Matt: In a recent interview I did with David Dellanave he referenced a joke of yours about the online fitness world and trainers offering fitness consumers different flavors. Since then the internet has decided that your good friend JC Deen’s flavor is Soy Blueberry. Assuming that JC does indeed taste of blueberries, what unique flavor of fitness are you offering to the world?

Rog: Without a doubt my flavor is Cinnabon. I’m deliciously delectable to some, and they will drive until their car runs out of gas and then skateboard (note: they probably don’t even know how to skateboard) up a mountain to get some of that flavor. Others? They don’t want anything to do with that it, and just the thought of it makes them deathly ill.

Which is all good. I’m loving the flavor I am and speaking to the people who really want something out of it. I have no hard feelings at all for those who don’t like it, because I know there’s a flavor out there that they’d really jive with and they haven’t found it yet.

Matt: You’ve accomplished the goal for several of the trainers I know who get into online training and haved lived in Thailand while still operating your business for the past year. I’d like to take a step back and ask you where this all begin. Can you tell me about what led you to starting an online business and what your originals goals were?

Rog: In the initial stages, I was following the traditional path that existed without any thought to what else might be out there: get certified, work at a gym, train clients and that’s that.

I graduated with a degree in English Literature with plans to go into teaching, but after a personal health scare and a fitness intervention of my own, I started my fitness career off by interning at Cressey Performance for 3 months before starting to train at a local gym in the area.

There was no real plan beyond that. I started a blog towards the tail end of my internship because it seemed like the hot thing to do in the streets at the time, and I wanted to try and put my writing skills to use, but I hadn’t thought of the idea of using it as a way to create income.

After getting comfortable training people in person, I decided to throw up an offering to train people online since I had seen a few other people expand into that area, and it all began to cascade from there.

Through writing and meeting other fitness professionals I started to create somewhat of a name for myself, and more and more opportunities began to present themselves. I spoke at PAX East (big gaming event – super proud of that still), wrote for Men’s Health, created a zombie fitness product with John Romaniello, and have experienced all sorts of random greatness thanks to having an online presence.

Matt: While transitioning from in-person training to online training what challenges did you run into with your clients? What surprised you about this different medium?

Rog: The biggest challenge to me was the lack of an in-person connection. I had grown so accustomed to seeing my clients a few times a week and over the course of time I could sense when something was off, when they had a bad day, and adjust accordingly to get them back on track.

Online, that intimate feedback is impossible to create in the same way, so I had to try and bridge the gap as much as possible – post session Skype calls, mid-week and end of week check-ins, but even then there is no way to completely replicate it.

Matt: Was there a certain moment where you realized that you had reached the point with your online coaching business that you finally felt comfortable traveling and growing your business online?

Roger: Not really. I was only intending on being gone for a few months, so aside from having some money saved up to cover my expenses there and get back home if shit got real, I didn’t have a true plan. It was more of a dipping my toe in the water that ended up going better than I could have ever hoped for.

Matt: Tell me a bit about what you’ve been doing in Thailand this past year. What led to you staying longer than just a few months?

Rog: Thailand is a place where the costs are low enough that you can have a very enjoyable standard of living for less than one would think. Above all else, this gives you breathing room where you’re not constantly grinding just to narrowly stay ahead of the game. This freedom gave me the time to enjoy the hell out of life with very little stress.

I honestly didn’t make any major business moves, but I went on some crazy fun adventures, made a solid group of friends, and reconnected with myself in the best way possible, setting the stage for the direction that I want to take my life and business in the upcoming years.

Matt: So what’s coming up for you next? I’ve noticed that you’re message has evolved into coaching the mindset and psychology side of fitness. Is that an area where you plan to continue to build upon?

Rog: Adherence, life enjoyment, breaking the momentum of unresourceful habits – that’s exactly the area that I’m excited to focus on going forward. There’s an overwhelming amount of knowledge right now, and we’re at the point where accumulating more and more of it just becomes infobation at some point – it’s so easy to get off by amassing info that we don’t get around to actually applying it.

I’m excited about refining my message in a way that speaks not to other professionals, but directly to the people I’m looking to serve. I’m not sure what form that will be in just yet, but I’m open to any medium that helps meet that goal.

Matt: What are you excited for when thinking about what will happen in the next few years in our industry?

Rog: That the current trend of extremism will die down – from needing everything to be verified by science for it to be useful vs saying that science & studies are useless and can suck it. I’m hopeful that with the constant influx of professionals in this industry that there will be less black and white thinking, new ideas will be brought to the table, and that program & nutrition design/application will further develop into the art form that it is.

Matt: An art form. I’m glad you said that. To wrap this up, what advice would you have to other personal trainers out there as they are continuing to refine their message and craft?

Rog: Serve your clients relentlessly.

Continuously invest in your education, because no on else will.

Don’t compromise your message – there are enough people out there saying the exact same thing as everyone else, so you don’t have to.

Also, LEARN MARKETING! I’m kicking myself right in the penis for ignoring this one for so long. Good warm and fuzzy feelings aside, your message is only as good as its ability to spread and influence change. There’s nothing noble about struggling to make ends meet with your art, and by not getting your message out there, you’re doing a disservice to the people who it could help but will never know about it.

Matt: If you enjoyed this interview and are a fan of Cinnabon I highly recommend following Rog through the links below:

– Rog’s website
– FB Page
– Twitter