Wow, that was fast!

So I've been in my new house for a couple weeks now. All moved in, our services are set up and house repairs are complete for the most part. That means - time to start job hunting!

This week I spent some time recreating my resume to fit my new profession. I figured since I don't have a job/obligation at the moment, and this is a profession based on putting yourself out there and trying to forge new relationships... why not just go around to some gyms and introduce myself? That's essentially what trainers do all day long - approach strangers, introduce themselves and try to sell their services.

Yesterday I went on my mission around noon. The targets were -

Lifetime Fitness - Very nice gym in my area that has TONS of services. It's a wellness destination really - all the gym amenities, 2 pools, spa, cafe, hair salon, and probably more stuff that I'm forgetting. They are not hiring until January, said they would call me.

Gold's - My second choice because I'm familiar with Golds, worked out there in Augusta and liked the fact that it was "down to business" - it's not flashy or gimmicky, just a good place to go work out. This Gold's was not as nice as Augusta's - smaller, treadmill and elliptical dominated with not much of a free weight area that I could see. Hell, half of the entry way was taken up by tshirt stands and other stuff they were selling, kind of a waste of space in a gym if you ask me. The manager seemed like he was ready to hire me, he said they needed trainers especially a female. He said to go and apply on the website and then he'd get me in for an interview (he was in the middle of a training session otherwise he said he would have done it on the spot) I left feeling pretty good about it.

Anytime Fitness - Found one near me so decided to give it a shot. It was in the lower level of a townhouse complex which was weird to me. Again not hiring until early next year after they complete an expansion. Manager seemed interested but asked if I had a "niche", so maybe he was looking for someone who isn't newly certified like me. Still, very nice and said he'd keep me on file.

At this point I was feeling pretty confident about Gold's being the one for me so I almost didn't even go to my fourth place because it was in another city, but I decided to go anyway just to have more possibilities on the table. The last gym was Fitness 19, a smaller-chain gym I was not really familiar with but I found it during my internet research and it seemed like a good place. Walked in and met the manager, and we instantly hit it off. We sat down at his desk for an "interview" but really we were just talking about stuff. He told me about the packages available to the members and how training works. Asked me a few things about myself and my resume but not anything technical. He said some of the staff would assist me with learning how to sell training. The hours are very flexible too. He invited me to the staff meeting next Saturday and said I could start Monday! I was pretty stunned, only an hour and a half and 4 gyms and here I am with a job? I'm excited, I think I've found the right place for me because everyone there seems like a big family. This was definitely a personality hire, the manager is super friendly and laid back. He said I have the right kind of energy and that is what is important to him.

So on Monday at 3 I'm going in to get started. He penciled me in to work split shifts for now (morning, go hom for a few hours then come back) so I could get an idea of how the gym functions during its peak times. I told him I prefer mornings but wouldn't be opposed to the idea of working evenings since that's prime time.

I'm nervous as this is a whole new type of job in a whole new field. What if I'm bad at it? What if I don't know enough? I keep telling myself that the staff seems supportive and I don't think they'll just throw me into the fire on the first day. They'll probably spend some time showing me how they do things. I shouldn't worry this much!

A new chapter begins for me. This is such an awesome opportunity, for the first time in my life I'll be doing a job that actually helps other people. No more sitting behind a desk helping some corporation make a buck. Yes, I'll be helping a corporation make a buck but in doing so I will be enriching and even transforming the lives of others. I'm really excited to see where this takes me.