Today we’d like to introduce you to Monay Dickens.
Monay, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
LITraining all started back in 2016 during a fitness photoshoot with one of the best photographers in Orlando, by the name of Katwon Turner. I was expressing to him for my love of fitness, how important it is for our generation to live a healthy lifestyle, and how I wanted to one day have my own business as a personal trainer & dance fitness instructor. One day he reached out to inform me that he wanted to help me get started on building my brand “LITraining”. This meant a lot to me because during this time I wasn’t able to financially pay for photoshoots, websites, logos, and everything else that comes with starting a business, while also going through a lot of personal things, so I was super excited to take on the opportunity. His exact words were “All I need you to do is bring in the clientele” and I literally took those words and made it my job to do just that.
It’s very rare you come across people that see potential in you, and genuinely just want to see you succeed in life, so I definitely didn’t want to disappoint. While we were creating content for the brand, I had to figure out a name, I was always called “LIT” because I was always on social media dancing and I used to come to photoshoots literally just full of energy. From there, we had to think what “LIT” would stand for. (L) stands for live because I knew that I wanted my brand to be live and full of energy because that was me as a person, (I) stands for “intense” because I wanted people to have fun, but also get in a good intense workout rather it was through personal training or simply burning calories during a dance fitness class, and (T) of course stands for “training”.
February 7, 2017 was the day I released my brand on social media platforms. With dance fitness being the first thing I released, my classes started off with little to no people, which I started to get discouraged, but I didn’t let that stop me from what I wanted to do. I began focusing on my body by feeding it the right nutrients and protein, while also crafting my work on how I can be different from others as a trainer and a dance fitness instructor. I started posting my own transformation results and continued posting upbeat dance fitness videos on Instagram and clientele picked up significantly. Fast forward to 2020 I’ve accomplished so many of my goals that I had written down, from becoming a trainer to training over 100+ clients, traveling hosting dance fitness classes, working with companies in the fitness industry such as BodyArmor, C4 energy, Kemetic Knowledge, and EbonyFitFreaks just to name a few. I’ve faced a lot of obstacles to get to where I am now, but I’ve learned a lot through it all, and it was all worth it.
Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road, I’ve faced a lot of obstacles to get to where I am now. From losing almost everything in a fire in 2017, days before my grand opening, and then having to find a new apartment, literally was like starting over from scratch with everything. I was laid off my job a week before my birthday in 2018 after working for a company in management for over 6+ years, which really took a toll on me because I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills or even continue building my brand, which was really a tough year for me, but through it all I never showed pity, you never seen me cry, I kept smiling, I kept pushing my brand, and I never gave up.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
LITraining which stands for (L)ive (I)ntense (T)raining, is a name that I came up with for myself as a fitness coach that specializes in personal training, dance fitness, and online coaching. I am known for the trainer that’s always LIT and full of energy who knows how to make fitness fun. What I am most proud of is the growth in my business from when I very first started and the amount of continuous support that I have from friends/family, complete strangers, and my lovely clients. They always motivate me to keep going and remind me of why I started and I’m so thankful for that.
What sets me apart from others is my bubbly attitude, the amount of energy I have, and the way I train and teach. As a trainer, I love encouraging and pushing my clients to the max to be sure they accomplish their fitness goals rather it’s long/short term. So if that means I have to workout with my clients to help push them through a session, I’d do just that, so sometimes that does mean I’m working out at least 5-6 times a day, but when you love what you do it’s not really work. As a dance fitness instructor, I try to find upbeat trending music to keep my clients going and motivated to come to the next class, so every dance class there’s a different song and choreography, I even surprise them with a sexy chair class randomly to boost their self-esteem and also keep class fun.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Our city is a great place for trainers and dance fitness instructors like myself, I would highly recommend anyone start out here. You don’t see much of what I do and people are always looking for fun ways to burn calories and things to do in their spare time, it’s also a great way to meet new people that share the same interest as you.
Pricing:
- Dance Fitness online via zoom every Tues & Thurs for only $10
- Online group sessions via zoom for only $10
Contact Info:
- Website: www.liveintensetraining.com
- Email: liveintensetraining@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/litraining/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liveintensetraining
Image Credit:
Katwon Turner @from_within_arts; Jerome C. @socphotography
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