Today we’d like to introduce you to Conor Foley
Hi Conor, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Manhattan Beach, CA and was exposed to sports very early on. I settled on volleyball where I ended up playing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2013, I graduated with a BS in Kinesiology before taking an internship at the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) in Colorado Springs, CO. I had the opportunity to work with olympic athletes (Judo and Figure Skating), the Colorado College D1 hockey team, and the Colorado Springs SWAT team.
Upon completing my internship, I received a job to be the Director of Sports Performance at Redline Athletics in Temecula, CA. From 2015-2018, I worked with a wide range of athletes from age 8 to college baseball players in their 20’s.
Wanting to be closer to the beach, I moved to San Diego in August 2018 where I got jobs at F45 and Renegade specializing in group fitness.
When the pandemic hit in 2020 and all businesses shut down, I viewed this more as an opportunity versus a burden. I completed my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification and constructed a gym that lead to where my business is today! I do personal training, semi-private training, nutrition coaching, and design custom workout programs for my remote clients.
My mission is to empower and motivate others to take steps towards bettering themselves. A healthy lifestyle is more than just working out and eating right- It’s also about practicing mindfulness, building relationships, and forming habits to help you discover the unlocked potential you never knew you had.
Life is about balance and enjoying the journey to success; whatever that success means to you. I enjoy getting you there with hard work, but with even harder laughs. I believe in getting 1% better every day throughout this journey, and letting the compound interest of success lead you to your desired goals.
I got into fitness/training because I saw how the benefits from it directly affected me, not only physically, but mentally and psychologically as well. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how those same benefits can help others and I try and share that knowledge with them in a fun, humorous manner. I know starting your fitness journey can be very intimidating and scary so I try to dispel that notion by providing laughs along the way.
Most of the clients I have are beginners to intermediate when it comes to training experience. I’m MOST proud of the times I have gotten clients to see working out as a HIGHLIGHT of their day vs. a CHORE that they have to get done.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As any business owner has faced, I have definitely hit a lot of bumps in the road. The most obvious example of course came during the pandemic. Had to shift all training to a remote/virtual setting since all gyms were shutdown. The hardest part was customizing these workouts to each individual client primarily based on the equipment they had available to them. I could have saved a lot of time by generalizing these workout programs and giving everyone the same basic exercises that can be done in anyone’s home, but that would have felt much too watered down for my liking.
Then another challenge was the lack of face to face interactions and how that affected motivation and accountability. I’m confident in myself that I provide an uplifting atmosphere during my training sessions and I’m able to hold my clients much more accountable since I’m right there with them. Take away all of that and it’s for people to have that drive to workout by themselves when I’m not there pushing them and correcting their form.
Once quarantine ended, I noticed all the remote clients I gathered were ready to be out in the world again and wanted to go join a gym on their own just for the social aspect of it that they have sorely missed. No one was working so most of my clients didn’t have the money to pay for a personal trainer. This came in conjunction with myself not wanting to train clients remotely anymore so it was almost as if I had to start over from scratch to gain new clients.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a personal trainer and nutrition coach. I do 1-on-1, 1-on-2, and 1-on-3 training sessions where I typically implement resistance training to improve strength and body composition along with corrective type movements in order to work through pre-existing injuries. My typical client has 0-4 years of training experience so if you’re looking to get into lifting weights and learn the foundational strength movements at a reasonable price, I am your guy!
I like to think I set myself apart with the humor and light-hearted nature I bring to my training sessions with clients. My slogan I put on my T-Shirts is “LIFT, Laugh, Love” which perfectly embodies what to expect if you take me on as your personal trainer. I don’t want working out to be an intimidating or grueling experience for anyone and I try to bring that laughter and joy to have people get excited about working out.
One of my proudest moments started back in 2015 when I started working with a 14 year old boy with autism. I will refer to him as “Johnny” out of respect and privacy to him and his family. Johnny’s aunt and uncle (who are his guardians) brought him in to start working out in hopes that it would build his confidence up and have a place where he could finally fit in and connect with someone outside of his family who wouldn’t judge him. Johnny was shy at first and hesitant to interact with myself and others in the gym due in part because of bullying he experienced in school. However, I got see work with him for at least two times per week over the next several years and saw a huge transformation, not only physically, but mentally as well. He’s turned out to be this confident, ambitious, out-going young man that I still talk to at least once a month to this day.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Ever since I could remember, Christmas has been my favorite holiday. Me and my parents would always go all out with decorations and my mom had a large collection of Nutcrackers we would put up on the mantel right above the fireplace. One particular Christmas I remember sitting by the fire learning and playing card games with my parents and then beating my dad in Battleship for the very first time. My parents were huge fans of Bing Crosby and his Christmas album so we would play that nonstop so now anytime I hear any of his songs play, I instantly transport right back to that moment in time and remember vividly all the decorations and the smell of the Christmas tree and fire going. I’m an only child so I got spoiled when it came to Christmas gifts so sleeping the night before was TOUGH because of how excited I was for Christmas morning. I still believed Santa was real so I would sleep RIGHT next to the fireplace thinking I would be woken up by him if he came down the chimney. I remember waking up and seeing the best toy I have ever gotten, laid out, right in front of the Christmas Tree. It was a Batman set complete with a BatCave, BatMobile, BatWing, BatSubmarine, and Mr. Freeze figurine. I couldn’t believe Santa somehow got around me and didn’t wake me up and delivered the best toy set a kid could have asked for,
Pricing:
- Personal Training 16 Pack – $960
- Semi-Private 16 Pack (3 person class) – $400
- Nutrition Coaching – $149/mo
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ffitsd.com
- Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/conorfitandfunny
- Facebook: https://Www.facebook.com/FFITSD
Image Credits
Will Mondet and Chris Meyer
