The Secret to Painless Business Growth (with Mark Gray)

Angela Frank: 00:00:00

Welcome to The Growth Pod.

Today on the podcast we have Mark Gray, who is an online personal trainer with a decade of experience helping business owners and entrepreneurs live healthier, stronger and all around better lives. Mark, welcome to the podcast.

Mark Gray: 00:00:14

Thanks for having me.

And like I just said before, I'm excited to hopefully share some wisdom to your, to your awesome audience and yeah, just give them some actionable tips that they can go away with.

Angela Frank: 00:00:24

I love that you're going to be sharing the secret to painless business growth and I titled this episode purposely because you're literally going going to share the secret to pain free living with us today because you are a personal trainer and that is your focus.

Before we get started though, can you share a little bit about why physical health is important not only for our bodies, but for our business growth as well?

Mark Gray: 00:00:48

Yes. And I was just writing about this about an hour before I come on, so it should be nice and fresh in my brain.

It all boils down to obviously we all have, we all have a body as simple as that.

Like there's you can have all the money in the world, knowledge, resources, whatever it is, but at the end of the day, you have your body, your mind, and it's how you use that dictates obviously the type of success, whether it's family success, relationships, business and so on.

So when someone realizes that their physical success directly correlates their business success, then all of a sudden their business success will grow. And this isn't something that I ever thought of before. Like I didn't get into coaching to help people with their businesses.

I got into coaching to help people either build some muscle or get fitter or stronger, look better in a bikini, whatever it was.

And then the more I started to work with people who own businesses and were in charge of a lot of heavy duty decisions with big companies, then I started to see a correlation between them exercising and looking after themselves, sleeping better, feeling better, having more confidence and conviction of what they do. And then it started to correlate to better business. I've had clients open new businesses. I've had clients extend and grow current businesses.

So when you realize that you are the entity that drives it all, then all of a sudden you're like, oh yeah, actually me looking after myself is actually going to be a big benefit to my business career and everything else.

Angela Frank: 00:02:18

I think that's so important.

What you said about looking after yourself and your body and how that correlates with better business decisions and just improved energy to be able to then go and do things like you mentioned some of your clients have opened new businesses and built businesses. I want to take it back to the beginning. What inspired you to start your business?

Obviously, there's a lot that goes on in the personal training space.

And so I'm really curious, why did you make that decision to be an online personal trainer versus somebody who's more focused in their immediate local training market?

Mark Gray: 00:02:55

Yeah, well, In a nutshell, COVID 19, which I'm sure, but like, there's no, it's no coincidence that there was a massive influx of online coaches of all different walks of life. I was in a gym. I've always worked for myself, so I've always been self employed. I've always run my own coaching business.

Covid was obviously hitting everyone hard and exercise was always an outlet for the best of times with their hectic lives and business and all that sort of stuff. And then all of a sudden that was taken away from them. So they.

One of my really, really good clients, he reached out to me not long after Covid started when we had the lockdowns in England and just asked me, can you train me online? And I was like, oh, yeah, I can do that. And then it just grew and then I've just, I branched out into like different forms of online coaching.

You have to be careful with your words when it comes to things like this because Obviously I know COVID 19 was, it was a bad situation, but COVID 19, like the pandemic and all that sort of stuff was, was situationally, it was actually really good for me. Like, if I didn't, if that didn't happen, I might not have went into the online space as quickly and then kind of grown in the, at the pace I am.

I now live in Barcelona, which would never have happened. I used to live in, in, in London for eight years and before that Ireland.

So the thought of me living abroad was just like, it was just impossible because I had to be in a physical gym. So, yeah, COVID 19 was the reason I got my butt online. It would have happened eventually, but it definitely expedited the process.

Angela Frank: 00:04:25

Yeah, I think that's something that so many businesses discovered during COVID And of course, like you mentioned, there were so many negative impacts from that time, but there were also these benefits as well. And so just being able to look at it from both angles, I think is so important.

And that also you're not alone in finding that you now have more freedom. Certainly. I definitely moved online with my consulting as well. And I think that a lot of people have just really found their niche online.

I want to go back to what you mentioned about how you transitioned to working specifically with business owners and entrepreneurs. It sounds like you discovered that and then maybe focused more heavily on that as time went on.

Can you talk to us a little bit more about why you specifically chose business owners and entrepreneurs as your niche and just kind of like work, work us through some of the thought process there.

Mark Gray: 00:05:24

Yeah, yeah. So back in: 2018

I've always been my own boss and I was kind of going through different thought processes in my head as to where I wanted to go work my career and just different avenues and possibilities. And a job application came up for, for Equinox. You probably know, obviously they're huge in America.

They're not very big, they're huge in, in Britain, but they're very new and they're definitely known as probably the best gym in Britain. And I applied for a job there as a coach and I got the job and I did very, very well.

I got like coach of newcomer of the year, all that sort of stuff. But when I was in there, it, it exposed me to a lot of different type of clientele. So I used to just work in a regular gym.

And this isn't me like comparing apples and oranges. I had awesome clients in my other gym. But then when I.

You go from a gym that the membership is maybe 60 pounds a month to the gym where the membership is 200 or 250 pounds a month, there's just like a different, not going to say a caliber, but just a different type of client that's in that gym.

So in that gym I met one of my really good clients, Jasper Conran, who is like a British entrepreneurial, like legend and fashion designer and all this sort of stuff. And so I met a lot of big, big dogs in that, in that, in that gym and I started to work with people like this.

So then the more I started to work with these people, I started to notice some like scary trends. And that was. A lot of them were uber successful. Like success that I could just only ever dream of and most people could only ever dream of.

But a lot of that success came in like the way of like a little bit of a sacrifice. And to be honest, that's kind of expected because if you're going to be that sex, successful sacrifices are needed.

But one of those sacrifices often was their health. So they'd come to me out of shape. Like, energy's low, confidence is low. From a, like, just a physical viewpoint as well.

Maybe they're not as mentally sharp as they used to be. And a lot of them were in pain, actually, a lot. I say all of them had some sort of like injury.

Whether it's like back pain, knee pain, shoulder, you name it, they had it. And I just was like, yeah, actually there's something here in this. I get on really well with this type of person.

Like they trust me, I can engage with them. Which is something that a lot of them would struggle with in the past.

Especially when someone has like a bit of a celeb status, it can be very much like, take, take, take, because you're like, oh, this could be my golden ticket to, to success and the big coaching business and that sort of stuff where I'm just very much like, they're another person from the viewpoint of like, I'm just gonna coach them, do I, would anyone else? Obviously you, you have to treat them in a certain way. You're not going to be posting them on Instagram and all that sort of stuff.

And yeah, so that was, that was really it. I got on really well. I noticed that there was something that I could solve which is obviously the kit that's the root of any business.

Does someone have a problem? Yes. Can I solve that problem? Yes.

And that's kind of why I went down the route of like pain free performance and trying to become more of a specialist or someone at niche down in that. And yeah, and that's why I'm here today.

Angela Frank: 00:08:53

I love that.

I think it's so inspiring how you saw an opportunity to work at this new gym and you took it and that led to you discovering this hole in the market essentially where there's a certain type of client who needs support and you're able to support them in a way that maybe they haven't been able to receive before.

One thing that I wanted to ask before we transition into pain free performance, because obviously that is so quintessential to our conversation today.

But I'm curious, when you were now working at this new gym and you're working to build out your business, Covid happens and you're moving online, what is one growth tip or trick that you were able to implement to become successful if you could distill that all down?

Mark Gray: 00:09:38

Yeah, yeah. There's, there's a few things I could definitely say.

One of them would be like kind of lean in, lean into the challenge and like, don't be afraid of, of failing. I've failed a lot when it comes to this, this journey of mine the last few years.

ntor for, since probably like: 2018

Yeah, don't be afraid to ask for help because, for one, if you're doing something new, you're just not going to know what you're doing. Like, it's, it's simple as that. I, I always say this to people when they're in the gym and it's like, you're not supposed to know what, what to do.

Like, don't, like, don't stress it out. It's like you, you go into the gym, this isn't your world, so you're not supposed to know it. Like, that's my job.

Just in the same way, if I went into one of your businesses, I would not have a clue what to do. So don't stress about not knowing what to do, because that's why there's experts. So ask for help.

So, like, I've been part of the biggest fitness mentorship and mastermind in the world and definitely in the UK and Ireland and across probably all of Europe for a few years now, and it's just been amazing just having access to certain resources and then just other great coaches to, to see what they're doing. So, yeah, the big one is just ask for help. Get, get your butt into like some sort of community and network with people.

Obviously, I've only started using LinkedIn properly for like the last three or four months and just even in those few months, like, that's actually how we got in touch, was through LinkedIn. So just put yourself out there and don't be afraid to ask for help because I think, bar none, that's how you'll see the biggest uptick in growth.

Angela Frank: 00:11:18

I love that.

I think that a lot of people get into business because one, they see a place in the market that they can address, or two, because they have this passion and they want to be able to do what they love and help others while they do it. And so with that, you're not going to be an expert in everything business.

Just like if you're new to the gym, you're not going to be an expert in the gym.

So I love that your tip is to lean into the unknown and find people who can help you, even if it's taking a course, joining a mentorship or working with an expert to solve A problem. Shifting now to the topic of our conversation today, which is pain free performance, I'd love to know.

Of course, working out in the gym and working with somebody like yourself who is knowledgeable is very important. But if you were to give someone one actionable piece of advice to start improving their physical wellness today, what would that be again?

Mark Gray: 00:12:15

Loads of things that come to the top of my mind. I could tell you to walk 10,000 steps a day. I could say, tell you to watch your nutrition.

Could also tell you to, like, hit the gym like two to three days a week. Just do really, really simple things. Or if you're at home, just like stretch for 10 minutes a day.

But the big thing I would say, and this is very like niche specific and topic specific, like entrepreneurs and business leaders, is just sleep. It's like, please prioritize your sleep. The biggest win you'll ever have is just get your butt to sleep.

Get seven hours if you, if you're feeling adventurous, seven and a half, eight if you can do it. Because that's where you'll see the biggest impact on your, your health.

And then not just your health, your, your business, your, your relationships, your mood, everything, everything will just get so much better if you sleep. It's that really annoying kind of entrepreneurial narrative. And just around business itself is that like, you have to.

It's been cool to sacrifice sleep as such, and it's like, you need to, like, it's better. It was almost cool to say, I only got four hours night, and it's like, yeah, go me.

Whereas I always say, like, a bigger flex would be to say, I got seven hours sleep, but my business is still absolutely crushing it. Like that to me is just so much sexier to do that. So, yeah, sleep, I love that.

Angela Frank: 00:13:35

I think that one of the things that has been so core to our conversations on the podcast is this prioritization of you and yourself.

Because when you prioritize, you know yourself, your mental health, your sleep, as you're explaining here, you show up better for your business and like you said, that's the bigger flex. Of course my business is successful, but I also feel good about myself and I wake up each day feeling refreshed.

So I love that you're saying that sleep is so important when somebody is, you know, starting their business and making some sacrifices. Like you mentioned, some of your clients have. Usually that comes at the cost of sleep, but also your physical health.

So when somebody is now making the change and they're saying, you know, I am important, my physical body is important. What are some of the pit pitfalls that you see?

Maybe not clients, but other people in the space who now are a business owner and taking their health seriously that you could help listeners avoid.

Mark Gray: 00:14:33

Also pitfalls to avoid. I think, I think one of the big ones that a lot of them run into is obviously is time management. So is making things fit. That's.

That's the biggest complaint or the biggest roadblock I've got from like, just most of the people who ever spoken to where they've been, clients or not, is like, I just don't have enough time in the day. And yeah, fair enough. I, I get that, like, you're Busy doing like 10, 12 hours a day, whatever it is.

Like, your mind is, is super focused on other stuff. Then you've got a family, then you've got social stuff to do as well. So I get it. It's tough.

But if something is valuable to you, then you prioritize it. So that's, that's what I always try to harp on. It goes back to the sleep thing. People don't prioritize their sleep because they don't value it.

But once you see the value in it, you're like, it makes me more energetic. Not just. And then besides the energy thing, how important it is for your actual health. Like, you're just your health in general.

So when you know all that stuff, you value it, then you prioritize it. And the same goes to your. Just your actual, your habits, going to the gym, your nutrition, all that sort of stuff.

When you relate that to time management, you have 24 hours a day, like we all do. If you're really honest with yourself, it's like, can you find 35, 40 minutes to fit in a gym session? Is like, yeah, you can. And it's.

You have to be pedantic about it. And you might have to look through your calendar and then be like, you know, there's a few. There's gaps there. Like, what do I usually do?

Journals, gaps? I sit on my button, scroll through Instagram for half an hour. It's like, cool. There, there's our, there's our gap.

Like, let's, let's put something into that. So getting even more crystal clear and just, yeah, uber crystal clear on your, Your time management around your health and fitness is very important.

People find the time to, like, sit on their butt and watch TV and scroll on Instagram. So, yeah, you'd be surprised how much time you can find for your workouts and everything else when you, you really think about it.

Angela Frank: 00:16:26

Yeah, I love that because the, the way I teed up this episode was like, you know, your health is important because it helps your business grow. And it's the exact reason why you mentioned you have to prioritize it. You have to find a reason to care about it, to make time for it in your day.

And like you said, a lot of your clients would never have thought that they could fit all of this into their busy schedule, but because they've seen the benefits of it now, they prioritize it.

And so I think that it, it's really full circle about, you know, making sure that your business is growing because as an entrepreneur, of course you want to be successful, but you also need to be taking care of yourself at the end of the day.

Mark Gray: 00:17:08

Oh, one million percent. One million and every. Everything comes down to priorities. Like, it's simple as that. Like, it's just, you need to prioritize things.

And I've wrote about it so many times in my content and I write it in emails and Instagram posts and just everything. It's like your health and fitness needs to be number one. Like, your business has been number one or maybe number two behind your family.

But I'm kind of hoping it's number two. But for a lot of people, it's number one.

And then somewhere down here, it's like relationships, bloody car, like fancy restaurants, and then hella fitness is all the way down here underneath my desk. But you need to put number one and then, and that's a hard pill to swallow, to be honest, for a lot of people.

And it's, I've had difficult conversations with, with people in the past and trying to just slowly, like, chip away at their mindset and get it more towards the health and fitness side of things because they've just been so uber focused in their business. But like, like I said, I've, I, I see the proof and put the pudding with a lot of my clients.

Like clients that have been entrepreneurs for 30, 40 years. And they always say, like, I wish I had done this 20, 30 years ago. And it's like, I wasn't around back then anyway.

But they, because they just see how valuable it is and they're at that point now where it is number one. Now don't get twisted. There will be times where they have to like, forego a gym session because they've got important means and that's cool.

But more often than not, like, it's, it's training first, it's sleep, it's good nutrition because they know how valuable that is to just everything else and their business, and it makes them more money and that's what makes the world go round.

Angela Frank: 00:18:42

Yeah, 100%.

And I imagine the clients that do have to postpone because of an important meeting or something, like they are motivated and incentivized internally to get back on the bandwagon or like, reschedule the session right away and get back in the gym instead of just like, you know, falling off.

Like, maybe if you don't have an accountability partner, maybe you've experienced this before where you go gung ho for a few weeks and then you fall off the bandwagon.

Mark Gray: 00:19:09

Oh, I have, yeah. And that's, that's the thing is like, like, I had one of my very good clients, I spoke about, spoke about him at the start.

He's had, like, he won't mind me saying this. He's had coaches before in the past, and I've had that with a lot of my clients.

Like, a lot of them would have had coaches before in the past or they've tried this health and fitness thing and for some reason it just hasn't worked out whether it's been like the person they've worked with. But a lot of it is just because it hasn't been important to them at that stage.

And fair enough, but I know if I had my hands in them, I'd make them, make them see, see differently.

But whereas before in the past, when they weren't completely committed, and this goes for anything like business, gym, buddy, everything, relationships, boyfriend, girlfriends, is that there can be times where, like you said, it's like, oh, you miss a gym session and maybe you miss a week because you're on a holiday or you're sick. It's like, for me, for instance, I could miss two weeks through illness, and then as soon as I'm back to normal, I'm straight back in the gym.

Like, it's not even a second thought about it, but with a lot of people, they have that period, and whether it's one session or two, or they're going on holidays for a week, or they're traveling with business for two weeks, and then they don't see the inside of a gym for three months. Okay. And that's like, just so, so common.

But now when you've ingrained those habits, it's like, you know, you can be sick for a week or you have just crazy business where you just, you have to focus for a week, but as soon as opportunity not comes a knocking, they're straight back in the gym and they're, they're doing this stuff and I use the gym. The gym is just one element. It's like in the background, they're still sleeping well, they're eating well, they're managing their stress.

Maybe they're being more active outside of the office. So, yeah, there's a lot to it, but that's a super, super important element. That kind of just change in mindset towards, like, this is what I do now.

Angela Frank: 00:21:05

I love that. Mark, we've chatted a lot throughout this episode about how you got started and how you evolved into what you're doing now.

But I'm curious to know what's next for you. What are you working on?

Mark Gray: 00:21:17

I am trying to get into the public speaking realm, which is just madness because I'm. I wouldn't say extremely introverted, but I'm pretty introverted. I'm not like, I'm not.

t into that probably start of: 2025

I'm trying to get into it before the year ends. And that's just so I can reach kind of a broader audience and just kind of chat about what I do and not just talking about me, sorry.

Just how I can help and just the benefits that people will have when they prioritize their health and fitness and especially more so in that kind of corporate and entrepreneurial world and just so people can just see how valuable it is and the big impact it does have on your career, your business and. And then most importantly, obviously your health. So, yeah, that's the next big thing for me. And, yeah, just continue coaching.

Lots of clients all around the world.

Angela Frank: 00:22:23

I love that. That sounds so exciting.

And I cannot wait to follow along if somebody is listening and they want to get in touch with you, either for personal training or to keep up with some public speaking events that you may have going on in the future. Where's the best place for them to do that?

Mark Gray: 00:22:38

I'd say the best place is LinkedIn. That's how we met. So like I said, I'm. I'm using that, that platform now. It's.

It's actually really quickly become my favorite social media platform by far, which I would not have told you six months ago, but, yeah, LinkedIn, I think it's. It's an awesome platform. I've met some really, really cool people over there.

Or you can check me at my website and powerlineproject.uk I've got a newsletter over there as well if you want to keep up with some, some cool tips. But yeah, they're the two main ones.

Angela Frank: 00:23:07

Awesome. And that will be linked in the description. So if you're listening and any of that sounds good to you, it's right there, just one click away.

Mark, thank you so much for joining us today. I really enjoyed our conversation.

Mark Gray: 00:23:17

Yeah, thank you. That was awesome. I really enjoyed myself. And yeah, hopefully they got some some good valuable from information from us.

Angela Frank: 00:23:24

If you enjoyed this episode of The Growth Pod, please leave us a review. Thank you so much for listening and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.