Building Trust and Connections in Personal Training

We get to know Lorelei Capuzzi in this Trainer spotlight episode of FITLETE Radio.

GEORGE: Introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you do and your background.

My name is Lorelei Capuzzi. I was fortunate enough to get my undergraduate degree from Georgetown University many moons ago. I have a number of certifications. I have my personal training certification. I am a women's coaching specialist, a menopause coaching specialist. Both of those certifications are through the Incredible Girls Gone Strong Academy. I also have a pain-free performance specialization. And I started at my local YMCA. I loved working there. It gave me the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients. I got the chance to work with individuals with intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, youth, elderly, athletes, all of it. And I genuinely think it made me a better coach, and I'm so grateful for my time there. Post-COVID, I switched gears and opened up my own business, Siren Call Fitness. And I actually operate out of my home gym just outside of Boston. I get the chance to work with a lot of different clients, but I think my true passion is helping middle-aged women, kind of 35 to 40 plus, fall in love with the process of weightlifting. I grew up, I'm 49. I grew up in a time of thin at all costs. Exercise was a means to burn calories, low-fat diets, all of it. And I really want to shift the narrative to helping women feel empowered, really embrace their strength, find their strength, and fall in love with the process. And to finally kind of put themselves on the list. Oftentimes, we have this long list of people that we love and we care for, and we're not always on that list. And so encouraging my clients to do that is tremendously rewarding.

GEORGE: Tell me a funny or interesting story about yourself that help's us get to know you as a human.

So in April of 2022, I had a niece who was playing professional soccer in Lithuania. And my great-grandparents were from there. I had the opportunity to go a couple of years earlier with my parents and one of my sisters, and it was amazing. So I decided this was going to be the perfect opportunity for me to take my five children to Lithuania. Mind you that this was very soon after Ukraine was invaded by Russia. So I planned this whole trip. We get there in one piece, and I have a neon green nine-passenger diesel stick shift van. Great. We get in the car. We're in the parking garage trying to make our way out. And I don't have reception, so I don't have directions yet. But, you know, you kind of got to get going with the flow of traffic. Anyhoo, I got onto the highway, start going in one direction, only to see a sign that says Kiev this way. Needless to say, I panicked, thinking that's not the way I want to be heading with my children. So I pulled over on the highway in Lithuania, had a moment of panic, then righted the ship, managed to get the car moving in the right direction. Only to then, several hours later, have one of my sons confess to me that he had also seen the sign and also panicked, but somehow managed to stay calm, cool, and collected and not freak out as I was internally in the car. So I feel like this paints a pretty picture of probably a not entirely sane woman doing things, but somehow managing to find a way to make it work.

GEORGE: What strategies do you use to attract and retain clients in your personal training business?

So piggybacking from coming off of working in a commercial gym where I had the opportunity to train a lot of clients, when I transitioned to being in business for myself, a lot of those clients chose to come with me, for which I was tremendously grateful. You know, I'd been working with clients at my local YMCA. The Y had to shut down, as most of the world did back in 2020. And I think a lot of people weren't entirely comfortable returning to that kind of public gym setting. And so my advantage was that I have a home gym and, you know, one client at a time working with me. And I think that was attractive to a lot of people. I am the mother of five children. I have coached soccer in our town for many years. And so another avenue that a lot of clients come to me from is parents of kids that I have coached over the years, which is, you know, and that kind of word of mouth. So I think it's important for people to know, like, and trust you. And so a lot of the people who knew and trusted, and I guess liked me for some reason, chose to come and work with me. And I genuinely believe the best way to retain clients is to create deep and meaningful connections. It's not just about, hey, you're going to lift this weight for 10 reps and, you know, call it a day. You know, I think one of the most meaningful parts of my job is when someone lets you in, when someone is willing to be vulnerable with you and kind of share their struggles and their histories with you. I don't take that lightly ever. I am always humbled when people choose to be open and honest and vulnerable with me. And so I do really find just the human connection is a great way to keep clients.

GEORGE: What is your process for assessing a new client's fitness level and addressing their goals?

So I was really fortunate. My first boss who hired me as a brand new personal trainer who had literally zero training history working with clients really took me under his wing and kind of pointed me in the direction of really amazing coaches in our field. And so I immediately started following and learning from Mike Boyle, Dan John, Tony Gentilcore, Eric Cressy, all of these really phenomenal coaches who'd been in the business for a long time. And so one of the things that I learned quickly from Tony Gentilcore was, you know, the fact that most people don't really love to be assessed in kind of like, hey, you do this and I'm going to watch you and then tell you all the things that are wrong with you and, you know, that you don't know how to move your body or you have no body awareness, these kind of things. And so my assessment of clients is really walking them through a manageable first session. I like to get people performing foundational movement patterns, you know, so I'll ask them to do a squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, carry, those kind of things, without telling them, hey, I'm watching you to see how you move and what's wrong with you and then I'm going to give you a laundry list of things that you should be ashamed of. And that's just me. I know that I get self-conscious when eyes are on me and so I try to remember that clients coming in, especially those who might be deconditioned or this is their first time doing, you know, strength training exercises, it can be intimidating. And so I like to kind of walk them through a session and it's less about, you know, kind of highlighting any malfunctions and more about figuring out like, okay, this is the path that we're going to take to get you towards where you want to be.

GEORGE: What certifications do you hold, and how do you stay updated on the latest fitness trends and research?

In addition to my personal training certification, I hold two certifications from the Girls Gone Strong Academy, the Women's Coaching Specialization Certification and the Menopause Coaches Specialization. I also have the Pain-Free Performance Specialization through John Russen, and each of these certifications also have ongoing education groups online where you're continually interacting with and learning from other coaches. Each also have like very active Facebook groups where you can kind of pick each other's brains and learn in that way. I'm also connected with just a lot of coaches like you, George, who I've met from various conferences, etc., and tend to do the same with them as well. You know, what's working with your clients, what's not working with your clients, or, hey, I've had this pop up with a client, any experience, any tips, any tricks. So I would say in addition to actual continuing education through additional certifications, you know, being in contact with those certifying bodies as well. But the other thing too are fitness conferences, Raise the Bar, which, again, where I met you, George, and lots of other phenomenal coaches. During those kind of in-depth, usually weekend sessions, you get a ton of information from really experienced leaders in the field. I've attended multiple times the Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning Center, their spring seminar. I'm lucky enough to be fairly local to them. Yeah, and I just love to learn from coaches, oftentimes some with less experience than me, but different experience than me, but also really taking to heart the lessons that these coaches that are farther along with bigger gyms, a lot more experience, what they can teach me.

GEORGE: How do you envision your personal training business evolving in the next few years?

I am really fortunate in that my personal training roster is pretty much at capacity right now, which I love and am super grateful for. So one thing that I've done to invest in my future is I'm currently in Jill Coleman's Fitness Business Accelerator, way outside of my comfort zone to say the least, but working on trying to add and expand my online coaching services, where it's certainly not at this point, but hopefully eventually would be a little bit less time for money as a, you know, in-person one-on-one session would be, and, you know, developing programming for clients who work out independently, not here with me in person. So they could be, you know, my next door neighbor, they could be on the other side of the globe. And yeah, that is something that I would really love to expand, because I do think it offers a lot of opportunity not only to help a lot more people, but to incorporate a little bit more freedom. Again, mom of five. And so, you know, time is at a premium pulled in lots of different directions. And so I'm hoping that adding that online component can really kind of help take my business to the next level.

GEORGE: What do you think are the biggest challenges currently facing the fitness & personal training industry?

For me personally, I think the biggest challenges that we're currently facing in the fitness & personal training industry also kind of extend to the larger world. And I think it's misinformation or conflicting information. You know, certainly with social media platforms, anyone and everyone can and does have a voice and a megaphone and a platform. And it can be really challenging to kind of weed out who to listen to. And I think, you know, I find myself as an experienced personal trainer. You know, sometimes I find like, what? Who am I listening to here? You can watch two consecutive videos on Instagram saying the complete opposite thing. And so I really think it can be a challenge to kind of do your research and also know who to listen to.

Want more Lorelei Capuzzi in your life? You can find her here:

Siren Call Fitness: https://linktr.ee/sirencallfitness

Siren Call Fitness Newsletter: https://sirencallfitness.kit.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sirencallfitness/

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