Wednesday Winning - Holly Perkins

My new Wednesday blog series will include someone I've met that is winning at life. I am so excited to share my first of the series. I met Holly through Instagram and was blown away at what a strong, smart, beautiful and spiritual person she is in all areas of her life. Holly Perkins is a strength and body coach who works with individuals in-person and virtually. In her most recent book, Women's Health Lift to Get Lean: A Beginners Guide to Fitness and Strength Training, Holly teaches all women how to become their strongest self. I'm so excited to share Holly with you!

How does spirituality impact your business?

Spirituality is everything to me and my business. When I made the decision to go from being an in-person trainer to being a strength and nutritional coach, I was waiting for the net to appear in order to leap. What I didn't realize, and it took me 6-9 month to discover, was I had to leap in order to see the net. In those 6-9 months of discovery, I had to look inward and outward to something greater than me. That period in my life taught me a lot of trust and faith. I am on the brink of making a big decision right now, and I have prayed just before we talked that God to open the doors and that I have the courage to walk through the doors. I also prayed to God that if these are not the doors for me, and they don't open, to trust there are other doors down the line.

What was the inspiration for your business?

I never set out to be a personal trainer or intended for this business. My business was a divine destiny. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and there were not a lot of career aspirations. I knew I wanted to be happy. I went to Penn State University and I loved physical activity in all of its forms. Being physical was the one thing in my life that made me feel happy all the time so I followed my bliss. My business feels more like divine destiny. Even now as an adult woman, I am still following my bliss. It's amazing.

 How do you stay motivated being an entrepreneur?

One thing I want entrepreneurs to know is that real world obstacles come up even when you are following your bliss and doing what you love.  For me, overcoming obstacles comes down to observing my options. I have a good ability to stop myself when I feel down or overwhelmed, step out of the pain (emotional or physical) and get clear with myself about my options. Once I do a check in with my options, I follow my heart's choice.

The other aspect that I believe helps me stay motivated is that I have a high tolerance for pain. Tolerance for discomfort has allowed me to thrive because sometimes there is a lot of struggle before the miracle comes. It's important to remember that the miracle does come. Each obstacle has made me stronger and able to take even bigger risks.

What would you tell the younger you?

Please believe in yourself a bit more - you are awesome! I didn't really believe in myself until I was in my forties. If I could go back to my twenties and be as brazen as I am now, damn, I can't imagine what would have happened. Nonetheless, I wouldn't change anything about my journey. I went through a lot of personal growth in my thirties and forties, and those are the clients who are drawn to work with me.

How do you balance personal and professional commitments?

In all honesty, I don't balance work and life perfectly because each week is different. All I do is the best I can. My biggest learning about balance is learning to delegate. I love running my business but I've learned that when I delegate certain tasks, I am able to be more creative and abundant.

The next learning about balance is that there are cycles- weeks when we feel like we have it all together and weeks when we don't. I've found that a business owner needs to have a great team around them in order to keep growing. 

Last, I think it is important for each person to learn what works for his or her schedule, body, personality, and just accept it. Even though it might now be ideal, I've learned that I go nonstop, I crash and take a few days off, then go back out and crush it.

What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome?

I wanted to shift from being a personal trainer because I realized I wasn't going to grow and change if I kept that type of business model. Initially, I thought that changing my business model from an in the gym, six days a week personal training model to a virtual body and eating coach would be easy. What I learned is that changing what I had done for 17 years, even if it was in the same industry, was a very difficult change. In a way, it was like changing careers. It took me three years of struggling emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially to build a new model, learn new systems and processes, to where it is now. All of the building has paid off, and things are flowing. Now I remind myself that big changes take at least several years to fully cultivate. 

What project are you most excited about right now?

How do I pick just one? I have three projects that are on the burners right now. First, I have a new book agent and am working on my next book about the Holly Perkins eating methodology. Second, I have opened to the possibilities of opening my own gym. Third, I am doing a 12-week group coaching called "The Comeback" which is a health and fitness groups for 40 women all over the world. We are in the last month of May and possibly starting another group in September. Stay tuned!