Forgive the overly dramatic title for today’s blog but this week is the final week of Kirby’s Personal Training and Fitness.
It is the end of a dream that started in 2009, became a possibility in 2010, became a probability in 2011 (when I started writing gym programmes for people as a qualified Level 2 Gym Instructor) and became a full time actuality in 2013 when I left full time employment. As of Sunday this week, the studio will be nought but a fond memory. It has been a crazy, amazing, wonderful, stressful, frustrating, fabulous 7 years since I founded Kirby’s.
So, a quick updated on where I am fitness/weight wise. Three weeks since I posted the picture of me in my smalls showing what 22lbs of gained fat looks like, and lo 7lbs of gained fat eradicated 15lbs to go to be back here I was in April 2017, 24lbs to go to be back at my fighting weight in 2013 and where I fit into absolutely everything in my wardrobe again. What have I done differently? Tracked my eating habits and made sure my consumed calories stay under my expended calories. Listened to my body when it said it needed sleep (never underestimate the importance of enough sleep on helping you drop fat). Oh and walked, a lot.
It is 10.15am on a Tuesday in September. The weather has turned very autumnal and the first frosts in a long time covered the shed roof this morning. The trees are already starting to turn their colours, with the leaves in various shades of red, golds and browns. I love this time of year. The analogy of change is not lost on me. It’s all changing.
I am sat once again, as I have been almost every Tuesday since August 13th, in front of my Mac with umpteen browser windows open, hunting for someone to give me employment once more. Yes, I have a sparkling CV… or at least I’m told that… but I foresee this weekly ritual (which I also replicate on a Friday morning), is going to be the norm for some time. It is much easier to get a job if you’re already employed after all.
Next week, I’ll be contacting temping agencies to see if that holds any fruit, something I’ve been unable to do as I still have my final clients at the studio and the wrapping up of everything there to take care of. That is something I think people kind of forgot had to happen, judging by the amount of well meaning questions I’ve had about my job hunt.
The studio is still there until the 30th. That means I am still teaching until those who stayed on have completed their training month, and then I have to put the ‘shop’ back to the manner I received it. So Friday I will be removing the outside boarding, taking up all the flooring, strip the window vinyls, taking down the mirrors, filling in final holes in the walls, peeling off my beloved Wonder Woman transfer and painting all the walls. I foresee the boys at the local tip and me will be well acquainted on Friday.
On the subject of advice on job hunting. I may not act my age, but at Forty-two if I haven’t learned how to hunt for a job by now then I may as well just give up. And while I do appreciate people are honestly meaning well, perhaps a little though of ‘is this a stressful time? Yes. Do I need to state the obvious? Probably best I don’t’ goes much, much further. I am apologising in advance if I come across as snappy and short tempered this week. I am already having to take breaks out of the day to stop folding into a complete and utter teary mess as is, I do not have the energy to answer the same question 100 times. So here are my answers:
No, I am not turning the games room (which was the original gym room), back into a gym room and working from the house again. That disrupted Gav for 3 years, and stopped the house being our home but my place of work. I won’t ask Gav to go through that again, and our lovely neighbours’ windows face onto the access to the back of the house so fitting a light for the passageway is a no no.
Yes I have applied for PT positions but they either want you to work like a dog for less than minimum wage or I am ‘over qualified’. So I’ve decided to step away from it for the time being. I can always go back to it in the future and will always help people who ask for advice. I will keep my quals up to date, that isn’t going to change so will still be fully qualified, a REPs member and still keep all my StrongFirst quals uptodate – but now I’m doing this for me not because it’s my job.
Yes I have put applications in pretty much everywhere and am using job sites, local council sites, local University sites and others to aid in job hunting. Closing dates will determine when I hear anything and most of them have yet to close, because I’m pretty much applying on the day or day after they’ve gone live.
Yes, I am generally fine, just very stressed and obviously rather sad about the whole thing at the moment.
No, I have everything I need to sort to the studio, thank you for the offer of help but honestly it’s best left to Gav and myself.
Please don’t keep asking me about the studio and guessing at why the demand for a private studio isn’t there anymore. I know precisely what caused me to have to close. I am a businesswoman, I have done my homework into why the demand started to fall off post June 2016 when I had a full book, a waiting list, and needed to move the studio. I have even blamed myself in that ‘could I have done more marketing, etc’ way, to which the answer is no, I couldn’t have done anymore than I did. I dearly wish people would stop thinking I haven’t done any investigation into it. So please stop speculating. If I’m not going to tell you about it, I’m not going to tell you about it.
I do appreciate your concern and that you are thinking of me, I really do. Thank you <3
Again, apologies if this is coming across as snappy and irksome. For those who contact me via social media sorry in any delays in getting back in touch. I’m going to continue to be quiet on sites for the foreseeable. I will respond when I decide to check the old book of face or Twitter but for the time being please don’t take offense if I don’t respond instantaneously. I have managed to detach my phone from my hand lately and I am in no rush to fuse it back. It’s actually been rather liberating not checking social media every five minutes and I have returned to my old productive ways, so that’s positive.
So… much of my studio equipment is now in my lifting/office/nerd den, as I’m calling it, at the house. It’s a much smaller space than I’m used to but I’ll manage and now I really can just focus on myself and not feel guilty for doing so when I could be writing plans etc for my clients, or marketing, or doing accounts, or studying or….the list goes on.
Once this morning’s job hunt is done, I think it’ll be time to pick up heavy shit off the floor and press some heavy shit overhead.
As always, be kind to yourselves, you rock,
Krissie x