-: So I actually came into this field a little different
than most fitness professionals do.
Typically you see in exercise science a study
with fitness professionals.
I came from the communication world.
My focus was in public relations.
But I think what set me up to be a successful fitness
professional was that I worked in Rec Sports
as an undergrad.
So I took that academic class that we were talking about,
learned how to become an instructor,
then a personal trainer
and got a lot of real world experience in that field
while I was a student.
I would say to really start to get some solid work
experience whether it be just checking people into
a facility or going as far as becoming an instructor
or becoming a personal trainer.
That I think is some solid ground
that you can use moving forward.
I really enjoy research and articles
and I find value in keeping up with national certification.
There are a handful of companies that offer certifications
and things like that.
They tend to always be the leading researchers
for our industry.
So I try to always stay up to date with them.
I think there is a lot of value in having a network
of professionals that you keep up with.
You know I have a network of collegiate professionals
that I am constantly bouncing off ideas with
and things like that.
But then I have also kept a network of colleagues
in corporate fitness.
We offer a graduate assistant for fitness
and so we have someone who is in place.
It's a two year position.
They come and work with us 20 to 30 hours a week.
They get a full tuition stipend.
And then also a stipend on top of that.
But they basically get to work as a professional
for two years and then they go in to getting
their next job whether it's that coordinator or manager job
with some really great experience that you wouldn't get
if you weren't a graduate assistant.