There's always a temptation, when you run a small fitness business, to turn physical activity into a commodity.
To see human bodies as the mere backdrop for a pre-packaged, generic Workout of the Day.
To see each new person as a sale first, and a miraculous human-animal (with infinite consciousness) second.
Coach Will here, and I know this tendency well ... because I used to think of fitness--and clients--this way, too.
But (if it's not already obvious) my thinking has changed drastically on this point.
I came to realize that…
Business tends to favor products that are not diverse, opting instead for things that offer lots of consistency and repeatability and leave little room for variation. This approach is much easier to optimize for efficiency, and offers a much bigger reward when you scale up. Examples of this abound but a few that come to mind are... Starbucks coffee (they slightly burn all of it to ensure consistent taste), McDonald's potatoes for french-fries (they're bred to be one shape so they're easier to cut up), and 50-min group workouts (that fit neatly into an hour and allow for maximum face time for a trainer/coach, no matter what the client needs).
Humans tend to thrive when they are becoming themselves, and not trying to fit into some generic or low-key coercive mold. On this path toward self-becoming (rather than conforming), diversity and variability are a strength that offers flexible solutions to obstacles.
So while I naturally want this here Alchemical business to succeed, I also know that denying the human aspects of fitness (intrinsic variation) in favor of the more business-minded aspects (intrinsic consistency) would rob us of the magic that makes this work so meaningful.
Which brings me to the point of this here email (finally ): why we, The Fitness Alchemists, don't offer gift cards. (mostly*)
As in--we don't offer folx the ability to buy sessions or packages for someone else.
When I share this with people, they always give me that puppy-question face…
"What? You don't want my money? I wanna buy some of your awesome training for a dear loved one!"
Welp...no we don't. For one reason:
Because we've discovered that (over many years, and many gift cards sold) one of the most critical moments for our members is when they decide to spend their coin on our training.
In a weird way, we've realized that the wallet-out moment represents a line, a threshold, that represents them giving consent to be coached.
Without that consent, nothing will really work to help that person get where they want to go with our coaching...not the "perfect" program of exercises, or the most motivational messaging, or even that weird, bullying-style of coaching (which is another no-no for us).
Consent--in this context, and alllllll the others--is just that important.
And just like we're not interested in selling a product that fits better in a business model, but fits worse on the real humans we work with, we're not interested in taking money without that consent.
So what can you do if you really want to get a friend or loved one some Fitness Alchemy for the holidays?
You can tell them about us…
Tell them how we are re-imagining what fitness looks and feels like.
Tell them that we're tossing out the shitty and destructive social norms around bodies, and inviting individual felt experience instead.
Tell them how we're straight slaying at Instagram (you follow us over there, right?), posting free stuff on YouTube and hell--tell 'em to get on our newsletter list!
And let them decide to start training with us when they're ready.
This has been one hell of a year, but we're really excited about what's coming down the pike for 2021, and we're so stoked that you are here for that adventure.
Have a great weekend!
*we DO encourage family/friends of clients to buy our training on behalf of clients, 'cause in that case the client has already consented to coaching.