Today we’d like to introduce you to Melody Marie Melton.
Melody Marie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I developed a love for sports at a young age and have pretty much been an athlete all my life. Therefore, I have a background in competitive sports where I played volleyball, basketball and track and field throughout primary school up until high school. After high school, I moved to Atlanta to attend Spleman College where I studied Pre-Medicine and Drama and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1999. I was later introduced to bodybuilding in 2002 by my personal trainer Carlos Jordan. I competed in my first Fitness Competition where I earned 1st Place. It gave me a new platform to compete on as an athlete and I was hooked. I had found my new sport and I was excited! I became a Pro Fitness Competitor in 2004. Though out my competitive career, I have won several national physique championships. I continue to compete professionally today. As time went on, I decided to become a certified trainer and start branching out and helping other women become successful on the competition stage through coaching. I find a true fulfillment in seeing my clients own the stage and present their best physiques. Although I am still very passionate about training athletes, I discovered that Transformation Fitness is one of my true passion. I believe through proper nutrition, education and exercise obesity can be prevented and help prevent cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes which are clinically proven to be linked to obesity.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the obstacles I have faced is getting people to see the value in investing in their fitness and health. People find value in so many other things like work, travel and material items but place their fitness and health at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to importance. People know they should work out and eat healthy, but they struggle to do it. Therefore it is my responsibility to continue to educate, inspire and motivate people to live healthy lifestyles. My goal is to educate more people to get proactive instead of reactive with their health. A personal training expense is far less than a long-term medical expense.
And of course like so many other small business owners, my business was heavily impacted by the pandemic in 2020. I was forced to shut down my business for three months during quarantine. But instead of allowing the pandemic to diminish my business I began to transition to more online and virtual training and created an outdoor fitness program. After quarantine, the gym opened back up but a lot of my clients were hesitant to return to the gym due to COVID. But over time, they slowly began to return. I took this upset in my business and used it as an opportunity to become creative and expand my business in other avenues.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a fitness life coach where I offer personal training, group fitness, athletic training, online programs, nutrition guidance, contest prep and competition posing. I specialize in transformation fitness through strength, conditioning, speed, agility and core training. I also specialize in circuit training to advance client’s cardiovascular health. I believed in customizing each client’s workouts to fit their individual fitness goals. I also mentor and help develop new trainers.
I believe my passion for helping others live healthy lifestyles through fitness, health and wellness has contributed to my success in business. When you love what you do and you are genuine about helping others, people will recognize it. Although I offer services that are tied to fitness and health. My God-given purpose is to help people in fitness and life coaching. People must feel good about working with you and trust you to lead them in the right direction. Once you gain their trust, they will continue to work with you and refer you to their family and friends. I have been blessed to always have the support of my family and I was also trained and mentored for 15+ years by Carlos Jordan one of the most successful trainers in Atlanta. He encouraged me to pursue a career in personal training and shared his knowledge of the business with me.
One of the things I’m most proud of:
In 2019, I created the Beyond the Beauty 90 Day Challenge. Over the years, I have become passionate about empowering women through fitness, health and wellness. As women, we are mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, career women, in many cases, “Head of the Household” and often known as caretakers. But today in society, it is found that most women are so busy taking care of their families and loved ones that they often neglect to take care of themselves. They often neglect their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
As a result of this, I decided to organize the “Beyond the Beauty” 90 Day Challenge for my amazing women clients which was rewarded with a professional photoshoot at the completion of the challenge. Each woman had their own individual fitness and health goals. It was my job as their fitness life coach to help each woman achieve them. For some, their goal was weight loss. For others, it was to become more fit and toned and to feel more confident when they looked in the mirror. Ultimately it was for all of them to live a healthy and increased quality of life. Therefore the purpose of the challenge/photoshoot was to motivate, celebrate, and reward the women for all their hard work. Hard work that they achieved both inside and out of the gym. But by no means was this challenge/photoshoot about attaining the perfect body but seeing beyond the physical beauty, empowering each woman to love every part of themselves and embrace the goddess within.
Any big plans?
My goal is to reach the masses: educate, inspire and motivate as many people to get in the best shape and health of their lives. I am accepting more speaking engagements which will put me on a larger platform to impact more people’s lives. I am also expanding my online training/coaching program. This too gives me the opportunity to help and educate more people nationally and globally on how to live healthy lifestyles.
For me 2022 is all about expansion and growth!
Contact Info:
- Email: melodymariefitness@gmail.com
- Website: https://melodymariefitness.fitform.biz/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msmelodymarie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msmelody34
Image Credits
Tyrus Riley – DRG Photo Studio
