Her Story
About Alina
I've been in the health field for 10 years, but fitness specifically for the last 5. I am the owner and head trainer of Eastside Athletics, which we opened in November of 2023, and I'm also a licensed occupational therapist, which I've been since May 2016, though I'm no longer practicing as a therapist. On a typical day, I'm usually training clients for an average of 6 or 7 hours a day, but then also maintaining the facility. We have a team of four additional trainers, so I'm mentoring them, scheduling their clients, taking care of billing, and handling a lot of administrative tasks in addition to that. I grew up doing competitive gymnastics, and fitness has always been part of my life. Being in a service position has always been important to me, which is why I went into healthcare, because it seemed like a good, stable career where I could make a difference. When the pandemic hit and we couldn't go to the gym anymore, I realized just how important working out was to my mental health, my sanity, and just how passionate about it I was when it was taken away. I had worked with a personal trainer myself, and he had asked me a couple times if I would ever consider switching careers and working for him. I was 4 years out of school and said absolutely not, I got my master's degree in this. But the pandemic was a turning point for a lot of people and a point of self-reflection, and I decided to give personal training a shot. I did it part-time to start, just to feel like it was a good fit, and I immediately fell in love with it and felt like it was just what I was meant to do, more than the work I was doing, so I decided to transition to that full-time.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alina
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think embodiment in our field is really important, so I think people can tell when you are passionate about something and when you walk the walk. That's one piece. But I also think having worked in healthcare with really challenging clients just gave me a level of empathy and tact that a lot of personal trainers lack, I think. And additionally, a level of professionalism. Like, I was used to having to write reports and get insurance reimbursement and be really intentional with my treatment, and so personal training felt in a lot of ways easier than that, but I think a lot of clients were really surprised by the level of professionalism and care that they got, in comparison to other trainers.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Be open to it being better than you could imagine. I think a lot of times when you're starting something, you're imagining all the worst-case scenarios, right? Often we don't let ourselves imagine what the best-case scenario is.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just don't play small. Own what you know.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that when men step into the world of strength and conditioning, they're kind of raised in that culture. They're encouraged to be in the weight room, you know, all the football players, they grew up in there. And a lot of women are just not encouraged to chase athleticism and strength from a young age the way that men are. So when you step into this field, it kind of feels like men have this 5-10 year head start on you. Their conversations are a lot different around fitness. They get into the weeds, whereas with women, oftentimes we're just trying to convince them that strength training is a good idea to begin with. So I think that's a challenge, stepping into it, is just that it feels like men have been in this so much longer. But the biggest opportunity there is that a lot of times women want a female trainer and someone who has been through what they're going through and can relate to them a little bit more. So I think that's a huge opportunity as well.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity, I think, is the biggest one. I also think that hard work is a big value of mine. And then compassion. So, those three.
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