IAM099 – Coach Helps Small Businesses Grow Profitable Fitness Businesses

Nicole Spencer is a former fitness studio owner turned small business coach who helps entrepreneurs from the US to the UK to Australia grow profitable fitness businesses. Her company, Authentic Conversion, provides two avenues for magnetic client attraction and abundant conversion. She also runs Asheville Crypto Consulting, a company designed to educate people and help those who wish to turn 3 or 4 figures into 5 or 6 figures passively in the next 3 years do so with the support and as safely as possible. Her primary interests lie in the positive global impact of cryptocurrency from a humanitarian perspective plus mining and trading aspects.

• CEO Hack: Have a coach or a mentor / Focus on constant personal growth / Mentorbox
• CEO Nugget: Mentorship / Have a really strong why
• CEO Defined: Freedom / Trading certainty for uncertainty in the name of freedom / Having an impact

Website: http://authenticconversion.lpages.co/ac-info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.s.spencer.7
Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicole.authentic.conversion
Book in a breakthrough session with Nicole at https://authenticconversion.lpages.co/5-step-formula-schedule/

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today, I have Nicole Spencer of Authentic Conversion. Nicole, it is awesome to have you on the show.

Nicole Spencer 0:37

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

I'm excited to have you as well. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Nicole so you can learn a little bit more about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Nicole Spencer is a former fitness studio owner turned business coach who helps entrepreneurs from the US to the UK to Australia grow profitable fitness businesses. Her company, Authentic Conversion, provides two avenues for magnetic client attraction and abundant conversion.

She also runs Asheville Crypto Consulting, a company designed to educate people and help those who wish to turn 3 or 4 figures into 5 or 6 figures passively in the next 3 years. And to do so with support and safety as safely as possible. Her primary interests lie in the positive global impact of cryptocurrency from a humanitarian perspective plus mining and trading aspects. Nicole, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Nicole Spencer 1:31

I am ready. Let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 1:34

Let's do it. So the first question I had was just to hear a little bit more about your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

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Nicole Spencer 1:39

Yeah, so I think for the purposes of this interview, I'll focus more on Authentic Conversion versus crypto consulting if that's okay with you. That's all it was a slightly more concise story there. So, I actually decided initially to open my gym, which was a boot camp, I specialized in helping kind of middle-aged women 45 to 60 years old, lose anywhere from 25 to 75 pounds. And I opened that boot camp in a very small town in Southeast Georgia, about a year after I moved there, I really didn't know anyone, and was really determined to make it work and transform the community in that way. And that was very, very successful, I was actually able to sell that business about three years after I started it.

And about a year before that even I had started moving into business coaching and consulting for fitness entrepreneurs and was traveling around the world doing that. And so kind of long story short, I decided to branch out on my own and do that and really create a unique approach that is mostly focused on marketing but has emphasis also on kind of how to really build a better you so that you can better attract the ideal clients that you are meant to serve. If you are a fitness entrepreneur, whether you're a gym owner, studio owner, yoga, personal trainer, nutrition coach, or really anything in that wellness arena. So, it's kind of the short version of it.

Gresham Harkless 3:06

No, that's awesome. And I love the fact that you talk about focusing on you because a lot of people forget the aspect of that and how people get that connection and feel that relationship maybe before they meet you or see your name just based on everything that you're putting out or all the information that you have there. And it kind of connects with them.

Nicole Spencer 3:22

Totally

Gresham Harkless 3:23

Awesome. And I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper in here, like how are you doing? And how are you helping those fitness professionals to I guess, get that client attraction and that abundant conversion that you mentioned before?

Nicole Spencer 3:33

Yeah, so and you kind of read this in the bio, too, I have two avenues in which I support people. So, for those who have, actually, I do have clients at all levels from startups to close to million-dollar-a-year fitness studios using this part of my service. But what I actually do in part one is I write very, very powerful, emotionally driven, and connected content that they can basically copy-paste and deliver to their email list put on their blog, and put across their social media.

So, it sounds like it could be something that is a little bit generic, but it is not it has a very open voice. So, it will work for anyone who is serving your average adult population. But it connects with all of their emotions and their triggers. And I know this information because these are the people that I worked with and that I served and some of my clients who subscribe to that service. They get a monthly newsletter and a quarterly lead magnet and some other pieces as well plus the 10 pieces of monthly content.

Some of them are actually reporting that that is their greatest source of new clients right now. Because what they're doing is they're really nurturing the audience that they've already built up.

So, they are bringing in people who had been sitting on their email list for multiple years sometimes and the messages that they're sending out are simply speaking to these people in a whole new way that's getting them to say yes to themselves, really for the first time and yes to working with that business owner. So, that's pretty cool. That's the that's kind of the subscription side of my business. The other side is I actually run coaching programs.

So, I have a marketing-focused business. It starts with my 12-week marketing intensive, where we have a couple of really tangible outcomes. But ultimately, the goal is to create your authentic conversion machine that creates clients and leads on autopilot. And so what that looks like, is getting crystal clear on messaging, I'm a copywriter. Um, so I really get kind of my hands dirty and helping people establish what that messaging looks like to them I call them your soulmate clients.

And then we build out some digital or kind of, person long-term conversion pieces that not only attract but also again, convert people into becoming new clients. And then the continuation after that is actually hosting a mastermind, where we go into very, very in-depth, all things, marketing, and with the consultation of a variety of experts in the marketing space as well. So, it's pretty robust. And I know that's a lot of info, but hopefully not too much.

Gresham Harkless 6:07

No, I mean, as long as it hits the goal, I think everybody will agree that it is definitely important to be able to have all those things in place. And I think it's, and you might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for, you know, what I call your secret sauce. And I know that obviously, being a fitness professional as somebody who's actually done, it is probably a really big kind of differentiator in and of itself, because exactly what these business owners are going through. But do you have that or anything additional that you can touch on as far as your secret sauce?

Nicole Spencer 6:34

Yeah, I mean, I definitely think it gives an extra level of credibility. I've had a brick-and-mortar fitness facility, and I've had an online weight loss coaching/nutrition business. So, I know what all of that is actually like. And obviously, I'm an online-based coaching business now.

So, that's certainly a good differentiating factor. I think what makes me different, I've been talking about this a lot on my social media I still see I'm still targeted in Facebook ads by people who are in the fitness marketing space. So, I see what a lot of other people are doing and offering gym owners to grow, then most of it is Facebook ads based, there are a lot of people out there promoting bait and switch offers. It's all very, very focused on just bringing in clients and getting revenue right away, in my opinion, without the big picture in mind.

And so my approach is very, very different, I am not going to be a good coach for someone who just wants to fill up their gym, and in whatever way possible, I'm going to be a better coach for people who have the deep desire to create transformation for their clients, and who operate really in the name of service and who are looking for humans that they can deeply connect with to create that transformation and not just dollars in the bank.

Because it is my belief that when you create deep connections with people, and you let them know that you care, and they are getting those great transformations, not only will they stay longer, they'll refer more people, and there'll be willing to do anything for you to help you grow.

And they'll be willing to really pay you for it because they see the value that's there, too many gyms, in my opinion, have very much that like churn and burn model where, when the next gym pops up, they want to go try that for a while. And so what I'm teaching people to do is build the most loyal community of clients possible. So, again, it's kind of that long-term game. And all of the marketing strategies I teach in my intensive are free.

So, I don't ever talk about paid ads, that doesn't come into my mastermind level when people are ready to get bigger. But I fully believe that people can grow their fitness studios, and their personal training businesses from zero to over 10k a month in under 6 months, which is what I have done without spending $1 on marketing. So, that's really my focus.

Gresham Harkless 8:51

That's it, that's a big focus as a great focus. It's kind of like having and helping people understand that your secret sauce is to help them understand what their secret sauce is so that they can have long-term relationships with their clients.

Nicole Spencer 9:02

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And again, that's only going to be for people who really care about that kind of thing. And I fully acknowledge that's not for everyone.

Gresham Harkless 9:10

Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Well, cool. Well, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this could be an app or a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a CEO.

Nicole Spencer 9:23

Yeah, I would say number one thing I'll talk about two things. Number one is always always always have a coach or a mentor. So, I have two mentors that I work with right now across kind of different arenas. One's more helping me work on myself and then the other is really helping me work more on my business. And that has been I will say the only reason I've had the level of success that I've had is that I've always sought mentorship. So, if you're not doing that, that is absolutely essential. The other side I think is definitely a focus on constant personal growth. I just kind of like what you were mentioning.

So, whether I'm driving or hiking or cleaning or whatever I'm doing, there's always something that's helping me grow in my ear. So, I have a very active Audible account, I listen to things, particularly in the crypto space on YouTube, and I have a membership to an app or a service called Mentorbox, which basically provides you with it's a couple of different things. And you could do some different things there. But they provide you basically have 20 ish minute summaries of books. And so that's been really helpful because you can get a lot of information in a very short period of time as well. So, yeah, mentorship, and then constant personal emphasis on growth, I would say.

Gresham Harkless 10:42

I love that. And I too, have a very active audible and I have Mentorbox as well. So, I would definitely echo both of those as a great example. And now I want to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this might be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you had a time machine, you can go back and ask yourself and give yourself your younger business self a piece of advice, what would you say?

Nicole Spencer 11:03

Yeah, I mean, it's such a good question. I think, again, mentorship, like, you just need that you have to have that in order to reach the levels of success that you're capable of, and in many cases, to even be able to see what's possible for yourself. So, I've brought in a couple of clients into my marketing intensive lately, who actually own fitness businesses, CrossFit gym studios, that kind of thing, but they want to launch into the online space. And it's actually been working with me and understanding what my business model looks like that has shown them what's possible, and really built their belief in what they are capable of, too, which is so cool, because it's the same experience I've had in working with coaches, so can't emphasize that enough.

And then I think the other thing is also having a really strong why there are very high in many cases, even for entrepreneurs who say they want to make a lot of money and things like that there can be very negative associations with success and money and those types of things.

And I think it's very important to be connected to your why, you are personal why that being successful is so important, whether that is the particular lifestyle you want to live or supporting families and then kids college, it could be a variety of things, but also connecting with a why outside of yourself and your personal life, whether that is wanting to support a cause, or something like that just having a why that is greater than yourself that keeps pushing you forward, even when things feel really hard as they do at times for every single entrepreneur.

Gresham Harkless 12:39

Yeah, absolutely. And then definitely, that's a great CEO nugget. And I think a lot of times when you're trying to figure out what to do or not to do sometimes if you can go back to that, why that helps you to kind of understand like what decision you need to make.

Nicole Spencer 12:51

Yep, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 12:53

Awesome. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of being a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show. So I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO means to you?

Nicole Spencer 13:04

I think it means freedom, that is what you know, and that is why I love being in the entrepreneurial space. When you are in this space, you are absolutely trading your certainty, right, like the certainty of appliques specific hours, and a paycheck. And how life will work week to week that you are saying no to that. And you're saying yes to uncertainty, right? But in the name of freedom, whether that is financial freedom, location freedom, or time freedom, those are all of the things that I think most CEOs are working toward.

So that's part one, part two, I would say is CEO to me, along with that freedom means impact, right? It's about having the greatest impact in the world that you can. And so I know that the more successful I am, the more money I make, the bigger my business gets, the more people I'm hoping for, and the transformation.

And the better I am able to do in the world, whether that is putting resources back into my business to help more clients, or it's supporting a variety of charitable causes that I enjoy supporting. So, yeah, I would definitely say freedom and impact are what a CEO means to me.

Gresham Harkless 14:13

Nice. I love those two aspects of that definition. And, again, I truly appreciate you, Nicole for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and our listeners know and also how best people can get in touch with you.

Nicole Spencer 14:27

Yeah, I would say again, I think oftentimes and right before I jumped on here with you, I was writing up some copy for an email just about why we don't step into our next level of self, why we never really rise into that greatness, whether we are CEOs or not. And that goes that doesn't just mean brand new people starting up it can be people with multimillion-dollar businesses who aren't stepping into that next level of themselves. And I think the thing that really comes up for me around that is again, seeing what's possible and letting things like fear and doubt hold us back.

And so it is my full belief that if you want to create greatness for yourself and have the most amazing life possible and have the most impact possible that you have to really be conscious of those things and where you're going to get stuck so that you can plow through them as they come up for you. And again, for like the 10th time, have someone in your corner who can help you through those times as well and help build your belief. So, yeah, that's it. I would say the best way for people to get in touch with me is really on Facebook. My name is Nicole Spencer, I'm pretty easy to find. My business's Authentic Conversion.

So, I am tied to my business name as well. Interestingly enough, I've grown Authentic Conversion from nothing to a multi 6 figure business in the last nine months, literally just using free Facebook strategies and Email marketing. So, um, so anyone can do that, too. I'm still having my website worked on and all of that stuff, but I guess that would be the best way.

Gresham Harkless 16:00

Nice. And we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes. And definitely of course, remember to make sure you have somebody in your corner. I say it for the 11th time so everybody hears it as well. And again, I appreciate you Nicole have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Nicole Spencer 16:12

Thank you so much.

Outro 16:14

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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