The Phone Call That Changed My Career: Why I Became a Personal Trainer

Sometimes, a single moment can change the direction of your life.

For me, it started with a phone call to a friend.

One day, I called her to catch up, expecting our usual conversation. Instead, I found out she was in the hospital. I immediately went to see her, and sitting there with her, I had a moment that I couldn’t shake.

I realized something that, in hindsight, sounds obvious: we are all getting older.

None of us can stop time. But that experience made me think deeply about how we move through life and what we can do now to give ourselves the best possible chance of staying strong, independent, and capable as we age.

That moment became the beginning of my journey into personal training.

Fitness Is About More Than Looking Good

For a long time, fitness has often been associated with weight loss, smaller waistlines, and looking a certain way. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel confident in your body, my perspective on fitness has become much bigger than that.

I started thinking about the future.

Do I want to be able to get up easily from the floor when I am older? Carry my own groceries? Travel, explore, play with my family, and continue doing the activities I love, like dragon boating?

The answer was obvious...yes! I want to stay strong. And, I want to help other people do the same.

At the time, I had a comfortable desk job. It was stable and familiar, and leaving it to start something completely new was a big decision. But I decided to take the leap and pursue a career that felt more connected to something I genuinely cared about.  

Why Strength Matters as We Age

As we get older, maintaining muscle, strength, balance, and mobility becomes increasingly important. Strength training isn't just about lifting the heaviest weight in the gym. It can be about building the physical capacity to handle everyday life.

It can mean feeling confident carrying a suitcase, climbing stairs without feeling exhausted, getting up from a chair easily, or simply trusting your body to do what you ask it to do.

The stronger and more capable we are, the more freedom we can have to enjoy life.

That is what really drew me toward personal training.

Turning a Realization Into a Career

After that visit to the hospital, I started thinking seriously about turning my passion for fitness into something more.

I began my journey into personal training because I wanted to understand the human body, learn how to train safely and effectively, and help people become stronger.

Today, my goal isn't to push everyone toward one particular body type or fitness standard.

My goal is to meet people where they are.

Some people want to build muscle. Some want to lose weight. Some want to improve their confidence in the gym. Others simply want to feel better, move better, and stay independent as they get older.

All of those goals matter.

Working with the queer community and queer allies is also important to me. Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in a fitness space and to show up as themselves without feeling judged or like they need to fit into someone else's idea of what fitness should look like. 

I believe that Witness the Fitness is a place of friendship and community, where we can all move forward together. 

It's Never Too Late to Start

You don't need to already be fit to start training.

You don't need to know how to use every machine in the gym. You don't need to lift heavy weights on day one.

You simply need to start.

That phone call with my friend reminded me that we often assume we will always have time to take care of ourselves. But our health and physical strength are worth investing in now.

That realization changed my career.

And today, it motivates me to help others build strength, confidence, and resilience, not just for the workouts they're doing today, but for the life they want to live tomorrow.

Because getting older is inevitable. How we prepare for it is something we can do something about.

By the way, my friend is doing much better and has incorporated weekly exercise into her life, which she now loves. 

Written by Guita Yazdani, Personal Trainer, Witness the Fitness