Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Galbraith.
Hi Dana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started back in college! I was always active through grade school but never learned how to do it all alone. When sports stopped and the inevitable college partying started, I gained some weight and just started to feel gross about myself. It was New Year’s Eve of my sophomore year when I saw many pictures from a party I was at and finally decided enough was enough. I signed up for an online fitness coaching program to learn how to workout/lose weight; the rest was history. Yes, I started to get a physical body I was proud of, but how taking control of my health changed my life was something I fell in love with and wanted to help people do for the rest of my life. The intense insecurities I felt, the jealousy, the victim mentality, anxiety, emotional mood swings, and general directionlessness I felt all started to fade away. I felt lighter, happier, and like I had a purpose. A few months later, I changed my major to Exercise Science and started making this my career!
Fast forward several years, and I was working at a fantastic local gym and loved it! But as much as I loved it, I noticed a massive piece of the puzzle missing when working in person. The accountability to show up for their 1 or 2 sessions per week was there, but all the other (arguably most important) stuff was missing. The nutrition, sleep, gut health, activity outside of scheduled workouts, mindset/mental health work, and learning how to do it all on your own so you do not have to pay a personal trainer the rest of your life just wasn’t there. That is when I started to transition slowly into the online coaching space!
I wanted to have a more significant impact on my clients. I wanted to give them the confidence to know what works for them and their specific lifestyle because we don’t have different 24 hours a day. A mom with three young kids at home can’t do the same thing as a 25-year-old working from home with no children. I didn’t start Fenici Fitness as the “quick fix, drop 10lbs in a month” program. I started this for the people who have tried that time and time again and failed. For the ones who are ready to finally learn how to make this fit their lifestyle, and have a community of women on the same path for the ones who are prepared to stop starting over. It has been about three years of working closely with my clients and watching their whole life transformations has been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I’m beyond honored to have been trusted by many women and grateful to have built lifelong relationships. There are many exciting things in the works for Fenici Fitness in 2024, and I cannot wait to continue helping my clients become the best version of themselves!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not! Building a business/brand from the ground up is a lot of work, especially when doing it alone. I’ve had some amazing mentors guide me along the way, but at the end of the day, the work still falls on my shoulders. There’s no clocking out when you run your business, especially in the service industry. The delivery of the service/programs, the marketing, social media, client acquisition, client support, sales, lead generation, etc., pile up, and you will feel defeated if you’re not careful because there is always something to be done.
When I started, I had no systems or processes (and generally no idea what I was doing), making everything about 10 harder and 10 more work. During my first 1-1.5 years in business, I didn’t take a day off entirely. A few months into starting Fenici Fitness, there was a solid 7-10 day period where I slept maybe 3 hours every night, worked all day, and at that time didn’t have many clients, so when I calculated out my “hourly rate,” it was about $3/hr for all the hours I was putting in, which isn’t the most motivating thing when you’re running on fumes daily feeling like there’s no end in sight. After I sent out the programs for everyone that Sunday, I lay on my living room floor and cried for a good hour. On top of the constant work, I still had a dog to take care of, in-person clients, normal household chores, and general life stress. But then you get a message from a client about them wearing a bikini for the first time in years, fitting into old clothes, or being able to play with their kids without getting out of breath, and it’s all worth it again.
Financial stress is always expected when getting a business up and running. Putting more money back into the business than you’re making is scary. Being able to pay bills, feed me, put a full tank of gas in the car, or visit friends or family is a challenging thing to go through. It took a toll on me mentally in the beginning phases of Fenici Fitness. I’m lucky to have the best friend in the world and an incredibly supportive family who talked me off the ledge more times than I can count. All the stress and pressure forced me to grow into someone I didn’t even know I could be. While it still, to this day, is an indescribable amount of pressure at times, I couldn’t be more grateful for the person I’ve become and the community I’ve built because of it.
As you know, we’re big fans of Fenici Fitness. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with the brand?
Fenici Fitness is an online health and fitness coaching program specializing in women’s health and fitness. The main goal of my coaching is sustainability and being the last health and fitness program you need. There is a huge emphasis on making this fit your lifestyle. Yes, sacrifices will always need to be made, but this isn’t different than the average cookie-cutter generic program that sets you up to fail. This is custom-tailored to your life, your goals, and your needs. It’s truly an all-encompassing approach. You’re getting more than just some workouts and nutrition guidance. You’re getting custom workouts, meal plans, cooking classes, 1-on-1 coaching with a mindset/mental health coach to work through all the barriers keeping you stuck, and biofeedback tracking so you’re not only looking good on the outside, you’re feeling good on the inside because who cares that you have a six-pack if you’re low energy, irritable, and in a mental fog all the time? We’re tracking your sleep, gut health, energy levels, and steps, but most importantly, helping you find that balance of being “all in” or “all out.” I’m proud of so many things regarding Fenici Fitness, but if I had to pick just one, the community and relationships built. I love that some of my clients who don’t live anywhere near each other have become friends. I love that my clients have found a safe space within my program to truly do the deep work so they can finally stop starting over. I love that when we get on our client group calls, it feels more like everyone hangs out than at work. I’m proud that I’ve graduated tons of clients who, years later, are still doing the damn thing and living a life they love!
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
This one is hard! So many things come to mind, but if I had to pick just one, it would be that none of it ever gets more accessible; we learn better ways to carry the load. We live in a world of extreme comfort and instant gratification. It isn’t all bad, but it translates to us thinking everything should be like that. I see it with clients when they don’t get results in 4 weeks or other business owners starting when they’re not making crazy money in 3 months. It just doesn’t work like that. Trust me, I’m guilty of it too! When I started my fitness journey, moved across the country, and started my business, I did the same thing every time. I said, “I’ll be a little uncomfortable for maybe a couple of months, then it will all level out, and I can return to being idle.” It should come as no surprise I was wrong every time. And if there is anything I’ve learned through it all, nothing ever gets necessarily easier; you learn how to manage it all better. Every phase of life will demand a different version of you. You can either lean into the struggle and go after what you want or shy away from it and stay where you are. I don’t know about you, but the scariest thing I can think of is getting to the end of my life with regret, and most people only have regrets when they stop growing or trying new things. That full-body fear you feel when you decide to leap when your mind starts coming up with all the ways this could go wrong, and you have that pit in your stomach that never stops. It becomes less intense every time you choose growth and discomfort over ease.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fenicifitness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danagalbraithhh/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dana.galbraith.12
- Other: https://c5at5s17w2h.typeform.com/to/rvEZ1k6N?utm_campaign=Online+Coaching+Application&fbclid=IwAR2D5VfU0rovfvMYjNHY4-V-1vnE8EiaKMw6uRZ1DA3TCQ_5kY4grhMNrGU&typeform-source=l.facebook.com
