Health and wellness entrepreneur, group training coach, dedicated mom, business owner, and overall fitness fanatic—these are just a few words to describe SPRNG coach, Jess McCowan.
When Jess started going to group fitness classes after high school, she immediately was hooked. Little did she know that love for fitness and community was going to catapult her into developing her own fitness business.
After attending her fair share of group classes, her instructor finally popped the big question, “when are you going to start teaching some of your own classes? I think you’d crush it!”
Without hesitation, Jess jumped at the chance to lead people in weekly workouts at her local gym. As her comfortability with coaching grew, so did her clientele, and eventually, she started to become a go-to for those looking to get fit in her area.
Fast forward through the birth of her two children and her coaching “hobby” started to itch more than a tick. She knew she had to find a way to take her fitness instruction to the next level, so she started a bootcamp.
The coaching come up…
Just like the group classes in her gym, her bootcamp exploded across the town of London, Kentucky. People we’re meeting her at local parks, high school football fields, even empty parking lots to get a taste of Jess’ killer bootcamp.
“People loved them because it was an all women’s group that was getting a little taste of 1-on-1, but also the support and community from one another.”
As the bootcamps started to grow and her family life kicked into high gear, the time to do it all quickly ran short. Some of her clients wanted to attend morning sessions while others were determined to make the evenings, meanwhile, Jess was trying to figure out how to accommodate everyone at once. During that time she started facing a unique challenge—a rapidly growing new client list combined with a dwindling number of returning clients.
She needed a way to get her workouts and sessions in front of as many clients as possible without having to be in front of them 24/7.
The transition to digital group coaching…
Like many coaches starting out, she turned to the world wide web, more specifically Facebook, to help cultivate a community where she could share workout sessions without having to be present all day.
At first, Facebook was the perfect solution—Jess could put every one of her clients into a group, share her workouts and challenges, and manage it all on her own time.
This was short-lived as she started stacking more and more clientele until her Facebook groups were bursting at their digital seams.
“I knew that I had to make a change, but getting my own app created was so expensive, and I was unsure if my group program would even translate into an app.”
Sure enough, as she sought new ways to run her group training program, she joined SPRNG co-founder, Amanda Nighbert’s, LEAN program. It was here that Jess got her first taste of white-label applications for fitness entrepreneurs.
After crushing Amanda’s 8-week program and using her app, Jess decided to go out on a whim and see if Amanda could use some of her coaching expertise as assistance—which was received with an overwhelming yes.
From there, Jess spent her time curating her own coaching clients on Facebook while also developing workouts and challenges for the growing LEAN program.
In comes 2020—the year of no gyms…
With gym doors shut and her clientele still needing a coach, Jess knew that it was time to step into her own fitness app. She already had the infrastructure built on Facebook and her customers weren’t going anywhere else to workout except their devices.
So Jess linked up with the SPRNG team.
I’ll spare you the play-by-play to tell you that after running through a demo with the SPRNG team and seeing the potential—she was hooked and knew her clients would be too.
“SPRNG gave me the freedom to do what I wanted to do…having my own app always seemed out of reach, but to have it come to life is truly a dream come true, and my clients couldn’t be more excited about it too!”
Since then, Jess has been running multiple 8-week Basic Training Bootcamps, along with a FITLife membership that clients can join for a monthly subscription. And let me tell you, people can’t get enough.
If you’re wondering just how awesome her program really is, check out her 8-week Basic Training Bootcamp right here.
Jess answers our questions:
When did you realize you wanted to make coaching a full-time job?
“When I started teaching my bootcamps around London, I really started to realize that this was igniting my fire and making me happy.”
What is the most rewarding part of coaching?
“Seeing and hearing my clients talk about their energy levels, self-confidence, and progress brings me so much joy. Between the numbered results (scale & measurements) and the non-numbered (feeling better, less stress, mental clarity) I can’t help but get excited for my clients.”
What is the most challenging part of “online” coaching?
“You can’t please everyone. Though we as coaches like to think we can, sometimes there is just going to be “that one” and you have to realize that maybe it just doesn’t work for them. Doesn’t mean you’re a bad coach or they’re a bad client, it’s just a matter of finding the people that work best with you.”
What is one piece of advice you’d give other coaches?
“Don’t give up. You might want immediate success, but it might not come. Remember to be you, stay focused, and know that you are good at what you do and what you’re passionate about. The rest will come.”
If Jess’ story got you eager to get your very own fitness app, don’t hesitate. Let us walk you through the same process and get your fitness business ready for group training.