Work Issues-Just Venting!

I am a personal trainer with over 25 years experience. I have owned & operated 3 gyms in my community. My last business was 5 years ago. It was very successful, but when I discovered my husband of 17 years had been cheating on me my entire marriage, I literally lost it.

I spent 2 weeks in a psychiatric hospital & was advised that 4 children, a business & a rotten husband was just too much for me. I decided to sell my business & work on me & my kids. After months of up & down offers I finally had to close my business. I took care of all my employees & got them jobs @ another gym. I also made arrangements with the same facility to assume my members memberships & they even honored their same fees. I actually took better care of them than myself.

This was all over 5 years ago. It was very difficult & I was hounded by the newspaper and several unhappy clients. (they didn't like the other gym & wanted me to remain open) It was hard to even walk around town. This all on top of a terrible divorce.

I have kept a low profile & have been personal training home clients. 2 years ago a new gym opened in my town. The owners called me & said they were interested in having me consult & manage for them. After 1 interview they hired me. I worked my butt off. I designed the gym, did all the marketing, etc etc. 3 months later we began pre-sales. It was at this time that the general public started coming in and signing up. Many people knew me & were excited that I was involved. However, ONE, yep ONE disgruntled employee from my closed gym told the owners that they would not join because I was involved.
The owners knew my history, but were so unnerved by this ONE woman that they decided to let me go. I did manage to stay on as a trainer, but not as the manager. It was humiliating!

Anyway, I was never comfortable there & have since left. I teach a few exercise classes at a local spa (owned by a psychopath!), but it is horrendous.

Okay, now the story. Old gym, new owners. I interview 4 weeks ago. I am told they can't wait to employ me. I sub 6 classes for them in one week (oh the pain I did 15 that week) to show good faith. They call & say the members are raving about me & can't wait to give me a more permanent schedule. They ask me to come to employee meeting this past saturday. Yeah, you've already guessed the ending. Anyway, go to the meeting. The director tells me to put a schedule together of what i want exactly. She tells me in confidence that she has "terrible" instructors & she wants me to take over several classes to improve attendance. She even circles the classes onthe schedule. We were scheduled to meet today to go over it. Yup, she had someone call & cancel & reschedule.

Then I get on-line & she has emailed a lame email saying she's not in the position to hire me & not able to pay me what I'm worth (We never talked salary). Says I'm still on the sub list, but NO guarentees..blah blah blah!!

So, I'M PISSED! I have been banking on this job. Of course I assume it has something to do with my previous business. :fight: :aaaaaaack:

Okay I vented!:yes:

Well, it sounds trite to say it, but this is totally unfair to you. :mad0136: So do you think the new owners talked to the disgruntled client? Maybe there really was a delay that had nothing to do with you. What a bummer.

I had someone tell people some things that were lies about me. When I applied for that company I was the most qualified person for the job. The manager called and said "You are not the kind of person that we hire here at ABC company." I was totally floored and angry!

Just don't let it affect your self esteem. You know you are good. I try to take a 'Pollyanna attitude' and say that the universe or God must not want me there, or the door would have opened. I always found great jobs after the insult anyway. :p

I hope it gets better.... good luck and HUGS. :)

Lovaholic!
Girl, I can relate in so many ways...especially about the "owning a business, divorcing, raising children in the midst of emotional chaos" scenario. I didn't actually GO to a psych hospital, but I felt I would need to at any moment for about a year. Stress like that is crushing. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

I was SO close to giving up my business during that time that I talked with my assistant about transitioning out and having her take over. I own a dance studio, have since 1989...fitness/arts industry; my major in college was Physical Education with a Dance Specialization. My studio, in it's early days, sub leased space from a local gym owner...that was a total fiasco and I had to end up moving my studio over a weekend (with parents helping) BEFORE telling the gym owner I was teminating the lease with him. He was a backstabbing loser! I KNOW how competitive the gym-industry can be...lethal at times. And he in particular was all about the "bottom line" rather than the service of his clients or value of his staff. (I don't see how the man is still in business to this day, actually). My best friend, a trainer, paid for all of her certifications and upgrades on her own (as requested by this same gym owner)...she was pulling in hundreds a day for the gym, and getting paid a ridiculous hourly rate doing one-on-ones. When she went in to ask for a raise, she was told that she could be easily replaced by the next PT coming off the blocks:mad: . I get it, I really do.

There is obviously some crap going on behind the scenes, and you are giving more than you should to all of these losers!

It was Soooooooo hard, but I know that if I'd sold my business, I would never be able to work for someone else in the same industry. I would have made a big COMEBACK instead:bgrin2:

How about you? Is their any way you can go back into business and open your own gym again, now....or at least a facility for using your skills as a personal trainer....like, maybe a yoga/pilates/personal trainer space focused on women??? You sound like you are great at what you do. It might seem daunting to go through that start-up phase again...but you and I both know that there is nothing like being the owner and doing things the right/fair/most profitable way for you and your clients.

My friend who got shafted? She opened a mortgage company and gave up on personal training altogether. Still makes me mad that others without ethics or class robbed our community of one heck of a talented, concerned trainer that really cared. But, then again, hey....she helped me get the financing to buy my rentals last summer:bgrin2:

I hope things work out for you the way you hope for. You deserve to be treated with respect, and valued for what you have to give. hang in there, hon....

pretty much what special K said...something ELSE is going on...its just to "weird". so somehow, you find an opportunity that you are not seeing right now and give them all "the finger". i would love to see you to be able to start your own business again, it sounds like you would have the clientle. the "monkey wrench" seems to be revolving around this one disgruntled.

Thanks so much for you replies. I am still shaking my head about this whole situation. I can't believe how unprofessional people are.

My current job is terrible & withthe economy very few people are getting personal trainers.

It's nerve racking. I have one friend who's a high end interior desingner who is going into foreclosure, another friend who's thinking about bankruptcy and myself who is struggling to make ends meet.

All divorced woman & our X's are having a ball!

Okay more venting.....................:witsend:

I have been through similar circumstances also. People suck.:mad:
Hang in there. You can overcome all of this!:yes: I wish you could have your own business again and run the show yourself.