Jen:
Hey Amanda, welcome to the MAMSAFE Movement Podcast. How are you today?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm feeling nervous but good.
Jen:
Nervous but good, cool, which will take me straight into our first question for today is share with us a word in which you're showing up, a win and something that you've been working on.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So my word is that I am feeling a bit nervous. That's how I'm showing up today, but I am very excited. My win is that I just signed up for to present a five week program to one of the mothers groups that I've been speaking in regularly. So I'm pretty excited about that
Jen:
I
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
one.
Jen:
saw that, that was with the, what are they called?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
raising mothers.
Jen:
No, I saw, give them a little bit of a shout out, which is nice, and they're based in.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah. So they are Sunshine Coast and North Lakes, and
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I've been speaking in the North Lakes one for three terms now.
Jen:
All right, so what does that partnership look like?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I will be running a five week return to exercise program
Jen:
Awesome.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
where I will be working with new mums around their daily movement and making sure that they feel confident in their body's capabilities, in their new roles.
Jen:
Amazing and that's in, do you do that face to face in North Lakes?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes, so that'll be buried in North Lakes.
Jen:
Okay, cool. And I know that we're diving straight into go, hey, if you're listening, but if someone
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm
Jen:
is
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
sorry.
Jen:
listening and wants to jump into that, where do they go to the Raising Mamas website or?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes, jump on the Raising Mothers website.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
There is more examples of what the program is going to be like and how to sign up there.
Jen:
Amazing. Awesome. Congratulations. I love a good partnership and that one
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Thank
Jen:
makes
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
you.
Jen:
so much sense.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
And what have you been working on?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
For me, I've been working on building up my PT numbers.
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm feeling quite confident with where I'm sitting with my classes. It's the PT side that I want to rebuild now.
Jen:
Awesome. Nice. I love it. So I wanted to ask you to come on to the Mumsafe Movement podcast. We had the wonderful Melissa Brown talking to us all things finance. And you are a Mumsafe trainer. You came in, I did a little bit of research before we got in so I could figure out exactly when you jumped in. So you came
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
into Mumsafe in June of 2021. And you've had a financial journey. And I know there's been other journeys around that. But we're here to talk about really how facing your finances has got you from where you were to where you are now. But before we go down that path, do you wanna give us a little bit of a, it could be a two to five minute kind of background on who you are, what got you into the fitness industry and yeah, how you came to work with moms and a little bit about your personal life as well, as much as you're willing
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
to share, yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah, definitely. So I am Amanda. I do run Mums Run the World Fitness. I've been running that for about four or five years now. I sort of got into it because I was quite isolated in the situation I was in and I didn't want other women to feel that. I also have three neurodivergent children. So I wanted my daughter to have a very positive view of exercise and not be a punishment for what she's eating. or that she has to be a certain size. I wanted it to be a very positive experience for her. And yeah, so that's sort of like why I started and how I've grown from there. I did do some subcontracting for a while for a couple of other businesses and then decided that I really wanted to do my own. And I was lucky enough to take over one of the businesses that I was subcontracting in and have been running at Frack and Wrench for three years now. And in the last 12 months, it became my own. So, yeah, and I run boot camps and PT from Narang Bah at home because
Jen:
Nice.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I have to work around my children. I
Jen:
Tell
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
am a
Jen:
us,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
single mum, so
Jen:
okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I have to work everything around my children.
Jen:
Yeah, tell us a little bit more about that and what that means for you.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So my daughter started school last year and the fact that there are neurodivergent children, they've all got specialist appointments from OT to psychology and stuff like that. But I needed a business that I could do all of those appointments, be at the school when I need to be and still give something that works for me in a positive light that I enjoy. I used to work in offices in sales and admin support pre-kids. And I did not want to go back into that situation. And I wanted to give back to the world and I wanted to give back to other women who felt as alone and struggle with mum-wife like I did a little bit for a while. It's a very big mental load. So you need that space. So that's sort of why I do the things that I do, run the business the way that I do with my classes in the morning when the kids are at school so my afternoons are free to be able to be at appointments and that sort of thing.
Jen:
Yeah. And so to backtrack again, so you've, you've owned Brackenridge for three years now.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I subcontracted for Brackenridge for three years. And then this last 12, oh, last 12 to 18 months, it was my own. So yeah.
Jen:
Yeah, and was it known as Mums Run the World Fitness Pre-U?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
No, it was Hot Mommas.
Jen:
Ah, why did
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
you change the name?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Well, I already had Mums Run the World
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
at that point, so I sort of did a bit of rebranding and a bit of a launch and a bit of a thank you for staying with us, even though I'm now owning it rather than the previous one.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And yeah, changed it all into my branding. And that's why, yeah.
Jen:
Yeah, so had you just started to do that when you came across MomSafe?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes. Yeah. So I sort of got into that space and was like, I don't know anything of what I'm doing here in the background.
Jen:
Let's pause on that for a second. So had you done, like tell me more about that. So you were working in the mom space or you wanted to step into the mom space, but you, when you say you didn't know what you're doing, was that from a business sense or more on working or under an educational sense? Like what does that look like?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So it was definitely more of a business sense. Although my business has always been moms around the world, it was very much just fitness focused. It wasn't, you know, safely returning to exercise, how we need to think about our pelvic floors and all of those sort of things. And those things actually developed out of injuries that I received through my training experiences with other personal trainers and other coaches.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So yeah, that sort of. Business wise, I had no clue what I was doing. I was like, I just rock up and I coach, you know, I support the women. I'm there for them. And then I go home, you know, and at the end of the week, I was like, so what am I actually earning? What am I getting? I'm checking how much my direct debits were coming in every day. There was no structure.
Jen:
And I guess moving from contractor to owner, like what was that experience like? Because contractor, at least you know what you're getting. You rock up, you get paid, you go home. Were you comfortable when you were contracting?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes. Yeah. Sorry. I know that you don't like this term, but this
Jen:
I'm like holding
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
business
Jen:
my breath to know what you're gonna say now. Ha ha ha.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
this business was technically a hobby for me.
Jen:
I don't mind that term, but just has to be a like a hobby to begin with is fine, but there has to be a line in the sand to go, this is now what I'm doing. So yes.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah. And I think that that's what it was for me was it was just like a hobby, a side hustle, why my kids were still at home with me. And then I took over that business and my kids went to school and I was like, oh crap, I don't actually know what I'm doing other than coaching.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
How do I make a living out of this? How do I, you know, get off government support to actually have a thriving business and a thriving family?
Jen:
Yeah, so paint a picture from a financial sensor. You were contracting, you were getting paid, everything was fine. And then you took on this other, you took on the other business. What was the reasoning that you did that? Was she just trying to get out or did you?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
She had some family
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
issues where
Jen:
Yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
her mother
Jen:
yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
was
Jen:
fair
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
sick,
Jen:
enough. Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
had to move. And I didn't want to leave the women that were there. You know, some of those people had become my friends. You know, when you coach, it's such a personal journey for people. And I get very attached to my clients. You know,
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
it's a personal thing for me as well. So I didn't want to let them down. And I had the capability of being able to do that at the time and step up into that space. I was like, well, I want to do it.
Jen:
Yeah, fantastic. And were you a single mum at that time?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I had recently become a single
Jen:
Okay,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
mom at that time.
Jen:
yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
My custody was a little different to what it is now. So I had the space to be able to do that. Now I have my kids full time, it's a little bit different.
Jen:
Yeah, okay, cool. Okay, so you take over this business and then what happens?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I take it over, they were always running to a 10 week school term
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and I took it over halfway through the school term. So all of the direct debits became me. I was like, this is fantastic. All of this extra money is coming in now.
Jen:
Awesome.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And then we get to the next term and I go, I've started working with a business coach at the time. He's like, you need to put up all your prices or you need to either stop. doing boot camps and work on your PT because that's where you're going to make more money.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I go, okay, I'm going to put up all the prices, everyone. And it's the first time they'd had a price increase in the whole time they'd been there. So I had a mass exodus
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and my whole income dropped and my way of living changed. Because I also, when I took over the business, I had to hire two subcontractors to be able to work the two locations.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I was hemorrhaging money. I was paying them, paying for... higher and then not actually knowing what the plan is in five, six weeks time.
Jen:
Okay, so how much did just to give some context, because I love
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
a price rise, I have to say. Although it has to be done properly and potentially has to look after the members that are already existing. So it could be an incremental price rise where you warn your clients that it's coming and then everyone new gets the new price or something like that. How did, was it a big price leap? And how did it, how was it executing?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, so it was sort of like they went from a structure where they just paid a weekly fee, no matter
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
how many classes they came to, they could come and go to, this is how much two classes are, this is how much three classes are,
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and I'm locking you into these contracts that put you into these classes, into this 10-week block.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And it was about, for those people that went to do unlimited classes, it was about a $15 increase.
Jen:
per week?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Yeah, okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And those that were, you know, doing all of the classes previously, a lot of them dropped down to like two or three because financially that's where they could sit
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
because that's what they were paying previously.
Jen:
Okay, and what else happened around that time?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So we sort of also went into winter
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and the start of winter being in an outdoor boot camp. Although we're undercover, people don't want to train outside when it's cold. They have struggled to get out of bed in the morning.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So, you know, and because I allow children to come, mums to bring their kids from school and stuff like that, we got into the flu season. It was cold.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I had a drop of that as well.
Jen:
And were you continuing to do PT or what?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I was continuing to do PT. However, again, my prices increased. And a lot of it at the time, the coach was like, you know, you're not getting value for the effort that you're putting in. You're
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
not using your self-worth, which is something that I've struggled with this whole entire process. And when I put my prices up, I only lost two or three, but over time they dropped off, you know, life events happen.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Some of them got pregnant, some of them got married, you know, and then I wasn't getting anybody else coming in,
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
you know So that was like people were leaving but I wasn't growing because nobody was coming back or coming in. No
Jen:
Yeah, I want to jump ahead and go, what are your prices now? And tell me about those things. But we're going to get there in time because I don't want
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
to just be like, so is that when you came across MomSafe?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, so I had actually been following you since I studied to become a PT. I really struggled with the I was the only one that had children in my PT course
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and the one page around women's health drew me crazy.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And I felt like I was answering a lot of questions around mums and birth and all of that sort of stuff throughout my PT course. So I'd been following you for a while and then. being that I wasn't really connecting with the mental that I had at that time. I was like, I need to find someone who understands me as a mum and me as a person. That's going to push me, but not shove it down my throat, do it all. It's over.
Jen:
There's a fine line, right?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
There's a very fine line.
Jen:
We've got to walk that line all the time. Yeah. Okay. And I remember actually Amanda coming across. I don't know if like I remember seeing your brand for the first time Mums Run the World and I was like that is cool. I loved the black and white. I loved the fact that I knew straight away who the brand was for. So I was super intrigued when we cross paths, I guess, or I don't know whether you were commenting more or... whether it was the first time you followed or whatever it was. Yeah, just I think you have a really great, strong brand and there's no questioning what you're here to do, which is
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Thank
Jen:
super
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
you.
Jen:
cool.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Yeah. So then you jump into MumSafe, but are you like, from a financial perspective, obviously there's a commitment. So you start working with your previous business coach. I don't know how much that was costing. Was there a gap between? the two coaching experiences or
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
No,
Jen:
like.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
you guys actually overlaid by about a month
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
because I had to give notice at that point with
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
them. And then I started with you. Financially, it was a really scary thing to do because
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I was losing money and I'm like I either have to find somebody that can really help support me in this and build me back up
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
or I'm going to close these doors and go and find a nine-to-five job that I can work around the children.
Jen:
Yeah. So let's talk about that for a second because I find that a lot of women that I talk to that are thinking about joining MumSafe and I'll be completely upfront is often they have partners and they'll be like they can't justify taking the next step or they want to start to build something before they take the next step and we all know it's the same as having a PT, right? Get the PT because you're going to go quicker rather than
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
wait till you've tried to fix it yourself and then spend another six months doing what you would have done six months ago. But what, what was the difference for you? Because it would have been so easy, I think at that point for you to just not, not invest any more money or say, I've tried to work with someone that didn't work and this is where I'm at. Like what was going through your head?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
For me, I think because deep down my passion is supporting women, supporting mums, showing my children, you know, why exercise and why this sort of lifestyle is so important to them that I felt like I was letting everybody down if I closed those doors and I was like you know what I would rather push through this pay barrier and know that there'll be success down the road and have faith in that. or give up and show that when things get hard, I should just give up. And that's not who I am. It's never been who I am. I like to fix things and I like to be there. I like to support. So I tend to push through that barrier.
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
But oh, my God, it was the most scariest thing. So I was like, if this doesn't work, you know, I'm setting a time where I've got three months. If this doesn't work, then I need to close these doors and I need to go and go back to an office job.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
How's that going to work around my kids and their needs and their appointments and stuff like that?
Jen:
Okay, so you took
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
the leap and then what?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Um, then I was like, I jumped in. Um, you and I had a bit of a chat about where I was sitting with everything and I was like, cool, this is going to be great. I'm going to do all these things. I'm going to work through the portal, um, start at the beginning. And I did very quickly. And then I sort of went, I'm getting distracted from. the business from running classes
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and you know, I had a few personal things come up and I never got back into the portal
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and I never got back into it. So although I had put some things in place and things did get better a little bit in my business, I ended up in that same cycle that I was before where I was doing good and then as winter hit, the flu hit, you know, we went through a little bit of a COVID boost up here with everybody. Um, I didn't have any backing. I didn't have a safety net for what was going on. And I fell off again and went, Oh God, I'm going to have to close those doors again.
Jen:
Yeah, so let's, I'm just going to set the timeframe a little bit more because I think we had a, we had a session and I think that's, you know, one of the key things I wanted to talk about in this time together
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
is we had a session, let's call them two cycles. So cycle number one, and I remember you giving me a testimonial going, I was three months away from closing the doors and this is what I've done and now I'm, I'm good. I'm on the up and things are happy days. And then.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
been that second cycle so we're not gonna we're not gonna say everything's sunshine and rose sunshine not sunshine
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
sunshine. All
Jen:
and roses when it's not because we're here to be
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
right.
Jen:
real but there was the up and before you got to that first up we had a really in-depth session or coupler sessions around your finances
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, we sort of we looked at where I was at. I finally learned where my business was sitting at and then what I needed to do to get off that government support. Where did I need to be to have a successful business? I never ever forecasted before. I
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
had no idea what that was. I didn't know what my numbers were. I didn't know what I was leaving on the table if I didn't have full classes or anything like that. So all of that really sparked this big drive in me that I now knew all this thing. I had all this information. This is going to be amazing.
Jen:
So let's dive into that a little bit more. So what information, when you said know all my numbers, what was the stuff that you or we dug into? So let's
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
say somebody's in your situation, where you were. Let's say they're running a business, they have never sat down with a spreadsheet before, they just hope that there's more money coming in than there's going out, they're not really balancing anything. What did, because we did a personal spreadsheet and a business spreadsheet. Run us through that kind of process for you.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, so we sort of went, okay, I ran this many classes at Brackenridge, I don't remember off the top of my head how many it was at the time. This is how many people I can have in those classes. And this is how much on average somebody was paying. Okay, well, that ends in 10 weeks time. What's the next 10 weeks going to look like after that? Yeah, okay, now let's look at your personal training. How much is that bringing in? You know, what if we were to add five more clients, how would that look to my all my budget overall? You know, what are my expenses? I didn't even know my expenses. I was paying for like a whole bunch of things, subscriptions that I'd signed
Jen:
Subscriptions
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
up for.
Jen:
are the worst, aren't they? Like, fuck, if people are not doing a subscription audit, at least at the end of every financial year, please do it. Like, if you take nothing else away from this podcast, go and do a subscription audit. You'll save like a couple of hundred bucks minimum a month, I reckon.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And you know, I had signed up for things that I thought the business needed.
Jen:
Of course!
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
You know, I was
Jen:
I do
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
like,
Jen:
that all the time.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
but I actually don't use it or the free version of that works
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
for everything that I need. And then we looked at, you know, if I was to put a clothing brand, which I now do, I sell my own active wear. How much would that bring in? What's my outgoing costs and that sort of thing. So having that breakdown. of knowing exactly what's coming in allows me to be able to go, okay, in four more weeks time, this is what I need to be bringing in. Otherwise, you know, I'm not feeding myself
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
type thing. And I didn't know that before and that's a very powerful thing to drive you
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
is to know how much money is there and what your minimum is that you actually need to be making.
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I didn't even know what my minimum was.
Jen:
So you mean minimum to live?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Again, minimum to leave, minimum to keep the business doors going, that type of thing, yeah.
Jen:
Why do you think it never done that before?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
scared. I didn't want the answers. I didn't want to know just how bad it was. You know, I'd gone from a dual income with three children to
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
my own income and my own income wasn't really where it should be for somebody. I'm raising three children and I just sort of buried my head in the sand. I was like, this is just too scary. It's too much. I don't want to know what the answer is.
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
You know. putting fuel in the car, the kids are being fed, you know, they're doing successful things, that's all that matters.
Jen:
And that's the one thing that stood out for you through every conversation that we've had. And we've had a lot of conversations behind closed doors about making sure that the kids are completely looked after and any decision that you're making, whether it's a financial one, whether it's a time-based one, whatever it is.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah, which I've really, really appreciated. You know, it is very hard when you do this by yourself
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
to know sometimes what the right step is. You want to do great things for your business, but putting in boundaries is something that I've never really done. I'm
Jen:
Yeah
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
just as I said earlier, I'm there to help and support and I want to help and support every single person that I come across and sometimes that's not always healthy.
Jen:
So I think you've just covered two things that I think, you know, someone come back to me if I'm wrong on this, but not looking at your finances, not having great boundaries is something, and I'm gonna gender this, every business woman goes through at some point, because I know I've been there. I reckon most people can relate, if not all. And I'm sure there's plenty of men that can as well, but given we're talking about your situation and you are a woman, and I can put my hands up. So then what... How did it feel when you first looked at your finances?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
crap. Like it was, I was like, Oh my God, I actually didn't realize how much I was spending on things that weren't really bringing any value into the business or into my time. But I was losing all of this money and I'm like, I'm trying to, I'm trying to get successful.
Jen:
Do we just have a little dog barking in the outside? Rosie's watching a car go up the road. Hopefully she's going to stop in a second.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Carry on. Sorry Amanda.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
No, you're right. You know, like I wanted to be having this successful business, but yet I'm losing all of this money. How do I stop that happening? And then how do I grow from that? And although it sucked seeing those numbers being able to lean on you and be like, okay, this really sucks. What should I be doing? And you go, okay, you know, you don't need these subscriptions. Do you really need this subcontractor? Does this fit into, you know, what service, what serves you and your family? And is it actually like worth what you're putting out there?
Jen:
Hmm
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Because it's quite scary when you see those things and you don't know what you don't know. You're like, you don't know how to move forward in that situation. And being that, you know, I am by myself with the three children. I don't have someone to talk to about that. None of my friends or family have a business. They don't know that side of things. So yeah, being able to lean on you and be able to talk to you about that and then move forward from that was amazing. And I really thank you for that.
Jen:
Well thank you, because it's a two-way relationship, right? And you've got to bring everything to the table. And I spend a lot of time observing people, and I love observing people. And it's always interesting to me, the people that struggle in silence, and I know that there's always reasons behind that, or struggle in silence and then come and say, hey, this is not working. And I'm like, well, that's interesting, because I haven't heard from you for the last, whatever,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
versus... someone like yourself who shows up time and time again. And if I can say anything about you, even when it's been the shittest of the shit, you show up. We see your face, you come on, you be real. And I can think of like this key people that have been similar operators to you over time, and they always come good, always come good. Even though coming good sometimes takes way too long.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes, yes. Just wish that, you know, you put it all in, you learn all the things and it just happens and that's never
Jen:
Yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
the way it goes.
Jen:
no, it doesn't for anything. But I think once we realize that there's a long game and eyes wide open, so if you think about, you know, it feels shit to see your numbers, but then what, I think you said it before about, you know, becoming more empowered by knowing
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
that, tell us more about that.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, so knowing my numbers allowed me to make educated decisions
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
rather than decisions out of, I need to people please, I need to be there for everybody. Because I had the knowledge behind it, I could go, this actually isn't working financially for me. This isn't, even though the time might work, it's just not bringing in what it needs to be bringing in and the value is not there. So I need to make a hard decision. But because I've got that knowledge, that decision's a little bit easier.
Jen:
Yeah, or at least you know the outcome or no, you know that what the outcome might be is similar to the birth experience.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Like it's like if women can go into birth understanding their body with their eyes wide open, we don't know the outcome, but they've made educated decisions on what the next best step is for them. And regardless of the outcome, they're empowered by knowing. And it's the exact same thing with finances, right?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
Like if you just don't know and no one tells you and no one supports you, it's like. I didn't know that was going to happen. Why didn't nobody teach? And, and we could say this, why the fuck isn't anyone teaching us about finances as, as young people? I think it's
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
getting slightly better, but not, it's nowhere
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
near where it should be. So I'll
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And
Jen:
go.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
like, I love my family, but my dad has always been the person that does the finances
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and it's never been a discussion that we have. So even in my personal life, budgeting and finances has never really been something that's discussed or that we're taught, let alone in a business sense, especially
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
as a PT, you do your PT course and that's kind of it. There's no real business side to that.
Jen:
No, go out into the world and figure that shit out. Like,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
which
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Good
Jen:
also,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
luck!
Jen:
yeah, I mean, some courses now add some business components in there, but it's about us understanding again, what we don't know and going, well, there's gaps in my knowledge, I need to go learn that. I had something, where was I gonna go next? So you then became aware of your finances. Did you structure bank accounts differently and things like that? Once
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
you, so
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I did.
Jen:
what did you start? So we've talked about knowing your numbers. How did you start to funnel the money coming in to make sure that it was going in the right places?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, I remember one of the things that you said to me because at that stage I was hemorrhaging money. I wasn't putting anything away. I wasn't saving. I wasn't doing tax. I wasn't, you know, doing anything. You said to me, you know, even if it's just one percent of whatever you've made that week, I want you to put it into a bank account and that's going to be your profit account so that I feel successful that I'm actually making some money. So I did that. And, you know, some weeks that was like three dollars
Jen:
Awesome.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
but it was
Jen:
And
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
still
Jen:
you moved
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
something
Jen:
the $3. Did you do it?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yes I did
Jen:
I love that so much.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah should have done the tax one did
Jen:
Ah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
it though I
Jen:
okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm one of those people that are great at putting all the things in place doing it for a few months and then something comes up and I need that money
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I take it out it gets used other ways so now I'm suffering for that
Jen:
Okay, so you've got a tax repayment plan.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes,
Jen:
Yep,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yes
Jen:
okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I do, yeah.
Jen:
And what are you, are you now taking tax out of what you're earning now so that you don't have to do that again? Yeah, okay, cool. So now you're double
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
paying tax, because all right, we learned those lessons, that's cool. Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, yeah, that's the thing. And I now, so I've done that. I don't actually need to buy any equipment, but I do put $10 away every week into an equipment budget.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
You know, if something breaks and I need to fix it or something like that. And then at the end of the month, I look at that and go, okay, how much is sitting in there? Could I move that into my profit or into my tax? So it's sort of like a little bit of a... a spend fund, but I could put it into a savings if I needed
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
to be.
Jen:
And are you putting aside super?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
No,
Jen:
Okay, cool. Next,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
but that
Jen:
next,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
is on
Jen:
next
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
the list.
Jen:
things to add. Yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
awesome.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah, I do have a little list financially now that I keep that's like, okay, once I get to this point, I need to start doing this
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
because I don't want to be working at 80 years old.
Jen:
Exactly.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'd like to retire at some point and being the fact that I was stay at home one with my kids throughout my pregnancy. I didn't earn anything then.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and I took money out of my super to buy all my equipment throughout COVID.
Jen:
Ah, the $10,000 you could take out. Yeah, right.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, yep, so
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
my superits does not look very healthy
Jen:
Yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
at all.
Jen:
okay. Maybe that's a goal for this year or the rest of this year, this financial year to start putting the super away. And if anyone's listening, go back and listen to Mel's episode when she talks about the compounding effect of super. You might even enjoy that, Amanda. Yeah, and I think that the fact that you're being super honest throughout this whole conversation and there's plenty of us that are not. doing like I already started paying super about four years ago now and I've been a PT for 17 years like wow. And even like from investing and I take now take 10% I take 15% profit and I take 10% of everything that I pay myself out of. So I pay myself a wage and then I take 10% out of that and that goes into like kind of investing but you know you got to get to the point where you can do that.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah. And one of my goals is to get to the point where I pay myself a wage,
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
not just using whatever's left at the end of the week.
Jen:
Yeah, and that is a big, that's the pace of like, make sure yourself paying yourself. Yeah. And that's where you can then go, okay, well, if I'm paying myself this month, much a week, this is how much the super should be. I'm going to divert that and then I'm going to take 10% off the bottom of that and start to invest it in something. But again, we get there step by step, increase, I think people don't realize or they just don't do anything. And again, what you've done really nicely is go, can do this now and I will do this now. And sometimes it is that if I take that money and put it into super, I'm not gonna eat. And that's the reality of where you've been. So, it's very easy for those of us that are not in that situation to go, oh, well, can't you just put away $20 a week? And it's like, well, actually, no.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
No, that
Jen:
This
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
$20
Jen:
is where,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
gets my kids to and from school.
Jen:
yeah, absolutely,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
yeah. Okay, so you've. You face the finances, you're on the up, and how long were things good for?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I was sitting pretty good, so like I joined G-mid that year,
Jen:
2021, yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah, up until the Christmas period when people sort of went away on holidays and that sort of thing. It was good, it was really good, you know, I was like, this is going great, I'm, you know, looking at next year, planning things for me and my family. I moved out of my parents' house and into my own place and, you know. was starting to really feel like I was thriving again in my life. And then nobody really came back.
Jen:
Okay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So when I had a big dip again and it went downhill
Jen:
were they
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
again.
Jen:
were the people from the business that you bought?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes, yeah. And you know, a lot of them were for really great reasons. You know, some of them had fallen pregnant. Some of them, their husbands had changed jobs. I had a few ladies move into state and that sort of thing. So, you know, ladies that I'd been training for three or four years
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
weren't leaving for financial reasons. It was life reasons. But I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing to be getting more people in. I was posting on social media, but then that was it.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And I like to sit behind my computer and not be out there.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
But that's that self-worth and self-belief that I have always struggled with, which is something that I'm working on with your support. So I sort of was then in this house where I'm paying rent electricity, all of this sort of stuff and my incomes just dropped. And I'm like crap. What am I doing? And then I realized that I hadn't been on top of my finances. Whilst I'd set it up and done great with it for, you know, 12 weeks or so, I then dropped the ball with it, picking up something else and,
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah, was then left in a situation where I had no savings. You know, I was back living week to week, sometimes not even week to week and leaning on the support of my family.
Jen:
Yep. So then what? You okay?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
Yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah,
Jen:
it's a lot
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
it's a
Jen:
and
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
very
Jen:
you
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
hard thing.
Jen:
it's really hard. And I want to, I guess, take just take this moment to acknowledge the fact that you are willing to share this because you're not the only person in a situation like this or similar, pushing through in the fitness industry where there's so much good to be done but... Also, it can be a really fucking hard slog.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, I
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
think I'm like one of three from my PT course that are actually still PT's. So,
Jen:
Yeah, interesting. Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
um, I could have very easily at the start of this year just gone, nope, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm going to go in. I'm sick of tired of chasing everything. I did the hard work and
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
it grew. But I also need to take a little bit of accountability in the fact that, yes, I did the hard work, but then I stopped doing the hard work. I just enjoyed where it was.
Jen:
Yeah. So let's
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Ah.
Jen:
just wait, just so you did the hard work and what aside from getting on top of your finances, what did that look like?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So for me that was learning a lot more about mums, their anatomy, birthing, all of that sort of stuff. Putting in, so I, although I work with PT major and I absolutely love it, I did have, you know, forms that people had to sign that actually told me about their history, their injury history and all of that sort of things. So I did a lot more study into the things that I felt like I needed to know as a women's health PT
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
with a real focus on mums and that prenatal space. So I felt like I was doing the hard work financially, putting the foundations in business-wise and then building on my knowledge. But I stopped doing the financial side of it.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I went back to just doing the social
Jen:
Hehehe
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
really just enjoyed the fact that I was making this extra
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
money without any forward thinking of what this would be like if I don't be doing all these other things that I was supposed to be doing.
Jen:
Yeah, and it's interesting, isn't it? It's like you get that kind of, I guess it's relief and
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
you go, cool, people are rolling in now. I must have done it. Like, that's it, they're just going to keep on coming. But it's that I was trying to think of the phrase and it's make hay while the sun shines. It's you've got to be sowing the seeds for the next season while things are good.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, and I think it was because I'd come from such a hard place
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and then I'd put all these things in place. I was like, okay, these are just going to run automatically now. I'm just going to know what to do automatically.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
But that's not the case. You have to constantly be working at it for it to continue to be successful and continue to grow.
Jen:
Yeah, does it get, I feel like it gets easier in that, you know, what to do to do
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
the things, but you cannot deny that any, any service based business or really any business there's always work to do in the background to make sure the next customer is, is coming. Yeah. So we're in January. Everything's shit. What are you? So then what flipped? So you kind of like, I'm out, I can't get through Christmas, I can't, you know, do the new year. And then the end of school holidays rolls around, it's time to go back to work, time to face the term. What made, like, and I know that you've said, I kind of can't see myself doing anything different, but what are some of the things that you started to do again that you dropped off doing in January to
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
get out into the community?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I got out of the community to be honest.
Jen:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I stopped hiding. I am and I like I showed up. I showed up
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
to our master classes at our hot seats and there was times there were like, I feel like all I do is come into this and go cry and be like, what am I doing? I'm now doing all of the marketing stuff. I'm following the portal. I'm digging deep.
Jen:
Hahaha
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And it's just not working, you know, but over that time, you know, I'm getting like one extra person coming
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
in. So the needle is moving. It's just not moving at the space that I needed it to be.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
But because I'd done the work before and I'd seen the success before, I was like, I know that if I do this work, it will pay off. And this time I'm not going to stop doing the work.
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So that sort of. And I applied for jobs. I'm not going to lie. I applied for admin jobs again. I applied for jobs at other gyms again, but because of the needs of my children
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and their unique requirements being neurodivergent, it made it so hard to get a job. You know, like I can't do a traditional night to five because we have eight hours of appointments during a week
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
that I need to be at. I was like there's a two-way street, you know, like I know that I need to do this for my family's sake and this is the only job that really fits around that but also I know that if I do this work it will be successful because I've seen it even if it was just for a glimmer I've seen it.
Jen:
Yep. So what did getting out into the community look like? What were you doing?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I now wear my branded stuff everywhere. I was... I was only wearing it when I coached and even sometimes I wasn't doing that.
Jen:
Ah!
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I now wear it everywhere. My members wear it everywhere. I give little rewards. I get like little car decals if they do a photo of them in their shirts with my logo like at school or doing grocery shopping and that sort of thing. So
Jen:
That's cool.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm being
Jen:
What does,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
seen
Jen:
what's the
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
everywhere.
Jen:
car decals? So they
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
It's
Jen:
stick.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
my logo.
Jen:
That's gold. I thought we were
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
across all those little things. That's awesome. So they get a logo of your business for wearing the logo of your business. I love
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep,
Jen:
that.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
pretty much.
Jen:
That is gold.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, so we do that. All of my shirts are sayings that mums have, like I have a messy hair, don't care, you know, because that's what I want people to feel like, that they can go out with their messy ponytail and feel good
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
because they're doing a workout. They don't have to look dressed up to be able to do a workout.
Jen:
So you've got slogans on the back of your, all your T-shirts. Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes. Yep. So that really helped. I started doing presentations in mother's groups.
Jen:
I know, how good?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
That is so scary. So, so scary. Like
Jen:
It is. It really is.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
it's one thing to coach and feel confident in the abilities that I do there to stand up in front of a group of women who have just had children and going this is what you need to do for your body. You know, otherwise you may end up with an injury. You know, this is how we could be successful in your day-to-day life and to talk about pelvic floor and things like that, which It's not something that has ever really been discussed with me.
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
You know, women's health issues was never something that I grew up hearing about and now I'm standing in front of, you know, nine, ten women every ten weeks talking to them about it. It's definitely got a lot easier and I do love it now and now I've got this partnership from it. I just put myself out there a lot more as well, you know, because I'm wearing my shirts when I go grab coffee. I'm able to talk to the local business owner because they know that I'm a business now.
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And I'm still posting in all of the Facebook groups that are doing that side of it to get myself out there. I gave my members a whole bunch of brochures and I said, okay, for your recovery this week, I want you to go do mail drops with all of these.
Jen:
Oh my god.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So, yep. Ha ha
Jen:
picking up some things from this conversation.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
ha.
Jen:
But we're gonna have the rest of the Mumsafe team doing these little extra, actually I've just come up with an idea that we need to find out what everyone's little things, because obviously we've got the things that I go, hey, do a coffee shout, or we do, we've got the Mumsafe Trainer sticker campaign coming up, but you guys are doing stuff that we all don't know that you're doing. So that's two that we've learned already. I see a thread in the Facebook group.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
to find out what their little one percenters are, because it's the layering effect, right, that makes a difference.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
It is and that's what I wasn't doing previously. I was
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
like, if I just posted on social media in some business or local groups as well as my Instagram and stuff, then that'll be enough because that's where things are right now in the world. People love technology and that'll be enough to bring people in. But it's not, you know, it's the layering. It's the being in my clothes. It's the getting my members involved. It's being around local businesses in my stuff. It's the talking in the mothers groups. It's all of those things. that
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
has seen my business all of a sudden hit a growth and I'm now selling out. I've never sold out before.
Jen:
Ah, but before we get to that, because I do want to celebrate that, there
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
was a period of time and we had a lot of voicemails backwards and forwards of I'm doing all the things and it's just not working.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, yeah.
Jen:
Tell me about that.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
That was so frustrating. And I think that if you hadn't said to me, I know this person, if you had met this person back then, you know, you could see that they struggled too. And like I look at those mum safe members and go, but they're so successful now. Like that's where I wanted my business to be. Um, you know, and you're like, they were where you are. They did the work like you are. They were so frustrated like you are. If I didn't have that, I probably would have got, you know what? I'm doing all the work and it's not getting anything. I'm obviously not great at my job.
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'd throw in the towel. Yeah, which is a hard thing to say.
Jen:
It's a hard thing to say and it's a really hard energetic place to be in because you also, you know, to layer on top of that, if, you know, people are listening that believe in, you know, that the energy that you're putting out into the world, when you're going out and you need people, it is a very different energy than when you're feeling confident and you're, you know, whether you want to say calling people in or the whatever the language that you want to use is, like when you're moving through the world and you're like, come and work with me, this is what I do, choose to be with me, that is great, versus I actually need this person to put food on the table and to keep me in business. And here I am saying, you gotta change your energy and be like,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
what the fuck, like seriously woman, how am I supposed to
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah
Jen:
change my energy? It's like, eat or don't eat.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, and you know, I went into a page now where I journal often. I now listen to a meditation all the time, like just try to change that energy, because I still have a lot going on personally that, you know, I don't think anybody should have to deal with. And I need to shift that energy to be able to show up for my kids, you know, in a positive, active way, you know, be able to show up for my members in that positive, active energy way, you know, and to bring more people in. without feeling desperate and needy, because I'm there to service them and help them. Yes, I get an income from this, but I should need them. They're there to meet me to help them.
Jen:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so I'm just visualizing, you know that, it's like you see the, it's almost like the meme that's got the squiggly line and it's like success looks like this. And then it's like,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
I'm watching your line and it's gone, you know, it's gone down and then it's gone up and then it's gone down and now it's coming up beyond where the previous up was. Tell us, and I don't wanna, again, right at the beginning before we started talking, I was like, I don't wanna sugar coat this and say, you're completely at the other side, or that there's never gonna be another down again. But tell us where you are now and what you think some of the biggest components to that have been.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah. So a really big shift for me was that I looked at my time that I was out of the house.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I was running evening boot camps four times a week. You're having to go there and be here, go there and be there. Whilst I had fantastic babysitters in my parents, they absolutely adored my children. It was still time that I was away from them. And energetically, I didn't enjoy that. But I really wanted to open up during the school hours. I'm like, this is where I could be, this is where I could give my most. And I was really struggling to fill that. Being in the mother's groups and being around my clientele and where my clientele hang out, I've seen that shift. I now have three days a week, two of those days are sold out. Mums Club, which is for mums that have school-aged kids or have just had children. And then I do still do evening break camps, but only two nights a week. And my kids come to that and there are other kids there. So they get the socialization side of things. And, you know, it's a very welcoming atmosphere for other mothers as well to be like, OK, I can bring my kids as well. And I no longer work super early mornings and I'm home. You know, most evenings a week, except for those two.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So it's just a much happier business for me. But I'm still servicing those members that I was before and
Jen:
Mmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm still giving what I wanted to give. Just in a much healthier scenario for me and the children.
Jen:
Yeah, and financially.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
it's still not 100%, you know, it wasn't, I'm not at that point where I was previously before I had the big low, but it is building again now. But it's building in a more sustainable way. Like I now have savings. My members are finding out like week six, okay, I'm asking them to sign up again, I'm asking what they're doing. I'm getting that commitment from them financially, as well as like in writing that this is what they're doing.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I'm able to forecast and plan. I'm able to take holidays I had a week off, for the first time in ages, and was able to financially be okay.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So I'm really looking forward to Christmas because I'm
Jen:
Yeah,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
actually
Jen:
because
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
having
Jen:
last
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
time
Jen:
year
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
off.
Jen:
you didn't I remember last year you just going I just need a week off and I just can't do it.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, I worked my birthday. My birthday is just before Christmas and that was my last day of work. But I shoved like four PT clients into that day because I was like, I know that nobody's going to want to train for the next few days. So where's my income coming from for the next few days?
Jen:
Christmas.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, you know, that's not a great feeling, you know, especially being able to buy presents and do things with the kids and I was like, we could buy presents now. We just can't go anywhere or do anything. I'm lucky that My parents have a pool and a beautiful deck
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and we can live the beautiful Queensland life. But if I didn't have that, it would have been a very quiet Christmas at home.
Jen:
Yep. So to start to kind of wrap us up, where do you feel like? Yeah, what's next? Where? Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I would like to get to the point where I'm running two classes during those school hours instead of one. I don't ever see myself walking away from Breckenridge. You know, the ladies that I have there are so loyal and so lovely and have watched me personally go through a lot of things as well as business wise. And I just some of those people I now call my best friends. So I don't think I'll ever walk completely away from doing evenings. But I now know where I want to be financially.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I've forecasted for being completely self-sufficient.
Jen:
Yay. Why does that mean completely self-sufficient?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So it means that I'm not getting a little boost from my family financially
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and I'm not on any government payments whatsoever.
Jen:
Yeah, okay. So this is important, I think this is important to talk about as well. Like when you're on government payments for any reason, there's a sliding scale, right? And there must be a point where you're like, I'm fucking working now and I could have been getting the money that I'm, and you've got to look beyond that. And that's what I guess the financial forecasting allows you to do rather than just seeing the fact that you now have to work instead of being given the money.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah. And you know, it's never sit comfortably with me,
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
but because you know, I was a stay at home mum and the children's dad at the time was working, you know, we were okay. But then it became a situation where I needed that support
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
and I needed to have that safety net. But I don't want to be on it forever.
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
It's not my goal. It's not what I want to show my children. You know, I want to be successful.
Jen:
What's the big goal then? Because we know the sustained goal.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
The big goal is that I buy my own house when
Jen:
Yay.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I'm 40.
Jen:
Nice.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
That is, that is
Jen:
How
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
the
Jen:
many
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
goal.
Jen:
years away is that? Are you going to share?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
That is four years away.
Jen:
Okay, okay, that's
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
doable. Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
And then, you know, after that, I look at maybe opening my own studio and, you know,
Jen:
Let's make sure
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
move.
Jen:
we do the financial forecasting on that before you do it.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes, yes,
Jen:
Please don't do that
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yes.
Jen:
without a very fucking good spreadsheet because
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Oh yeah.
Jen:
yeah a lot more overheads.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
But yeah, then I'd like to move the business away from being in my garage to actually having a place
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
where I can physically separate, you know, my family from my business
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
at times. Yeah.
Jen:
Unless you buy this like house that's got a studio on the house, like I'm
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
envisaging now like a shed out the back or something that is more of a studio than a garage. I don't
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I've,
Jen:
know.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I look into that. I look into it. I put it on my wall as my dreams and what I want to manifest. But
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
that's definitely something I've thought about. Like a wing for the children's bedroom and then a wing for the business.
Jen:
Mm-hmm,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
nice. If you could offer any thoughts, doesn't have to be guidance, because I think sometimes that puts a lot of pressure on people, like thoughts to anyone that is, has any kind of financial struggle or even awareness, what would you say
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yep.
Jen:
to them?
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I would say learn that learn where your money is going.
Jen:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
You know, physically have it down on a spreadsheet that you can write and like print off and write notes. You know, close this account, you know, combine these two super funds that are sitting in the background, you know. Learn all of this stuff because you don't know what you don't know. And you could be losing money left, right, and center. because you're hiding from it.
Jen:
Hmm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
That's what I was doing, I was hiding.
Jen:
We all like to hide from time to time. It's okay. Yeah. I think one of the things that you said earlier about understanding what you're leaving on the table.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
And so there's one thing, knowing where your expenses are going. But then when you do that calculation and you go, oh, I've only got six people in this class and I could have 12, therefore I'm only earning 50% of my potential income. That's been,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
I feel like that's been a big driving force for you.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
It's been huge.
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
It is, yeah, I've never known that. And when I saw that figure of how much was being left, I pretty much just caught up in a ball and cried. I was like, holy crap, that's a lot of money that I'm just leaving out there because I'm not doing the things that scare me. I'm not leaning into the things that could be boosting this business because I'm scared.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Take the step, but now that I know that figure, I'm like, I'm never gonna have that figure on the table again. Your eating is going to be there.
Jen:
going to be in the bank account.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
Yeah. And I would say just for anyone listening, and this is something I fell into the trap of doing before is you forecast the things that look really good, but then also forget to watch, like to then document the actuals. So that's a good because forecasting can feel really, really good.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
It's like, oh, amazing. I've got all this money, but you haven't actually got it yet.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, I think there's also a little element to me is the fact that I'm also scared to dream a little bit
Jen:
Huh.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
because this is my second low in the business. I'm scared of that success. I'm scared to think what this could be because am I going to have another low and I know that that's what business
Jen:
Yeah...
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
does too.
Jen:
Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So my forecasting is very restricted because
Jen:
conservative? Yep.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
that yes, because I don't want to. Dream 2 Beak.
Jen:
Well, I mean, there's two sides to that, isn't there? There's like the dream big and be comfortable with halfway. I would offer you the opportunity to have some dream time as well as having the reality check, because if we get too caught up in dream time, not ideal. But yeah, and I do think there's that element when it's been up and down of going. Well, what? you're just waiting for it to be taken away again. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff you've got to balance.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah, but I think like the more things like selling out my class,
Jen:
Mm.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
getting this partnership, all those things are showing me that, you know, I'm allowed to dream because these things are actually starting to become a reality
Jen:
Yeah.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
that I was dreaming about when I first signed up with you.
Jen:
Yeah, and you build the resilience every time something happens and you pick yourself up and maybe you've rebuilt quicker this time than you did the first time. It's like, you know what, shit's going to happen all the time. There's going to be the, you get to the end of a term and you've got the mass exodus and you're like, shit, okay, cool. But now I know what to do. I've got the tools. I've got eyes wide open. I'm going to just plug it in and do it again. Yeah. Amazing. Amanda, thank you so much for being with us. I... always love spending time with you. I always love the way that you show up over and over again and I think you're a huge, huge example and shining light to a lot of our MumSafe trainers who might be going through something similar or maybe not even the same but go, fuck she just keeps getting up and I can do that as well because every time someone chooses to show up over and over again they prove to other people that they can, they can do it too. So
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah,
Jen:
massive,
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I think
Jen:
massive thank you.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I think I said that in the hot seat the other day. I was like, do you want a band just keep going.
Jen:
Just keep, you need that on the back of your shirt if you've not got
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yes.
Jen:
it already. Just keep going.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
Amazing.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Thank you so much for having me.
Jen:
Thank you.
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
I really do enjoy being part of this Mums Aid membership. Business is so isolating and being a single mum is so isolating and having this network just so supportive. It's great.
Jen:
Yep. Thank you for
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
So
Jen:
choosing
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
yeah.
Jen:
to be with us. All right. Have a beautiful day. See you soon. Bye. Alright, just so there's a little thing that says uploading. Can you see
Amanda - Mums Run the World Fitness:
Yeah.
Jen:
that?
