Welcome back everyone! I realize that it has been a while since I have written so I do apologize for that. Teej and I have been so busy it seems like that I haven't had time to blog. However, we do have a lot to update you on. So, let's get started!
I think my last post ended with me receiving my new personal trainer job at Latitude Sports Club. Well, it has been over a week since I have started and there already been several up's and down's with it. This past week has consisted of mainly training to become a personal trainer at the gym... how ironic huh? Well, to explain myself further I am finding out that there is much more to this job then just helping clients reach their fitness goals. These past few days I have learned how to make phone calls to new members who have earned a free training session with joining, talk to people on the floor (kinda awkward), as well as have learned how to run the computer system, perform a proper first assessment with potential clients, and my personal favorite... SELLING packages to clients. So, with all that said I have had a semi-overwhelming week and have gotten paid very little. See, the thing about this job is that I am only getting paid when I a) sell packages to a client, b) do initial consultations with them, and c)actually train the clients for their hour session. With all that said, I have been doing a lot of volunteering at the gym thus far.
However, a few things have happened to make it so I will get a little compensation. All my calling paid off and I got my first client to sign on with me to workout with me 2x a week for 6 months. Her name is Erin and she is a gem. I am really excited to work with her because she is determined to lose weight as well as feel better about herself. The other thing that has happened is that I have done 3 consultations (they are actually called Fits) and so I get paid each time I do that. Lastly, my awesome boss Rusty told me today that I am going to be helping train middle school and high school students for a half an hour 2x a week for 2 weeks starting this next week. The kids are entering into a basketball camp and the camp is being held at Latitude. They have coaches there that will be doing the majority of the work but they are in need of trainers to do the last half hour with them to do agility drills, plyometrics, and more. I have to go in on Saturday for an hour to learn what the coaches will expect of me as a trainer. I am really excited about that because I love kids and I love basketball. I think it will also be an awesome opportunity to grow as a trainer and get to do something that I ultimately desire to do in the future.
With all that said, this week has been great but extremely challenging at the same time. I have definitely learned what my weaknesses are. Let me tell you, I am not even remotely good at selling. It actually gives me anxiety and is something I do not enjoy, as of yet anyway. I told my boss that I could train all day but selling the client packages is where I struggle. So, Rusty decided to help me out today and spent about 2 hours practicing how to essentially "close the deal" with your client. Typically when you have a client come in you have them answer a ton of questions about their lifestyle, background in injuries, fitness goals, and much more. Then you take them downstairs and do a few fitness assessments on them before you take them through about a 20 minute workout that you design based on their goals. This should really be the time you are selling them on the training because you are ultimately trying to work them hard enough to where they can't say no to the package. Next comes my favorite part. The close. You bring them back upstairs, sit them down, and explain to them what the value of training with me and this gym is as well as why they need to do this. You transition into showing them the prices of the packages and go from there. I hate this because I don't like being pushy and forcing people to spend their money on training. Don't get me wrong though. I absolutely think its necessary for the majority of people that come to see me to get trained because it will help their health and overall well-being but its hard for me to push them to pay for it. However, today was incredibly helpful and I feel a lot more comfortable with it and learned how to do it in a much less forceful way.
My goal is to hopefully get 2-3 more clients by the end of next week but we'll see if that happens. :) Enough about me though, on to the husband. For the past week that I have been making no money essentially, he has been rampantly looking for work. I think since last week, he has had a total of 5 different interviews ranging from a position with a recruiters firm to a Starbucks barista to a position at the apple store. He also went to a recruiting firm to get help finding work. We realized halfway through this process that the best option for us would be for Teej to find a job downtown Boston OR somewhere close to the transit line. This way we wouldn't have to get another car and we would ultimately save money on transportation as well as having to pay for gas. With all that said, spending time looking for work has paid off because Teej had two second round interviews today in Downtown Boston. The first one he had was with a recruiting firm and the second was at Starbucks. For the second round at the recruiting firm entitled "Jobspring" they asked him to come up with a 3-5 minute presentation that focused on a company of his choice. In that presentation, he had to choose a business in the area and essentially sell this recruiting firm on why it was a great bank. If he received the job he would be finding potential employees that fit the needs of a specific company and then sell the company to the prospective employee as well as sell the employee on the prospective company. It's a little confusing but it sounds interesting. He went into the interview today with high hopes because he was not only prepared with a powerpoint ready but he had practiced several times the night before as well as in the car ride over to the train station. I was excited to hear what happens with it.
In the mean time, I went to work and practiced for hours on how to sell and what to say. By the time I was done I had received a text that Teej had GOTTEN THE JOB! He took the job immediately and called Starbucks to cancel the second interview. I was so excited for several reasons. First, I was proud of him for doing so well in the interview and presentation part. Second, we both had jobs which means that we can now look for an apartment. Third, we can finally breathe and know that we will have a steady income coming in. Finally, we can move out of Motel 6 where we have been staying. We actually only moved in here last night due to the fact that my aunt and uncle had allowed us to stay at their home for 2.5 weeks and we both felt that it was necessary to leave and be on our own. We were so grateful for the opportunity to be able to stay that long and only have to be in a motel for hopefully a couple days before getting our first home together! So, tomorrow means APARTMENT HUNTING! Motel 6 is really gross, filled with smokers, and lacks internet service even though we paid $3 to use it. So, needless to say, we are definitely on a mission tomorrow to find a new place. Wish us luck.
A little update on the fun we have been having! Let's see. This past weekend was really beautiful weather so we decided to take a break from looking for jobs to go to the beach. Aunt Michele and Uncle Clint recommended we try out this beach called "The Singing Beach." It's supposedly gorgeous with great sand and wonderful waves as well as a snack bar with food and drinks. The beach is located in Manchester, MA so we decided to drive close to the beach and park. My aunt and uncle told us that residents of the area were only able to park in the lot so we found a place to park in the town of Manchester that was free of charge. We were so excited because we thought we were finally in the clear of having to pay for something. WE WERE SO WRONG! After walking all the way there, we found out that there is a "Walk on fee" of $5 per head. I was so frustrated. I mean seriously, paying to walk on the beach. That is ridiculous. I was so irritated that we turned around and walked all the way back. Well, that and the fact that we didn't have $10 in cash to give them. SO DUMB! So, instead we decided to walk around the town instead. It was a cute town with lots of unique shops but I still think I would have rather gone to the beach instead. Maybe this weekend we'll try again. Anyway, to cheer up my spirits Teej surprised me with frozen yogurt. If anyone knows me at all, they know that I love fro yo. The only thing was that it wasn't serve yourself. It was PinkBerry (a chain fro yo place) so I was expecting to go in and get samples and serve myself. Oh no, the employees did it for you. It was such a weird experience but I got over it once I had my fro yo in my hand. :)
To finish the day, we went to this park in Danvers called Endicott Park. You are supposed to pay to go in there as well but we ended up parking a little down the street and sneaking in. Whoops! This park is not your ordinary park. It is awesome because it has a petting zoo inside. Charlie had told us about it last week so we figured we'd try it out. The petting zoo had chickens, roosters, rabbits, horses, and my personal favorite... SHEEP! It was so fun. I felt like a kid again. The park also had a lake that people could catch fish in as well as a small camp ground and playground for kids. It was a fun little side trip before heading back home.
Let's see. What else. Oh, I met Teej Downtown Boston after work one night for dinner. That was an adventure because it was the first time I took the train by myself. haha... I had to ask someone how to get a ticket, which was so embarrassing. However, the guy that I asked didn't know what he was doing either so I didn't feel so terrible! I met Teej at Downtown Crossing (train station stop) and we walked around the town for a bit before getting dinner. We walked around Copley Square, which is a beautiful area with a lot of modern buildings as well as beautiful old churches. I took several pictures of the churches because they were absolutely breathtaking. We ended up walking through Chinatown a bit before deciding to eat at this restaurant called Uno Due Go. Don't ask me why it is called that because I have no idea. It was really cool though because they let you make your own salads. It reminded me of my freshman year in college because Teej and I would meet for lunch at one of the dorms called LLC almost everyday and would have "make your own salads." The ones we made at this restaurant were so much better though because of the incredible amount of options given. I loved it.
Oh, I almost forgot. We went and toured Harvard University this past weekend. We had planned to take the train in to the University but once we got to the station we found out that the trains were not running. I couldn't believe it because I figured that the trains ran everyday. Apparently not. So, we still wanted to go so we decided to drive. Stupid idea. Why? Because parking is a nightmare downtown. We ended up paying $20 for parking for about an hour and 10 minutes. DUMB. However, we were able to walk around the whole University as well as see the Charles River and Harvard Square in that time. One of my favorite things we saw was this store called S. August company. It was a clothing store that reminded me of course of one of my good friends Shannon August. It was very fitting because she is a fashionista and I don't think would mind owning her own clothing store. I sent her a picture, which I think she appreciated. Anyway, I think we were hoping to stay down there longer but our budget for parking didn't allow that. We loved the area and are hoping to explore it more in the near future, except this time without having to park.
Other then that, we haven't done much. We have however, have been able to really build those relationships with my aunt, uncle, and cousins a lot better which has been awesome. It was Tj's birthday on the 8th of June and then my cousin Charlie's birthday the following day so we all went out to dinner together to celebrate the birthdays. It was fun!
Thank you for all your prayers and support thus far. We really appreciate it and think they are working! God is so good and has really blessed us with so much. We are excited to see what is in store next for us. If you would like to pray for us, we would love prayer for housing. You know, something that is something in our price range and preferably next to or near the transit line. We would be more than thankful for that!
Love to all!
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