Today we’d like to introduce you to Yury Klimovitsky.
Yury, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and grew up in Ukraine. Have two advance degrees: in Electrical Engineering, in Sport Training and Ph. Ed. Worked as a track coach with high performance/pro-athletes. The last position was a head coach of Olympic Training School. Came to US as a refugee with my wife and two daughters in 1997, but no cash, English, job prospect and even driver’s license.
First job was in pizza delivery, then part-time at local fitness club, as a personal trainer and a track coach in one of the high schools. In 2003, I left the club with 20 clients to open my own studio in Concord, MA. My wife Svetlana joined me in business shortly.
Through a few expansions we ended up in Acton, MA with 6600 sq ft state of the art facility, 7 trainers and about 150 clients.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It was not a smooth ride at all. First of all, we did not have any cash for the original investment to buy the equipment, pay rent and such. Our clients stepped in and prepaid their training in advance. We could not pay our-self for a couple of months but eventually got back on track when new clients joined in. We were growing so fast that needed more trainers and that’s where the biggest challenge came in. The problem was that we had very different approach to training than the other places and hiring a trainer with experience would be a mistake.
We decided to proceed with creating summer internship for recent college graduates with a degree in the field, but no experience. That’s how we got everyone on the same page. To our own surprise, we ended up with all, but two trainers who were our former clients, as a high school and collegiate athletes.
Personal Training International – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a fitness/sport training business with a focus on one on one training. We specialize in three very different areas: senior wellness, sport conditioning and track & field training. Our clients list starts with a 9 yr. old figure skater and ends with a 100 yr. old senior who wants to stay mobile. What sets us apart from others is our approach to training. We observe new clients for a few sessions and then come up with a general direction we should proceed with. Every session is very different, as an adjustment are being made based on the physical and physiological condition of particular client on a particular day and time. We have 7 trainers, who share the same training philosophy.
We create the atmosphere of partnership with our clients and most of them train with us for a very long time. On average, my own clients have been with me for more than 15 years.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
First of all, I think success is a satisfaction in what you do. If it makes you happy and makes you keep moving forward day after day is a success. Appreciation of your customers, respect and loyalty of your employees are also big parts of it.
Pricing:
- Package of 5 private one hour training sessions is $453
- Package of 20 private one hour sessions is $1624
- Package of 5 semi-private (two people) one hour sessions is $323
- Package of 20 semi-private one hour sessions is $1125
- Package of 4 small group (3-5 people) one hour sessions is $155
- Package of 24 small group one hour sessions is $780
Contact Info:
- Address: 30 Sudbury Rd., suite 2, Acton, MA 01720
- Website: personaltraininginternational.net
- Phone: 978-897-2300
- Email: info@personaltraininginternational.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PTIacton/
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