Show Up Uncut
Welcome to "Show Up Uncut," a podcast where two fierce ladies bring you unfiltered conversations on business, health, fitness, and mindset.
Join us for an unapologetic exploration of the highs, lows, and everything in between as we share raw, real-life stories from the trenches of SHOWING UP. From crushing goals in business to smashing personal best at the gym, we're here to inspire and empower you to show up fully in every aspect of your life. Get ready for straight talk, bold insights, and unwavering authenticity as we dive deep into what it takes to succeed in business and beyond. Tune in and get ready to elevate your game with "Show Up Uncut"!
Show Up Uncut
Mindset, Nutrition, Business and Personal Growth with FMG PRO Keith Graham
What happens when a disciplined Navy sailor transitions to a successful business owner and personal trainer? Meet Keith Graham, our guest for this episode, who has done just that. Having grown up in South Coast New South Wales and served in the Navy where he crossed paths with Barack Obama and the Queen, Keith shares his gripping story of overcoming addiction and finding his true calling. He talks candidly about the harsh realities of military life, how he conquered his struggle with alcohol, and the ways these experiences have shaped his approach to coaching clients facing similar challenges.
Keith introduces us to his unique coaching methodology, Campaign Fitness, built around the MENT theory—mindset, education, nutrition, and training. He explains how this holistic approach is tailored to individual journeys, addressing limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging habits through gradual, trust-building processes. Keith emphasizes the significance of understanding personal circumstances, such as stress and social pressures, in ensuring compliance with training and nutrition plans. His insights into reshaping clients' identities and belief systems provide a roadmap for lasting positive change, demonstrating that true transformation begins from within.
Balancing life as a business owner, new parent, and competitive bodybuilder is no easy feat. Keith shares his strategies for managing time and prioritizing family over his competitive hobbies. He offers practical advice on maintaining a strong work ethic, building successful business systems, and the transition from hands-on coaching to leveraging online processes for better work-life balance. From allocating time for family and business tasks to the importance of having a strong "why," Keith’s journey offers invaluable lessons for anyone looking to achieve success without sacrificing personal fulfillment.
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Welcome back to Show Up Uncut with Em and Jess Damn. That was good.
Speaker 2:All right, We've got Keith Coach Keith with Kay here on the podcast and we are going to be chatting around business. He's an FMG pro.
Speaker 3:Yes, so bodybuilding.
Speaker 2:Bodybuilding, a father of a beautiful, beautiful little girl and owner of Campaign Fitness. So tell us a bit about yourself, keith.
Speaker 3:All right. So nuts and bolts of the story is I grew up regional south coast of New South Wales and decided that I wanted to expand myself and move to the city. So when I joined the Navy at 18 18, that was my ticket out. Normally with small regional areas it's pretty hard to get out unless you've got um a good career opportunity.
Speaker 3:So I did that for four years, did some cool stuff. It had a lot of ups and downs. Pun intended um, along the way, got to meet barack obama, the queen uh, a few things like that, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's only 32, this man, yeah, I'm just like when he said the Navy.
Speaker 1:I was like God. What doesn't he do?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I tell people my story and they're like, no, surely that's not all true. So I did that for four years, got to travel around the world, meet a lot of cool people, do a lot of cool stuff that you wouldn't do. Um originally the plan was to try and be a personal trainer inside the navy, but um figured out that you can be in there for 20 years and come out with no qualification as a pt. So out, out was my exit um part of that. On my way out, I had a bit of a few issues around alcohol. So this is how I started to develop my current business model on my ethos and philosophies and how I navigate with clients. Um so navigating um coming back into independence, obviously working with the military. You have no opinion, you're not allowed to think at all um or have any ambition.
Speaker 3:So coming back into normal, normal life was quite challenging, so learning how to set goals, that's so interesting because I've never thought of that like yeah, like a real thing.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So yeah there you go, so you're basically just there showing up for them yeah, literally, you're a tool and that's it yeah, yeah yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3:So do what we say. When we say nothing more, nothing less, was the, was the attitude?
Speaker 2:yes, sir, yeah pretty much um, pretty much.
Speaker 3:So I came out um with a bit of a. The way I managed my alcohol um challenges was based as I came out of the defense. It was a good cold turkey approach, like I've removed myself totally from the environment, and then that led into um personal development, growth um, and that's when PT started. So I had a bit of an overlap with building up some clients as I was coming out and then was working for a company, so working under somebody initially, then after a period of time went to start working for myself, started doing that, moved around a couple of gyms to try and find where the right fit was, moved back down the south coast after some family challenges, um to try and help support the family, came back up to sydney after a few years and then, yeah, basically here we are.
Speaker 2:So when you say about your alcohol problem, can we go a bit like deeper into that? Because when we did have the podcast with ivy, I felt like that was we got some really good feedback from that. I feel like addictions is something that whether it was an addiction or not, like I feel like a lot of people do struggle with that. Or just even you know, weekend binge drinking. I know some of my girls that have started with me have struggled with that before. It's like a you know you're living for the weekend in a sense. Um, so can you touch on that a little bit more?
Speaker 3:Yeah, look, it was more. And the living for the weekend thing that's pretty common, right, like Friday night is the way to go Friday, saturday nights, and it was very much that. But what it was? Because we with defence like and especially being in the Navy on a ship, you work hard, you're out to sea for up to a couple of months at a time before you pull into a port and it's just a decompression like out it goes so you've got low morale, high tension being cooped up in a tin can on the middle of the ocean with, you know, 100 blokes, isn't?
Speaker 2:isn't. It's not a recipe for success. You know what I?
Speaker 3:mean so, um, so. So it was a big outlet, but then what I started to do was, like my, just in terms of my character, I started to let a lot, just in terms of my character, I started to let a lot of people down. So, as part of the duties when you are alongside is that there's 21 people that have to stay on the ship for emergencies or security, and then they stay there in that role for 24 hours and then a new team comes on and replaces them. So to do that, you have to be under the limit for alcohol, so 0.05 or whatever it is to drive on the road.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 3:I'd come in hungover. I'd rock up late because I was out the night before. I'd start missing family events. I started putting my. It was basically a release for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Basically going to some sort of euphoric position and just going ballistic on it. So so it was just an outlet that I used. It wasn't a positive one, um, but what? As I came out, um, I had to find some other outlets yeah, so yeah, I feel like that's.
Speaker 2:One thing that a lot of people do realize is that, yeah, you can replace that habit with another habit and it's just going to kind of give back just as much and even more yeah, yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 3:And most, you find most business owners, uh, have an addictive personality in a sense, but I've just replaced the addiction with something else, so yeah, so true, and it's just been um to your for how long?
Speaker 2:six weeks, six weeks, and she's come back with an addiction so you spoke about your um, your philosophy, and that's where you kind of got a lot with your background in Navy, the military. Yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 3:So, leading off the back of the addiction, the epiphany moment was looking at myself in the mirror and going right. I'm saying I want all this stuff. I want a stable relationship. I want to be financially stable. I don't want to be letting people down, but I'm doing the complete opposite. This is the person I am, so this is where it starts to go okay, cool, so what things do?
Speaker 1:I need to be doing. How do you feel, though, for being so like aware of yourself?
Speaker 3:And this is at 22 as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like so many people are so not aware they're like they just do the poor me Like why Do you know what?
Speaker 2:And I actually seen something the other day. It's like that's, in a way, that's you maturing, that sometimes it's not like the other people that are toxic, it's you, yeah, or you're the one doing the toxic things that you know. It might not be like you're a bad person, but, as you said, like you want to stay with a relationship, you don't want to let people down, you want to be. You know, you want to show up for everyone around you, including yourself.
Speaker 3:So you kind of strip back everything and was like okay yeah, exactly right, it was, you know, like being a guy, like I had girls coming and going, um, and it was, you know, when they leave, I feel pretty, pretty crap about myself. Um, and that's that's where I, like it started was. Like you know, I don't want this feeling to keep happening, so like I need to change and stuff, and the common denominator is me, so I'm the one that needs to do the work yeah, I love that, so.
Speaker 2:So what's your philosophy around your coaching and how did you tailor? Tailor that to meet the needs of your clients? And I guess, how did you come up with campaign fitness and what's the philosophy behind it?
Speaker 3:cool. So, off the back of that, the campaign fitness. It's a journey, right? So everyone has their own journey that they're trying to undertake and everyone has their different challenges. So my circumstances is different to yours, which is different to yours, so there's no. You can have the principles, but the variables are all going to be different Along the way. We have first created, essentially like some baseline principles or areas that we want to focus on first. One's been mindset, so that comes back from that, you know, taking a look in the mirror. So confidence, self-sabotaging habits, limiting beliefs if we start there, then we can start to maneuver forward yeah then we've got the recognition, we move into education.
Speaker 3:So, understanding why that's happening, what's popping up, how we can move forward, what, how can we make better decisions, in that we're all going to make mistakes, but if we can at least try better or understand why we make those mistakes, it's a lot easier to move forward. Yeah, if you can get those two pillars down, then you can start to work on your nutrition strategies again. That's going to be different for everybody else. Um, for me, I don't want to make any more decisions in my day, so I stick to a similar thing every day. Um, but some people like variety. So let's meet halfway and figure out what's going to work for you to be able to move forward. Then, once you've got that, we can work on the strategies, that the training strategies, because that's the easy part. Once you get the other three down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right. They're like the four pillars. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:So I call it the MENT theory. What's meant for you? M-e-n-t? Mindset, education, nutrition, training, and it's in that order. Yeah, yeah, cool.
Speaker 2:What's the process? You say you go through each of those processes, especially starting with um, their limiting beliefs and mindset. Do you take them through? Is that kind of like a part of the coaching package that you will implement in their check-ins? Or do you have like a certain amount of consults that you do with clients prior to to going into nutrition and training, if that makes sense?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's. It's an interesting way to do it right. If I was to sit there and give you a questionnaire to fill out, the likelihood that we're going to unpack a whole bunch of stuff is pretty minimal. You might touch the surface, but it's going to take some time to uncover that stuff. One because you're in a vulnerable position to talk about it. There needs to be a level of trust rapport to be able to navigate that. And also I'm I've been doing this a long time.
Speaker 3:I've got skills to be able to navigate someone through that conversation and coming out the other side, whereas a lot of people might dive in but not know how to take that person back out yeah so, and that's where it's a very gray area, um, very risky, yeah, once it it's, you can do it straight off the bat in one hit, but you're going to find that there's going to be a lot of pushback.
Speaker 3:So if you it's working through one step at a time. If you try and fix that person in an hour time now session, it's not going to happen. So it's just little bit, little bit, little bit each time and then to be able to work on, because it's an ever evolving journey in terms of working on yourself, who you envision yourself being in 10 years. You get there in 10 years you're like that's not who I want to be and you're continually chasing this person that you envision in your mind about that you want to be yeah, so it's an ever evolving thing and challenges that pop up that we just try and navigate at that point in time.
Speaker 3:So when we come to each check-in point for the clients, we look at overall, realistically, what's going on in their life, like is there a lot going on socially? How's the pressures from work? Are you stressed? How's your general mindset? Because that will then lead to how compliant they're going to be with their nutrition and training.
Speaker 3:If you go and have a fight with your partner, the likelihood that you're going to go splurge or binge or not eat is pretty highly likely. So let's focus on those types of stuff, and that's going to make the rest of it really easy.
Speaker 2:That's what I talk a lot about with my clients is like their identity and their belief system.
Speaker 2:Because I feel like, especially with identity, if they are somebody where it's like I, especially with identity, if they are somebody where it's like, oh, I just always self-sabotage, or you know, as you said, with fights with partners and things like that, if they have that narrative in their head that when something happens in their life that they just throw the towel in, it's like someone saying I'm always late, they're always going to rock up late, you know. So if you can really, I guess, get to know your client and dig deep and she said, unpack that You're more likely going to be able to get them to change that identity and that narrative. So then when that shit happens, it's like they already, they're so aware of it. They're like, you know, I would normally go and get drunk right now because my boyfriend's being a shit, but I'm just going to go and watch a movie and have a self-care night and, you know, put a face mask on and treat myself yeah exactly right.
Speaker 3:So when you start to look at that, first of all being able to recognise it faster is a skill in itself. So that's, if you can be in a position where, if you know that you have a specific trait and they say things like, oh, I'm always this or I'm always that, that's just who I am I put it back on them and challenge them and go do you want that story to keep going that way or do you want to change it? Which kind of puts them on the back foot. They're like oh, no, I don't really want to keep doing that.
Speaker 3:So that's how we do it right. It comes at a level of. This is where accountability and challenging the ideas of stuff um starts to come into play. So um versus like don't do that, don't do that, I put it back on them and go. Is that something that you want to continue doing?
Speaker 2:yeah, so true, yeah, you're calling them out, and I guess one one of my clients actually said to me the other day she's like she feels so vulnerable with me. She's going through quite a lot of um, the weekend pops up and she's like, yeah, like I don't want to go into her because I don't want to call her out on here, but, um, it is. It is something that, like you know, she feels so vulnerable because I pull her forward and I I do. You know, like you said before, like is this where you want to continue to go? You know, is this the person that you want to be? And when you have the mirror in front of you, it's like fuck, is that really what I want?
Speaker 2:like, and and some people like friends. I had a client also on a phone call to me. She's like my friends don't call me out. They won't say to me. You know if she's been in bed depressed for the last week. You know, it's all right, babe, like the friends, give that nurture and I guess the love that they need at the time. But it's sometimes you like you need someone to be like get your ass up go, do something for yourself, go out in the sun I am that friend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not everyone has that friend. Not everyone has an emma. Yeah, that's so right.
Speaker 2:I don't know but you know, and little things like that it is. It's, I feel like it can be so powerful when you have people like that in your corner. And that's where a coach you know, like yourself, can be so handy yeah.
Speaker 3:I call it the tough or fluff position.
Speaker 1:Tough of what.
Speaker 3:Tough or fluff, tough or fluff. So in my 32 years of wisdom, I've picked up a thing or two about how to not piss off my partner. Um so when she comes, to me yeah thanks, babe.
Speaker 3:Um, so essentially, like when she comes to me the challenge, like sometimes you might want to vent, just vent and be heard by your partner, and it comes to the point where it's my turn to interject. So I'm like, do you want a tough answer or a fluff answer? Yeah, and that way I can kind of gauge what she needs right now. So even with clients they they come to me with a problem. I'm just like, okay, do you want a tough answer or a fluff answer?
Speaker 2:I like that. I'm gonna start using that because sometimes I can come across like very, like hard yeah, and that's not what they need yeah yeah, they need something softer yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3:So if they go for a tough, I'll be just like okay, cool. Have you considered xyz as the thing? Versus um, oh, you know. Good, you know it's okay, we'll fix it. Yeah versus like all right, we need to probably have a look at at this and sort it out yeah, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:Um, so you are competing in October, correct FMG. Yeah, what division do you do again?
Speaker 3:I'm on the edge, so I'm fitness but physique at the same time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm in between categories at the moment. Do you cross over? Is that what you've been doing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, um, from the last show, um I it was do the fitness category turn around? Walk off 30 seconds later. Back on for the physique category. Yeah, it sort of was like the fitness and figure. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Kills you. Yeah, and obviously you've got a family now.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Is this the first time you're competing with having your daughter?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so she's three months old, so it's a new experience for me.
Speaker 1:Have you found that it's been like more difficult this time around competing? Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:So first of all, I've got the responsibilities of dad.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So in that, especially in the young age, how the father role appears is semi-minimalistic but also very involved at the same time. So it's a kind of a balance, because it's more, I don't have breasts, so I can't breastfeed.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'm a bit useless in that sense, but it's. Can I give relief to my partner? Can she like go have a shower for an hour? Can I take the baby away and, you know, try and do something. Or clean the house, prepare dinner, that type of stuff. So I have to be very vigilant with my time and disciplined to be able to make sure that I'm getting my ducks in a row with that, because that's priority number one. Comps that's a hobby. I've done a lot of shows. The first one or two I generally see with clients is like that's the main priority in their life, whereas now I'm trying to keep all the balls in the air. And that's a hobby. And if it breaks, if anything's going to break, it's the comp.
Speaker 2:I'll just pull out. There'll be another one. Yeah, versus my entire life. Yes, that's where I'm at now, like I'm giving myself, you know, quite a few years off, because I feel like even just with business and watching my clients grow and, you know, with the relationships that I have in my life is, yeah, there's so much more to life than just, you know, putting your all or nothing into, into a show yeah, exactly right, even the moment I know it's cliche to say, but the moment she was born, things I was stressing about 24 hours before I couldn't care about anymore, yeah, it was just like.
Speaker 3:Everything that I am focusing on is here yeah, yeah, this is my main priority. These are my main responsibilities now. And things, little petty things I just don't have time for anymore do you feel like it's changed your life and outlook? Oh, yeah, yeah, it's so it again. It's cliche to say, but it's totally changed the scope of what's um a priority and what's not and as a business owner, because you would you work at the gym, don't you?
Speaker 3:yes, yeah, so how it operates is I'm I'm the personal training manager of the facility and then I've got my team within that facility as well. So we operate under the roof of a commercial gym, um, and then we run a hybrid model, so we do online stuff as well but, our main base of operations inside the facility.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how did you set that up so you had time, because obviously you would be quite busy, um, and having a little one, that would be quite hard to juggle. How did you set up your business in order to be able to be there for your partner and then also now add competing into the mix?
Speaker 3:yeah, so that this is where the challenging part comes in, because I still haven't figured that out.
Speaker 3:I try I got a mouthful the other day, um, but no. So essentially what I did was I might. Fortunately enough, I've got a team so I can lean on them. They they've really helped me out this and stepped up. So I'm really grateful to have have their girls on um. But what with what I initially did, was I my afternoon clients? I was like, hey, sorry, like we need to either move our appointments in the morning or I need to put you off to one of their team members. So they were really understanding about that. The initial few days I just took off um straight after birth, but, removing the afternoons, I'd train myself, get everything done, sorted. I'd then go home about 3, 30 it's. I take scarlet for a walk, so her name's scarlet, um. Take her for a walk. That gives mom an opportunity to shower, eat some food, do any domestics that she might want to do or any life admin. And then I come back tojama time at five o'clock and then once how cute.
Speaker 3:Do I'm so regimented.
Speaker 2:You can take them. I love it. You've got to be when you're competing, and that's what I wanted to, because there's so many people sorry to interrupt, but there's so many people, I guess, that are younger, that don't have so many responsibilities that can make up excuses. So I think it's so important to remind yourself that if you have really good time management skills, um, it's gonna be hard yeah it's you're gonna.
Speaker 2:You're gonna find like there's always gonna be tv issues, like you know. You plan on having a bit of a. You know, get home, come home yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 3:So that, yeah, so there was a scenario that popped up in the last couple weeks that made me like hurt. I tried to open up the communication channel, um, and then, once it came, like the scenario played out, it was like yeah, I'm not in favor for this and you need to sort it out. So, um, when it comes to those responsibilities, making sure that you are communicating as much as possible so that way everybody understands where everyone's at yeah but um, yeah, so, especially being a dad, business owner, trying to be a good partner at the same time like it's
Speaker 3:very easy for those hats to fall, fall away, um, so you just have to really make sure that you're prioritizing um what's important versus what's not. Yeah, um, so once, uh, the girls would go to bed, that's when I'd come back to the business and do all the admin stuff. So my main priority through learning through mistakes um is the best way to learn um is make sure that when I'm in that environment, I give my hundred percent of my attention to that environment. So that's partner dad, make sure the house is in good order and then, once the girls go to bed, then I spend a couple of hours or the time that I lost in the afternoon doing work. I now move that right and do that into the night when they've gone to bed.
Speaker 2:And I guess as well. It's like, as you said, kind of looking at what's the most important and you know you've got so many priorities and they are. I guess they're all important because you've got to make money.
Speaker 2:You want to build, you know, a legacy for yourself and your family. But it's also, if you've got a strong enough why and you've got a lot of purpose backed behind you, you'll make the time. So you're not going to go oh, the girls are in bed now I'm just gonna, you know, sit on the tv, watch netflix and eat some popcorn. You, you know, putting that time that you've lost obviously into the business. And again, that's where time management comes from, like, if there's, there's a will, there's a way. Is that the right?
Speaker 1:yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 3:And the thing is like now she's on maternity leave. I'm responsible financially for us, so like I've got a real fire under my ass to um make sure that we're all okay and that's where my work ethic and desire to make sure that we're bringing positive cash flow, we're all sorted. I make sure my time management's done. Um is super important because it's not about me anymore, it's about them to make sure they're bigger than you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's bigger than me. Anymore it's about them to make sure that they're okay. It's bigger than you. Yeah, it's bigger than me. Yeah, yeah, what strategies have been the most effective with growing your business? So, obviously you've got a team, and Keith actually is a business coach as well for another company, which again Em's like how old are you? Because he's got so much experience under his belt. But, yeah, what strategies have been the most effective? Or what can you give to the audience that you know, our business owners? That would be really helpful.
Speaker 3:Get some help.
Speaker 2:And the business coach Sonia.
Speaker 3:Yeah, cheeky plug, no. So really like it's the moment of acceptance and just going. I don't know how to navigate forward. I need to get some advice on how to position forward right. Same with your health, same with PT. Like, if you want to lose some weight, probably get some advice on how to do that as effectively as possible. So, with the business back in 2018, I made that step, got myself a business coach, learned how to actually run a business because I was good at pt. I can get people results, but I didn't know how was that?
Speaker 1:was that? No, no, no way. Before covid yeah, that was. Yeah, it was covid 2019. Yeah, great, 19, 20.
Speaker 3:No, I was just interested because, yeah, I got a business coach when I like just after covid, because I was like this is fucked, everyone, everything went to shit for me yeah, yeah so but yeah yeah, well, when I first started like I could get people results, I was great in the gym, but then marketing myself yeah, no idea how to do it yeah, sales systems didn't know what I was talking about. How to nurture potential customers didn't know how to do it. Um, even just managing finances didn't know how to do it yeah, um, because I grew up in a family of six with a single mom, so finances was-.
Speaker 1:No one teaches you how to run a business today. You just basically just like open and start and you're just like, okay, cool, get an ABN and that's it. Yeah, yeah, congratulations, you're a PT Good luck, See you later.
Speaker 3:So, and especially coming out of free gym free everything and so you had no responsibilities whatsoever, it was just splash cash wherever you could. So once I started to learn how to set up some fundamental systems of running a business, got really good at running it, and then, once I relocated back to Sydney that's shortly after that COVID hit. So, because I was in the in the gym based trainer, my income went from a couple grand a week to zero. Yeah, and where, where we're situated? Because the first one they locked down all parks and everything, so we couldn't do anything. Yeah, um. So I was literally had to start again from once covid finished up. Um, did, got it all up and running. Once you've got a good like fundamental systems, it doesn't matter where you go, you can plug and play it.
Speaker 2:Processing systems I think is the biggest thing and especially having like in our industry, being a coach, it's like people think it's just literally you're just giving diet plans and or you know nutrition plans and then you've got your training. It's the same as hair.
Speaker 1:Like people just think it's. Oh, just go and do hair Like there's so much more to everything than like the ICs. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, even from like when. Yeah, like consult calls, like how you're approaching the consult calls, how you're selling your clients. Like we said before, we don't really like the word selling, but it's like you know, showing them a solution. How do you? What's the process you take? Yeah, there's so much to it. Um, so, with like being a business coach, can you like run through because I'm interested to know what, like what he does?
Speaker 2:yeah, what you do as a business coach and I guess like how what's the most valuable thing that somebody not just as a coach but I guess in business what's the most valuable thing you think somebody needs other than getting help?
Speaker 3:like yeah, yeah. So this, this is challenging because everyone has their own journey about what they're good at, especially like some people might be good at the back end, logistic side of stuff and then some people might be good at the sales and the front end side of stuff and the presentation or the show that we all put on that we mentioned.
Speaker 2:The weatherman, the weatherman, yeah.
Speaker 3:Whereas the back end of stuff I'm getting a lot better at it, but I've worked really hard on developing those skills around it. But the fundamental stuff around each particular part is understanding what it is that you want the end picture to look like. What do you want your business to do for you and then start to create some steps in order to get there, the roadmap that's, I guess, like, yeah, having a business, like actually like a solid business plan.
Speaker 2:That's one thing I realized for myself. You know, I didn't know where I wanted to be in five years. I'm like I just want to be, you know, helping people, making impact and earning money yeah, I don't know how long it's gonna take like you don't actually you've got to think about.
Speaker 1:You've got to think about things too. Like like you know what happens when you have a partner and you want to have a child. Like what are you meant to do them like being a female even, like obviously it would be hard for you as well. But like you know, like you can't really be just like doing checking calls when you're like I don't know you know what I mean like.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, really difficult, and this is where you gotta rely on your systems right so once we decided to that we're gonna go for it and have a get pregnant yeah um, and then we found out we were massive changes happened like it was like right when you put on like staff or like.
Speaker 1:Was that already I?
Speaker 3:had to come to the the conclusion that, okay, I've got to not make this about me, um, and get out of my own way. That's that's. The next part is be accepting that you might not be good at everything and bring in a team of people who can potentially help in that area to drive the business forward. Yeah, um, so when we started to uh the like our pregnancy, it was like right, how can I maximize this if I'm going to take time off? What's going to happen? Yeah, so how can I manage? Manage that? I need to bring on team that I can lean on or service the clients. If I'm going to grow this business, then I have to take myself off the floor, get rid of the identity of that I've built over the last 10 years of being a coach and go all right. I'm a business owner.
Speaker 3:I have to run the business and then I need to service my team, which are now my clients. I don't have client clients, I've my team members, my clients, and the more I can serve them and give them a better opportunity, the better the business can grow. And then I can step away and do other stuff. Yeah, um, and getting off the floor, figuring out ways about how I can get off the floor yeah, so that's where the online stuff comes in, right, so, even changing my online process. So I used to do phone calls and video calls, now it's maneuvered into into loom videos and stuff.
Speaker 1:I love the loom videos, though I love getting my little video about myself One of my clients is like she's got a baby, she's got an 18, no 12-month-old, 12-month-year-old, that doesn't make sense 12-month-old, yeah, and sheyear-old that doesn't make sense 12-month-old, 12-month-old, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and she's like every time she watches Zillian video she gets so excited because it's just all about her.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I'm like, yeah, so it works on two fronts right in terms of customer service. One you know you're going to get your stuff done on time and you're not going to have an unreliable coach being who keeps rescheduling their appointments. Give they can't make it to the phone call because their baby's taken over or some other sort of responsibility is taken over. So that means if I need to at 2 am do it at night time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can do it at night time, right, and it's also just good for the client, I feel too, because we can look at it whatever like suits us, like even when you did the calls I'd like had to book, like, fucking schedule it in and like it was painful. I've been catching up because then I'm late at work and then I couldn't answer your call.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and that's, that's a common problem. Right is like I can't make it to the call this week. I've got work or something's popped up, so I'm still charging them for like a non-attendance and they're not receiving the thing they get frustrated, they drop off so this.
Speaker 2:This has alleviated a whole bunch of challenges for both them and myself, so yeah, and I feel like it's so hard to cover, like for you, em as um, like what we're speaking about before with I guess you know you're in a salon where you you're with clients for quite some time, like with with us. Like you know they're paying a pretty high, high price on a weekly basis for you know if you can only do a 30 minute call but you know you're not going to touch on everything, especially when you go as a coach, like I know you mentioned at the start, you go through mindset, you go through quite a lot of. You know you go through all the the four pillars, um, and that in a in a call it's so hard because they talk about you know you start how are you?
Speaker 1:how's your day?
Speaker 2:going. You know how's your week going and then they go on a little bit of tangent and then you've got to cut them off and go into, like the juicy stuff. It's really hard, whereas a loom video you can get. I feel like I can give so much value and you know it might go for 30 minutes. But I'm going through their checking, I'm going through all the data I need and then they're watching and going holy you absorb it so much more too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go back and forth they can, you know, they can listen, watch, read, bloody yeah, they've got yeah so feel like um yeah, anyone that does coaching don't do loom videos, that's our secret. Yeah, that's our secret. Do you have any questions for for keith, like, does anything pop?
Speaker 1:up. I'll just jump in when I need to um, but yeah, do you have any daily routines or habits that you credit for your success?
Speaker 3:you got to win the morning yeah, win the morning, win the day, yeah so my, my philosophy is if you can attack the morning and attack the day, rather than have the day attack you.
Speaker 1:So if you can set yourself up, I've only got one alarm and that's my saviour, right, if I sleep in through that like I'm on the back foot, if I haven't prepared my lunches you know I'm on the back foot and then I'm constantly chasing the day I feel scattered oh, my god, it's so funny you say that, because the other day I obviously come back from europe and the other day I literally woke up. So my jet lag's been so bad. I literally woke up at 1 am, couldn't go back to sleep, went back to sleep and woke up at like 11 30 it was nearly 12 o'clock and I woke up and I had so much to do and I was like flustered and like I didn't get everything done and I was like, oh, because I'm such an early person, I'm up at like 6 am and I was like, well, how am I going to change this?
Speaker 1:Start setting an alarm at 6 o'clock, which was torture the first few days, because I was still waking up at 1 am and just being like wide awake. But, yeah, so true. I'm a massive believer in that as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so 4.30 is when the alarm goes off every morning and then, in the shower, make your breakfast. I'm a big believer in the breakfast Cool, it sets yourself up for the day super successfully. Yeah, it's neurologically. You're fed, so you're not like foggy brain, you're energetic, but it is part of the routine. That would just give you five minutes to yourself to be with yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do you journal or do any like meditation, breath work, grounding, anything like that?
Speaker 3:uh, it's the quiet car trips back and forward from the from the gym, yeah, the quiet car trips, yeah, so, just being in my own company, like I'm happy to be in a crowd and still be comfortable by myself. So, um, I don't really need noise or anything like that, I'm quite happy to just be with my own company and that's where the juicy thoughts come through and the you know understanding of different things. If there's a particular scenario that's going to come up today, then I can play it through my head that you know, or rehearse. Um, if there's stuff that I'm reflecting on, I'm a big believer in the feedback take it on the chin and react later. Don't try and react in the moment because you, you're reacting out of emotion. So if something's happened or I've had a conversation I'm not too happy about, process it and then, um, be able to come in with a better, better response.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do you um train with headphones?
Speaker 3:No, no I'm one of those Another one. No, I listen to the gym music. Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. What if it's shit gym music you just get over it. Yeah, okay, do you ever train with headphones? Oh really, Sometimes it would be a podcast, it's because you don't have headphones?
Speaker 1:No, I don't.
Speaker 3:Do you while you train? Yeah, can you imagine listening?
Speaker 1:to jay shetty or something. Yeah, pretty much, yeah, yeah, the joke, yeah, yeah, I love that I could not.
Speaker 3:Yeah so no.
Speaker 3:The reason why I find is one if if I've got my headphones here, I'm not overly approachable yeah so at the end of the day, I'm still running a business, so if I'm in the gym, people might have questions for me or that might be an opportunity to potentially sell a customer in. Even though it's an, it might be a bit frustrating to have your session interrupted, it still means that they feel comfortable to come and approach me and ask a question. Yeah, whereas if I've got the big headphones on, that's a big indicator that I'm not open for conversation go away so true, a lot of people.
Speaker 2:I guess there's two ways to that, because I feel like I know a lot of trainers that work in gyms and they get pissed off that you know that's their time. Or I know somebody that works in the gym. She's a manager and she's like I just can't train here because everyone just comes up to me and they say I've got headphones in. You know, so I do. Yeah, I see both sides of it. Because I like to train, I don't go on my phone. I put my phone on, do not disturb. So even when I'm training myself, it's like my clients. I see them come through, whereas I used to feel like I have to reply you know what I mean Whereas that's my time because I'm servicing everyone else for the day, whereas when I'm training, that's for me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 2:But that sounds really selfish after I hear no, well, I have a very different perspective on it, right, but but that's totally fine.
Speaker 3:Like a text message can wait now I can't, so you don't have to respond to it. But if someone's like face to face you might not see him again for another week so that's their opportunity to have a conversation with you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, um. And then, when it comes to you know other trainers or coaches or staff who work in the gym, they go somewhere else to train again. My philosophy or perspective on it is if it's good enough for me to hang out at, then my client's going to want to hang out there too. If I don't even want to be there, then why would my clients want to come and hang out? Yeah, yeah. So that's why I try and make the environment mine. Yeah, I'm open to conversation, I try to be approachable. Um, I don't. I have a little boogie with my terrible dance moves and terrible singing um to the gym music so you know when Harry Styles comes on.
Speaker 3:You know I have a little bit of a dance. You look like Harry Styles so you know, we have a little bit of a boogie trying to make it fun and just see myself approachable, so yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that because, and especially as you said, if, like your clients or people that are at the gym, potential prospects like they're going to see you training, like oh, he knows what he's doing or he's got really good technique.
Speaker 3:They can see the proof in the pudding.
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, yeah, so that's a really good point. Do you have anything else that you wanted to like? I guess around business, coaching, selling, marketing, anything that you would like to add before we go into the fun stuff of the podcast?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, look, I'm always open to some advice. Yeah, look, at the end of the day, like we're here to provide a solution. When you start as a business, if you're doing the sleazy-sowsy approach, you're going to the customer's going to feel it, at the end of the day, like we're here to provide a solution. When you start as a business, if you're doing the sleazy, sassy approach, you're gonna think the customer's gonna feel it, at the end of the day, what I try to provide and this is how, again, how my business started to eventuate into and mold into what it is is when I did my first role.
Speaker 3:A lot of like I was pretty above average um into sports when I was growing up as a teenager. So the assumption was when I started as a PTO, you know what you're doing, you're fine, but I didn't, and so, being with a single mum, many kids, that effort or how she could diversify her time was quite minimal because all of us were very good athletes growing up. So she'd be a at this sporting field one day, at that sport with that child the next day. So she was quite scattered. So we had to become very independent and through that, obviously, if you don't know how to do something. It's quite challenging.
Speaker 3:So I wanted to try and provide that outlet for people to be able to, if they need support and come and lean on and go hey look, I really need some help. I'm not sure how to do this rather than put their hand up and they get nothing back, which, off, quite often happens. So it's just trying to provide the most applicable solution wherever I can, on whatever level that might be for that individual at that point in time, rather than just be like buy my program, buy my, buy my program. Buy my program. It's just like okay, cool, how and what is it that I can do to help solve your problem right now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like that comes down to as well. Like as a coach, like you want quality over quantity. Like you know if you're working with people, that you know you're going to be able to help and you're not just selling and you're going to get good feedback You're going to get. You know people are going to recommend you. I feel like that's so much more.
Speaker 2:It's a lot better for your business than to buy my program. Like you know what I mean. Just constantly trying to get people to buy, say, a low-ticket program, not having the best experience with you or, you know, having a little taste and then going I'm going to go to the next one. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Is that where you? I don't know if that was where you're getting, but that's my yeah Well it's not.
Speaker 3:It's not even that, it's just it's being able to follow through on what the product is or what you're actually trying to deliver. There's nothing worse than getting promised a whole bunch of stuff and then yeah so it's just. What solution do you need right now? What's your problem? Do I have a solution? If it's no, that's fine, I'll walk away at this point. I'm not going to try and sell you in for the sake of selling you in. Maybe this coach over here is going to be more applicable for you.
Speaker 2:Like powerlifting. No idea about it. Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, so I'm not even going to try.
Speaker 3:Versus weight loss, body composition, growing muscle and even sports performance. I'm all over but powerlifting.
Speaker 2:No, sorry man, I've got a few people I can send you to um, so there's no point trying to provide that solution for them if they if I can't do it yeah, yeah, that's like, I guess with males like I have one male um at the moment and I used to always turn back guys just like, because it was never, I don't know. I worked with so many women for a long time when I was on the PT, like on the gym floor. By all means I will PT you, but coaching, when it comes to you know, doing a show, or even just you know, just everyday gen pop, like I don't know, know, it just was not my expertise, expertise, fucking hell, jess. And I also didn't feel confident in taking in a male, not from like a I'm not educated standpoint, it's just, you know, I don't know it was, it just wasn't my forte. So I used to always recommend them to either who my coach was at the time or, you know.
Speaker 2:Here's a few people on instagram. I've seen their results. Go check them out. You know. I know for me, women's health and hormones is such a big passion of mine and I've helped, you know, a lot of women in so many different areas of their hormone hormonal health interesting.
Speaker 1:I love like even hearing you, like I'm having conversations with you about it. I'm like that's wild when you tell me like to take a certain vitamin because of, I don't know, something going on with me.
Speaker 2:I'm just like, oh okay, the more that I've learned about it and I guess the deeper I've gotten in my studies and then the yeah, just the deeper I've kind of put my head into you know, bloods, um, and I guess, working with women with contraceptions and coming off them, and yeah, like it's, I feel like it is such an empowering thing as a woman to be able to optimise your hormones and to also help other women get to a point where they're, you know, thriving mentally and physically, because that's the one thing that you know it can really fuck up is your mental health as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I often find that like where your journey's kind of gone is. You'll probably have a crowd follow you through that process. So, um, a lot of my clients like on the back end of yours is, um, not necessarily like all women or all guys. I look at movement efficiency how can we move better? Because that was a lot of my trouble was just like I'd get injuries all the time and I wanted to maximize my ability to build muscle. So I was like, how can I move better?
Speaker 3:So that way, as I kick on in my 30s I don't have the old oh, my knee hurts, my back hurts. I want to be able to have longevity so that way I can run around with my daughter and play with my kids and stuff, so that's. And then now that's what the client type of clients that I'm getting is more about movement efficiency, um, in the gym. But they've also gone through the like, hey, like I used to be this back when, but now I'm a totally different person. I want to kind of get back to this kind of space. So, yeah, understanding your clients, a massive one to be able to then solve their problems.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, definitely. So what would be your best piece of advice that you'd like to share with our audience? And this could be absolutely anything, um don't drink red bull keith was like like what? And I said I don't know.
Speaker 3:It could be anything like don't drink the red bull yeah, no, I think the biggest piece of advice I can I can give is don't be in a rush yeah thing like you might want things to happen now, but the delay, gratification, understanding things might take a little bit longer yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's so powerful because we have spoken about that before like the instant gratification, yeah, yeah wanting things now and I feel like this day and age, especially with you know our generation or younger generation, you know we've got after pay, we've got yeah everything's instantaneous, right like, I feel like it looks that way to them as well though like, like with instagram and stuff like that, like we've had conversations before where, like yeah, people have not seen like the hard shit that I've gone through to get to where I am, but they just see it looks like an instant yeah, oh, she's got a salon, yeah yeah, yeah, exactly like um without disclosing, like my, all of my numbers.
Speaker 3:Like I'm, the business is quite healthy, right, multiple six figures. But after 10 years I finally gave myself a salary of 70 000. Like 10 years to get that yeah, yeah but just because the business is flourishing and doing well, it doesn't mean I get it there's there's weeks where I don't pay myself, so that way I can pay my staff and stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's the stuff that people don't see like they see the front, the glorification of stuff, so they don't see, like they see the front and the glorification of stuff, but they don't see what actually going on behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 3:As I say, don't be in a rush.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Because they say I often think of, like this quote right, the first million dollars is the toughest, the second is inevitable, because it's not about the million dollars itself. It's who you have to become in order to develop the skills to get there. And once you are that person, you can duplicate it. Yeah, yeah so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so true. Yeah, that's some really good advice.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much, Keith. I think we yeah, that's not the best, I loved it. I haven't said too no, thank you for having me.
Speaker 3:It's awesome Keith we will attach his Instagram handle in the show notes. What's your Instagram now? Because it's not Coach Keith. No, so it's Keith Graham underscore FMG Pro. But if you want to have a chat about different things, whether that's some business advice or some coaching stuff, you can go to eventscampaignfitnessptcom.
Speaker 2:Amazing. We'll pop all that in the show notes so they just can click onto it. Yes, keith is a very inspiring man and I've known, or seen, I've known you for a long time actually 2017, 2018? Yeah, yeah, feels like a lot longer than that, but it's been a long time and, yeah, I don't know where I was going with that. Anyway, keith is very inspiring. We loved having him on here and thank you so much for jabbing down from Sydney.
Speaker 3:Thank you.