El Willard: Being an online fitness coach and collaborating with brands
El is a 23 year-old online coach and personal trainer. Fitness is a huge part of her life and she would love to think she could take her own performance to the next level.
For that reason, she is also an aspiring athlete.
Firstly, tell us a little about yourself.
I have been training for over 5 years now and have been a coach for 3 years. The main reason I ever jumped into going to the gym was because growing up I was a very athletic child and from the age of 4, I was competing in ballet and gymnastics. This love for sport continued throughout my entire childhood which led to me competing in a variety of sports from netball, basketball, football, athletics, you name it. I started college at 16, studying sport and english in hope of becoming a sports journalist after I realized my dream of being in the olympics as a 200m runner was unrealistic.
The main reason I found myself in the gym 18 months later was because of a comment made by an individual at college which has stuck with me ever since, considering it's 6 years later, it still blows my mind that I think back to that moment a lot even still now.
I ditched the idea of going to uni as I didn't feel it was the right path for me and a combination of being very lonely and lacking in a passion lead to me creating my fitness page which is now Built By El. I've always seen my page as an electronic diary and a place where I allow myself to be completely transparent with both the successes and failures that have come with not only my physical performance and training but the mental challenges and battles that pair with that and with setting up and running a business.
How straightforward did you find it setting up online?
I feel I 'fell' into the whole social media side of things quite easily as I approached it with 0 expectations. I never thought I'd be in a position now where it allowed me to create my own business and genuinely find what I see as being my true passion. I've always been very independent and haven't really had anyone to talk to or get advice from with setting up online from a social media aspect or a business point of view. I give all credit to my social media page for allowing me to start my business because had it not been for the support or traction I'd had online, I would've never have had the self belief to go for it.
When I was 19, I remember putting a £500 canon camera on a credit card and then asking my 13 year old brother to film me whilst I trained in the gym and that's what I was posting online, real, raw footage of me just training and people followed along for that journey. In the past 2 years, I've since invested a lot of time, money and trust into my coaching business and also other people because that's the only way to grow from here on out. I absolutely love the creative side that comes with social media. The worst part of being in the fitness industry is the imposter syndrome that comes with it, but I know that stems from my own internal pressure I put on myself.
What has been your biggest learning curve in promoting yourself and your business online?
I have two seperate answers for this based on the different sides of what I'd consider my job.
For the social media aspect, the biggest learning curve was realizing you can never please everyone. I would spend hours replying to comments and dms (direct messages) and feel as though I was fighting a never ending battle most of the time and the lightbulb moment was accepting that some people just won't like you or what you do and that's ok.
For my coaching, it would be to make sure you enjoy what you do and to stay true to yourself - I genuinely believe success comes to those that put in deep meaningful work that stems from passion. 2 years ago I invested thousands and thousands of pounds into an online platform which sold me the dream of 'making money while you sleep' and after just a few months in, I began resenting my job as a coach. It took away the element of connection, personalisation and actually building genuine relationships with people which is the biggest reason why I love what I do.
Do you ever feel a sense of responsibility in what, when and how you post?
I used to put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself to always be posting, always creating content and it was exhausting. I found myself creating content for the sake of gaining traction - consistency is key to growing on social media but I will no longer beat myself up if I don't post for 4 days now.
I think regardless of the type of content you create or the message you're trying to push, everybody has a sense of responsibility to ensure the content they produce doesn't harm anyone in the process, there's a lot of misleading information out there especially within the fitness industry and for me, there's a responsibility that the information I put out comes from genuine experiences or my own knowledge.
Content wise, I always try to stay true to myself.
I'd love to know more about collaborations…
The collaborations are my favorite part about social media and not because of the paycheck that comes with them but the opportunity to meet so many people and people that maybe you've looked up to for years online that inspired you with your own fitness journey.
I remember the first time I went to myprotein HQ and was very cool, calm and collected but the minute I got into my hotel room I cried because I couldn't believe that I'd been invited up to become an athlete for such a big company. It all still seems very surreal to me that I get the opportunity to work with such incredible brands and I pride myself in the fact that I'll never work with a brand for the sake of money.
For the first 18 months online I didn't earn a penny from social media and I almost felt bad if money was ever offered because I felt like a fraud accepting money for creating content that I was already creating - it was just now sponsored by a particular company.
A highlight has definitely been being invited and paid to train and compete at Farm Fitness alongside the likes of Courtney Pruce, Tom Bliss and people who I would consider to be genuine athletes - it was one of the best days to date. I now have a manager who actually reached out to me via email asking for me to come onboard their agency (still feels weird whenever I say that) and she now deals with collaborations and has given me the opportunity to work with brands such as Gymshark and Sports direct.
What has been the "I can't believe that just happened" moment so far?
I was asked to speak at a women's only lifting seminar in London at SW1 Crossfit about my fitness journey and then actually coach them all in some movements - the whole experience was very surreal. Towards the end of the workshop, all of the girls were taking it in turns asking to get a photo with me and I just remember thinking to myself how have I got to this point. I've always had really bad social anxiety, something that I must admit isn't great for social media and events, but that's the first time I've spoken to a gym full of people, I was shaking like a leaf but it was pretty incredible encouraging a room full of women that they are allowed to take up space in the gym and they are allowed to be confident and strong.
What do you find is working well in connecting with, and growing your audience online?
I get a hell of a lot of messages from people thanking me for always being so open and honest and I must admit it's not something that I ever thought was massively lacking until I was on social media myself. There are a lot of people and especially coaches who really couldn't care less about what they do or the misinformation they spread as long as it comes with a paycheck and I've genuinely found, however cliche it may sound, being myself has been my saving grace. Sharing not only the successes with my own training and my clients, but also showing that we all make mistakes and we all fail at one point or another, has been the best part because it shows people that you are human.
Any advice for anyone aspiring to do what you do?
Stay true to who you are. The best part about you is that you are uniquely you. A lot of people try to fit into a mold of what they think they should be instead of who they really are. To all aspiring coaches out there, I would say to never stop learning. There's so much information out there that has the potential to make you a better coach and it's important that as coaches, we show our clients that we're always willing to learn more and become a better coach.
The most exciting part of being a coach is that there is always something to learn and always new ways to expand your knowledge so take advantage of it.
And finally, what's next for you and Built by El? What's the big dream?
My dream, since beginning my fitness journey, has always been to have my own facility. I really want to create an athlete center that provides more than just a place to train - it's slightly overwhelming because that dream seems to be becoming more of a possibility and reality each day.
Alongside this, I would love to make a name for myself somehow within my performance as an athlete, growing up, I always wanted to be in the olympics and as much as the optimist in me would like to say never say never, I don't think that particular part would be much of a reality but in some capacity it would be great to be known as El the athlete, not just someone who posts online who's also a coach.
Thanks El! Impressive! So much to take in here, and I won’t be the only one wishing you all the best for the future. Watch this space for ‘El the athlete.’
Where can we keep up to date with you?
Instagram - www.instagram.com/builtby_el/
Website - builtbymecoaching.com