Taking the Plunge – Why I Changed Careers
Good afternoon everybody! I finished my time with the kids at field day, and I’m pretty much ready for my Zumba Toning class tonight so I decided to take some time to write about why I changed careers. If you’ve read my “about” page you know that I started off in business and had an office job for a number of years before moving into the fitness industry. What I don’t sat there is why I made the change and how I was able to make the change. So sit down and buckle up and I’ll tell you all about it.
I graduated from High School and immediately went to business college the following year. After my two-year stint I graduated and got a job in the insurance industry at a local brokerage. I worked hard and got my license to sell insurance (home and auto) and was able to obtain a designation from the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada within the first couple years I was there. I was pretty good at my job and having a head for numbers was very helpful. I was sent to other offices on a number of occasions to help them catch up their work, as well as to train new employees.
Now before we continue you need to know two things about me 1) I loathe talking on the phone, and 2) as much as I loathe the phone, I loathe confrontation even more. So here you have a girl who hates talking on the phone and hates confrontation working as an insurance agent. At a time when the market was hard and nobody was happy with their insurance agent, everyone’s rates were going up, and they were cracking down on oil tanks after a few expensive oil leak claims across Canada.
Meanwhile, I was going through a lot of physical aliments at the same time. The first few years I worked I was a zombie. I never got enough sleep, I felt sick all the time, my body hurt all the time and I was just plainly misrible. That’s when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Even after my diagnosis things didn’t really get better until I began seeing a naturopath whom I totally credit with bringing me back to life. It took a l-o-n-g time (we’re talking a few years) but she was able to get me off all of my prescription medications, she eventually got me sleeping without the aid of any medication or supplements. She figured out what foods triggered my symptoms and I removed them from my diet. By the time I got married in 2005, I was considerably healthier but still had a ways to go. After the wedding I started walking in the evenings and worked up to running short distances. I even participated in a few 5k runs as part of a group of employees from my workplace.
In the winter of 2007 my parents began work on building a second semi-detached house attached to their own. The plan being for my husband and I to move into it. We gave up our apartment and moved in with my parents while the house was being finished. At was around that time I began to feel depressed about my job. I just didn’t want to go to work, I would cry on Sunday’s thinking about having to work 5 days before I got another day off, sometimes I’d cry on my lunch break, and basically I was just really unhappy. I wanted a job that would allow me to help people, and I didn’t feel that what I was doing was achieving that. It always seemed that the people you tried the hardest to help were the people that got mad at you, and the people who had every reason to be mad at you were the ones that were nice to you. Above all, it just wasn’t my thing. After a lot of crying, thinking, discussing, researching, crying, whining, and some more crying I decided to take the plunge. I started saving money a few months before I gave my notice at work, with the plan to save enough to pay all our bills for 6-8 months while I got trained for my new career. because we were living with my parents we had significantly lowered monthly expenses and had it not been for that I never would have been able to make the change. But as they say, the time was right and if I didn’t do it them I probably would never do it. So I did it.
To say I worked with a weight on my shoulders during that period is an understatement. It absolutely killed me to not tell anyone at work that I was leaving, and the day I gave my notice I felt so much better. I felt so free, and so happy that I was actually making the change.
Then my last day of work came and I was officially unemployed (or in transition as fancy people like to say). I spent the next 6 months or so working hard to get all the necessary courses and certification to become a fitness instructor. While doing that I did some work as a mystery shopper, a writer for an online agency, and did some other odd jobs. It was 8 months from the time I left my office job to the time I taught my first class. Since then I’ve collected up a few more certifications, a shelf full of licenses and a few awards. If you’re also thinking about making a career change, Guide to Career Education has a list of schools offering a wide variety of courses that can meet your education needs.
Was the road to where I’m sitting now always and easy one? Certainly not, I’ve gone through my share of learning, participant complaints, mistakes and flubs. I took on low paying jobs (like less than $15/class) to help me gain experience and make a name for myself. I’m happy to say that three years later I think I’ve done that. I can now be more choosy about what classes I take on, and am able to make a pretty decent income doing something I love. It’s not always easy, and sometimes I still want to curl up in a ball and cry (mostly when I’m sick, injured or tired but having to keep plugging away) but those days are very few and far between now.
Back on the fibromyalgia front, I personally find that regular exercise has been one of the biggest factors that have contributed to my well-being. It’s when I have a few days off in a row (which doesn’t happen very often) and don’t exercise that I find myself suffering more from my condition. Certainly there are days when I get up and the last thing I want to do is go exercise, but because I’ve made it my job I have to do it, and lots of times it does make me feel better in the end.
As far as job security goes, I currently have no concerns there. I have tried to become experienced in a few different specialty classes (Zumba, Aqua Fitness, Seniors Fitness) that are all in demand around here as there are very few with those qualifications in this area. Obviously this could change in the future but right now I am having to turn down offers because I have more than I can handle on my own. Being the paranoid girl that I am, I am an Independent Avon Rep (although I’m not very active these days), so if something were to happen that prevented me from teaching I could easily dive into the lipstick sales to help keep us afloat. But lets just keep our fingers crossed that, that doesn’t happen k?
So that’s it in a nut shell, how and why I went from a business girl to a fitness girl (who still uses her business degree daily for marketing, accounting, business correspondence, etc for her own fitness business 
).
Have you ever made a drastic life change – whether it be in your career or personal life?
Wow Suzi, I’m impressed! I used to work in an office and in the insurance industry too, and I hated it. But instead of becoming a fitness instructor, I got pregnant
But after having 3 kids, I don’t want to go back to that office job…so a fitness instructor is what I want to be! You are an inspiration to all of us…if you can do it, I can do it 
Oh…and I hate the phone and confrontation too!
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What part of the industry – broker or underwriting?
That’s for sure – I think you’ll make a fab instructor!
And then you can really justify all that lululemon, “It’s for work! You don’t want me dressing in rags do you???” I may have used that line before…. 
Suzi –
Thanks! I just stumbled upon your blog and I have a desk/phone job now – you have inspired me! Ahhh, can I follow in your footsteps??
Honestly, if you’re unhappy doing what you are doing I would totally endorse making a change. Obviously not everyone can go about it like I did (i.e. quitting my job before I had something new lined up) but life really is too short to spend so much of it doing something you don’t enjoy. Start looking for something that would make you happy – if you can start trying to make a little extra cash doing it while still at your current job and if it is that thing you are suppose to do with your life, everything else will fall into place for you. I really believe that, to go from how I felt then, to how I feel now – it’s a total 180.
And we are all so happy you made the transition from the business world to the fitness world. After all, it if weren’t for you we might never have had the Zumba experience, so thanks for that.
Thanks Daphne – I’m sure Angie still would have gotten some Zumba going on there without me but you guys are a big part of what makes my job so wonderful so I should be thanking YOU!
Suzi, I am so happy I came across your blog. You have done exactly what I want to do! Last spring, I received my certification as a group fitness trainer with the intentions of starting my own fitness group for local women, but I find a full time job, husband and 2 children a complete time suck . Finding the time to hold the classes is by challenge not to mention marketing and website and anything else! One day I will do it though
It wasn’t and isn’t always easy, and I often work more hours now than I did when I had an office job, but somehow hours working from home don’t seem as bad as hours in the office
Start small, just start offering one class a week and let it go from there. I knew someone who had a full time job and taught 2 evening classes/week and made enough extra money teaching those classes to pay for a trip down south each winter and a trip in the summer too!
You are sooo brave to have done what you did… Not easy to do. In my case, I will get zumba certified on Dec 4. I still have a full time job and a family. I want to see what this industry has in store for me. I’m so attracted to the idea of making a difference in ppl’s lives. The only obstacle I see is that I sometimes feel insecure…which is why I want to do this. I want to help those people who feel “insecure” feel they can do this too. I’m actually going to the certification class all by myself. But I figured I’ll meet awesome ppl there anyway. Thanks for creating this blog and for being honest.
I’ve gone to lots of courses by myself even though I’m shy and a bit of a loner – you’ll be fine! My biggest piece of advise if you really want to do this is once you have your zumba license (and there is a big difference between a license to do something and a certification), you should continue on to obtain a fitness instructors certification. What I’ve done isn’t easy and really to make a go of it as your main income you have to be willing to pretty much give up your entire life to really make a go of it. There are many weeks when I barely see my husband because of all the odd hours I work, and thank goodness I don’t have children.
Also – start small. One class/week and build from there. Doing too much too soon when you are starting out is not the way to go. You need to get comfortable doing what you are doing before expanding and taking on more classes, plus with a full time job and family you probably won’t have time to do more than one anyway. Test out the waters and see where they take you – and I wish you the best of luck!
Hi Suzi,
I just came across you blog and read this entry and it is a summary of what I’ve been going through for almost 8 years! I am in the process of getting my Group X certification here in the US. I’ve been taking Zumba at my gym and am thinking of getting that license. Thank you for this entry. It gives me hope that I can make this change, too! I am wondering though, how many classes can you physically teach in a week. How do you keep rested enough so that you don’t have injuries? Do you work for a gym or do you rent out your own space?
I teach more classes than I should, but I live in a rural area where fitness classes are not as easy to come by so I keep teaching more than I should because the classes I could afford to drop are the ones that are needed here the most (for example my seniors fitness classes) so I feel obliged to continue with them. Starting out, I would suggest teaching no more than 5 classes/week. I takes a lot out of you to instruct a class (most people don’t realize how much more tiring it is to teach a class than to take the class) and you need to build up that stamina over time. Ideally, I would think teaching 10 classes should be the maximum most people should teach as that will give you enough time to a) rest and b) have a life.
Starting out, I would suggest working for a gym, you don’t make as much but you also don’t have to worry about liability insurance, music licenses, accounting, advertising, rental space, overhead, etc. Plus it can be very helpful to start off teaching to participants that are used to taking classes. Most of the classes I teach I run myself but I come from a very strong business background so those aspects of the job are second nature for me.
As far as injuries, I’m a bit of a klutz so I get injured a lot. Yesterday I taught with a hurt hamstring, and a rolled ankle but because I don’t have sick time and I’m working by myself for myself I can’t just call in someone to sub the class for me so I suck it up and do it. It’s not ideal, nor is it really smart but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I have had to cancel classes due to injury (I had a bad hip flexor injury in the fall, and had two sprained ankles a few years ago – I told you I was accident prone!) but I try to limit class cancellation to times when I feel it really is required. I’ve taught enough that I can teach a class (even Zumba) without having to do much exercise myself through coaching and by using simple routines when injured.
If you have any other questions or anything feel free to shoot me and email suzi@confessionsofafitnessinstructor.com