SUCCESS Beyond the Stage: Nikki McKnight

You could say that it all started with a trip to Disney World in Florida a few years ago. The photos from that vacation made me face a very harsh reality: in my pursuit of career excellence I had neglected to take care of myself. I was overweight, tired, stressed, and woke every day with a sense of dread.  After entering and winning an online transformation challenge I decided to take it one step further and try competitive bodybuilding. With the love and support of Jill Bunny and my teammates, I tackled the bikini stage and competed in Toronto. It was a great experience and I was looking forward to doing another show when my body rebelled against me. Although I had challenged myself mentally and physically and felt a sense of triumph, I was still living a stressful and unfulfilling lifestyle. My body shut down, I was injured frequently, and I was constantly tired.

 

Too stressed out to even workout, my personal trainer introduced me to Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) and for the first time in years I felt physical and emotional relief. Loving the feeling of peace, I thought to myself “Everyone should feel this way! I want everyone to feel this way! I can do this!” I became a certified fascial stretch practitioner so I could spread that same sense of relaxation to other stressed out workaholics like myself. Through that practice I renewed my love of fitness and started studying to become a certified personal trainer. Even though it started off as a part-time job, I soon made the tough decision to leave my steady career in sales and consulting to pursue training full time. I felt that my passion was to serve people who had been in the same position as me: tired, stressed, and unhappy.



While I found fulfillment as a trainer, I soon discovered that it wasn’t enough for me. Training people to feel better in their bodies and using FST to give their mind and body peace was an amazing feeling but I felt like there was still a big part of my client’s psyche that I wasn’t touching. I had worked with a life coach myself and had found it such a valuable experience that I enrolled to become a certified performance coach (a process that I am about a month away from completing). Now I can address all facets of a client’s life: their physical body, their thoughts and feelings, and their mindset.



Then I came to another crossroad in my career! I loved working one-on-one with clients and managing their success but I missed the hustle and bustle of working in a business and choosing my own schedule. A job posting came up for The Personal Trainer Development Center, a website that had actually given me the info and motivation I needed to pursue a career as a trainer, and I was recently hired as the Operations Manager. Now I help to manage a team of 20+ people around the world who are all dedicated to helping personal trainers around the world build their ideal business and lifestyle by serving clients and their communities.
The past few years have been a whirlwind of self-discovery, trial and error, laughs and tears, sleepless nights and frenetic days. Competing in the OPA and on the bikini stage showed me the potential of the human spirit to thrive under extremely difficult and demanding situations. The people I met and were inspired by showed me that community and service makes the difference in how you can impact the lives of others. I’ve tried and failed numerous times and have also enjoyed many successes. I wear many hats in my career: personal trainer, fascial stretch therapist, online trainer, performance coach, and operations manager and I can’t wait to see where my life takes me next.