Health & Wellness is an important part of our everyday day life. Master Fitness Trainer Travis Moore has been transforming the lives of his clients through fitness training, nutritional meal prep and motivational speaking. With happy clients throughout the District of Columbia and surrounding cities, as well in Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA, Travis can easily be classified as one of the most sought-after up and coming trainers in his industry.
FLT chatted with Washington, DC Native Travis Moore to get the scoop on how he got started on his entrepreneurial fitness journey, the highs and lows of the business, his perseverance and amazing career strides.
What inspired you to launch a fitness career?
My interest in pursuing a fitness career began in 2011 when I had a trainer at Gold’s Gym named TJ. My goal when signing up to train with TJ was primarily adding on muscle mass. However, TJ had a different goal in mind. The intense training he offered pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was literally sore from deadlifts close to a week. Despite my body initially wanting to drop kick me, mentally I was on a positive high; it felt great having a sense of completion and not backing down from the challenge given. I remember even one time TJ made me do lunges around the whole gym! The recovery enabled me to go even harder the following week. The experience was such a rewarding and fulfilling one that at the completion of our training term I asked TJ how to go about getting certified, in which he recommended the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
In 2013, I moved to Laurel MD, and I was supporting a contract as a Security Operations Center Team Lead. As I got to know one a new team member under my leadership, she was very outgoing and adventurous. After a while, I started to share my vision as a trainer. She fully supported me, which gave me extra encouragement to get certified. Once I became certified, a forever brother of mines, Manny Rothmiller hired me on the spot. Thereafter, I pursued several specializations including injury prevention/rehab, sports performance enhancement, and conditioning.
How did you transition from the world of IT and you role in Security Operations, and what were some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced during that process?
When I initially dived into my career as a Master Trainer I was balancing both training and my career in Cyber Security. The first 6 months were very slow, as I was a shy person when approaching people. Confidence I realized was a muscle that needed to be trained in order to be effective in this field, so I just had to put myself out there. Sure enough, as I began conversing more with people, my business began to increase, increase to the point where I would have 26 clients to manage a week. At this point, I ran into a weakness in my ability to control time. I began overbooking or even forgetting to put clients on my calendar at the time. Shortly after, I came across this scheduling web application service that resolved the time conflicts.
After 2 years of supporting a contract in Virginia, I still wanted to stay within the company I was with, but come back closer to home. The position I was transferred to didn’t have the proper resources for me to do my functions effectively. One principle I’ve learned that will always stick with me is to work while you wait, which I did. I served at this location for 6 months until an immediate schedule change happened that would wipe out my evening clientele. I tried it for a week, and hit a point where I intentionally left work early to make it to the gym parking lot and figured I can get a quick nap in. We know how that can be. I overslept in my car and missed my 5:00pm session.
I then resigned from the role and solely pursued training. Financially when things started to get behind, I went back into the Cyber Security Field but resigned that job after 6 months due to mismanagement from the top down leadership.
What’s one of the biggest lessons learned since being on your entrepreneurial journey.
Persistence is one of the biggest lessons as I began to learn more about sales, closing, the art of communication, and serving others.
One example, during my efforts to become a NASM Master Trainer (MST). During the time of my inquiry, the Master Trainer course was just starting in 2-3 weeks and my advisor suggested I wait until the following quarter to enroll. I still went ahead and put down my deposit for the course, and continued to request access. Once I found out who the Head of the MST program, she then asked if I was sure I’d be able to prepare in time, which I strongly said “yes”.
Another lesson learned was to give continuous effort towards growing my business daily. I did hit a point where I was “comfortable”. Though financially when I was already behind on car and house payments, being in this comfortable spot led me to 1 repossession and 1 foreclosure. This was a wake-up call for me to kick up my activity level. When my car was repossessed, I walked to the gym; literally a 5 minute drive turned into a 40 minute walk. However, I had the opportunity to see things I never saw in my environment in contrast to just driving by. This was actually a relief. Another relief with the foreclosure is having the FREEDOM to move onto the next chapter of my life, whether local in the DC Area or wherever the next opportunity is.
What do you feel are some of the biggest misconceptions people have as it relates to living a healthy lifestyle?
Many, not everybody, expect results overnight. Keeping it realistic, this isn’t advised. Extreme diets or shortcuts (waist trainers, skin products that make you sweat, etc.) don’t yield long term results. When people try these methods, they have not put in the effort and adopted the mindset knowing what it takes to sustain results.
The fitness industry is an unregulated to where people are obtaining the wrong knowledge, or follow along with “fab trends” that may work for some but not for others. Everyone is unique and I am here to help them realize that.
What can we expect from you/your brand in the coming months.. any new initiatives?
I have a few upcoming initiatives getting more involved in the DC area community. Also a platform that would scale my business further making a difference. Stay Tuned 🙂
Where can potential clients locate you?
I can be found on Instagram @officialtravismoore and Facebook “DMV Fitness LLC”. My website is www.officialtravismoore.com