It was hard for me to write this, to put into words what a typical day for me looks like. I say this because my days are dictated by my clients, current and new, and each day brings different challenges and triumphs. What I can say for certain, and I know that the other trainers will agree, is that we have the best clients, and we have literally the best job in the world.
When I meet new people, or I am catching up with friends or family and they ask “What do you do?” and I respond with “I’m a Financial Trainer” it’s usually met with a puzzled look or a follow up question sort of like “Is that like a Financial Advisor or….?” I explain that we aren’t a traditional financial company, we are set up a lot like a traditional gym, where you pay a monthly membership and you get complete access to your Best.Financial.Friend. (me) a lot like a personal trainer! I am extremely up front with my clients from day one: I don’t make commission, I am not here to sell you life insurance, my #1 goal is for you to be successful in your personal financial journey, your membership pays my salary!
Back to what a typical day looks like. So my day to day schedule, as I said earlier, is dictated by my clients. They have access to my Google Calendar through unique links depending on the type of meeting they want to have with me. I set up the parameters for my day and it usually fills up pretty quickly. I carve out some time for emails in the morning, and also to eat lunch but usually my days are pretty nonstop from 9:00AM-7:00PM. In that time frame I could meet with 8 people: a few naked sessions (new clients) a couple of quarterly reviews (current clients) and a bunch of 15 to 20 minute check-ins with current clients. While I don’t meet with all my clients every week, I try to make myself available as much as possible so they can find a time easily to meet with me whenever they need to.
For example, today I met with one of my clients for their quarterly review, and even though they felt like they hadn’t done a lot with their plan, when we looked at the numbers, they had saved over $10,000, paid off over $2,000 and their credit score went up over 40 points! While not every meeting is as joyful as that one turned out, it is my job to show my clients the bigger picture and help them look at the positives of their situation and figure out the best course of action. Clients sometimes have a hard time seeing the big picture especially when they are so focused on their daily spend or smaller term goals. I help them realize that better spending habits don’t happen overnight and usually show them that they are working towards better habits and sometimes the numbers will happen eventually. As stated before, sometimes talking to clients, I have to be the one to maybe suggest things like bankruptcy or selling something that may not make them happy. We have real talk, with no judgement. Regardless of their situation I approach it with empathy and understanding and help guide them to the right decisions for their personal financial journey.
Some clients I meet on a weekly basis, some on a quarterly basis, whatever level of accountability my client needs, I try to be there for them.
We joke here at The Gym that time flies when you’re having fun, but it really does! Just today I took a small break to get a snack and I looked at the clock and it said 4:00PM. I felt like I just started my day and I also still have a laundry list of things to do! I have had the unique situation of being a 100% remote trainer since I got hired, so with everything going on with the global pandemic, and the whole team going remote, my day to day life hasn’t changed too much.
Our days are fast paced and can be stressful, but at the end of the day I truly love helping clients live their best financial lives, and it’s quite the rewarding experience.
