Meet Joseph Lopez of Train with J.Lopez in Southwest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Lopez.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After serving four honorable years in the US Navy from 2007-2011, I worked as a civilian in Norfolk, VA for two years before relocating back to Atlanta, Ga. After going to a few trade schools I found myself working fulltime at Costco. I was unhappy with life at the time so decided to try school one last time. This time I was determined to start somewhere I actually had interest in, at the time it was nutrition. While researching nutrition courses online, I found a personal training school in Dunwoody, took a tour the following week and enrolled a week later. I quickly found interest in everything being taught and stayed up late studying while working my fulltime job outside of school. Upon graduation, I invested in an opportunity to rent a gym space about 45 minutes from where I lived.

A week later, I found out that another personal training gym sat the next street over and faced all traffic. I didn’t walk away though, I stayed and struggled for about 7 months before realizing I was hurting myself and my son financially by continuing to fight a losing battle. So, I quit, took a carpet cleaning gig about 45 minutes away from where I lived and spent the next year completely separated from the industry I worked so hard to get in. One day, I came outside to my truck being broken down, I took that as a sign to get back into the gym, so I applied for a membership sales position at a local gym and got hired. I took over payments on a friends car to make it to work until the car got repossessed two months later. There was a large past due amount owed on the car which I had no idea about and the time available to clear the balance had expired. I caught Marta and Ubered to work the next four months until one day, I woke up and did some calculating while in bed. I realized that I was literally spending my paycheck to get to work and pay bills. I decided to take another leap and quit that day. I hadn’t actually given personal training sessions in over a year but knew I could jump right back into it.

I invested my last $168 in flyers and within three months, I was able to acquire more income than what I was making at the job I left. I bought all new equipment for my garage space for the next nine months and soon outgrew my space due to a larger clientele and limited parking in my neighborhood. I’ve been in business for two years now. I recently started training at Train or Die Compound on Old National Hwy. I now specialize in getting entrepreneurs in shape without them having to spend crazy hours in the gym. I’ve also taken on the role of brand ambassador/marketing director for a fitness app launching in a few months.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t. I found out that I could possibly be a father a week into the personal training school. I hadn’t had any communication with the soon to be the mother of my child during her whole pregnancy so this was overwhelming emotionally and soon financially. My poor finances and the distance led to a confrontation which ultimately led to being blocked on social media and even phone. I began to experience depression on a higher level, some days risking job termination and school failure due to the difficulty of even having to get out of bed.

I ruined my credit helping out friends and relatives after serving in the Navy so I was unable to get into my own place so I rented a new room every 5-6 months the next three years while financially struggling to pay bills and be on time at the gym I made the bad investment into (I didn’t throw in the towel easily).

I remember getting pulled over 2 miles away from the gym one day and finding out my insurance lapsed due to insufficient funds in my bank account. My car got towed right there and I had to power walk/run to meet a client at the gym, on top of that I was a week past due on rent at home and three months past due on gym rent. Two of the four clients I had at the time paid three months up just because they knew I’d be out of a car, place to live, and place to train if they didn’t. The arguments between my son’s mom and I were always off and on. I remember a going to pick up my paycheck from my carpet cleaning gig the day before Christmas and the shaft broke and fell right from under my car right outside of my job. That paycheck was just enough to pay for a new part from the junkyard and the maintenance fee from my mechanic to fix it. I made the drive to see my son and pick up a last minute gift the next day. I was just so happy to see him. On the way back to Atlanta, I received a long text from my son’s mom telling me how bad a father I was for showing up a day late and not giving money to take care of my son.

Taking a step away from personal training to clean carpets a whole year meant holding on to that dream and goal when my environment, situation, and finances were continuing to pull away every day. I’d get up at 5 am every morning, drive in traffic over an hour, work over 10 hours, and still go to the gym every day if I could pull the motivation out of me. I even stayed up to 1 am some days to prep healthy meals and pack my gym bag, it was insane, but giving up on my goal felt even more insane.

Quitting jobs and moving house to house because you see a vision that others don’t takes real ambition. I can’t count how many times I didn’t earn a potential clients business, sent my last to my son, or invested my last time into my business. It’s been far from easy and when I get into vivid details it’s not to brag it’s to be transparent and let others that were in my position know that there will be downtimes and setbacks.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m a personal trainer that specializes in helping entrepreneurs hit their body goals without spending countless hours in the gym, or going on starvation diets. My 90 Day Transformation Program has become a favorite due to the amazing results clients receive and the accountability it brings.

As a company, I’m most proud of the fact that I own a private gym on one side of town and recently joined the team at another. It’s great to know that so many trust me with their goals and that clientele continues to grow.

My never-ending ambition for reaching goals and keeping every client motivated is what really sets me apart from others.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career was the day that I had to purchase a booking system to make sure I didn’t overschedule in my garage gym. There are trainers that aren’t overbooked in big gyms on popular sides of town so having that problem in a garage in a small garage really showed me I’m on track.

Contact Info:

• Address: Train or Die compound
  4855 Old National Highway Atlanta, Ga 30337 Private Gym in Mabelton
  Private Gym in Mabelton
  Address available through consultation
• Website: trainwithjlopez.com
• Phone: 6789840613
• Email: josephlopez165@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/trainwithjlopez
• Facebook: facebook.com/trainwithjlopez

Image Credit:
Dave Simmons

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