Client profile: Truly Fit & Well
There are fitness owners who respond to industry changes. And then there are fitness owners who create change. Truly Fit & Well, based in Norfolk Va., is the latter. Founded in 2019 by Beth Higgins, her company is an in-home personal training service for those over 55-years-of-age seeking to create a healthier senior life.
By meeting with mature adults in their home, she closes the gap between physical therapy and supportive services by providing personal training sessions as well as lifestyle-nutritional support.
What does a Truly Fit client look like? Many are recent retirees who find after 30 years at a desk, they can no longer walk upstairs without becoming winded. Others are in their 90’s setting a goal to ride horses and ski. Some clients are younger than 55 years of age and living with debilitating conditions.
Who is Beth Higgins?
Higgins, 53, spent 18 years in commercial mortgages and real estate before becoming a personal chef. Shortly thereafter, she completed a master’s degree in nutrition and integrative health, a discipline focusing on a holistic approach to improving people’s lives. She soon began coaching individuals on fitness and nutrition; holding NASM personal training as well as Functional Aging Specialist certifications.
Through this journey, she lived with chronic hip pain. In her 40’s, she found the 20-something physical therapists ill-equipped to help. How could they understand her experience? They’d never known chronic pain.
Her frustration led to an epiphany as she recognized an underserved, yet demographically significant market. She was not the only older adult living with pain. By this point, as well, many of her personal training clients were skewing increasingly older. After all, “who deals with chronic pain, and lives with it? Older adults,” she explained. This was a group of individuals she could grow with, and in turn, they would not mind her own aging experience. Once she decided to pivot to the senior market, she rebranded her former company “Sarara Fit,” and founded Truly Fit & Well.
What is Truly Fit’s Healthier Senior Life Business Model?
Because Virginia’s metro area is among the most expensive and congested regions in the country, Truly Fit’s business model focuses on minimizing overhead expenses and reducing her trainers’ drive time.
Truly Fit personal trainers:
- Care for clients who live within10 to 30-minutes from their homes.
- Are individually certified, self-insured, and categorized as a 1099 contractors. .
- Have three years of personal trainer experience.
- Offer proven direct experience working with senior populations.
- Agree to drug testing and background screening.
- Retain 95% of their fees.
Through providing a lucrative commission structure, Higgins assures clients a committed, long-term trainer whose work she oversees.
What Can a Client Expect from Truly Fit?
Truly Fit’s services often start where traditional physical therapy ends or serves as the bridge preparing an individual for a specific medical procedure. Her team is careful to “stay within their lane,” but use science-based exercises to improve mobility, strength, and balance. “Each session, we identify the goal for the client,” Higgins says. Reminding clients, they will need three months or longer for sustainable change.
Sessions vary in intensity and reflect the client’s needs. At times, half of the 45-minute session is spent in conversation. This flexibility is by design. Training people in their home provides an insider’s take. How they move around their home; what they eat; how they feel; all transcends fitness alone and becomes the glue she uses to create effective training plans.
What Does the Future Look Like for Truly Fit?
Truly Fit is a caring company attempting to build an industry in an underserved market. In some ways, its business mirrors local governmental groups that transition the elderly from hospitals to home.
Currently, personal circumstances dictate that Higgins move closer to her own aging parents. This move has her considering more structure, including leasing a fitness studio where able-bodied seniors can join her for a session. Additionally, as someone who is always focused on the future, she’d like to begin advocating for older people, bringing attention to the needs of seniors’ physical health and wellness.
We Asked Beth How She Uses Gym Insight to Run Truly Fit
“I use Gym Insight to manage my in-home personal training business. Although ideally suited for a gym setting, it works perfectly for my needs and the team at Gym Insight has been an amazing support system. The platform provides a central location from which I can run my business. Using Gym Insight I can:
- Track progress for clients through notes,
- Manage and process payments from clients and to trainers
- Set up new clients.
The platform is easy to use, has everything I need, and the customer support is top notch. Using Gym Insight saves me time and money!”
Gym Insight
Thank you Truly Fit for participating in our client profile. We appreciate your time. For everyone reading this blog, our cloud-based award-winning gym software assists in member management, club management, 24/7 door access, sales automation, and fee-free payment processing. It is supported by a rich trove of reports. If you’re searching for gym software that can automate billing and streamline personal training services, call us today for a free demo. Our robust, award-winning software is easy-to-use, simple-to-teach, and affordable.