Kevin

After leaving school in 2000 I studied leisure and tourism at college before completing an apprenticeship in sport and leisure for Stoke-on-Trent City Council. From there I started working as a lifeguard at Fenton Manor Sports Complex until 2007.

It was there I got my first opportunity in the fitness industry working as a fitness instructor at the gym based at Fenton manor, Shapes gym. Initially this was on a part time basis but I soon moved into a full-time position.

I quickly realised this was something I enjoyed and was quickly developing a strong passion and interest for. Not only was I looking forward to going to work every day (walking around a swimming pool was slowly destroying me) but I was gaining further qualifications along the way. I qualified as a personal trainer and started teaching my own fitness classes after gaining the relevant qualifications.

In January 2010 I successfully applied to be a full-time exercise cardiac rehabilitation instructor and was fortunate enough to still be based at shapes gym. I gained my exercise referral qualification and cardiac rehabilitation qualification, which is by far the hardest thing I have ever done, but persistence paid off in the end as it always does. By now I had grown as a studio instructor and had expanded to teach my own classes at several other gyms across Stoke on Trent.

In January 2015 I was approached by a local gym Lifestyle Fitness to work as a personal trainer. This is where my career really began to move in a new, exciting direction and KM Fitness was launched.

Initially I was still working full time in my exercise referral role which limited my availability to offer personal training. Despite this, within a few months I was starting to achieve fantastic results with clients and started to build up an ever growing client base. The only problem was I was struggling to cope with the demand of juggling two jobs, teaching classes and spending time with my family. In total I was averaging 80 hours per week which simply was not sustainable.

5 months after launching KM fitness I had built up my client base to a point that I decided to reduce my hours on the referral programme to free up more time to meet the demand I was getting for personal training. Soon after this I decided to leave my post on the referral programme at shapes to focus full time on growing KM fitness. This also coincided with me leaving lifestyle fitness to be based at True Grit training.

Taking the decision to leave a job that was guaranteeing a regular wage to be full time self employed was a huge decision to make and one that certainly left me with a few sleepless nights. Especially with a young family and birth of my son a few months away, but I believed in myself and the brand I was building. The drive and enthusiasm I had developed from building my own business filled me with a huge sense of pride and purpose as well as extreme passion in being able to positively impact so many peoples lives.

One of the biggest successes for me has to be starting my own bootcamps. I could not have imagined I would have had so many success stories when I first launched KM bootcamps in July 2015.

Helping people improve not only their physique but also their confidence, self-esteem and mental health has been incredibly rewarding especially now I am seeing so many of these people every day in the gym continuing what they achieved on my bootcamps.

The biggest aspect of my job that I pride myself in is my client transformations. It is a results business I work in and a trainer’s reputation is based on the results they get for their clients. This is after all why people approach us in the first place. I take great pride in the transformations I have achieved with my clients and work my butt off every day to be the best I can be.

My own journey in the fitness industry has also helped me grow as a person. A large majority of what I have achieved so far in the fitness industry has largely been a result of nurture rather than nature. Those who know me the best will know I am naturally a shy person and speaking in front of people has always been a very nervy experience, let alone teaching to a class full of people.

One experience stands out from when I first started working in fitness, my first circuit class at Shapes which was my first experience of teaching to a large group of people. This was probably the most frightening experience of my life (apart from my wedding speech). To have so many sets of eyes on me was a terrifying experience and firmly out of my comfort zone but I did it and from that point continued to grow in confidence and as an instructor.

Personal development growth has been a big focus during my journey. I attended countless workshops and seminars by some of the leading trainers in the world such as Mark Coles, Phil Learney and the late Charles Poliquin. I have also read several personal development books and implemented them into my every day practices.

I strongly believe the life experiences I have gained as a fitness professional have nurtured me into the person I am today. Without these experiences I would be completely different.

The point I am making is you can spend your whole life avoiding things in life that scare you and make you nervous. I could quite easily still be walking around a swimming pool to this day bored out of my mind if I had not decided to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand in the fitness industry. I have met so many friends along the way and to be surrounded by so many likeminded people in a job I love is a blessing.

I am not the most brash or outspoken trainer you will meet but I am true to myself and my values and have established myself as one of the leading transformation coaches in Staffordshire by staying true to myself.

I firmly believe that stepping out of your comfort zone, working your butt off and perseverance are essential in life if you are going to succeed.

These are the fundamentals I pass on to all of my clients. You can achieve so much when you apply discipline, patience and consistency. Believe in yourself and don’t get ahead of yourself.

Small steps lead to big achievements.

I use my own life experiences to encourage my clients that if they want something bad enough you have to work for it! Do that and you will get your rewards. 

The final mention must go to my wife and the other half of KM Fitness Kelly as well as my kids Myles and Mason. They are without doubt what I value the most in this world and are my biggest inspiration that have installed a purpose in life that I didn’t know existed. Kelly has always supported and encouraged me with all the small and big career moves I have made and it makes me immensely proud that we run our own business together and are able to make a difference in so many people’s lives.

We both pride ourselves on being passionate and enthusiastic trainers who are highly driven to helping people achieve life changing transformation.

Kev 😊