thinking I might need this information someday, and it was like, just, I mean, this was 20 years ago, so it was poor, it was all that was available was, you know, don’t get your heart rate over 140 don’t let them get their heart rate over 140 you know, exercise is good for expecting moms, for blood flow like that’s literally, as far as it went. But I wasn’t, you know, working with that population exclusively. So it was fine, and then got to be the only person who was training moms and then started traveling to, like, learn more, and doing all those things. And that’s how we ended up in Texas, because I was following you, and I was like, I feel like this is a much more legit option. And in that point, I had already been through two or three certifications and still didn’t feel like I was ready to, like, go full, send with the population. And so then went to Texas. I was like, I just need to, like, learn more and see what this is about. And again, like, take a break from my family allows me to focus. So went there for the workshop. And you know, that’s like, one of my favorite pictures of, like, both of us in that gym. And I was like, This is everything I learned so much it, like, validated everything. I felt like I was working on with clients, and then, since I was in a hotel room by myself, I just sat down at the bar and, like, wrote out a business plan, like, not necessarily my own business plan, but like, how am I going to be the person in the gym that helps this population and is the go to for everything? Because no one’s doing it like no one. Every single trainer was like, I’ve worked with moms, you know, as long as I ask them if they’ve been cleared by their doctor, we’re good to go. And that’s really the extent of it in in the fitness world, unfortunately. So I was like, this is this has to be done differently. There’s a better way, and I’m going to be that person and I had had my first in 2016 then met you in person in 2019 and then had my second in 2020 so almost a year, like, exactly after a year, a year after we were in Texas, I had my second. And I was like, this is a mess. This is a train wreck. Like, the way we help women is not okay, but I really needed to, like, see that for myself. You know, expected moms to come to me in the gym, like, feeling like there was a plan, and they were given some sort of guidance and they weren’t. So it was an easy decision that, like no one else is specializing in this population, and I’ve been in the industry long enough that there needs to be more coaches that can talk through pelvic floor issues. Yeah, and it’s not the men. It’s just not the men. I mean, it’s

Brianna Battles  09:30

not anyone. And I think that when you have a background in exercise science, or you’ve coached a long time, like you’ve had exposures, but not in the same way that we understand like orthopedic injuries or symptoms or returning to fitness after literally any other orthopedic situation. And we say like, this is not a special population. This is a common population. But we were sort of sold that this is like, so incredibly niche that. Like it’s not you, really, it’s just so specific, but really it is the majority of people that are working out in gym environments these days, you know, like there’s women make up a large majority of our clientele, and so many women are mothers, but so few people really understand how to coach them beyond modifications for a growing stomach and beyond, like, well, you’re cleared. So like, let’s just get you back to whatever it is you want to do a lot more new,

Krista Williams  10:29

yeah, and like, there’s a plan for every other population. There’s a plan for every other surgery. If you’re, you know, a senior, there’s programs for them. If you’re an athlete, if you have, you know, heart attack, there’s, there’s programs for everyone else, and not mops, and you’re just supposed to figure it out. And the people in the gyms are just not qualified to really help this population. Yeah. So it was, it was a great, you know, it was a good aha moment that you know, this is, this is what I’m going to do, and this is what I’m going to focus on, and, and it’s just been so easy to, well, easy is not the word being a business owner, we but like attracting the right people, because there isn’t, there isn’t enough competition, and there should be, yeah, but there’s, There’s no places. So I opened a small studio, and you know, that has been great, and started training more coaches, and now I’m on seven certified and one more going through the self study course right now, and then two more that are like in the next year. That’s what I want to do. So I’m planning on just bringing somebody to the in person course every year. But I’m going to come because I like it well.

Brianna Battles  11:47

And this is incredible, because you got certified. So you came to the seminar in Texas a million years ago, and then you got certified after that. Sometimes it was right

Krista Williams  11:57

after that, because I was like, is, Do I really need more things? I had already had, already had, like, two pregnancy and postpartum certifications under my belt. And I was like, Is this enough? I don’t even, doesn’t feel like enough, but maybe this is all available, so I needed to, like, come meet you and hear all of the education that I was missing and the, you know, the the cueing techniques and just the the confidence of how to better, like, real quality, help this population, not like, skim over it, and that’s good enough. So, so I jumped in right away. I think it was that year, and did the certification, which I can’t believe now is like six years ago already. It was crazy. It really doesn’t feel like that long, but that what? That’s when I realized that, like, this is it? This is definitely the certification that everyone needs. And now all of the coaches that work for me have to go through it. They don’t, they don’t get choices.

Brianna Battles  12:54

Yeah, well, I mean, that’s incredible, because it’s one thing to go and, like, use what you learn to take it to take it to the gym that you’re at or to the clients that you’re already working with. It’s a whole other thing to start a business and start a brick and mortar business where you are literally working with women in your local community. You’re collaborating with different healthcare professionals, pelvic floor PTS, like you’ve become that person in your community, and you have been doing that for years now, so much so that you’ve been able to scale a team under you. I know you mentioned the start of this episode that trying to figure out, like, I like you were at capacity when you came to one of our live events prior, where you were like, I don’t know I’m I’m doing too much. I’m doing too much as a coach, and I am overwhelmed, like, I love what I’m doing, but also it’s a lot. So talk to me about that point, because it made it was a big deal to go full, send, start a business scale that in motherhood, but you’re trying to do all the things all the same time, which I feel like so many different business owners, especially mothers, can relate to.

Krista Williams  13:52

Why I feel like we do things before we’re actually ready, right? You just have to, like, do it scared, right? Yeah, practice brave and that, right? I mean, no one, no one teaches you any of this. Like, I went to school to learn how to work for someone else, and there is, there was no help to figure this out. So, like, one day at a time, we’re just going to piece it together. And in the beginning, I’m like, I only need me. You know, I can do this. And very quickly. I mean, this business attracts moms that don’t feel comfortable having that conversation in a big gym, or can’t bring their kids, or there’s so many reasons why it’s a much better fit for mom. So like, one day at a time, we’re just gonna figure it out. And then the Idaho coaches retreat two years ago, ish two and a half, maybe something like that. And then I was in a hot seat because I think I was probably the like, business owner that had the biggest business there, and at that point, meant, like me and one other coach, right? Not, not a big business, but, but like, working with, like, almost 100 clients and, and I was like, I don’t, and you’re. Your question was like, What’s your biggest struggle to, like, grow the business? And I was like, Well, I can’t clone myself. Like, what’s next? You know, if I, if I were to look for personal trainers, there’s plenty of personal trainers out there, but not only are they not trained in core and pelvic floor considerations and this population, most of them don’t even feel the need to do it. Like, they don’t understand why they so the interest isn’t there. Like, even from the women, there’s just a lot of people that are like, this is good enough. Like, I have a national certification. I don’t need to spend the time and money doing more. So I was like, Where do I find these people? And you were like, you make them. You create them. And I was like, Oh, I never thought about that. So that was, that was, like, the biggest aha moment in growing the business. Was like, you just need to build the team. You need not expect to find them. Yeah, so, no problem. I went home and I was like, who wants to learn how to be a coach? And, you know, the people that, like, raised their hand. Were the people that I would have picked out that were, like, they love it, like, they’re into it. They have a great background of fitness, you know, they really, like, love the brand, so, and they

Brianna Battles  16:13

were coming to you as clients, so you were

Krista Williams  16:14

coaching clients, yeah, yeah. I only had one girl that I kind of like mentored at the gym. She covered, like, my maternity leave for me, and then wasn’t after the gym closed, wasn’t working as a trainer. And I was like, You’re so good at this, why are you not doing this? And she was like, I just like, don’t want to go back to the gym after covid. Like, I’m not really sure what I’m doing, you know, with this. And I was like, Well, come work for me. I’ll teach you everything. And at that point, she had not had a child yet, so I was like, this is when you need to learn this. Like, be the first one ahead of every person you know, all of your friends, and if you’re willing, I will teach you everything that you need to know. And what is interesting, even though she wasn’t a mom yet, she was the oldest of 10, so she had been mothering so hard, like, her whole life already. I was like, you understand the need for this already, right? And this is going to be perfect for you. So, you know, now, then she got married, I was like, see, we’re headed down this path, like, this is perfect. We’re, we’re on the right path. And now she has a child. She’s, she’s, you know, starting to grow her family, and is such an amazing coach. Can’t work that much right now because she’s in that season of, like, tiny kids, but she’s fabulous at it, because I, like, dumped my entire brain into her, and that was perfect. So I just needed to, like, copy paste, keep doing that to more people. And honestly, the easiest women to train our clients because they know everything. They know where everything is like, the equipment we use, how to set it up, all of the exercises that we teach, what that looks like and like, where to do it in the gym. There’s so much less to teach them than you’d have to teach someone who like walks off the street, which I’ve also done, because about a year ago, when the certification was going on sale, I was like, I would like to continue growing the business. I mean, we need to, I need to be able to take off a week here and there. So I jumped on my Instagram and was like, If anyone wants to learn this, I will mentor you and let me know. And I had two more women that were like, I would love to do this. And this feels right to me, and I’ve been following you for a long time. And one of them was somebody who I coached very briefly earlier in postpartum, and she was like, I’m good. Like, I don’t really understand why I need this. But like, thanks your you know, cues were helpful, but like, I’m gonna eventually go work out in a bigger gym. No problem. Five years later, she ended up with, like, postpartum symptoms that were never addressed, and her mind was blown that, like going to pelvic PT, and I was coaching her through my DMs for like, a year, and that was, like, a great aha moment for her that, like, I can help other women with this journey that I didn’t even think I was gonna need, right? And then another one lived right up the street from my studio and had been following me, and I didn’t know her, but she was like, I’m actually, like, your neighbor. I was like, come visit. Like, what are you doing? But she had a background in coaching and teaching group exercise and just, you know, hadn’t learned anything about the population, but had, but, but was also coaching women. So then there’s a feeling of like, I don’t actually feel great about what I’m teaching, and I know there’s more. And she had teenagers, and then she had, like, a surprise baby. And I was like, this is perfect. You are like, speaking to both ends of the spectrum in motherhood, and that is so beneficial to clients. So like, one by one, they just started, like, responding to my Do you want to be mentored? And, you know, we it’s, it’s, it’s been amazing. So now we’re at the seventh one just came to the in person cert, so another one’s working on the self paced cert. And then that was enough that I could, like, more, like, open the studio of my dream. It’s like, something that is bigger and has a mother’s room and has childcare and, like, it’s gonna have all the amenities that I think every mom deserves and a place that she’s gonna go work out, but gyms are just not set up for women like they’re for moms, right? There’s a lot of gyms that offer childcare, but like, you gotta be able to have the like conversations in like that. There’s not men listening right there. You know, you got to be comfortable talking about your issues and your questions and bringing your child and maybe not putting them in a childcare with like 40 other kids, like people don’t want to do that. It needs to feel a little bit more like exclusive, a little more intimate and and then

Brianna Battles  20:59

I feel like the community connection in spaces like that is so great. Like you are helping moms make friends and have people to do life with and connect with in a way that is for them, instead of like through a baby support group, like, you know, like a breastfeeding support group, or like all the different classes they have for babies and toddlers, that’s great, but now this is something that connects, like Woman to Woman, and yes, you can bring your baby. So on that note, tell me more specifically about the exact business model that you run at your gym. Like, what does it look like? Because there’s so many coaches listening to this that are like, maybe I could do something similar, or maybe that’s something that I eventually could scale into. So what does that look like? And then, where exactly are you based? So people have an idea of this business model working where?

Krista Williams  21:46

Yeah. So I am in Pennsylvania, about an hour in the suburbs, outside of, like the Philadelphia Airport, like the Yardley, like Newtown area, real close to New Jersey. If that helps people from like all over the country to figure out, like where it is. But you know, lots of families, you know, the area has a fair amount of money. You know, moms just are looking for that type of support. And what has happened was a lot of families moved to the area that commute to Philly, commute to like New York. So many families moved out of New York in the last few years, and the amount of women I meet that are like, I just don’t know anyone here. I’ve moved here in the last, you know, year or two, and it feels crazy to say, but like moms are still, if you had a baby, like during covid, you are still, like, only a couple years out of like, starting to do more things, right? Because that, that season of being home with the babies and toddlers that lasted like years for moms, right? So it just feels like, okay, now I need to be doing all the things. And, you know, those babies, because I had one myself, you know, eight weeks before that all went down. They’re just in full time school this year. So moms, it takes that long, right? Like we talk about that all the time that it’s not, it’s not a six week recovery or a six month recovery. It takes moms, like three to five years to feel like themselves, that they have the time, that they have the bandwidth and the energy and they’re sleeping, to do more. So that still happens right where there’s a lot of moms that are like, I’m fine. My child is three, four or five, and I’m feeling like I can just find more time for myself. So doing this for a long time, meaning, like personal training, for 20 years, I’ve done a lot of private training, but I don’t love it like I love it from what the clients get out of it, but from, like a scheduling and managing busy mom, life, it’s too hard. You know, the the need to cancel last minute and arrange the schedule is just, it’s tough. And I, and I worked in gyms where, you know, you don’t, you don’t have that, that flexibility. There’s a hard 24 hour cancelation policy. You know, all your sessions have to be used by a certain time, and you get penalized if your child wakes up with a fever, like, what are you gonna do about that? And there’s still a lot of of, you know, the the the bar studios and the, you know, Pilates and, like, an orange theory, like things that I think people can relate to all over there’s still a hard, a hard cancelation policy for those businesses, and I totally understand the need for it, but I was like, How can I do this and just make it a little bit more flexible for moms? So I always wanted to do more group training, because that’s what I loved, and it gives me the set schedule that I know I have the consistency. In the business and the income, but moms the flexibility to, like, there’s a lot of of options to come to during the week that may or may not work out for you based on who’s sick and when you have to be in your child’s class and all the things. Like, it’s just really hard to you know your whole life can change in 24 hours. It really can as a mom, so we try our best to work with that. So we just do group training you have, like a monthly membership, where you have four or eight or 12 sessions a month, and you have to use them by the next billing date. But when is flexible, okay? And you know, it’s a price point that allows us to have that flexibility. I’m not trying to compete on price. I’m trying to compete on meeting moms with exactly what they need. And that means, you know, you can cancel last minute, you can move to another time slot. But also, moms need to be able to jump in last minute so we don’t have that issue with, like, the sessions not running now, like I realized I had a pretty solid background in fitness and a business and a following before I started this business. So that would be different for someone who is starting with, like zero clients. It would be really hard to do that business model, but eventually, like moving private clients into groups, you know, is better, as far as like me, being able to help more more women, maybe able to have a set schedule for the coaches that work for me, so that they can rely on the income, but also giving clients the flexibility to not super stress over their fitness when they have a sick child at home.

Brianna Battles  26:36

Yeah, so you. So they pay a monthly retainer, basically like it’s recurring, monthly due. And then you offer how many classes per day?

Krista Williams  26:49

About four right now. Classes a day. We do early morning. We do like 645, to seven. We do 815-930-1215, I don’t do evenings. Yeah, people don’t love that, but also, I’ve done this long enough to know that anything can come up during the day and it derails your evening plans, yep, so I’m not saying we’ll never move there, because now I have enough coaches that we might be able to do that. But you know, the nurse calls at school, you get stuck in traffic, you have a work call. Like, not much gets in your way. First thing in the morning, everything gets in your way, like, after school

Brianna Battles  27:29

or after work. Yeah, it’s so funny. And yeah, when you’ve been in like, the fitness industry for long enough, like, you kind of get an idea of, like, fitness trends and gym totally, like, just the the ebb and flow of, like, running a gym and class structures and stuff like that, but I think it’s really just

Krista Williams  27:43

through the roof at night. Yeah?

Brianna Battles  27:44

So Well, like, what’s cool about this is you have shaped a business to serve what you need as a coach, and you’ve still been able to be successful, because you even within your own boundaries, essentially, of, like, I’m not doing nights because I don’t want to mentally or physically commit to that myself as a mom, or even professionally, and you’re still, you’ve still been successful, sticking to your own business boundaries. And I think that’s a lot. There’s a lot to say about that, because so many coaches, you know, we try to be everything for everybody, and be like, super accommodating, but you do burn out and it you like, and it’s too it’s too precious of work to feel burned out and like not bringing your best self

Krista Williams  28:28

to Well, I mean, I had done that for like, like, 20 years. You know that that was such a thing for so long that I would like leave. I would take my oldest, you know, at the time, like, was a baby. I’m working for a commercial gym. I have a five o’clock client. I would leave at like, 330 from my house and drive for 30 minutes so he could take a nap, then park in the gym parking lot, like, handle the meltdown when I had to wake him up, right, feed him, change him, get him into childcare, so that I had plenty of time to be like, punctual for my client, right? And then they would cancel. And I’m like, I can’t do this as a mom, like, and they might have been canceling for the same reasons. It was hard for me, right? So it was just, it was just hard for everybody. It wasn’t working out. And I’m like, I can’t spend two and a half hours putting into this one hour training session to find out that they’re going to cancel last minute, because I just spent my entire second half of the day like making this work. So I was like, I’m not, I’m not

Brianna Battles  29:36

going to do that now in because you’ve hired so many coaches, and how often are you coaching versus how often are you having other coaches step up and, you know, step into that role as a coach on the floor?

Krista Williams  29:48

Yeah, I do a lot still, mostly because a lot of my coaches are real part time, like, meaning they might have a full time job, or they have tiny kids, or they have to. Get kids on the bus. Like I might have a little bit more support than some of them, and depending on what their schedule is, sometimes they can do, like an early morning, but then they have to get kids on the bus, or they can, can’t do anything till like 930 so, you know, I’ve really worked it out since, just because this was my schedule as a trainer forever, that my mom, my mom helps me, you know, like two nights a week. More recently, since the kids have been older, it’s more like once a week, but they sleep at her house, and she takes them to school in order for me to work early. So, you know, that’s just the way it’s been. Because fitness professionals have to work early. You don’t, you don’t really get to work like a 10 to two. I mean, that would be great, but, like, most of our morning is done by like, 11am you know, I’ve, like, feel like I’ve worked a full day by then, because that’s just when people like to exercise. Yeah, so there’s definitely going to be shifts coming, like this second studio that we’re opening in only less than two weeks. Now, the reason this happened is because I had a coach that was like, I am not going to go back to work full time. She was in like, you know, had a corporate job and was helping part time, and then was like, I it was like, the second time she was laid off, it was during her maternity leave. She’s like, I just, I just need to make a change that, like, works better for my family. I would like to do more of this. I would like to, like, get trained in different types of fitness offerings and like, and was maybe a little afraid to tell me, and like, thinking, I would, you know, think she was gonna go in a different direction. And I was like, Well, I’m always up for, like, thinking about what’s next, right? Of course, we are, because there’s no chill, unfortunately. But, you know, I had my eye on this, this studio, for a year and a half, but I couldn’t handle it like with the with my capacity, and you know, who I had as coaches, it was just not going to work out until a couple things happened, like the the coach that I brought out to the in person, cert, like she’s all in. And I needed that. I needed somebody that was like, I could quit my job if I can do this enough. And I was like, Okay, check we’re gonna work on that. And then another one that was like, I’m not gonna go back to work full time. I’m like, okay, like these conversations allow me to kind of think bigger than I could have before that and that all happened so quickly. So there will be less of me coaching, just because we’re going to be running to studios. But I mean, I’ll still be back and forth and, you know, doing things at both of them, because I also love it. Yeah, it’s so fun to coach women. I don’t want to just run the business.

Brianna Battles  32:42

Yeah, I hear you like, it’s like the coaching part is the fun part. And like, I love the entrepreneurial side of things, but at the same time, like, there’s just so much value you get from the connection that, you know, and then the results, like the improvement, like you literally see someone’s quality of life and their future change like and it’s unlike. I mean, I’ve coached a lot of different people, a lot of different levels, and there is nothing that compares to like giving women like their life back. You know, where they’re like, I know what is possible. Now I have support reaching my goal. So whether it’s like a really high level athlete or just a mom who’s literally never lifted before and has been told that she’s going to have these symptoms or pain for the rest of her life, and she maybe would have unless she came to you and went to your studio. It’s, it’s like, the most gratifying population to work with, because it’s the population that needs the most support and receives a less

Krista Williams  33:38

less support. Yeah. No, exactly that. And I think you probably can relate to the feeling of, like, as a business owner and as a mom, like, my brain feels completely scattered all the time, right? I’m like, There’s a million tabs open. I’m trying to do all the things. Nothing feels like it’s getting done well, even though, like, we just keep doing harder things, despite that feeling. But when I’m coaching, I’m like, on, like, my brain is different, right? I’m there’s not a million things in the way. I’m just focusing on the mom or the group of moms in front of me and how I can help them and helping them feel amazing that day. Yeah? And that’s like a different brain. It feels like being able to switch into that and like putting everything aside, feels so great that I don’t want to give that up, because the business owner part is a lot harder than

Brianna Battles  34:31

the coaching. No, absolutely. Let’s talk a little bit business owner, though. Because, again, there’s a lot of people, even at the the certification in San Diego, who were like, how many of you are current, like, gym owners or business owners and, like, you know, a couple couple hands. But then when we asked, How many of you want to grow into that someday, and then we saw a lot more hands go up. Like, there is interest there, but there’s a lot of intimidation on. Like, what does that actually look like? What is it, you know, financially, what does it look like? Is this a. Huge risk. Am I going to be in the red forever? Like, what does it look like? And I find that with the business model that we offer, you know, like, we have a lot of different avenues to essentially making money as a pnpa coach, we don’t see coaches get that far into the red, sometimes not even at all, because they’re able to make that money back pretty quickly with the types of offers that we have. So can you talk to me about, like, what your financial journey and risk and growth has been like?

Krista Williams  35:28

Yeah, yeah. Well, I we just have to do things scared all the time, right? I mean, I if I made the conservative decisions all the time, we wouldn’t be here. But you just have to keep banking on yourself, right? It’s such a good feeling to not have to rely on a gym and the people who operate it like this is just me to make the right decisions for the population I’m helping, and you just have to keep you know, the confidence that it’s going to work out. Yeah? So I mean, on yourself, it’s hard.

Brianna Battles  36:03

We’ll get you it out, or you’re resourceful enough to figure it out.

Krista Williams  36:07

Yeah, no. I mean, there’s so many things I’ve taken on that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but I’m like, Yeah, well, I’ll figure it out as I go, that that will happen. So let’s just, let’s just do it. But you know, having having a following of clients going into opening the business was helpful. So, like, I totally get when trainers need to work somewhere first, whether they’re doing, like, workshops at a CrossFit gym, like, it takes a while to build your following. I mean, I’m 20 years into this, so I tell my coaches all the time, like, it just takes reps, so you’re not going to feel like super confident overnight, or in a couple weeks or a couple months, like you just have to keep showing up and practicing, and then it gets so much easier. So I mean, that applies to coaching moms, but it also applies to, like, running the business and making 5 million decisions a day about how it’s going to happen. But you know, going from, like renting space that felt much less risky, right to then feeling like we had enough growth, not like amazing growth, but like enough that I know that it will keep growing and that I can sustain more cost. So then, like, moving to our own studio, once you have your own brick and mortar with like, signs and people who know you in the community, like, it’s much easier to grow, especially when you serve a population that no one else helps. Yeah, right. Like, people still ask me all the time. They’re like, Where does like, how do I find this in other places? I’m like, Well, there’s a lot of coaches, but they don’t all like run a business, so it might be hard to find group workouts where you’re going to meet other moms and that kind of thing, because it takes a lot. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of, you know, being being brave and having the guts to to just do it. But every town needs a gym just for moms. Yeah, not like a gym, like it’s a studio, it’s really small, but it’s only for moms, and that just doesn’t exist in enough places. So when it does, I feel like it’s really easy to build the following, because you’re catering everything about it, from the schedule structure to the qualifications of the coaches, to the rules around canceling and how long you have to have your membership and everything. It just works for moms. Yeah, so like this next place, which I would not have been able to afford to do before. You know this almost five and a half years in business, but having the mother’s room, having the childcare, having the coffee bar, like, all the things that I was like, This is what moms need to like, be able to thrive in exercise and motherhood, not just like, can I make it work once in a while, if I have support at home, can I run out to a class on the weekend? It’s like, we’ve thought of everything, yeah, and but it takes a long time to get there. But you just gotta, like, keep making the hard decisions to go forward. Like, what

Brianna Battles  39:05

I love is you’ve continually invested in the business. And I know like, you’ve paid yourself too, but I think there’s so much to be said about continually investing in the business. Like you are a coach that has, you have personally invested in others becoming coaches so that that ultimately helps your business scale and grow. And I think that’s incredible. How many members are you at at your your first studio? Like, 150 Yeah, right now. That’s incredible.

Krista Williams  39:33

So So then, like, they’re only 20 minutes apart, so that’s not real far. And that might sound crazy to like, why would you have two locations that close together, but it’s because in the suburbs, like, moms don’t drive, I know I hear you just don’t drive suburbs too. So it sounds kind of crazy that like they’re only 20 minutes apart. Like, that’s not that far. It’s not but if you have a baby that needs a nap and small children, like, it’s very far,

Brianna Battles  39:58

mouth of like. It’s out 40 minutes total, plus the extra 20 minutes of like, in and out of the car, and like, prepping to get into the car and whatever, like, yeah, you easily add an extra hour in. So, right? So without

Krista Williams  40:13

are you going now from where we pull from, from the 10 minutes around the current studio, some of some clients are only 10 minutes from the other studio. Like, like, the ones who are loving this most are the ones that are right in between both, yeah, and are like, this is great. I have choices. So they’re going to have the option to go to both, like, based on, you know, if you have a work call for lunch and you you got to get back real quick, you’re going to go to the one that’s closer, but maybe on the weekend you can take a little bit of a drive and do something different for yourself. So, you know, we have different kind of features to the workout. Like, one place has turf and the other one’s not going to have turf, but has like, you know, some of like, the cardio equipment that we can’t fit in the other place. So there’s, like, the variety in programming there, and it just gives people options, but being able to take clients and move them from one to the other makes me know that this is going to work out and then keep growing. I don’t know how I would feel about opening this new place, because it’s 2500 square feet. I don’t know if I how I would feel about opening that as my first location, because that would be super scary, yeah. But, you know, small steps, the other ones, 800 square feet, like, we outgrow it real fast. And not because, you know, we can just add time slots, but, you know, people need to be able to bring their kids. And when you have 12 moms in the room with five kids on the floor, like, yeah, it’s a lot, a lot for me.

Brianna Battles  41:43

I hear so much to be said about, like, starting small, like that, like, it’s okay to start with a really small facility. It’s okay to start just renting space and getting your own clientele, and then going from there, like small steps, like we talk about all the time in the coach, sir, and candidly, like progressive overload applies to business over and over and over. Like, the same way that we go about improving and scaling somebody and their performance is the same way we scale our own business performance, right? And like, the possibilities that are there, where you start is not what you are working to, even if you don’t fully see what you’re working to long term. You know, you just, like you said, like, kind of do the next right thing, and the opportunities present themselves, and you do have to trust yourself enough to go with it. Like, look at the doors that are opening. Look at the opportunities that become available. They are becoming available for a reason.

Krista Williams  42:37

Yeah, not. I mean, you just have to keep making the hard decisions. I mean, it’s, it’s not always comfortable, but it will always work out, especially when you’re serving a population that is just underserved. They come, they’ll find you. So you know now I’m like, relying a lot on client referrals. Everybody knows someone who lives closer to the other studio, and even even former clients, because where I was renting and where I moved to for my first studio was like 10 minutes further, so for some moms, that was just like out of range, right? So we probably lost, honestly, only, like, five or six clients, but now, like, those are the first ones to sign up, because they’re like, I know what this is about, you know, I haven’t found anything that maybe fits my needs as well. So, like, I’ll be the first one in the door to come man, I’m

Brianna Battles  43:29

so proud of you. Like, it’s such a there’s so much that I want you to be proud of as well, because you had to take a significant leap of faith, and you did that in your own vulnerable seasons and coming out of covid, like, there are so many elements there. You’ve continually invested in your own education, as well as bringing other women up with you. And I think that’s the sometimes, that’s what goes unnoticed. Because people see like, well, you’re opening a gym, and you’re like, you’ve been in the industry for so long, but you are also elevating, like this next generation of women and of coaches to step into something that’s incredibly empowering, like to have something outside of motherhood, to have something that complements motherhood, where you can still use your coach brain, you can have a business. And like you said, this wasn’t presented to us as an option when you were like, going into an exercise based career back then, like, it just wasn’t, you know you were a PE teacher, you know you were corporate wellness, like, different elements

Krista Williams  44:29

like that. You’re going to work for someone forever.

Brianna Battles  44:31

Yeah. And so the opportunity to, like, have a business, to be financially independent, to be able to invest in your community and then invest in this, like, next generation of coaches and women like it just, there’s a lot to be proud of.

Krista Williams  44:47

Yeah, no, there is. And, like, I know we don’t and they, like my clients, tell me all the time my other coaches, like, we don’t pause long enough to, like, see the bigger picture, because we’re always like, what’s next? Like, what do I have to do? But. No, it’s, it’s, it’s a big deal. And I mean, I know that the motherhood population in this area is so lucky to have this, yeah, and I think more coaches should copy the model and do it all over the place, because every community needs a place just for moms that there’s no stress about, like, how am I gonna handle childcare so I can go or, like, what happens if my baby’s screaming like, while I’m trying to get something done? Like, I hold a baby or a toddler and coach all the time? Yeah, it’s just what has to happen. But we make it work. And other moms jump in and help because they’ve been there. You know, the moms that are like, real seasoned and have like, three or four kids that are in school full time are still happy to, like, pick up a baby while a mom, like, tries to get her next set in just to be able to finish. And it’s really amazing, because they know how hard it was, right?

Brianna Battles  45:56

And I think, like, look, you’re not gonna be for everyone. And this, like, you can be a mom and you’re like, you know, maybe, like, that’s not what, that’s not the China kind of training environment I want. But the thing is, like, you’re providing something that is needed, that is wanted, that is desirable, that is niche enough, while still being like, broad enough to be welcoming to a variety of different moms and fitness backgrounds and interests and needs, and it really is such a special business offer. And, you know, in the coach certification, I’m actually, as you know, I am in the midst right now of fully updating it. And in the last module, I’m saying, like, look, I have been doing like, this certification came out in 2017 I have seen the business models that work well, not just my own, like I know what worked well for me when I was coaching in person, and now I’m seeing it like through the jiu jitsu gym, like a totally different element, but still a brick and mortar. I have seen what has worked consistently within a P and P a business model where these offers are translating to more clients, more revenue, more community impact, more growth. As a coach like we see these patterns repeat. We see the success that comes from having this education and this knowledge, having knowing like what offers work best and then how they funnel into the next iteration of serving that client. So we see it, we see the success, and you are such an incredible example of that, and taking it to the level of like owning a gym and now opening another Yeah,

Krista Williams  47:33

and you can’t compare. And I know that so many coaches do online programs, and that’s amazing, because some people that’s all they have access to and that’s fabulous, but nothing compares to the in person, right? Like that is something that, like AI, can’t take away from us. That’s not something that you know more options online can take away from us. Moms just need to get out of their house and meet other women that get it and are in the same season of motherhood, whether it be pregnancy or postpartum or, like, perimenopause phase, like, they just need to have better coaching, which, in person is, you know, you can do things that you can’t do to help people online. And they’re, they’re they’re meeting other women, and they’re getting, like, really good quality help. And I see that when we do a four week postpartum program, and that’s a that’s an opportunity where I get a bunch of women that maybe never would have come to me otherwise, because they like, love their gym so hard, and I love that for them, but they know that they’re not going to get this type of help there. So they do like the postpartum program first and with the plans on going back to their gym, but what I find is no one taught them the foundations of breath and core and pelvic floor coordination. So even if they’ve been working out for a long time, yeah, even if their coach phenomenal, right, they’re not focusing on that. And moms all need that to rebuild their foundation. You can’t skip over it. We know what happens when you just get the clear and go back to doing whatever you want to do. Like, it doesn’t work out great for most women. Like, whether it is physically or mentally or It’s just frustrating. So when they are willing to learn the absolute basics of that, like actually engaging your core, which your core class you took in college never taught you, and I taught those like, I know what that looks like. You know of how to use your breath to make your body function better. Their their faces are like, I’ve been doing this wrong forever. I guess what’s not

Brianna Battles  49:44

wrong backwards are so different or Wow, that I kind of like, don’t have back pain. Yeah, I don’t.

Krista Williams  49:50

I don’t like to use the word wrong, but it needs to serve you better in this phase of life, right? We’re not, we’re not teaching pregnant. NC end postpartum specific right exercise. We’re teaching the foundation of exercise in general that no one ever learned, and now you don’t have choices. You have to learn it because your body’s just feeling like it’s gonna fail you otherwise. So I tell people all the time, I’m like, I would train a man that had a hernia like just like this, yeah, it’s not really different. It’s that you need it more because of what your body’s been through right now. So like, let’s take the opportunity to do things when we’re struggling the most and learn something new. And it really works out great for them. So then the referrals I get through that even if they go back to their gym, is great.

Brianna Battles  50:39

Yeah, absolutely. Well, Krista, you’ve been so successful. I think you have been an incredible mentor and leader in the PMPA community, but just truly showing what is possible in motherhood and the coaching careers that so many of us have come into or have grown into. And congratulations on your second studio opening soon. Here, where can people follow along?

Krista Williams  51:02

But, I mean, it happens because people like you decide that there has to be better, and you decided not, not to settle, right? You were like, I’m gonna learn all the things, because there needs to be better help out there. And we need better coaches that can help moms and like, the fact that you know we have, like, a relationship now that like you remember me when I see you in person, like you have a relationship with everyone who’s trained under you and commit to improving the quality of the information is just not something you get out of a cert. I mean, when I took my national personal training cert. I won’t name names, but I had to answer that. In the third trimester, the best option for expecting moms is to just walk or and or just practice yoga. And in order to get the question right, I had to answer yes to that. Like, I don’t believe this at all right, but that’s where we are in the fitness, you know, the the industry of that’s, that’s the general information that most coaches have, and that’s all they have. They’re not wrong. That stinks. So I appreciate this being available to all of us. You know, I would not be growing a business if I didn’t have such great quality information to be able to say to moms that want to learn like this is how you’re going to learn everything you need. And it’s totally going to like, level up your own motherhood experience, but allow you to serve anyone that you meet.

Brianna Battles  52:35

Well. Thank you so much for saying that it’s a it does. This is a kind of like seeing coaches like you evolve and grow like that is what truly keeps me like in the game and attached to the game and caring about it, even like all these years later, I can’t talk about this stuff without getting like, super passionate and excited for what other coaches are doing in their communities and how so many women are benefiting. So where can people find you?

Krista Williams  53:01

So yeah, the we are called the strong mom project on Instagram. It’s strong dot mom dot project. I call it the strong mom studio. So we will have two locations in the next couple weeks. And the website is the strong mom project.com and that’s it. I mean, listen, write me on Instagram. Happy to I have talked to a lot of coaches, through in person certification, through like DMS. So anybody with a question about the business. I mean, in these next couple weeks, I might not get back to you right away, but keep bothering me, because, you know, this stuff is important, and I want to see other women grow businesses in their own communities, because it’s just not that hard. Like it, it feels scary, but there’s such a need that, you know, moms just bring their friends and their family members and their co workers and their neighbors, and it all works out, you know, whereas your average gym people are like, I mean, I can, I can find a bunch of them, right? I can. I can join a membership anywhere, and like, what that gets me is walking through the door, and that’s what I like about how we serve moms at strong moms differently is that you are paying for more personalized help. Like, it feels like private training in small groups, but it’s priced as group exercise, and sometimes all you get is a walk through a door in a gym with that but now you’re going to get, like, a much better community, stronger community and better quality help and that, I think all moms deserve

Speaker 1  54:45

that absolutely well. Thank you so much for sharing your time. Krista, I appreciate you. We’ll talk soon. Thank you. Appreciate you.

Brianna Battles  54:55

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the practice brave podcast if you enjoy. Of the show. Please leave a review and help us spread the work we are doing to improve the overall information and messaging in the fitness industry and beyond. Now, if you are pregnant and you are looking for a trustworthy exercise program to follow, I have you covered. The pregnant athlete training program is a well rounded program for pregnancy with workouts for each week that are appropriate for your changing body. That’s 36 weeks of workouts, three to four workouts each week, and tons of guidance on exercise strategy. We also have an at home version of that program if you are postpartum and you’re looking for an exercise program to follow. The eight week postpartum athlete training program would be a really great way to help bridge the gap between rehab and the fitness you actually want to do. From there, we have the practice brave fitness program, which is an ongoing strength conditioning program where you get new workouts each week and have a lot of guidance for myself and my co coach, Heather Osby, this is the only way that I’m really offering ongoing coaching at this point in time. If you have ever considered becoming a certified pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, I would love to have you join us. Pregnancy and postpartum athleticism is a self paced online certification course that will up level your coaching skills and help connect the dots between pelvic health and long term athletic performance, especially during pregnancy and postpartum, become who you needed and become who your online and local community needs by becoming a certified pregnancy and postpartum athleticism Coach, thank you again for listening to the practice brave podcast. I appreciate you, and please help me continue spreading this messaging, this information and this work.