Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Ulysse
Hi Samantha, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Samantha Ulysse and I am the face behind CoachingBySam. Throughout my childhood, I danced recreationally and slowly ramped my way into competitive dance. After having spent only one season as a competitive dancer, I had to quit due to a knee injury which was diagnosed as a bone bruise leading me into about a year of PT and rehab.
After my recovery, I refocused my passion into the gym and fitness. When COVID shut the world down as we know it, I created a makeshift gym in my mom’s basement and persistently worked out until gyms started to open back up. With this new opportunity to explore weights and equipment, I found my love for powerlifting.
Since then, I have put hundreds of hours of work and effort into the sport in hopes of becoming one of the best. Amongst this effort to become an elite-level powerlifter, I have faced devastating injury. 10 days out from my first powerlifting meet, I pulled a muscle in my back and was forced to drop out of the competition and start from square one.
As I navigated my way through another series of rehab and recovery, I reworked my mental approach to the sport to become more mentally resilient and acquired a wealth of knowledge on how to approach injury and work my way back up to the top. I took on the challenge to program and coach myself through my first powerlifting meet prep and committed myself to getting all the insight I could from the experience to best help clients who are working around an injury or have nagging effects of previous injuries.
I can now proudly call myself a squat state record holder as well as a national champion in my weight and age division. This feat did not come easily but I am elated with my success thus far and hope to soon be able to call myself a world champion.
Alongside this dedication to my sport, I have also invested in my craft of coaching by dedicating countless time to perfecting what I do and growing my knowledge base. As an Exercise Science student, I am constantly immersed and soaking in new information on a daily basis.
On top of the conceptual knowledge I am learning, I am able to convert it into applied work as I service clients ranging from young athletes to older populations, alongside coaches and colleagues who elevate me to become the best coach I can. Day in and day out I am advancing through textbook knowledge, applied training, feedback from those more well-versed than I am, and unwavering commitment to providing my clients with the best experience in the realm of online coaching.
My goal as a coach is to help everyone, but specifically to empower women through strength and knowledge to reach new heights and explore undiscovered territories for themselves. I do this not just through my one-on-one coaching, but through my Lift Like a Lady workshops where we create encouraging and welcoming environments for women to learn and grow within the space of heavy lifting. My mission is to be the guide and model for all women to look, feel, and be the strongest & most confident versions of themselves.
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?
Being a female in a male-dominated industry, the path to success has not been easygoing but I knew what I was getting into when I signed up and I have made it my mission to pave the path for other women to come into the industry with hopes of it being an easier path for them. I have dealt with being discredited on my knowledge and coaching simply because I’m a woman, expected to make space for men in the gym because I’m a woman although I deserve to be in the space just as much they do (and frankly, probably am stronger than them), and have had to put in twice the work to get half the credit that a man would.
Powerlifting is male-dominated as is coaching. What keeps me going is my passion to be the representation for other women and younger girls who have the same aspirations as I do but haven’t seen anybody else do it. Simply seeing somebody else do what you want to do can be all the motivation someone needs to take on the challenge and I didn’t have that, so I want to be that for someone else.
I am a 19-year-old entrepreneur who is getting ready to graduate with a Bachelor’s at the end of the year and have goals of owning my own facility and not working for anybody else by the age of 25. Most would say I’m shooting too high or out of my mind but with God on my side, I know it is more than attainable.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about CoachingBySam?
I got into the fitness world around the age of 14 and started my Personal Trainer Certification at the age of 16. When I started my certification, I simply wanted to better understand how to write a better program for myself and get effective & efficient results. Through my years of trial and error, I decided to use my knowledge and experience to help other women achieve their goals in a more direct route.
Fitness and living a healthy lifestyle aren’t easy, and with a world of social media and overwhelming information, it can be even more difficult to decipher what works from what doesn’t and can quite honestly be overbearing. Many find themselves overjoyed with newbie gains and then see them level out after a couple of months and get discouraged just to stop altogether and start the process all over again a few months later. My goal as a coach is to take the guesswork out of it and put you on a direct path to your goals with structured approaches, holistic changes, and maintainable results.
I don’t just throw programs at clients and wish them the best, I educate them on the best methods to reach goals in healthy ways and then show them how to maintain them. My goal has never been a 6-week quick fix that won’t last longer than a month, but an all-around lifestyle change that will keep you on the road of physical and mental health for a lifetime.
My greatest accomplishment has been the creation of my monthly Lift Like a Lady workshop. The idea came from an experience I had in a strength & conditioning class where I realized how many girls were interested in learning how to lift but never took the time to learn because of the intimidation from “gym-bros” or not wanting to look silly in the gym doing a movement they weren’t familiar with. I decided to take my experience as a powerlifter and share the techniques and confidence I have with other women in a man-free and intimidation-free environment where everyone is there to learn and uplift each other. I have seen so many girls leave feeling more confident in themselves and their ability to do the things they were once afraid to even attempt. Women deserve to feel and be strong and that’s exactly what I am accomplishing through this workshop.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Being new in the business space can be intimidating and it’s never fun to feel like you’re the most knowledgeable person in the room but there is only one way to learn and that is to ask. As someone who has excelled in academics, it’s been hard for me to realize that I don’t know everything. It excites me to know that there is so much to learn but I had to get over my own pride of not wanting others to know that I didn’t know because all it was doing was holding me back. It’s still something I’m working to get over, but I have started putting myself in more uncomfortable and growth-provoking environments that force me to ask questions and learn from those who have gotten more reps in than me. Most people are willing to help but you have to be willing to reach out. Closed mouths don’t get fed.
Pricing:
- Online 1-on-1 Coaching Starts at $50/mo.
- Lift Like a Lady Workshops: FREE
- In-Person Coaching Starts at $45/session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.coachingbysam.me/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strengthbysamm/
Image Credits
James Greene
