The moment Abi Hammond came across James FitzGerald and OPEX education, she knew she needed to get involved.

“I was coaching at a CrossFit gym, and the owner was a client of James’. He turned me on to the education. There was an introductory course I did, and I just remember sitting there like a deer in headlights, thinking, ‘Oh shit, there’s a lot of information. This all makes a lot of sense and this isn’t happening at my gym,” said Hammond, now 35.

“I was like, ‘I gotta do this,’” she added.

After that, Hammond went through OPEX’s Coaching Certificate Program (CCP) in 2014.

“It has been massively beneficial. When you do the course, you start building relationships with others in the OPEX network, and it starts to feel like a big family you can rely on,” said Hammond, who started coaching at OPEX Gold Coast in Norwalk, Connecticut in 2017. Recently, she bought into the business and now is a part owner as well as the head coach.

Hammond, a former professional ballet dancer, has been involved in the fitness industry in 12 years in various forms. She said OPEX is the only system that allows her to do two very important things: actually make a difference in her clients’ lives and earn a professional living as a fitness coach.

“This is the first time I am actually watching people make real changes, physical and emotional changes through lifestyle consults and nutrition. It’s the first time we’re creating longevity with people and then watching them grow,” she said. 

Hammond added: “And from a personal standpoint, it’s the only way to make a living in the industry.”

Before OPEX, her life largely involved working a full-time job in finance during the day and then coaching part-time in the evening.

“I couldn’t make a living coaching group classes alone, so I ran myself down and killed myself doing it, working full-time and then coaching after work because I was passionate about it, but there’s no way I could have kept that up,” she said. 

After she had kids, she tried to work full-time coaching fitness, but the lifestyle was difficult to sustain, she explained 

“I was working at two different gyms, and I could never take a vacation,” she said.

Today is a much different scenario for Hammond. Prior to buying into the business, (at the time of this interview), she had 38 individual program design clients, who each pay $345 a month. She spent some time on the floor coaching, and her mornings were devoted to programming.

“It’s totally manageable and I’m actually making money doing it,” she said. “I can take off on vacation now, too. When I’m out of town, my clients don’t even know because communication is so easy over the TrueCoach (app).”

Hammond credits this lifestyle today to OPEX education.

“They teach principles that are established and true. Once you grasp the concepts and principles you can apply them to the situation you’re in,” she said.  

“There aren’t exact recipes laid out for you in advance, but if you understand the principles, you can create the right recipe,” she added.

Hammond is now able to create the right recipe, not only for clients, but also for her own life as a gym owner and coach. And because of this, she is finally able to live the life she has always wanted, she said.

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