Ashley owns and operates Evolution Trainers in Mountain View, CA, a cutting-edge performance and training facility that focuses on personal training, small group training, massage therapy, chiropractic and physical therapy. She has been recognized as one of the ‘Top 10 Trainers in the Bay Area’ by the San Francisco Chronicle, and as one of the ‘Top 100 Trainers in the U.S.’ by Men’s Journal. Ashley’s background as an elite athlete and national track and field champion has opened the doors for the opportunity to coach 2 World Champions. Ashley coached World Record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee in preparation for the 1996 Olympics and the 1998 Goodwill Games. She also coached World Cup Champion, Brandi Chastain in preparation for her final woman’s Professional soccer season in 2009.

Matt: I was lucky enough to check out the new Evolution location when you hosted the NorCal Fitness Summit recently and it’s absolutely amazing. How has everything been going since the grand opening?

Ashley: It’s been going great! The first couple weeks for us was complete chaos and I was a stress case, but I feel that we’re finally settling in. We recently had our grand opening party and about 200 people came and it’s just been really fun. There’s a lot of new energy and we’re really liking the location.

Matt: Nice! What were you most excited about moving into the new space?

Ashley: That’s a good question. Partly I think just the feeling of the place when you walk in. There are high ceilings, skylights, and it feels very open which is fantastic. That was really exciting for me. The location is also a lot better for us. Our previous location was starting to be impacted by traffic because there was only one road to get there, so we’re much more visible since Evolution is now in a central location.

Matt: How many trainers do you have working out of Evolution at the moment?

Ashley: Right now have 32 trainers, 4 massage therapists/physical therapists, a chiropractor, and a nutritionist.

Matt: That’s a full team! Can you tell me about the process of scaling up Evolution over time to the point where you were able to open up your dream gym?

Ashley: Evolution had been in business for 8 years at the previous location. Prior to that I managed a personal training facility for a company I worked for that operated on with an employee based model. When I left there I went out on my own and worked at several independent contractor based models. I took these various experiences in the industry and formed it into the business model that I wanted to create. I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to do so I just got started. Originally I wanted to open it up in San Francisco, but it was hard to find space. I ended up looking down in Mountain View and was lucky because several years ago the area wasn’t nearly as popular as it is today. A lot of my friends and personal contacts were down there, so in hindsight it made more sense to be in Mountain View anyways. We found a location, opened up with 6 trainers, and within 3 months we were close to breakeven with our cashflow. We gradually grew from there year after year.

One of my long-term goals was to own the facilities for investment purposes as well as security and stability for the business. It started to get more clear that the building we were in had sold and we were going to have to move out, so we began to look elsewhere. We got really lucky and found this place before it was even on the market. It was a really intense process to go through negotiations and make this happen, but it ended up working out. Now we own the building and it’s where we are going to be for the long haul.

Matt: It really is an amazing spot. So your initial exposure to the industry was through your own training as an athlete. This eventually grew into several well-known clients and some pretty cool recognition for your training as well. What’s been the most enjoyable moment so far during your training career?

Ashley: Ooo, that’s a tough one. Definitely when I first got into training/coaching the big name athletes I worked with were a lot of fun. Coaching Jackie Joyner-Kersee for the Olympics and World Championships was incredible. I’d been an athlete at that level, but never a coach, so it was such a unique experience to be a part of.

Then I switched more into being a trainer and I’ve had some clients for 10-15 years now. I actually just really enjoy the relationships you build with your clients and how much of an important part of their life you become. That’s a really unique thing about being a trainer. If you’re someone that has clients that look towards you for their long-term health instead of short-term goals it’s very special to be a part of. I’ve made some really significant changes in my clients lives. For example, I have one client who has a really bad knee and was having difficulty walking. We completely changed her life by focusing on her strength and mobility. Her kids now comment on how much better she moves and it’s those kind of things that are really rewarding. I don’t know if that really answers your question, but the long-term relationships and long-term changes are what’s important to me.

Matt: No, I think that’s the best possible answer I could have received (laughing). Through my conversations with trainers I’ve heard that turning a short-term client into a long-term relationship is one of the hardest things to do, so that’s really cool for me to hear.

So you’ve worked with some great minds in the fitness industry, such as Todd Durkin. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far from your mentors?

Ashley: Oh my gosh, there’s so much. I’ve had a couple different mentors, but Todd has been the most influential in the fitness industry. The biggest thing I’ve learned from him was to expand my vision. I had sort of met some of my goals when I started working with him. My business was doing well and I had grown it into what I envisioned, so I sort of felt like that was it. I wasn’t very motivated and felt a bit stagnant. Being around other high-performers who were doing great things in the industry opened up my eyes to all the other things I could be doing. These bigger visions/goals reinspired me and lit a fire to get out there and do more. That’s partly what drove the NorCal Fitness Summit. I was already looking for a new space, but the bigger goals factored into finding the right type of space for us to continue to grow. Now I’m also doing more mentoring and leadership work with other trainers. Helping them continue to grow their businesses and themselves as well as expanding their horizons.

Matt:What are a few steps you’d recommend to young fitness professionals just getting started?

Ashley: If you’re just getting started as an employee somewhere I would focus on learning to really building relationships with your clients. I know people really get into the training side of things. The nuts and bolts of it all like programming, movement, corrective exercise, all that stuff. I want trainers to focus on how to really affect change with your clients, how to help clients change their behaviors, and how to build relationships that last for a long-time. That’s the other half of the equation and if you can’t do those things then all the education you have on training is basically meaningless. So, I would say to develop your relationship skills, study human behavior and habit forming because they are incredibly important.

For trainers who are doing independent contractor or studio work I would just say dive into learning more about business. Time-management is huge…surprisingly huge. That holds so many people back because they get stuck in the day-to-day without prioritizing the stuff that will actually move them forward in their career. I guess the other piece that most people don’t love to hear is to really get more comfortable with marketing. I’ve tried a bunch of different things and overwhelmed myself before, so I now I focus on the 1 to 2 things I actually like to do and am good at. You have to stick with the stuff that shows off your brand the best. The latest thing that we’re doing that’s working really well is hosting fitness parties. We invite our clients to bring a group of friends or coworkers for a free group hour workout where we focus on making it really fun. We make it playful, take them through a good workout, and then add some educational pieces to it. To top it off we add a post workout smoothie. It’s a low-key, non-salesy format way to get people into the space and show them what we do. Clients love it because it makes them feel special to throw this thing together and workout with their friends. So, marketing doesn’t have to be complex. You can figure out something that works in your model and be consistent with it.

To follow Ashley further check out the links below:

Ashley’s website and Twitter.

Evolution Trainers website, FB Page, and Twitter.