Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to the Daring Dreams podcast. Today on our podcast, I'm sitting down with my personal trainer and former client, Tara J. Blackmore. She is the powerhouse behind the brand Clovers Training. Tara is a certified and insured personal trainer, a registered holistic nutritionist and a multi gold medal winning bikini Competitor with over 15 years experience.
In this episode we are talking about how working on her brand gave her business new clarity, confidence and unexpected results.
So welcome Tara. I'm excited to talk to you on my podcast instead of in the gym where you're like, thank you making me sweat. Now I'm going to make you happy to be here. Okay, so, so let's get started. First, maybe share with the audience how you got started in personal training and in owning your own personal training business.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Sure, there's quite a gap between the two, but I got started in personal training because of an own mission for my own health, mainly my mental health. I was in a bad place, really bad place. And the path that I found that worked for me was health and fitness, exercise and wellness. So, so I started going to a gym. I fell in love with it. I got better over time with a lot of hard work and determination.
Loved it and I wanted to do the same for other people. So I became a personal trainer and with my experience through learning, but also with my journey, I am able to help people now get fit and get healthy and get happy. So it's beautiful. Through that, my own business was born. As I got into competing on stage, I saw a little gap in the industry around here, just in this area where there wasn't a of coaches around here to do certain things for the competitors. So I started my own business that way and then over the years it has just grown to encompass everything that I do. So not only the bodybuilding, coaching, posing, confidence building, mental health aspect of the onstage part, but also encompassing my personal training, just the business that I run. I have my own branded app as helped I collaborated to help open Rust Athletics and Training which is where I do my own personal training out of. So my business coach kind of blossomed into Clovers. It was stage perfect. It blossomed into Clovers Training and Nutrition so that it encompass everything that I do so I can help people feel stronger and move with less pain every day.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Excellent. I absolutely love working with you and you have changed the way I work out and I love it pain free, which is nice.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: That's the goal.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Okay, so in the introduction I kind of said, you know, you're my trainer. But also I was Your trainer you were in, helping you to kind of like figure out what the Clover training brand would be, Clover's training. So why don't you share with the audience what that process looked like for you from your point of view, what we did and how, how you felt along the journey.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: Yeah. So it was great. You really helped me step outside of the day to day chaos of everything, where you just get stuck inside what you're doing and it's hard to really filter out everything and see the bigger picture.
Um, so you really helped me do that. You really helped me really focus on what my why was and also who my ideal client was, which just floored me. Uh, so all of the. Not only the branding and, you know, just marketing, but really discovering my why and focusing in on my language, on how to explain my why to people because my why sells itself.
And that really honed it in and, and made it easy to do. Because before that there was so many whys.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Yeah. I think when you're talking about why here, you're more talking about like how you're different and like. Or are you talking about like, what good you're trying to do for your clients or both?
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Well, yes, what good I'm trying to do, but also how I do that. I am different in the way that I do that.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: So even though my foundational why is there that I love what I'm doing, mental health aspect, helping other people, you really honed in on how I was different in doing it and helped me voice that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then looking at, you know, your ideal client, when you think of clients, there's such a broad base of clients.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: And there's. There's so many people, ages, sexes, lifestyles, interests, all these other things. And it's sometimes hard to hone in. And my idea of what I thought my ideal client was was completely different than what my actual ideal client is. So it changed my conversation and my sentences. It changed my elevator pitch. It also changed my tone of voice sometimes in how I talk to people.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Okay, so let's go through that part because that actually is. I know, like when we started working together, you're like, well, I don't want to. I don't want to do too, too much, but I do want to get to like a really good, solid point. And I said, okay, the first thing you need to do is your buyer Persona. Like, that's the absolute first thing you need to do. And I think for you, we actually got you to do my online course and then we met and talked about it. Right?
[00:05:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: You did the first part of it kind of all on your own. It was just the analysis of it and figuring out how to use the information that we did together.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, there's a lot of good self learning.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: Yeah, it was.
And so part of that course is identifying which clients are your ultimate, best clients that you would be able to duplicate and have this like extreme benefit for. So there's, there's, I don't know if you remember, but there's like four things that you kind of had to look for.
One was they get the biggest benefit and then there was, you know, they stay the longest, they have a long lifetime value with you, you enjoy working with them and then they're profitable because sometimes you can enjoy working with somebody and they can pay you a lot of money, but then they're texting you 2,500 times a day and they're no longer profitable.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Right, right. Yeah.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: So you picked out, so kind of explain that process you went through when you took the course. So you picked out your people and then what happened.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Yeah, so basically I looked at the large scope of who I actually have, who my main base of clients is, the long term ones, the ones that I enjoy working with, the ones that enjoy working with me, the ones that I see the greatest improvements, the ones that learn and, you know, take it with them. Those are the ones that I want to hold onto. So I looked at that main group of clients and saw what was their common thread. So we looked at all the common threads to those people. Sexes, age group, profession, where they live, all the different things. And that really helped hone in on who my perfect client was.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And then you inter, you picked some.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: And interviewed them.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: I did, yes. So we talked to, talked to a few clients and asked, asked them a bunch of questions and some of them I, I, I never would have thought to ask. So it was great too. So it made me get, get a little more thoughtful as well.
Even though I thought some of the answers would be very different, a lot of them were, were very similar.
So that again, really helped hone things in.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And so what would you say now? Like, I, I remember when we did this together and we were, we were, we were talking about like different possibilities in terms of like, how do we want to have you stand out? Cause the personal training industry, like it's pretty diluted. Like there's quite a few personal trainers. There's lots of ways, like they're, they're at the gym, they're like solopreneurs or like there's lots of different options. And so why don't you kind of explain what we found for you specifically that has allowed you to change your elevator pitch and now what do you say to people?
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah. So once I found, you know, kind of who my buyer Persona, my ideal client was, then we really looked at what that ideal client is looking for. Why do they come to me? Right. And the main thing was to be stronger, to be pain free, to be confident. But the big thing was to be comforted to. To have that sense of security where they have somebody they can trust, they can come to for answers. I have empathy. I've been there. You know, I'm almost 50, done the whole. Done all the things, and I'm going through all kinds of the things.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Yeah, we talk about that too much. Right.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: So, yeah. So it really helped me hone in on this is really what people are looking for. They don't just want to come in and lift weights and they got to eat well and they got to drink their water. It's. You need to feel good in your skin. And whatever your idea of strong is, I will help you get there, but we have to do it safely. You cannot live in pain. So there are ways to do that. We can help you be less painful and be stronger and be more confident. That's what it's all. All about.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: That selling that and selling that I have your back is. Is pretty big to people. And because there's a lot of ghosting or falling through the cracks these days, a lot of copy and pasting these days.
And that matters to people.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, and people can go on ChatGPT now and be like, make me a workout routine. Right. So you have to offer something outside of that. And the thing that stood out for me, I remember when we were going through your Personas, was the whole idea of the pain free, pain free, like how you were able to. And I know for me it's huge, like, really help people to not get injured. And, you know, I'm one of those people who I start, stop, start, stop, because I push too hard, then I get injured, push too hard, not stretching. Right. Not doing the right things. And so, like, you've made a huge difference in my life. And I know when we were going through the interviews, I'm like, oh, man, you could have interviewed me and I would have said the exact same things. Right. That's how you know you found a right ideal client.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And yeah, it's huge. You know, to be in less pain. And that's the thing with the copy and paste and the AI and all that stuff these days. And what keeps my clients coming back and keeps them telling other people to come and see me is that, you know, I not only go about it in a different way, but I encompass all kinds of different styles and. And, you know, ways of training, not just lifting weights, but moving your body, mobilizing your body, loosening your body, learning your body, feeling what you're supposed to feel. You know, all those different things. I kind of go about it in a different way that make people able to be successful in their workouts, recover well. Right. Which is huge. If you don't recover well, you're not going to come back to the gym. Every body is so individual.
Everybody is so different. Everybody recovers differently, everybody reacts differently, everybody moves differently. Everybody's leg is a different length. So to be able to customize that for each person is so big. Because computers aren't going to do that. Apps aren't going to do that for you.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: No, no, exactly. Um, okay, so you've been doing this. So how long have you been actually out on your own doing this as like a business?
[00:11:33] Speaker B: So for personal training itself, a couple years after a Covid hit. So Covid hit and I went. I did my own app when Covid hit. Cause I needed a way for my CL to continue on, and then it was a way to bring in new clients where we were stuck in our houses. So that's when my app was born. And I kind of went through most of the private gyms around the area and decided I'm done working for other people because I'm just keep making them money. It's time to make myself some money and time to. To actually do for me what I do for other people.
Set them up, make them happy.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: Felt too. When I left marketing, I'm like, man, if I worked this hard for myself, like, it would change my life. Right? Like, because the amount of time and effort that I would put in for my employer. So I guess.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. You know, it was just. It was just time.
[00:12:26] Speaker A: So.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: Yeah. So for a while, I kind of. Before I really had a solid idea of what I was going to do, I already had the business set up in the background, so I just kind of expanded that and I rented a few places here and there out of different locations, started training people, and then I actually met the person who I partnered with to help Open Rossi Athletics.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: And the good thing is, is we both had the Same idea, the same vision we had, the same reasons why we were doing it.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: So everything was aligning together and the timing was great as well. So that really helped just boost it to where I wanted it to be nice.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: So, so would you say like five years? Ish.
In. In kind of doing this?
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Like I would say from the time.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Income comes to you instead of an.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Employer, I would say that would only be about a year, actually.
Oh my gosh. Really? Yeah. Because I left, you know, an employer and started out on my own renting space and. Okay, on my own.
I mean, really, within months I went from full time. I was part time for a few months, kind of here and there, traveling gypsy, and then I was, boom, full time.
Okay. Yeah. So over the last three years, I've built that up to be way more than full time.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, you're definitely more than full time.
Okay, so what would you give to people who maybe are interested in kind of maybe leaving an employer, going out on their own? What kind of advice would you give them? Like, do it, don't do it and why?
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I would definitely say if that's one of your. If it's a passion, do it. If it's a passion, do it. Jump. Face your fear 100%. Because if you have the idea to do it now and you stall, I mean, what you're going to do, waste another year, like, go for it, do it. But learn. There was a lot of learning. Learning on the financial side, learning on the how to build it side, even just writing a business proposal for a bank. Yeah, there's a lot of learning. So I would say learn, but also talk to people who also have done it because they will help filter out the stuff you don't need and the stuff you do need to, you know, to focus on, you know, make sure you have a clear vision of what you want to do and where you want to go for. Make sure you follow the proper avenues too. Right. You have to make sure you have like business licenses. If you need a tax number, you know, all those little things you want those foundations there. Just like anything else, you want a strong foundation so that all those little things are done so you can focus on everything and start it out like a legit business.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Don't be trying to like scam the government and like, gosh, anyways, don't even get me started on that. But like you said, get your HST number and yeah, so you know, some.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: Of the foundational stuff, definitely learning, talking to people who have experience and then I guess Deciding if you want to go on your own or get help.
Right.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Because you kind of said, I need a home.
Right?
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: And so what was that decision like? Cause that's, that's probably. I know that's a hard decision for some people to be like, I need help, I need to partner up or collaborate with somebody. Um, how does. How did that decision go for you?
[00:15:50] Speaker B: What? Well, you know, luckily for me, I was looking, actually looking into purchasing a different gym. And I was investigating changing the flooring and the machinery and different things. And through friends and acquaintances, I heard a name. So I contacted him and he came out to the other gym. We got talking, and before we even got talking about the flooring, we were talking about.
[00:16:13] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: So luckily for me, everything, everything aligned. But making, like I said earlier, values, morals, vision, making sure everything is aligned, making sure everybody knows their roles and responsibilities as well is huge. Because you don't need two people doing the same job wasting time. And you want to make sure everything gets covered. So everybody has every, you know, so trust, trust and all the foundations are very important.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Um, okay, so let's quickly go back to. You started talking about your brand in a different way.
Um, and in our gym session today, I was asking you, so what happened? What was the result of that? So can you share with everybody? So literally, like, you didn't start marketing more because you were already marketing, you just changed what you were saying.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Absolutely.
And started marketing less.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: Okay, marketing less.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: I actually started watching online less. I changed what I was saying. So I just changed how I was talking to people and it basically, instead of coming across like, strong and, you know, I can get you strong and, you know, that kind of approach, like, come to me, we can lift. It was more like, let me hear what you need. Right, Let me hear what you need.
And then whatever you need.
If I can provide that. Because of course, if I can't, I'm going to recommend somebody who can.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: If.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: As long as it's in my scope of practice, if I can, if I can help you, I will then basically give my elevator pitch. My. I have been for almost 20 years successfully full time creating stronger, better, moving, more confident bodies that are in less pain by learning about yourself. Right.
Yeah.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Just basically changing the conversation, but opening, having more ears to people. Instead of me doing more talking, they're doing more talking.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Oh, yes, that is a good tip. So how has that changed, like, in terms of results and like your business growth and stuff?
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Quite, quite actually surprising. I was really scared about going Offline pretty much. I found I was getting very stressed out trying to do posts and keep up with the trends. And yes, you know these top trainers are doing posts about this and I don't really care about that. So why am I doing that? Like don't stress yourself out. I tell my clients to get off their phone. Get off my phone. I just kind of tested it out to see what it was like.
Started talking to people, started listening to more people over the summer, usually summer months for trainers and gyms. We all know people are in the gym, less are usually summers are tanked. Summers are hard for trainers who that's their only, only source of income. I have had the busiest summer of my almost 20 year career. It is insane.
So it's great. It has been insane. Amazing. The word of mouth has been crazy. It's been all referrals, all word of mouth. One or two organic walk ins but again they walk in and the conversation they don't leave.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Right, Right.
So I think this is really important for people to note. So you need to have the vision of your business and what you want to do and then you build your marketing plan to fit that. So you don't necessarily need to be on social media all the time. Yes. You need to have a presence. Yes. You need to have the messaging and very clear differentiator.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: You did help me build very well. So I have that online. All the things that the foundation that I need and I'm like perfect, that's there. I'm out.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So you still kind of like I assume you once in a while we'll post something. Yeah. But it doesn't have to take over your life.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Exactly. And I feel so much less stress that way. And my business has actually grown because I can focus on the things that I actually do well.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Yes, Yes. I love that.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: I remember another client that I had and I was like you only need to post like once a week. And she was like oh my gosh, I can't believe you just gave me permission to do that. I'm like what is the point? People are not. People don't care that much about what you have to say in your posts.
You need to find another way for you to get people and if they want to validate that you're a legit person then you need to have a presence.
But it's not like everybody. I'm not saying for everybody. You don't need to have a social like a big social media.
[00:20:44] Speaker B: It depends on your business too. Right. Mine's mainly Local people. I have a certain target.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Yeah. And you can only, you only have a certain capacity right now. Right. So as you grow and evolve your online app portion, it might change, you know, the way, depending on what you want that to be, it might change some of the strategies that you use. But in terms of like filling your gym, filling your calendar, all of that stuff, you don't need to do it.
[00:21:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is nice. Yeah, which is nice.
It's my secret. It is my secret weapon. But you, you are the secret weapon. Because before that I would have stressed out thinking again, like, I would have had to be online. I feel confident now, and I'm very comfortable with not being online every week, every day, posting this, posting that. Yeah, it's. It's wonderful.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: And I think we did talk about that, like, to what end? So a lot of personal trainers will post recipes, they post little workouts. They post. But if your ideal customer doesn't want to do a little workout on their own, they want to hire a personal trainer, then what is the point of showing the little workouts and the recipes and like, that's not what they want. We found out your people need the comfort. They need to know that they're in good hands. They need to know that they're not going to be in pain and they can continue on their journey without start and stops and stuff like that.
And so that's the stuff you need to talk about on social media. It doesn't require you to talk about it constantly.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's right.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: You know, a few things that make a big impact are way better than a whole bunch of things that make little impact.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. And I would say for you, like, one of the things that you have that a lot of people didn't have is you already had a super strong reputation in this area. Like, I already heard of you. Like, I. Well, I came to you through referral, but I had already heard of you even before the referral. Right. And so because you've been in the industry for so long, people like you, you do a good job. And so I think that that reputation also carries you. But obviously the, the new messaging and stuff has been helpful since you've busier than you 100%.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, you know, you know yourself, if, you know, if you have one hairdresser and they do a good job, you're not gonna change that hairdresser, you're gonna go, they're gonna make you happy, they're gonna do what you want.
[00:23:04] Speaker A: Same.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: I mean, I've had clients the very first year I was a personal trainer. I still have those clients today. I'm very proud to say that. But I love what I do. I love what I do. I love making people feel better without setbacks. Right? Success without setbacks. That's the line.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that was the line.
[00:23:24] Speaker B: That's the line. Success without setbacks. And that's what it's all about.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: Yeah. And that, I mean, that resonates with me so much. And of course, I've been training with you for quite a while now and will continue to do so. So. Yeah, that's great.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: I'm happy to hear that. And vice versa, by the way.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Yes. I know. Tara keeps being like, when are you doing another program? When are you doing something else? I'm like, ah, yeah.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: I mean, every time. Every time you learn something new. Especially when marketing isn't. I'm not a marketer. I'm not. Not that I'm a trainer. I am a nutritionist. I am a wellness coach. So it just makes my brain lighter and makes my job easier because you help hone it in and it makes it so much better.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And. And I agree, like, on the flip, right. That's why I hire a personal trainer. And, like, Tara has to show me the same exercise multiple times because I'm not even, like, paying attention. I'm just like, I'm just doing. Just doing, doing, doing. So.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: And that's a good thing because then you don't have to stress out. Right?
[00:24:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And. And I could turn my brain off, which I really appreciate being able to turn my brain off once in a while.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: Right? Yeah.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: Okay. So what would you say is your biggest piece of advice for new entrepreneurs?
[00:24:38] Speaker B: For new entrepreneurs? I would say. I would say plant your feet. Plant your feet and stay strong. Because it's hard. There's a lot of challenges. But if it's your ultimate dream, you plant your feet and you stay strong and you fight for that dream. If it was meant to be, you're gonna get there.
[00:24:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. I love that.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:57] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I think that's all I have for questions. You've been awesome. Do you have anything else you'd like to add?
[00:25:02] Speaker B: I mean, I think that was a great way to end, stay strong, you know, Same with people who are going to do anything, not just starting a business.
You want to do anything else that's scary in your life, like, try. What's the worst could happen? It doesn't work out, Try something else.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. Plant your feet and go for it.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Plant your feet.
[00:25:28] Speaker A: You got it. Very good. Well, thank you, Tara. I'll see. You're welcome.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: At the gym. Sounds good. I look forward to it.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: Have a good day.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: Thank you, Hailey.
