“To anybody who’s trying to build a business: if you have an idea or you have something that you’re passionate about and you wanna do it, ask for help. Find supportive people and go for it, and you might just surprise yourself.”
Like many entrepreneurs who founded their companies while stuck inside during the pandemic, Synthia Link took a deep look at her skillset. As a former performer on Broadway and the Radio City Rockettes, Synthia knows how important it is to feel good in your body.
“I’ve always been a health and fitness coach,” she told Magnify Consulting Founder and CEO Julia Lumpkin on Instagram Live. “I always did that as like my side gig while I was performing and doing that kind of stuff, and I knew that people really needed help. People were struggling with weight gain and not feeling good in their skin. People wanted to be moving their bodies.”
Soon enough, she began offering services under her company SLINK FIT, an all-in-one health and fitness community with one-on-one training, membership access to a library of fitness courses, and nutritional coaching.
“Now, two years later, it’s my full-time job. It’s my only form of income, and I literally have never been happier.”
In this article, you’ll learn about…
- Taking your passion from a side hobby to a profitable, full-time company
- Making one-on-one connections in marketing
- Prioritizing health and fitness as an entrepreneur
- Synthia’s new program for creating slow and sustainable changes
Now, let’s get to know Synthia Link
What were some of the early challenges you faced in building a health and fitness company in 2020?
I think the biggest thing, and I am still working on it all the time, but it’s the ebb and flow. There are so many things that you can’t control in the health industry. I think social media is awesome, but it can be really hard because I find myself on it so often. My biggest struggle is separating when I’m working and when I’m not working because our phones are always there.
Another thing that has been challenging is some months are amazing and some months are just harder. And you’re constantly building, right? Sometimes there are certain months when you’re feeling connected to people, then there are some months when people just aren’t ready and that has to be okay.
It’s not anything that I’m doing or not doing. But I think sometimes it’s really hard not to take it personally.
We’ve both been stepping up our Instagram game and, I’m curious, what has your marketing strategy been lately? What advice can you give?
I think because I was an actor and dancer and all those things, videos actually really lend to my strengths. I love being in front of a camera. I love talking to people. So for me, to pop out a reel, it’s not all that difficult.
I try to make my content understandable. I’m on stories all the time. I think that if you can see my face, and I’m speaking directly to you, it’s more relatable. [As a consumer,] I don’t want to buy something from a picture, I want to work with a human. So, I try every day to teach a little bit and share some knowledge and understanding. I try to share client wins so that people can get inspired by them and understand they can do it too.
I also think coaches need coaches, so I hired a mentor and she has literally changed my life. She helped me realize it’s about connection and it’s about showing up every day and being genuine in your authentic self… and that’s what I try to do every day on my stories on Instagram.
I reach out to people and ask them if they need help. I wanna know who my followers are. If you follow me, I’m going to take the time to know who you are.
Not only do you run your business solo, but you’re also a mother. What does a typical day in the life look like for you?
I’m up at 6:30 every day to get my daughter up. Sometimes I have personal training clients at 5:45, which is hard, but I do it. But I’ll get my daughter up, get her ready, and then the babysitter comes around. I’ll usually make a reel from 8 to 8:30, then I’m on with my first client around 8:30, personal training, or teaching a class.
I usually take a break from 12 to 12:30 so that I can put my daughter down for her nap, which is very important to me. Then I’ll do something like this, or I’ll answer client calls or client coaching requests. I’m working on some new materials for my program, so sometimes I’ll do that.
I typically work 8-2, and then I usually stop. I’ll answer emails when I’m on the go, but that’s the time I’m with my daughter. She’s 19 months old. I’m not compromising that. There’s one day, actually on Thursdays, when I work a full day. Right now I’m able to make my own schedule and it’s working, but I’m trying to work fewer hours and be more productive about work time. It has to be like this because I’m a mom, I’m trying to keep a house from falling down.
Do you have any advice for those other entrepreneurs who are trying to make health and fitness a priority while also managing the busyness that is running a business?
“The important thing is: you have to come somewhere in the equation.”
I think for a lot of moms and busy business owners, you’re not always going to come first, but you have to come somewhere. Making small, practical changes is what will get you closer to your goal.
So if you’re an entrepreneur and your goal is, “Oh my gosh, during the pandemic I gained 30 pounds. I want to lose 30 pounds.” That’s a big goal, right?
But if you’re like, “This week I’m gonna make sure that I eat breakfast, I’m gonna move my body once or twice this week, do a 15-minute workout, and I’m gonna make sure that I’m introducing one new vegetable this week.” Those are three goals that you can do, right? Once you get into a habit, you can add three more on top, and then three more on top. And then all of a sudden you’re like, “Wow. I’m a little bit closer to my goal.”
You have to schedule it, you have to make it a priority.
In terms of your services and what you offer, what would you say has changed from where you started two and a half years ago and where you going?
I used to only do fitness. I was only teaching four classes a week and doing some personal training. Now, I’m honestly leaning farther away from that and more into health and fitness coaching and nutrition.
I had all sorts of feeding disorders, I was a professional dancer for a long time. I didn’t always take care of my body the way I should have. I’ve always been wildly passionate about that, and so that’s where I’m leaning, that’s where my business is growing. It’s growing into a few different programs, one on one opportunities. But my business has taken off in a way that I’m so proud of.
Can you tell us a bit about your new program, Lifestyle Foundations?
It’s a four-month program to help you ditch the diet and figure out the root causes of your inflammation. You get all sorts of support from me. We coach you one-on-one every single week. You get a personalized lifestyle and food plan that I create for you based on a host of information that you give me, so no two clients’ plan is the same.
It’s important to me that it’s individualized because your body is different than any other body. We have a group health and fitness coaching opportunity every week on Zoom. There’s a Facebook group. There’s my video library of workouts. I’ll give you recipes and grocery shopping lists, and you’ll get a bunch of goodies.
But the main point is I meet you where you’re at and I get you to your goal. Whether your goal is really big or you just want to change some things, we go in slow incremental movements because to make a change, you have to make a change. And so I help you make those changes. I hold your hand throughout the whole thing.
My clients are seeing awesome results because we’re going slow and steady. This is not a diet, this is a lifestyle, right? It has to be slow.
Learn more about Synthia’s new program Lifestyle Foundations by following her on Instagram.
