Meet Missy Bravo

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Missy Bravo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Missy, thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?

I spent MANY years in the corporate world and being an effective communicator is everything. I took many trainings on how to best communicate with various people, at different levels, with difference communication styles, different personalities, etc. I have a well-intended nature and it is easy for me to connect with different people and figure out how to best work with them.

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Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

The end of 2023 was full of plot twists! The short of it is, I met my soulmate in September and got married in November. To boot, I moved across the country from Los Angeles California to Richmond. I have had a lot of changes to adjust to that have taken so much of my time. Truthfully, when I got to Richmond I was pretty burned out on the hustle of having a Personal Training business. I was able to take a few months break from it to focus on a litter of adorable puppies back in Cali that I rescued. Even from afar, I was able to network to find fosters, donations and ultimately adopters for the little babies. Doing that reset me and I was ready again to rebuild my business in a different state. The business side can distract me from being able to do what I love, which is to see people live their healthiest lives, take on new challenges and show them how capable and strong they are.

My husband and I are currently putting the final touches on our home gym here in Richmond, Virginia (painting makes a big difference!) I have started taking clients from it and am excited to get the word out to train more. My niche is primarily women, at all levels, who find themselves either in a fitness rut/plateau or are beginners and are craving more accountability and inspiration from a trainer to level up their fitness. I am even offering an initial Consult for $50 for anyone who finds me through here!

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There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Being relatable! I hesitate to say “authentic” because that seems to be an overused word these days. Being relatable though, in a humble way, has helped me connect to people. Professionals have the same struggles as everyone else and it’s important to show that. I know personally I have had my share of challenges over the last years that have taken away from my focus of being as fit as I can and that is ok. And important to share.
Along those same lines, sharing aspects of my life with my network has served me well. And I don’t mean that in an opportunistic way. I just mean people often want to know more about a trainer besides what exercises they do. Especially when it comes to paying a professional to work with, they often want to get a sense of someone’s essence. For me, that came from sharing my journey of leaving the corporate world, getting married (after knowing my now husband just two months) and sharing about my love for rescue dogs. I have fostered, adopted 3 and now have 2 more (and cats) thru marriage. They often make appearances in my posts and it’s been great for me to connect with other people.
Another skill is being able to program, even on the fly, for a client’s injuries or restrictions. By far the majority of people I train and have trained have had some kind of limitation. It is so common and it’s not realistic to program a cookie cutter workout for everyone (nor should I as clients pay a premium for workouts tailored to them). I want everyone I work with to always get a great workout even if there are things we have to avoid or work around or even equipment limitations for virtual sessions.

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Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I relocated across the country so my biggest challenge is gaining new clients. I am trying to take what I learned from my time having a business in California so that I can incorporate the successes and not repeat the the things that really did not serve me (or my clients). I also am trying to ease off the pressure I tend to put on myself that dollars equals success. There is more to success than that. I am focusing more on staying true to why I became a Personal Trainer and that is to give others the skills and inspiration to reach their own goals. So it is a balance of finding the right people organically with running a business.

Contact Info:

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Image Credits

Marina Babigian (personal photo)
Wedding Photo: Noelle St. Laurent
Beach photos: Muru Vellachamy
Dog Photos: Taylor and Em Lau

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