Where Do You Fit Among The Wellness Industry Careers

By: Australian Institute of Fitness WA Massage Coach, Chris Wilson

Most of us start on the same journey once we qualify in remedial massage from the Australian Institute of Fitness (AKA AIF). We take the path most travelled and become employed to help build our confidence and our portfolio of experience. Once we have a sustainable client base we inevitably start to change our focus to our passion.

My passion (soccer) has allowed to me travel around the world, work with elite squads in the most amazing facilities and introduced me to the leaders in their field – stemming all from a personal training and remedial massage qualification.

How did it happen?

Firstly, I naturally started to work in the sports (soccer) industry, as that was where my network existed. After writing a simple workshop for my local team I started to deliver this workshop for other teams, then federations, and grew my range of workshops covering stretching, recovery, exercise techniques (everything you learn at the Australian Institute of Fitness).

How can you find your unique selling point (USP)?

The biggest mistake I see/hear is people over complicating this part. Just because someone else is delivering the same content does not mean you cannot. How many different coffee shops are in the CBD? The USP is the experience you get when you buy and consume the coffee.

Where do I fit in the Wellness sector?

This picture says it all, and this was 2015. The biggest growth area is technology and artificial intelligence in the wellness space. There is a lot of money spent creating the newest application and software to improve health. With that said, the one thing all of this reduces and, in my opinion, one of the biggest positive drivers in wellness, is human interaction and the personal touch. I’m not suggesting you should avoid tech. Hell no! My business is built on technology (saliva monitoring in fact), but it still allows me to interact with my clients on a personal level and grow our relationship from there.

Is there a place for me in the Wellness sector?

YES! Keep in mind the only way I see people competing in this sector is by nudging yourself into it. There are huge corporations gobbling up this space such as the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Clinic and Virgin Pulse to name a few.  Their marketing budget is huge, and they have access to many resources which allows them to develop the latest innovations. So, you my friend, will have to barge your way through the door… gradually.

How?

1. Find your passion/interest/drivers (me: soccer)
2. Find a pain-point experienced by your audience. This takes research or simply asking them directly (me: lack of knowledge amongst coaches)
3. FOCUS on that one thing and create a USP that solves their pain-point (me: create workshops for squads and coaches)
4. Keep it ridiculously simple (me: my content is no more complex than what you learn at AIF)
5. Refine, learn and adapt your delivery, product and service
6. Sell it to anyone and everyone that will listen
7. Don’t forget to have fun!

Good luck out there!

• Bio

AIF

The Australian Institute of Fitness

The Australian Institute of Fitness (AIF) is the largest and longest established fitness training organisation in Australia, with dynamic training methods and expert course coaches nationwide - spanning fitness, massage and nutrition. The AIF qualifies more fitness professionals than any other provider in Australia, as well as offering a broad range of continuing education courses (CEC), upskilling resources and partnership programs for existing industry.