Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Downey.
Morgan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2018, my mom—who had been battling lung cancer for nine years—became very ill and began to transition. I was in my senior year at Spelman college and I realized that at any moment my life could turn upside down. Shortly after returning from a weekend visiting her in Philadelphia, I woke up one morning in October and stood in front of the mirror, overwhelmed by how much I didn’t like what I saw. The emotional weight of seeing my mom in the condition she was in, combined with my own dissatisfaction with my body, created a moment of clarity. Something clicked. I realized that the least I could do for myself was control what was in my power and recommit to working out and eating well—so that each day when I woke up and looked in the mirror, I could feel good about myself and my consistency. During that time I began posting fitness content on my GetMoPhit instagram page sharing my journey, something I started my junior year of college after my classmates started asking me about what I did in the gym.
The remainder of my senior year, I was committed to making the year “fun” and not remembering it only as a sad time. I began working out 5-6 days a week and searching for fun anywhere else I saw it possible. I wrote it off as “fun” but in reality I was in a really low place trying to distract my thoughts from my mothers condition. I was smoking weed a lot, drinking when I would go out with friends, and talking to guys I shouldn’t have. The only positive thing I was doing for myself was remaining consistent in meal prepping and going to the gym. The gym became my safe place.
April 8th 2019, my mother passed away the month before I graduated from her alma mater Spelman College. I was devastated to say the least. Despite my circumstances, I remained consistent in the gym and by the summer of 2019, a few people began inquiring about personal training through the GetMoPhit page. That was the beginning of something new and I started bringing people to the gym with me for $5–$15 per session. I fell in love with training. It was my way of helping myself and others at the same time. I loved that I could set my schedule and shift it if I needed personal time to grieve.
After spending time reflecting before leaving Atlanta and moving back to my dad’s home in Philadelphia, I realized that mentally and emotionally, I no longer wanted to pursue a career in law. Instead, I chose to pursue personal training. Before returning home, I landed a personal training internship that kickstarted my journey as a trainer. It was a really challenging decision but my mental health couldn’t handle the stress of the law field.
During the first year after she passed, outside of fitness, other areas of my life were still suffering tremendously. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally I was in the lowest place I had ever been in and wasn’t fully aware of it. Everything I identified as (Spelman student, Atlanta resident, daughter to Maria, future lawyer etc), was gone. When I returned home, one of the main ways I coped was throwing myself in the work I had in front of me. I’ve realized that instead of being wild in college and numbing myself that way, I began to do it with my studies. I was deep diving into personal development, studying personal training and learning about trading in the foreign exchange market. I received my personal training certification and began working at the gym I was interning at. As soon as I began, covid hit and I was home, and spent a few months during covid hosting virtual $1 workouts with GetMoPhit. My best friend Erica used to cover those virtual workouts for me when I couldn’t host them, which organically became Erica’s first real introduction into GMP.
Despite doing good things with my time, I was carrying so much baggage from my past that I was doing myself a disservice by not addressing it. In addition to the grief of my mom, the relationship I had with my father was horrible and really took a toll on me. It wasn’t until one day I was really struggling with my life and the enemy tried to suggest the idea of suicide to me. In that moment I realized enough was enough and I had to make a change. That day (around Oct or Nov 2020), I committed myself to Christ. I committed to doing anything He wanted me to do because at that point He was the only one who could help me get better. I knew that if I didn’t make a change, I would only get worse and potentially end up hurting myself or taking my life. I had mountains of built up grief, unforgiveness, resentment, and anger that was crushing my spirit. This experience ultimately led me to the realization that if you aren’t healthy spiritually, mentally or emotionally, your physical health does not matter because it will not sustain you through life challenges.
From the end of 2020 through 2021, I became deeply committed to learning how to truly walk with Christ and submit my life to His will. I intentionally focused on healing, developing my character and pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ. During that season, I committed to therapy, reading my Bible, and watching church, exercising, journaling–whatever was necessary to heal, grow and follow Christ faithfully.
In April of 2021, I accepted a position at a gym that I believed was connected to my purpose and I continued building GetMoPhit on the side. Earlier that year, Erica and I had begun spending more time together as we navigated personal challenges in our own lives. Once I started working at the gym, I invited her to train there with me, and that was the start of her own personal journey of healing, working on her mindset and training.
While working at the gym, I reached the best physical shape of my life and significantly expanded my knowledge and experience in training and nutrition. Erica and I both became certified in nutrition and I continued to grow my virtual clientele outside of the gym.
As my relationship with God strengthened, the fruit of the Spirit began to show up in every area of my life. My relationships improved across the board, and most importantly, my relationship with my dad was restored and stronger than it had ever been.
From a business standpoint, my credibility as a coach continued to grow. At the end of 2021 I reconnected with a friend from college and hired him for a photoshoot for GetMoPhit. A few months later, we began dating. That same year marked significant growth for the brand. GetMoPhit was featured on the news in Philadelphia, I had a speaking engagement in Florida, and I was working closely alongside Erica to build the business together. At the time, GetMoPhit was centered on helping women navigate grief through fitness. Our goal was to support women in caring for both their mindset and physical health, just as I had during my own season of loss. However, over time, we realized that the word “grief” caused many people to associate our work solely with death, rather than the broader experience of loss—whether of people, seasons, identity, or significant parts of life. That realization led Erica and me to eventually begin rebranding the business in the years that followed, allowing our message to more accurately reflect the women we were called to serve.
In 2023, I quit my job at the gym to go full time on GetMoPhit and began training clients at the gym I interned at in 2020. Erica and I were now coaching clients in person, online, hosting events etc. In April 2023, I got engaged to the same friend of mine who took our pictures back in 2021 and was on track to move to Memphis, TN by July. Erica and I were living together at the time, and she was planning to move to Atlanta, where her mom and sister lived. Despite us physically splitting up, we committed to continuing the business together. August 2023 Erica began coaching clients in person with GetMoPhit in ATL, and I went fully virtual in Memphis.
I got married in September 2023 to the love of my life, Khalil Downey. I was a woman who once believed I would never get married because, in my mind, all men were trash. Today, I am living in what I can only describe as a miracle—a healthy, Christ-centered marriage. I’ve been married for two years and we are raising our beautiful four month old daughter, Aubrey.
After years of coaching women both in person and online, walking through two years of marriage and experiencing my first pregnancy, I began to see a consistent pattern. So many women are deeply wounded by father wounds and toxic romantic relationships and yet believe that if they can just change their bodies, become more desirable, or look a certain way, they will finally find their person and live happily ever after. But the truth is, it’s rarely a physical problem. What I observed, especially during my years in fitness coaching, was that many women were pursuing physical transformation as a way to compensate for a lack of self-worth. They were trying to earn love instead of healing the wounds that told them they weren’t worthy of it in the first place.
Through both personal experience and coaching , I’ve learned that building a strong foundation for a healthy life, marriage, and family requires much more than physical change alone. It requires spiritually being grounded in Christ, mentally developing self-awareness and healthy thinking patterns, emotionally learning to regulate and communicate emotions and physically caring for your body in a way that allows you to feel confident, strong, and well.
True transformation happens when a woman builds her identity and self-worth, learns how to forgive, and finds peace and contentment in her current season of life, regardless of relationship status.
As of 2025, Erica and I began intentionally rebranding the business to better meet the real needs of the women we’ve served. I received two life coaching certifications and shifted my focus toward a more holistic approach to wellness. Today, we offer life coaching alongside fitness coaching because sustainable results come from supporting the whole woman—spirit, mind, emotions, and body. While Erica is currently part-time, she will begin hosting in person events in 2026, with a long-term vision of stepping into a partner and Head of Fitness role.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
This journey has not been a smooth road. GetMoPhit was built on the back of trauma, heartache, and hard lessons. In the early stages, I had to do a lot of deep inner work—revisiting painful memories and experiences in order to understand what was truly holding me back and what was necessary for my growth. While working at the gym where I experienced a ton of personal and professional growth, I was eventually faced with a difficult decision to leave. I realized that in order for my clients to continue growing, I needed to create a safe and supportive environment, and that space was no longer available there. Moving on required a huge step of faith as I transitioned into becoming an independent trainer.
Additionally, I have no formal business background, which has meant learning everything from the ground up. One of the most challenging transitions came when I moved from Philadelphia and shifted fully into virtual coaching. We lost clients in the process, as many people preferred in person training, and committing to an entirely online presence in Memphis required an entirely new set of skills that I am still developing. When I originally set out to become a personal trainer and entrepreneur, I never imagined how many roles I would need to step into beyond coaching alone. I had to become a visionary, operations and administrative manager, content creator, finance and sales representative. And since re-branding, clarifying the message and sharpening our marketing strategy is still a work in progress. This has been one of the most challenging aspects of pursuing a God-given calling, but also one of the most exciting parts of the journey.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At GetMoPhit, we are a health and life coaching business that helps ambitious single women navigate their season of singleness with intention. We support women in rebuilding self-worth, developing discipline, and aligning their spiritual, emotional, and physical health so they can walk confidently in their God-given purpose and prepare for the life and relationships ahead.
What began as a personal training business focused on physical transformation has evolved into a holistic coaching practice. Over time, we noticed that many women were pursuing fitness not simply to get in shape, but as a response to self-image struggles, a desire to regain confidence, and heal from past relationships. While physical health matters, we realized that body transformation alone wasn’t enough—lasting change required addressing the inner work as well.
What sets GetMoPhit apart is our integrated, faith-centered approach. We don’t separate faith, mindset, emotional healing, and physical wellness—we address them together. Our coaching helps women move beyond surface-level change and into sustainable lifestyle shifts rooted in identity. When a woman understands her worth, her habits, relationships, and decisions begin to align naturally.
We are most proud of the safe, honest spaces GetMoPhit creates—spaces where women are empowered to do the inner work while also building practical routines that support a healthy life. Through our coaching we help women create what we call a wellness toolkit: the beliefs, habits, and routines that allow them to show up as the best version of themselves and build a life that feels grounded, confident, and aligned from the inside out.
Our services consist of virtual 1:1 life and fitness coaching. We currently do not offer in person training. In 2026 be on the lookout for in person events in Atlanta!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Some of my favorite memories growing up were the times I hung out with the girls on my basketball team outside of school. We would all get together at one friend’s house, laughing until our stomachs hurt. I vividly remember one night when we ordered pizza and someone got slapped in the face with a slice, we all laughed together for what felt like 15 minutes straight. Growing up, the community I found through sports and dance was such an important outlet for me, especially as a kid navigating life with a mom who was battling cancer.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmo_phit/?igsh=MTY4bWZndzNmajAyOQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@getmophit
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@getmophit?_r=1&_t=ZT-92Tn1MN8y0N
Image Credits
Photos by @lildontmiss on IG, aka my husband Khalil Downey!
