May 15, 2017

Meet Mark Erickson of Premier Fitness Trainers in Needham

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Erickson.

Mark, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I had a successful career in the Hospitality Industry and as a musician (trumpet) in my 20’s. Unfortunately those careers came with a lot of bad habits (eating, drinking, lack of sleep etc…). Although I worked out sparingly, one day I decided to suck it up and hire a personal trainer. My trainer helped me lose around 50 lbs. and then started me on a muscle building routine which completely lit a fire in me that I hadn’t experienced since I started learning my musical instrument when I was in grade school. I became a total “gym rat” in every sense of the phrase, to the point where my trainer suggested that I too become a personal trainer because he saw how passionate and successful I had become with my own fitness and sharing it with others at my gym. I decided to take my CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) exam thinking that it would cover the basics of working out, which I already was well researched in.

However, on my first attempt I failed miserably because it was way more Anatomy and Physiology than basics bodybuilding movement patterns. After studying hard I retook the exam and scored 100%. It was then, with full support of my then girlfriend turned wife Jessica, I decided to take the plunge and completely change careers. I worked a year each at two gyms before landing a personal training job at a high end all women’s gym in Chestnut Hill. Growing up with mostly all women, I knew that I would shine at this gym and that I did, being amongst the top revenue producers in the entire company for all 6 years.

It was there that I met my business partner Nicole Blasi. Nicole was my mentor when I first started and we discovered that we came from very similar backgrounds (Brockton and Roslindale) making us instant friends. During our mentoring sessions we discovered that we had very similar 5 year plans, which was to eventually open our own training studios. Knowing that we brought two different training styles to the table (Nicole is a master trainer, professional ballerina, Pilates instructor and former intern in PT and I had a strength and conditioning/bodybuilding background), we decided to band together and form Premier Fitness Trainers. At first we focused solely on Youth Fitness and Youth athletes because of our contractual obligations at the gym. However we decided to run a “Best of Both Worlds” bootcamp that became very successful at this gym, to the point where our participants starting hinting to us that we should open our own training studio.

In the fall of 2014, we decided to leave that gym and open Premier Fitness Trainers LLC. We have shared a space in Needham, MA with a local Spinning Instructor for the past three years and have grown our clientele by leaps and bounds every year, especially our Youth Athlete program. Premier Fitness Trainers are the sole strength and conditioning coaches for the Nor’easter Soccer Club and Triple Crown Baseball Club. We pride ourselves on small group training (max 10 athletes) rather than training the masses like most strength and conditioning facilities are accustomed to. We feel that with all of our clients whether youth or adult, Bio-Individuality is our #1 focus. Nicole and I have built our business along with our amazing strength coach Heather Brown on that premise and have found our clients to have a greater chance of success because of it. There is no ONE WAY to train people. Everyone is different so we must always be researching and learning new and innovative techniques to help each client not only reach their health and fitness goals but create a healthy and fit lifestyle for themselves.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely NOT!! Owning your own personal training business is a 7 day a week job. As a personal trainer you must always be “ON” with your clients. After working full time for many years at a high end gym, that wasn’t our biggest obstacle by any means. We know how to be “ON’ all the time and we thrive in that situation. The REAL challenge to owning your own training business is the actual business end of it. We have made many mistakes and have crossed many obstacles, some seemingly insurmountable ones. But as we always tell our clients, it is OK to make mistakes just as long as you learn from them, grow from them, and move forward in positive direction. At Premier Fitness Trainers, we live by the motto “Easy Doesn’t Get Results”!!!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Premier Fitness Trainers is a private training studio. We specialize in one on one training, nutrition programs, small group training classes, and sport specific youth athletic training.

We pride ourselves on being honest with our clients and conveying the message of long term lifestyle changes instead of short term quick fixes. There is no magic pill, just hard work, dedication and consistency.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up in the hard working, blue collar, City of Champions, Brockton, MA. Being from such a diverse city, I was the type of kid who thrived on personal interaction with every kid from every background, stiff competition with my peers in school, sports, and music, always trying to be the best I could be at whatever I was doing, and being a good friend, son, brother, cousin, grandson, and nephew to my friends and family.

My trumpet teacher/ band director gave me the best advice that I still carry with me and pass on to my young athletes to this day. I was the top trumpet player in the state of MA in H.S. and he told me, “Mark, you will never be the “BEST”, nor should you ever think you are the “BEST”. There is ALWAYS room for improvement, and there is always someone working twice as hard as you and waiting in the wings to take your spot. So be humble and NEVER stop learning. That is how you become great.”

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