Michael George on How To Become a Celebrity Trainer

Chris McCombs (CM): Okay. I’m here with Michael George. Michael, can you tell us who you are what you do?

Michael George (MG): Yeah. My name is Michael George. I’m a celebrity trainer fitness expert, television host and personal training business owner.

CM: What books have you authored?

MG: Body Express Makeover: The Surefire Rapid Way to Trim and Sculpt Your Body.

CM: Okay. And you’ve worked with quite a lot of celebrities, haven’t you?

MG: Yeah.

CM: Are you at liberty to name any of those?

MG: Yeah. Let’s see here, one second.

CM: No problem.

MG: Short list is Meg Ryan, Christian Slater, Toby McGuire, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Shriver, Sheila Ward, Dennis Quaid, Fernando Vargas (the fighter), Julianne Moore, James Spader, Elizabeth Berkley, Reese Witherspoon, Miguel Ferrer, Nick Cannon, Sean Ashmore, and there’s probably about 20 others I can’t think of right now.

CM: That’s quite a list.

MG: Yeah.

CM: So how does a trainer, if he wants to break into being a celebrity trainer - how did you do it?

MG: Well, you know, it’s a really tough answer because it’s really sort of - the best method is word of mouth. First of all you have to be really good at what you do. And if you’re really good at what you do, people are going to hear about you. And then you train one celebrity, that celebrity tells another celebrity, and boom, boom, boom, it’s like a domino effect. Word of mouth is obviously the best method of training celebrities. Going after them, which a lot of people try to do, doesn’t really work. They have to come to you. You can’t try to necessarily solicit them. I mean, you can, but you have to do it in specific instances or circumstances that are appropriate.

But for me it stated out - the other thing too is you have to build a referral network of other associates that you know work with the celebrities. For instance, nutritionists that work with celebrities, chiropractors, physical therapists, other wellness practitioners, massage therapists, holistic practitioners. You have to build - you have to go out and do the work. You have to meet these people and get to know them and keep an ongoing relationship with a lot of different people. It takes a lot of work. It’s not easy at all. Once you build the referral network with other associates that work with celebrities, and they refer you a celebrity, and you do a good job - and that’s the key: you do a good job, because you’re good at what you do - then that celebrity or that associate is going to refer you another client, another celebrity client. And that’s literally how it breaks down is just either word of mouth, or other associates that work with celebrities. It could even be a hair stylist.

You’ve got to build a large network of associates. And then you just keep in touch with them, not just meet them one time and expect them to remember you. Call them, send them a card, stop by and say hello. You know, it takes a lot of work, but once you’re established then it’s a whole different ball game. Once you’re established celebrities come to you. Also production companies, producers, will hear about you - directors. It’s a tight knit community and they hear about you and they hear about the work you’ve done. For instance, the work I did with Toby McGuire, well the production company that worked with Toby said, “Wow, Michael did a great job with Toby. Let’s send him Nick Cannon and Sean Ashmore for this other film.”

So that’s basically how it breaks down, but the bottom line is - the way it starts is you have to be really good at what you do and you have to be somewhat versatile. I’m versed in body building, all kinds of integral circuit training, core training, structural work, boxing, four different types of martial arts, yoga, pilates techniques, I work with pans, I work with balls. You have to really know you’re stuff. It can’t just be theoretical knowledge. It has to be practical knowledge as well, and both of those combined - and also you have to read a lot.

I mean, every single book that’s come out on diet or what have you I have read. So I’m really versed in knowing diet and nutrition in case - sometimes, a lot of times, celebrities will have a nutritionist and a trainer. But sometimes they’ll want the trainer to be both. And you have to be good at that. You have to know what you’re talking about when it comes to nutrition and diet. I mean, when I trained Fernando Vargas for his fight, I got him down to the lowest he’d ever been three weeks before his fight, because I knew about nutrition. I knew how to get him down to weight without him losing a lot of energy; and it’s because I’ve done a lot of research and a lot of study.

So it’s a combination of keeping up with associates and making phone calls and saying hello and doing ongoing research over and over and over again. Keep updating yourself. Keep getting better at what you do. It’s like life - you don’t just get to a certain point and then you’re done. There are lessons to be learned all through life and you keep growing as a person.

It doesn’t hurt to be a spiritual person as well, because celebrities tend to be around a lot of superficial ego-maniacs and they really appreciate it when they’re around someone with a spiritual connection. I do meditation with clients. I do yoga postures with clients. You have to be very versed personality-wise and you have to be very knowledgeable from a fitness/nutrition standpoint, and you have to be very humble.

Celebrities are around egos all day long. The last thing they want is their trainer to have a big ego. I mean, I’m sure there are some celebrities that want their trainer to be some ego-maniac; but I’ve found that being very humble, very sincere, very approachable, very knowledgeable are some of the keys to becoming a good - not only a good trainer, but to work with celebrities. Because my clientele isn’t all celebrities. I work with mothers, I work executives, I work with CEOs of companies, you name it. The bottom line is you have to have some kind of spiritual connection and it has to be sincere. It can’t be contrived. It has to be sincere, it has to be real, and that’s part of the key to - those are some of the keys to becoming a celebrity trainer.

CM: You mentioned spiritual. That’s actually - in my own success I would say that is by far the biggest factor. And it’s also the biggest factor in me not getting egotistical about my success and not getting all caught up in the day-to-day stuff; because I’m able to just step back and have that deeper ground. Can you expand a little bit more on your spiritual connection, if you feel comfortable?

MG: Yeah. I mean, I’ve studies with kuramai [ph]; I’ve studied mediation; I’ve studied and I’ve done a lot of psychotherapy with myself; I’ve done the Landmark forum, which is not necessarily spiritual but it’s a spiritual aspect; I go to Agape, which is a –

CM: It’s a great church.

MG: Yeah. The science and mind. I live and breath a spiritual connection with God and a higher power and it shows. I mean, it radiates through you. It doesn’t sound like it now with my voice, because I’m sick, but when you’re - I guess the best I can say is that you have to live a spiritual life. And people can pick up that in just seconds. There’s some clients that won’t mind if you’re not spiritual, but most of them will want you to be spiritual; they’ll want you to be real; they want you to be humble. But at the same time they want you to be good at what you do, and you’ve got to get results.

The number one key to all of this is getting results. If you can’t get results, word of mouth is going to drop off, associates are not going to send you celebrity clients for a second time or a third time, and - the key is getting results. You have to adhere to the clients goals. And, a lot of times you don’t have much time to get people ready for their films or their projects. I work with a lot of models as well, and it’s really about being spiritual but also very good at what you do and getting results; because the result is what will drive the word of mouth. It’s the engine that drives everything - getting results and getting them quickly.

There are a lot of trainers out there that work - see, there’s the ethical concern that I have with a lot of trainers, and that is that a lot of trainers feel that if they get somebody in shape too fast, they’re going to lose income because that client is going to move on; and so they hold on to that client and they don’t get results as quickly as they could. But the bottom line is, if you don’t results then nobody’s going to refer you out.

For me, my kind of work is unbelievable. I turn over clients ever three months. Every six months I pretty much have a whole new clientele. It’s because I get results and I know that these people that I get in shape, they either move on their own (or even stick with me), they will refer me out because I get really good results and I get them fast. I’m not interested in keeping clients for a lifetime. I’m interested in achieving their goals as quickly and expediently as possible. In doing so, they definitely spread word of mouth and say, “This guy’s a great trainer.”

And I just got today from a client - I’ve been working with her now for three weeks - and she told me about how all her friends are saying about how great she looks and blah, blah, blah. And that’s just in three weeks. And that’s because my goal is to get clients in shape as expediently as possible, and as effectively as possible. And I use all sorts of methods, whether it be - it can be - you name it, I’ll do whatever it takes to get a client in shape.

With Fernando, not only did I train him in the gym, but I ran the track with him, and I timed him, and I ran sprints with him. So you’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to get a client in shape, and that takes a lot of effort and a lot of trainers don’t really want to put in that effort.

CM: Let me ask you a question. If a celebrity is getting ready for a film or something like that, is there a problem with them cheating on their diets? That’s kind of an off the wall question, but I actually get that asked all the time. Like Brad Pitt getting ready for Fight Club, is he cheating on his diet, or just –?

MG: You know what? Film is forever, and most celebrities are smart enough to know that. So celebrities are less likely to cheat on their diet than the average person because they have this short amount of time, or a specific period of time, to get in shape for a film and it doesn’t behoove them to sabotage themselves. So it’s very rare that a celebrity will actually cheat on their diet or - they might one day go out and do something one day, but for the most part they pretty much adhere to everything I tell them to do. Because they know that film is forever and they’re their own product. The way they look on camera determines not only their next project, but their income level, you know? The better they look, the more money they’re going to make, the more projects they’re going to make.

CM: So let me ask you, if you have a client - celebrity or not - but they’re doing the training right and everything like that, but they’re just not doing the eating, how do you personally communicate? This is a little off subject, but I’m just curious how you communicate how important the eating is, and how you deal with that.

MG: Well, every client is different. I approach every client from a different standpoint. Most celebrity clients don’t have eating issues, for the most part, I’ve learned to cross that. Basically, my personality is more of a chameleon. I approach each and every client differently when it comes to diet and training. If I don’t see the results I think we should be getting then I alter the diet in whatever way I feel it needs to be altered.

Some clients need to be manhandled, but not from a dictator standpoint, just from an aggressive standpoint. Some clients need to be coddled, you know? It just depends on the client themselves and their personality. See, what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to get into your client’s head, whether it be a celebrity or just a regular client. You have to get into their head and figure out what’s going on inside of them. What their blocks are, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, what their personality is like, and in doing so you approach each and every client differently.

Whereas most trainers approach each client the same way, and you can’t do that. Some clients nee to be hit over the head with a hammer. Some clients need to be slowly coddled into a different way of eating. So it just depends on the client.

CM: How about - let me ask you - if the client doesn’t really have a good referral network and you really tapped on getting results (which also feel is, by far, one of the most important things), any other suggestions or keys on building that referral network from the ground up?

MG: Yeah. I mean, first of all you want to start getting yourself out there and you have to separate yourself from the crowd. You can do that be doing freelance writing for free for regional or local magazines, or even national magazines; but this is where you’ve got to start off for free. Also, charity events - attending charity events. People start seeing your face and that’s a very appropriate place to come up to somebody and - come up to a celebrity and introduce yourself. Say, “My name is so and so. If you are interested in doing any training, here’s my card.”

Going to premieres. Getting yourself out there. Hanging out where the celebrities hang out. The nightclub scene isn’t going to necessarily get you anywhere, but hanging out in other venues, like I said charity events, different venues that you know celebrities are going to be at, but not necessarily the nightclub scene. You might pick up a celebrity client from a nightclub, but it’s very rare because they’re out partying and they’re not thinking about training. And you have to build rapport with them, you have to spend a few minutes with them, and you have to exude a certain charisma, a certain self-confidence.

I think that’s a huge part of it is being very self-confident in who you are as a person and who you are as a trainer. Another way you can do it is offering a couple free sessions - and I’ve don’t that several times where I’ve offered a celebrity client two or three sessions on the house, to get to know each other so they know - because most celebrities, a lot them, feel like everybody wants something from them: their friends, their family, associates, everybody wants something from them. Everybody’s out for themselves.

If you prove to a celebrity that you’re not out for yourself, that you really honestly want to help them get in shape, and you don’t want anything from them: you don’t want other celebrity clients from them, you don’t want their money. They have to honestly believe that you have their best interest at heart. If you can do that and gain their trust then you gain the world, because then once you gain somebody’s trust, then they’re willing to do whatever it takes to help you out.

So from the ground up, charity events are good to attend, where you know celebrities are going to be at, and you have to spend money. A lot of these charity events are $250 a plate, or $500 a plate; but you can also talk to the people that are putting on the charity even and see if you can work for them in some capacity. Or, silent auctions are a great way of getting yourself out there, giving away training sessions at silent auctions. Another way is writing a book, like I did. Get a book out there, and that’s a whole different ball game right there.

The other thing is take some hosting classes or some on-camera classes so that you can solicit some of these shows that have fitness expert casts on and feel comfortable on camera. People see you on camera and that separates you from the crowd. But, again, I come back to you have to separate yourself from the crowd. That’s the key, separating yourself from the crowd and being really good at what you do and being able to follow through. You’ve got to be really good at what you do, even if you get on camera, or you get on a show, or you do an interview, or what have you - or you get in a magazine - the bottom line is you’ve got to be good at what you do.

The other thing is developing a press kit, and that’s a whole ballgame in itself too, because developing a press kit can be very difficult, especially from scratch. Basically you start with a head shot and a bio. It’s hard to develop a press kit until you get at least one celebrity client.

But the one thing you don’t want to do is you don’t want to abuse your celebrity clients’ names. In other words, you don’t want to take one celebrity client and just use that name over and over and over again, and call yourself a celebrity trainer; because that’s going to alienate you. It’s okay to use a celebrity’s name, and that’s pretty much what gets you in the door at the magazines, but you’ve got to be careful about that. You can’t abuse it. There’s a fine line.

And you can solicit specific clients, like Britney Spears after she had a baby. If you can find a contact person, you can send some information on you to that person and offer some free sessions. But know that most top celebrities will already have a trainer, or - most likely will have a trainer - and you would be coming in through the back door. In other words, they’re not happy with the trainer they have so they’re looking for a new trainer.

The other thing you can do is solicit PR firms, management companies - what else? Any other associates. PR firms that, you know, have celebrity clients; management companies that have celebrity clients. It’s always best to have an in with somebody. Just sending out material to a PR firm will typically get round filed. If you know somebody who works at the PR firm - again, being humble, sincere, and asking them if they would mind passing on your information to some of the other agents at the PR firm. But those are also good ways of getting celebrity clients.

CM: How important is mindset?

MG: Can you elaborate?

CM: How important is a trainer’s internal map of reality, or his vision, his thought, stuff like that, when it comes to creating the kind of clientele that he wants?

MG: I truly believe in visualization. I believe that you can visualize the clientele and the lifestyle that you want. I’m a firm, firm believer in visualization, but visualization will only take you so far. You have to be in action too. And the one thing you don’t want to be is a star fucker. I hate to use that language, but there’s a lot of people out there that - they just - they’re only interest is getting celebrity clients. And that just gets old. People pick up on that so fast. Celebrities are smart people. They’re around people all day long that want something from them and they can pick up on it so fast.

So visualization, and mindset, and visualizing what you want is very important. I do suggest for any trainer to develop a mission statement and a mission plan. I did that myself. I mean, I did it 10 years ago - actually, longer than that, probably 15 years ago. I wrote out a mission plan of exactly what I wanted. I wanted to work with more celebrities, I wanted to get a book out - I’ve still got other things that I’m working on that are in my mission plan.

But you’ve got to have a plan of action. Just being scattered and throwing things out right and left doesn’t really work. You’ve got to have a plan of action, and you do that by starting out with a mission plan, or a mission statement. Richard Branson’s book The Best Business Plans is a good book to read because it helps you to develop a strong business plan or mission statement, however you want to call it, and a plan of action, a course of action of what you’re going to do. It’s important to have a plan of action and have people organized.

And also, it’s very important to follow through very quickly. I mean, if - like, somebody contacted me for a speaking engagement yesterday. I called them back right away and I send them out my materials right away, within three hours. Now, I can’t always do that because I’m training clients a lot, but you don’t want to wait three or four days to call somebody back. You’ve got to be on top of things each and every day, and you’ve got to call people back promptly and be ready to answer any questions that are going to be asked of you.

CM: Are there any more tips that you can leave to the new trainer starting out who - even take the celebrity thing out of it, just a trainer who wants to be successful. Can you summarize up some of the most important things? Or, what would you say to a trainer just starting out, who wants to get out of the corporate training job and wants to do his own thing and have success? What would you say?

MG: Are you talking about training celebrities, or just becoming independent?

CM: Just becoming - it doesn’t to have anything to do with celebrities - just becoming a successful trainer; and if you want to elaborate a little bit on what would you say about training celebrities, you can do that too. Whatever feels right.

MG: Well, again, you have to build a network of associates that are going to - you have to build a strong clientele. You have to build a strong clientele that are loyal to you because you’re good at what you do, and they trust you, and they believe in you. And once you have - once you’ve developed that — I did that in eight months. I started off training at a gym. I was a former amateur body builder, [indistinct], boxer, yoga practitioner; and I started training clients at a gym. Once other clients saw what I was doing and they could see that I was better, or that what I was doing was achieving results faster than other trainers, they would come over to me. Once I built a large enough client base, then I went independent.

And then you have to keep on building on that client base, you know? Have gift certificates, that’s important too, giving out gift certificates to your clients that they can give to other clients. Offering a free session here or there. Making yourself available to train clients - how would I say it - just marketing.

I would highly suggest trainers get some kind of fitness marketing knowledge, either by book, or what have you, because marketing - what you do is you’re selling yourself. If you want to be a celebrity trainer, or you want to have your own independent business, what you’re doing is you’re selling yourself, and you’ve got to know how to sell yourself. And if you don’t know how to do that, you have to learn how to do that.

It’s not just about getting tons of certifications and degrees, and this and that. I mean, there are tons of trainers out there with lots of degrees in kinestheology and physiology, and certifications in this and that, and they’re working for a club. It’s because you have to know how to sell yourself and that has to do with gaining marketing knowledge; because there’s so many different ways to market yourself. I’m just giving you a handful. There’s just so many different ways. But you’ve got to know how to sell yourself and market yourself.

Networking is probably the best way to do that, and being comfortable doing that, and being comfortable selling yourself. Not from an egotistical standpoint, but from a sincere and humble standpoint. But also being confident and saying, “I can help you get in shape. I can help you lose that weight. I can help you do this.” You have to be really good at selling yourself. If you don’t have marketing skills or sales skills, which I luckily did have, then you need to acquire those. Part of it is through reading books, and part of it is through practical - going out there and overcoming your fears, fear of making a fool of yourself or embarrassing yourself, or not knowing what to say, or what have you.

You have to overcome fear, that’s a big one too. It’s a huge one. You have to overcome the fear of being good at what you do and telling yourself and working with celebrities. A lot of people are very giddy or uncomfortable around celebrities. And you can’t do that. You’ve got to treat them like a normal human being; and that comes from experience, and making a fool of yourself sometimes, and doing stupid things, and saying stupid things. But you have to overcome the fear of making an ass of yourself. That’s a big part of, overcoming your fear.

A lot of trainers are very comfortable in a place of mediocracy, and not just trainers but people in general. That’s why one percent of the population makes most of the income. It’s because they’re not afraid to go out there and do what needs to be done. It’s kind of like Richard Branson owns 240 companies. He wasn’t afraid to fail. You can’t be afraid to make mistakes. You can’t be afraid to fail. You can’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself.

And at the same time, when you are in front of celebrities you have to be very comfortable and very relaxed, and that’s hard to do. A lot of people get very giddy, or they get very uncomfortable and they’re not themselves. You have to learn how to be yourself in front of celebrities, and so forth. But in terms of - going back to your initial question of going independent - it’s about building a strong clientele, and you do that over time, and you do that by being good at what you do and getting results, and having strong word of mouth and networking, and appearing at charity events and giving away sessions at silent auctions. All those things you have to do.

And eventually you build up a strong enough clientele where you can go independent, then you’ve got to build from there. Once you’re independent that’s just the beginning. I mean, that’s - then you have to build off of those clients, and build off of those clients, and build off of those clients, until your referral is three, four, five clients deep per client.

CM: Michael, I really appreciate your time and effort. Where can trainers learn more about you, your book, your website, etc.

MG: Just go to www.michaelgeorge.com

CM: And what’s the name of your book again?

MG: It’s called Body Express Makeover: The Surefire Way to Trim and Sculpt Your Body by Simon & Schuster.

This has been a wellness, health, and personal training marketing interview