Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Coyle.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In my earlier years, as a Weymouth High School athlete I was always surrounded with older girls, as I was on varsity at a young age. Specifically, on the softball team I was a freshman and one of the older players “Ally” got some of the team involved in lifting- as her dad ran the high schools strength and conditioning program. I looked up to her- so I listened and started to lift with the team and fell in love with it. I loved getting strong, I loved breaking records, and I loved being in that rough environment where you push yourself. I knew it gave me confidence to walk a little taller and have a strong back bone in any situation I was put it.
I went to Curry College and I majored in psychology. I was a two time softball captain there and have always been into anything physical with my body since I was young, from sports, to lifting etc. – the gym was always something I enjoyed and loved getting a good sweat in. While in college, I thought I wanted to head in the direction of a job in the school system of some sort after college. Once I graduated, I started working at a nonprofit preschool. I saw a lot (to say the least) and it opened my eyes to different circumstances. I got to work with many different professionals within a school system and thought about going furthering my education at grad school. I also thought about how much money it would be and I didn’t have a specific direction pulling me, so I held off on making any rash decision. It was during this time I wanted to change the way I worked out and ate. I dove head first into the “eating clean” lifestyle -making food and learning all these recipes. I kept reading books and articles in the health field. I had this new time on my hands from not having to go to softball practice every day or play double headers sometimes 8 games in a week or more. I looked forward in going to the gym to get a good sweat and clear my mind.
I spent a lot of my down time searching for any old jobs and going on countless interviews at places I didn’t even know about, I just knew there was no room for advancement in the current job I had or pay increase without going back to school. I moved out of my house into Southie (South Boston) hoping I would meet or run into someone that would help open up another door in hopes of getting a new job. During this time I got a second job as a waitress and things got really hectic – I was up early at the gym, working two jobs and basically burning the candle at both ends. Some health concerns started happening during this stage of my life which I believe are just correcting themselves now and still working on doing so. I took this time to read more about health and nutrition and found the Precision Nutrition Certification, in which I studied and passed that to guide others as a “health coach”. I finally got a different job working as an administrator for a local competitive hockey organization and moved back home. I had a lot less stress in my life at this point and still knew that this job was just temporary, so I was constantly keeping my eyes and ears open. I saw an opportunity where I could maybe change the culture of what a hockey rink entails- from snack bar food to providing training to the teams in the organization and their parents. I was talking to other fitness professionals at this time and would listen to their story and saw what it took to get where they were currently. MY family (from day 1) always said “why not choose a career in the training industry- you truly love it”. I would continue to reply – yes, I love doing it for myself but not sure if I would like doing it for other people.
Around this time – a couple things end up happening all at once- sort of like a perfect storm. I saw on twitter that Mike Boyle – from Mike Boyle “Body By Boyle” Strength and Conditioning was coming out with his own Functional Strength Coach Certification- and I thought this was a sign. My brother Charlie had trained with Mike Boyle when he played hockey at Boston University and knew how good he was. I knew this certification would be unlike any other- it would be valid and credible. It wouldn’t be the type of test where you would simply answer some questions and pass and be all set, I knew this test would have some depth to it as I had to know the terminology to pass a written test then also pass a practical test in person. I thought maybe if I reached out to Mike myself I would be able to ask some more questions about the certification . Sure enough he answered all my questions and I immediately signed up. I did my studying and passed both parts of the test. At this time I also ended up getting a second job at Athleta- Newbury St. I knew nothing about retail but knew the store is constantly doing free fitness classes for their customers and thought this could open up a few more doors – meeting other likeminded individuals and fitness instructors in the health and wellness industry. Sure enough, one day while working Kathryn Tappen walks in- if you don’t know her, she is a sports broadcaster amongst an amazing person. I did not know her yet- but again I felt compelled to introduce myself to her (a few weeks prior she interviewed my brother and said some very kind things about him). So, I got some courage and just started chatting with her as she came up to pay. We connected obviously with hockey, but she asked about myself and told her I just became a Certified Functional Strength Coach and a Health Coach through Precision Nutrition and was unsure of my next move to step into the health and wellness field. She was thrilled for me and gave me her friend Jamie Callahan’s contact information who lived in the South Shore and was in the fitness industry also! I reached out to Jamie and got to hear her story and opened some doors that way as well. Also, at this time- since I was now a Certified Functional Strength Coach I started training parents of players in the hockey organization while they were at practice. Everything just started culminating together and falling into place.
I remember 10 or so years ago my brother started training at Edge Performance Systems (my current job) and I was saying how cool it would be to work there. They train elite professional, college and high school athletes. My brother played for the hockey team where Edge is located at the Foxboro Sports Center. I remembered Charlie raving about what goes on in there- I remember meeting my current boss briefly after a game one day. Fast forward – once I got the Functional Strength Coach Cert. I thought why not reach out to Brian Mcdonough? I knew there wasn’t a full time female staff members currently and knew the female market is a huge target. Sure enough, I reached out to Brian, met with him, started working there part time in the evenings a few days a week. I would commute from my day job in Rockland to Foxboro (I finally quit Athleta after a few short months but hey it was well worth it). A few afternoons a week turned to more hours and then finally full time in the summer. I have been here for 4-5 years and currently part owner of the business!
Has it been a smooth road?
No it has not. Since I didn’t know I wanted to go down this road I was constantly in one temporary job after the next. I knew that each of these jobs weren’t for me and knew I wasn’t going to make a career out of it. It was hard going on each interview after the next, only to hope to get a call back and then get discouraged and down on yourself when I didn’t receive one. Ultimately it was just hard to keep the faith that it would work out. After each break down to my parents, or one of my friends getting a new job or a promotion it definitely was a little struggle, but it was worth it. And now looking back- those bumps led me down the path to run into others and make connections and have the ability and “time” to figure it all out and let it “all fall into place”.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business is called Edge Performance Systems. I am one of the strength coaches on staff, the only female in a mostly male dominated environment. I also do much of the administrative work and any of the other projects like social media amongst other things as well.
We are known for training elite youth, high school, college and professional athletes- both male and female. We train all sports but since the Foxboro location is inside a hockey rink and Northboro is in a baseball facility we do train mostly hockey, baseball and football players. We are also known for our huge Pro NHL hockey group- we have 30+ NHL guys train with us in the summer each year two of which just got drafted 11th and 19th in the first round of the NHL draft this year… We also have a Pro league, where the NHL guys play in during the summer, a Pro Development League which is the players who are up and coming draft picks, division 1 college hockey players or committed. And the Young guns league- who again will be future NHL draft picks and division one college hockey players. We also have a high end female league as well. We have been featured in hundreds of articles and many television specials including NESN’s New England Hockey Journal, Minnesota Wild TV, Madison Square Garden TV and many more.
We are known for being one of the top strength and conditioning facilities in the area. We put in the most work and get the most progress out of our athletes. We cover everything form Nutrition and meal plans to extra work with mobility, core work etc. We take baseline and final testing data using the latest technology out there to make sure the proof is in the putting and our athletes get stronger, faster and more explosive… We are known for getting our athletes in the best possible conditioning shape out there through using the First Beat Heart Rate System Monitors. We take the time in communication with the parent, athlete, coach and anyone else involved with the athlete to make sure all the bases are covered to gear him or her up for the best potential success possible.
Also on are team up is Mass Sport and Spine Physical Therapy (located inside our gym), Paleo Power Meals, Organic Living Superfoods – again to make sure our athletes are well taken care of the train, heal and refuel properly. We truly take pride in watching our athletes succeed after each goal, college commitment, or top 10 play on ESPN.
Our business is on fire, more and more athletes are signing up for the program- we are currently in the middle of our busiest summer yet- we train groups every two hours starting at 6am through 8pm at night! We even just opened up a new facility in Northboro Mass!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Honestly, in this industry – there is a fitness facility everywhere! Whether it’s a Planet Fitness, Barrys, Soul Cycle, Core Power Yoga, Pure barre studio etc.- there’s fitness around every corner. It is hard for businesses to start and survive. My boss opened up our business around 11+ years ago- and has remained as he has watched others close down. He definitely talks about the struggle and what he had to do to keep afloat- but he also kept reinventing himself and the business- putting in extra work that other trainers didn’t or improving the gym or any of the other aspects that kept drawing athletes in. Reputation is huge and he built that, athletes keep coming as they see others success each season- its marketing on it’s own. It’s hard to keep that constant flow of athletes coming in. We just opened up our second facility in a not so populated area which will be huge. The location is key (wherever you are trying to open a fitness facility) – Our new location is in Northboro – which is in the New England Baseball Complex and our Foxboro location is in the Foxboro Sports Center. Both facilities have many teams playing and practicing in and out every day all day – which is perfect for a strength and conditioning business.
Pricing:
- High School 1x a week in season program $399
- High School 2x a week $599
- High School 3x a week $899
- High School 4x a week $1099
- Personal training 1:1 $65 per 1 hour session
- Personal training 1:1 (10 pack 1 hour sessions) $600
- Adult Small Group Personal Training Options (to be decided )
- We have a fall, winter, spring and summer sessions – each season is around 10- 12 week program
Contact Info:
- Address: 10 East Belcher Road Foxboro MA
333 SOUTHWEST CUTOFF NORTHBORO MA - Website: https://epsfoxboro.com/
- Phone: 7816039933
- Instagram: eps_strength
- Facebook: Edge Performance Systems
- Twitter: EPS_Strength
Image Credit:
The marathon picture was from the Boston marathon photo
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