Meet Robert Dothard of Fit Family in Smyrna

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Dothard.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Robert. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my career In Atlanta with several fitness chains like Sportslife, Australian Body Works, and even Crunch Fitness and LA Fitness. But my early career highlights included being one of the first instructors of Step Aerobics, and I was a trainer in the first Olympic Village Health Club for the athletes during the games in Atlanta in 1996! It was the opportunities with Step and training accomplishments like the Olympics that helped me get on local and national news, and numerous product videos. After spending half my career building the brand of other companies, including two Fitness Together personal training studio franchises, I started building my own brand and message. I dropped my franchise and opened Fit Family (a name my wife came up with because I believe everyone in the family should be fit), at the same time I did numerous TV interviews as a Fitness Expert with almost all networks, but mostly CNN and 11-Alive (the local NBC affiliate). For 11-Alive I was the host of the Wakeup Workout for several years, and that lead to an opportunity with CNN, to be the first featured trainer for Fit Nation, which I worked with for three years while doing regular segments or other divisions like Headline News and online thru CNN.com. I now use Social Media, and my studio in Smyrna to promote my message of good health and fitness thru proper nutrition and regular exercise. I give away the basics of fitness on my website www.robertdothard.com with a free book (which can be downloaded at no cost) and dozens of videos, also free. After 30 years, I have learned “The message is more important than the messenger”, and I pray I have done my part when my career ends to help as many people as I can get and Stay Healthy and Fit, thank you for your time.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, the best way I can put it, is…Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die! Everyone wants to be fit and healthy, but many do not want to live the lifestyle to bring it about, so the hardest part of my career, has been getting people to PAY to do something they don’t want to do, to get a result they want. Put on top of that, an industry that markets “Big Box” gyms that want to sell you a membership, but because many are oversold, they don’t want (and would have no room) all the clients to use the facility on a regular basis. If you want to see what happens when all the members of a public gym decide to use their memberships at the same time, visit one anytime in the first two weeks of January #notpretty!

I have also tried two failed partnerships, hoping they could do the business part as well as I could do the fitness part…they couldn’t and both partnerships did not end well, because at the end of the day, the customers were there for the training (my part) and not for the way we did our accounting and book work (their part). I was always about to out work any business problem, but it made it that much harder to build my business, which is fine now.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Fit Family – what should we know?
My business is a personal training studio, and I can take each client as a unique customer, and customize a fitness program “tailored to their specific needs and schedule”. No “cookie cutter” system, like the ones I had worked for early in my career, which focused on what many fitness centers focus on, getting as many customers thru the door, sell them a “training system” like Orange Theory and CrossFit. I am most proud that I know most of my clients by name, and their program was uniquely designed and implemented to meet their needs and schedule. We watch every rep and hold our clients accountable and act to motivate them thru the process leading to the accomplishment of their health and fitness goals.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I have had several mentors throughout my career, but non like Gin Miller, the creative developer of Step Aerobics! I have seen her exercise of stepping up and down on a milk crate to strengthen her knee, turned into a form of exercise and a product still sold all over the world, and she allowed me to have an opportunity to be part of that.

Pricing:

• My studio rates are currently between $50.00 $60.00 a session, depending on the number purchased
• We offer “partnership” training were two people can share a session, and cut their training bill in half!

Contact Info:

• Address: Fit Family (at Ivy Walk)
  1675 Cumberland Parkway, Suite #413
  Smyrna, GA. 30080
• Website:www.fitfamilysmyrna.com
• Phone:(770) 436-1381
• Email:dothardr@gmail.com
• Instagram:Dothard1
• Facebook:Fit Family
• Twitter:@robertdothard
• Yelp:Fit Family
• Other:www.robertdothard.com

Image Credit:
Picture of me with President Clinton was provided by CNN staff photographer.

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