Adam Skillin's Story
Adam Skillin is a real-world example of what is possible for an aspiring online coach.
Adam Skillin works full-time as an online coach with Barbell Logic Online Coaching. He has about 50 online clients—among the largest rosters at BLOC—and estimates that he works 75-100 minutes per day on average. He is on track this year to make a six-figure income, all while being able to work from anywhere in the world, even on vacation! We wanted to share his story to show a real-life example of what is possible for an aspiring coach.
Adam’s professional career started in the banking industry. He knew he didn’t want to have a conventional job forever, but his attempts at something different fell short of his hopes multiple times. After struggling for several years in other ventures, he went back to his banking job.
His fitness journey started when he heard about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He progressed enough that he was nearing a black belt in BJJ and started competing in MMA. His big idea was to compete in a few professional MMA fights to gain credibility and open a BJJ academy. He could start this as a side job and expand it into a full-time business. Unfortunately, he never got those professional fights and this idea didn’t pan out.
In the process of researching potential opponents, Adam was shocked to see someone deadlifting 405 lb in his weight class. He decided he should get stronger, hoping this would give him a better chance of landing a professional fight. The professional fights never happened, but he was coaching people on the side who were impressed with his skills and growing strength.
On something of a whim, Adam decided to attend a barbell lifting seminar. He barely passed his platform evaluation but he became a certified coach and began coaching strength training clients. Realizing his MMA days were probably behind him, he decided to pursue coaching as a side job, with the idea of expanding this into his main source of income.
It’s a big jump to transition to a new career. Giving up healthcare and a stable salary is difficult enough, but a full-time job frequently prevents someone from getting enough clients to cover their cost of living. Navigating this catch-22 was challenging, but Adam saw how online coaching could allow him the flexibility to make this transition easier. For example, online clients could train while Adam was working his main job, and he could send them feedback after he was home.
Adam started coaching online full-time in 2018. Since then he has grown his practice to a six-figure income. Best of all, being an online coach allows him to be more efficient with his time when he’s working. He doesn’t have the inconvenience of a commute, paying for retail space and a gym’s worth of equipment, or waiting around for clients to show up. He can choose time throughout the day when it’s convenient for his schedule to get focused work done without delay. TurnKey Coach has helped him become even more efficient, with its integrated features like being able to record feedback videos directly in the platform. One of the best benefits of working entirely online is that it allows him to travel or take vacations during his work week. He simply needs an internet connection and a place to work.
