Thriving Student: Rick Elnor

You might say Rick’s first client was himself.

Previously a software developer / programmer, Rick got into personal training after successfully getting himself fit and healthy.

After sitting behind a computer screen for too long, Rick found himself putting on weight and feeling out of shape. So, he hit the gym. Within a year, fellow gym patrons were coming up to him and asking for help and advice.

That’s when Rick decided to make a career change and become a personal trainer. He realized, “I could be doing a job that I’d rather be doing, and do something that would actually make people’s lives better.”

But being a single parent isn’t easy.

At the time of his transition to a full time fitness career, Rick’s son was 3 years old. Rick had been a single parent since his son was 17 months old.

“That makes things a little hectic,” he says with a laugh.  “It was hard trying to balance family and work. In a gym setting, you schedule your training times around what your clients have available. That’s hard as a single parent.”

Two years after becoming a personal trainer, Rick experimented with online training, on a small scale. However, it was “just a little bit of extra income.”

Then Rick was hit with a major curveball.

In 2014 he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that left him with a shattered femur and collapsed lung. He now has 2 pins in his left hip and an IM rod with three pins in his right leg. Rehab was long and made worse by complications.

Rick couldn’t get back on the gym floor for 6 months. Even after that, rehab would be an ongoing process and keeping a roster of clients would prove extremely difficult.

Quitting work was not an option. His son needed him.

So Rick decided to run with online training, and really make a full go of it this time.

So, he signed up for the Online Trainer Academy and implemented what he learned. What made the biggest difference for Rick was the approach of systematizing his work.

“Without the Academy, I wouldn’t have a system, a set routine to follow. This way, I know what I’m going to do, I set things out in advance. It’s all structured. If I didn’t have that, how would I get clients? I wouldn’t be successful.”

He keeps it simple, too — mainly working with men in their 30s looking to put on some muscle and get active. He helps them be fit and healthy no matter what’s going on in their lives, just as he’s continued to do himself, despite the challenges of his life.

Now, Rick has a steady, stable roster of about 20 core clients.

What really matters?

Online training has enabled him to continue to work, and support his son. He’s proud of that fact — and the way he does business. “I can help so many more people online. And I can run an ethical business, according to my own principles and values.”

Without online training, “I’d be broke. Frankly, my life would be chaos.”

But with it?

“My work as an online trainer allows me to get out and fish with my son. We get to go out to the lake and relax. It’s a good excuse to do nothing and spend time together. That’s what really matters.”