Meet Michael Parker

We were lucky to catch up with Michael Parker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Creating effective, personalized and sustainable solutions for wellness has become my life’s work and purpose. Personal wellbeing is fundamental to developing quality of life and maximizing longevity. Proper nutrition, strength, and endurance fortify our health and give us the power to meet adventures head-on. Constructive habits and seeking joy in the journey keep our attitudes in check and our discipline focused. A good blend of science, human connection and empathy toward individual needs as it relates to long-term results became the cornerstone of my coaching style and endeavors.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

As a young man, I always had a curiosity to work in the wellness industry. I sensed a career in fitness and nutrition would be rewarding and serve as a method of providing for myself and my family while helping others. I found it attractive from a symbiotic standpoint, and that fostered my passion to add value to my sphere of influence. I started my journey working at a chain of fitness centers in the year 2000. The combination of what I initially perceived to be a positive environment, potential career growth, and opportunity to make a difference in the community by way of health and fitness, caused a strong magnetism to the industry.

In 2007, I began working as a practical application curriculum consultant to Bryan University’s degree program for Advanced Fitness & Nutrition Sciences while building my personal training and consulting businesses. The combination of my involvement with academia and connecting with people struggling to achieve and then maintain wellness sparked my philosophy on sustainable fitness & nutrition practices. I then accepted a full-time teaching position with the University, instructing the very curriculum I contributed to developing. Then, in 2017, I left the corporate world and developed my own high-touch and truly personal online fitness, nutrition and habit transformation company. Forge Fitness and Nutrition Coaching has since grown into one of the highest ranked online wellness solutions and we serve clients in over 60 countries.

But my experience with in-person and online coaching showed me there was more to wellness management than just diet or exercise. Yet, I found that in many ways, the media and many companies producing products and services oversimplified what it takes to remain fit in the modern world while simultaneously convoluting reasonable fitness and nutrition outcome expectations. This simplification and confusion are intended to sell products, fad diets, ineffective workout programs, or gimmicks. I wanted to get away from all the marketing hype and fitness commodity and find real solutions. During these few years I associated attitude-based behavior change, or habit formation, and began to outline a book on the topic. In 2022, I published that book, The 90-Day Habit Transformation, The Essential Guide to Sustainable Fitness, Nutrition and Personal Wellbeing. This book is also the cornerstone to our coaching philosophy at Forge.

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?

I was fortunate to work with other talented fitness professionals, learned from my own experiences, and by collaborating with other trainers, managers, and executives I added to my collective experience. I believe continuing education in physiology, exercise and dietary sciences, along with behavior modification techniques is critical for serious fitness professionals. Aside from my college degree, I have earned multiple credentials from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the National Exercise Sports Trainer Association, The Spencer Institute and I am a Functional Human Movement Specialist. Early in my career, I realized that for folks to see any reasonable and long-term results with fitness and nutrition, they would need to address the root cause behaviors that detract from a healthy lifestyle, so I shifted my education toward life coaching, habit development and other behavior studies.

One thing that really separates the Forge Fitness and Nutrition coaching team from other online companies is that our coaches are highly certified professionals and all possess advanced degrees or specializations. Of course, all of our coaches are fantastic with general fitness, fat loss, muscle gain, endurance and composition training. But we are also skilled in cardiovascular recovery programs, biomechanical rehabilitation, and neurodegenerative disease based training and nutrition assistance. In the wellness coaching profession, three critical qualities include accumulation of knowledge, the ability to apply that knowledge practically and possessing a deep empathy for those you serve.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Absolutely! This is in fact one of our main business objectives currently. We are looking for collaboration with influencers on social media or other organizations that share our passion and ethos for best wellness practices and lifestyle enhancement. We are working hard to increase our social media presence across all platforms. We would be excited to connect with dietitians, physicians, behaviorist, psychologist, along YouTubers and Podcasters as well. I am personally working on expanding our influence along with my wife, Heather. She is our graphic designer and brand manager. She would be a perfect point of contact at heather@forgept.com

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your