Maybe you should quit your job in the fitness industry. We are all being asked to come face to face with the TRUE reasons we became fitness leaders and for some of us the passion has shifted.
There are oodles of opportunities in fitness, but there are also industries that have flourished since March 2020 and are heavily recruiting to meet the demand. If what’s required of you to continue in fitness no longer motivates you it’s perfectly reasonable for you to do what’s best in order to provide for yourself and your family.
A little over two years ago I quit a BIG job in fitness. I was the VP of canfitpro, the largest provider of fitness education in Canada. I had been an executive with the company for a decade and worked closely with my colleagues for 25 years. I loved those people, still do today, but I felt it was time to come home to Montreal. My father-in-law had passed away and my maman had a health scare, so my husband and I craved being closer to family. Having not had children of our own, family for us means our generation and the one before and we felt we needed to be closer to them.
I also needed a new professional challenge, something that I could get excited about and allowed me to have a different impact on the fitness industry.
I resigned from my VP job at canfitpro and put our home in Toronto up for sale. I knew the conversation with the COO Mo Hagan would be difficult and we both were fairly teary, but she knew it was the best thing for me at that time. She asked that I stay on to help the transition of the executive team for not 2 weeks, but 3 months. This would mean making the 6-hour winter drive back to Toronto from our new home in Montreal each week to canfitpro’s office, but I of course agreed without hesitation! It’s what the company and the people I had the pleasure of leading deserved, it’s what Mo needed, and it was required to also launch my new career path based on authentically positive professional and personal relationships.
I share this with you because those healthy relationships are what have propelled everything in my career up to my VP position and since I left. I still work closely with Mo and many teams at canfitpro as a writer, presenter, PRO TRAINER, consultant, and am thrilled to have been selected as an Advisory Panelist.
N.B. if you’re considering quitting your job in fitness:
- You may be in the wrong job title, or with the wrong gym/studio, or serving the wrong clients. It’s critical you figure out which one!
- Every ounce of your genuine servant leadership has been felt by your clients, colleagues, and employers. Your fantastic reputation will remain.
- You may be craving growth and development, tweaking your career path might do the trick.
- Keeping your working relationships healthy up to and during your departure will open doors to other opportunities, as well as potentially coming back to it at a later date.
- It’s my experience that most leaders in the fitness industry genuinely care about their team members, being honest about your challenges will most often result in compassion coming your way.
Feeling stuck in your career? You are not alone! This is the feeling I hear most often from fitness professionals who are looking for change. Contact me so that together we can catapult your career forward. I am here to help you!
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