Felicia C. Baxter

My business coach is always encouraging me that you don't have to be perfect and have everything figured out in order to start. It's just the opportunity to start. And along the way, that has been a really huge game changer - being able to know that when you take what you're passionate about and it becomes a business opportunity, you don't have to have everything laid out perfectly in order to get started. That's definitely been a game changer for me.

The biggest thing is really find out what it is that you're passionate about. Wellness and fitness can cover so many different areas, so find the thing that you're passionate about. For me, I am a strength training person - that's my goal, that's my jam. It's always been my thing because when I ran track in high school, I got a chance to work out then, and it's been a part of my life ever since. Find out the thing that you love to do, what is it that's going to wake you up in the morning to get you geared up. And when you find that out, be able to enhance and do that. It goes back to you don't have to have everything figured out, but also find out what it is that you're passionate about. If it's dancing, you may want to be a Zumba instructor. If you like stretching and recovery, you might be that particular type of coach. Always know you don't have to have a monopoly in the industry in order to be successful, because every person, every client may not necessarily be for you, and you may not be for them. Find out what that looks like, and it's going to take trial and error, but if you start off in a way that you set a goal that's obtainable for you and you're able to do and repeat that, that's great. But also live that life as well. It's not about just doing it and not living the life and living the truth. Live that life and live the truth in it. I live my truth every single day. People can walk up to me in the grocery store and look in my shopping cart and say, oh yeah, you definitely live the life in which you actually love. Anyone that's coming up, whether it's in the fitness industry or cosmetology or construction, whatever it is that you do, find that piece that makes you get up and drive and want to do that. And also, make sure you're coachable. Make sure you have someone that you can lean on in the industry that can be there to motivate you, because every day is not going to be a pretty day. As a coach, I have a coach, I have a mentor, and I have those people in place for me to keep me pushing, keep me motivated, but also it helps me to be able to expand in areas that I need to maybe expand into, or things I may have not thought about as I'm building into the industry even more.

Balance is extremely important to me - that's the reason why my business is called Balanced Fitness, because it's all about balancing things out in your personal life, in your business, in all aspects of it. I believe in living my truth every single day and not being so tailored to everything that you feel like you've lived this perfect life but don't have any indulgence. I always call it an indulgence day - find days that create balance in your life so you're not so rigid. Everybody wants ice cream at one point in time, or whatever that indulgence is for you, so make sure that there's balance in what it is that you're doing. Sunday is a non-negotiable for me - that was always a day just to make sure I spent time with family, attended church, and actually had a recovery day. Spending time with my family is important to me, and I love spending time with extended family and friends as well.