Meet Will Marshall

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

Hi Will, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Up until a few years ago, I thought that my work ethic was something that I had developed throughout my years playing soccer. Until one day, I received a letter in the mail from a neighbor, who I would say was closer to family than that, after I graduated from college.

His letter described how he would come over to our house and throw football and play basketball with my brother and I. He went on to describe how we would do things over and over and over again until we got them right. It could’ve been a diving catch or a skill move over a soccer ball. In that moment, I realized that was something that I always had. Before I even started playing sports seriously, I was hammering away at things that I wanted to get better at. And I wouldn’t stop until I got it right.

Repetitions or “reps” are vital when it comes to doing anything worth while. No one gets it right on this first try, but if you want it bad enough, you’ll keep coming back.

Since the days of playing sports in my back yard, I have played Division 1 soccer, played in a Division 2 national championship, become a professional coach and started a business from nothing that I now run full time. There were many times during that time, which spans over 10 years where there was doubt, rejection, and uncertainty. However, the only thing that you can do is keep showing up. You have to commit. There were plenty of people who were “ahead” of me in different areas of life that I have now surpassed because I have never quit. You can only fail if you take yourself out of the game.

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?

I’m Will Marshall. I’m 28 years old from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I am the founder and head coach of Marshall Fitness. When I was in high school, before I was into fitness for the sake of fitness, my brother and I used to go lift in our garage, which had very minimal equipment, and we called it “Marshall Fitness.”

Fast forward to 2020, I had just been sent home from coaching at Virginia Tech due to the pandemic. I was doing some in person personal training at the time, but after a few months, I decided to take everything online.

Since 2020, I have worked with clients from Toronto to San Diego to New York and plenty here in Pittsburgh.

I help former athletes get back to feeling preseason fit without brutal workouts or restrictive diets. It’s been amazing to see how this program can change people’s lives. Due to the online nature, I can influence how people train, how they approach nutrition and coach and support them along the way. Compared to the in person model where I would only see a client once per week for 1 hour.

At the time of writing this, enrollment for my signature program is open and I am taking on new members who want to build muscle, cut fat and get confident again.

I also have a podcast that I co-host called The Above Average Podcast. We talk to a wide variety of people about business, mindset, entrepreneurship, fitness and more.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

First, I would say just being able to talk to people. I enjoy having conversations with anyone. Networking is one of the most important things you can do. In my business, the more people I know that know about my business, the more business I will receive. Throughout my entire life, I have met and kept in contact with a ton of people. I continue to be intentional about making new connections.

Second, being open to criticism is vital. Being criticized isn’t enjoyable and it likely never will be. However, everyone can teach you something. Everyone has had a completely different experience than you have. They may see something that you can’t because you are too close to it. I’m not saying I handle it perfectly every time, but approach it from a place of learning rather than defaulting to being defensive.

Lastly, how you talk to yourself is a major determinant of what your day to day will be like. You are stuck with your mind. What you tell yourself about yourself shapes your reality. When I was just starting my business, multiple times throughout the day I would think to myself, “I’m really good at what I do.” Even though, I had nothing to show for it yet. When times are difficult, this will keep you going.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

Growing up, I had a lot of big ideas. Things that were purely from my imagination. 99% of them never happened. My parents told me “no” a lot of the time. But when it came to things like sports and what I would do after high school, I felt that there was no ceiling. My parents never made me feel like my potential was limited. Whereas some people I grew up with look at a significant achievement that’s within their reach and think, “I could never do that.”

My mindset has always been, if I want to do it, then I will. Because of this mindset, I have been able to accomplish the things that a lot of people only ever talk about doing.

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Kayla Zvolensky

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