Jen Dugard (00:00.96)
Welcome to the Mumsafe Pro podcast. I'm your host, Jen Dugard, and today we are talking about something that might hit a little close to home. Especially if you're an exercise professional who keeps saying things like, it's just a little side business, or I don't really need to make that much money, or I don't really want to make that much money. This episode is for you. Because the truth is when you treat your business like a hobby, it will pay you like
So in this episode, we're going to unpack what the hobby mindset is, what it really looks like and why it's holding you back and how the shift into thinking and acting like the professional that you already are is going to make all the difference. Let's dive on in. Today's episode might ruffle a few feathers, but I promise if you stick with it, stick with me.
It might also change the way you look at your entire business because we're talking about something that I see all the time in our industry, especially among amazing women who work with moms and often happen to also be moms. And that is the hobby mindset. You know what I mean? That little voice that says things like, it's just a hobby or
I don't need to make that much money. Even I'm not really running a business. If that sounds even a little tiny bit like you, then this episode is for you. Because when you treat your business like a hobby, it will pay you like one too. And when you treat it like a profession with structure, intention and belief, that's when everything starts to shift.
Jen Dugard (02:03.106)
So let's talk about what a hobby mindset actually looks like. It's not about how many clients that you have, and it's not about how much money that you make. It's about how you think about your business and how that thinking ultimately drives your decisions. When you are someone that has a hobby mindset, you tend to use words like just and should.
You downplay what you do. You avoid looking at your numbers. You feel guilty about investing in yourself. And you might tell yourself that you're just doing this for fun or that it doesn't really matter if you make any money. But deep down, you know you want it to matter. You want your business to work. You just haven't given yourself permission to fully own that yet.
Jen Dugard (03:02.506)
Let's start with the first version of this story or the first avatar because we like talking in avatars when we're talking about business. This person is the woman who has recently become a mum. She's either on maternity leave or she tells herself that she is even if her children are a little bit a little bit older. She loves fitness. She's either been a trainer before or she's just done her certification because she wants to take a career change.
She's passionate, she's deeply passionate about helping other mums. Maybe she herself has been through birth trauma or pelvic floor issues or some kind of mental health challenges and she wants to make sure that no other mum ever feels alone like she did. She was trying to find the support that she needed when she needed it and it just wasn't there. Despite this passion and despite this mission,
There's a few specific things that are happening behind the scenes. She feels like every single dollar she spends on her business is a cost to her family. She feels like daycare is her expense and she tells herself that she's costing the family money by working on her hobby. She's stuck.
really stuck between the passion that drives her and the guilt that she feels. And that guilt ultimately drives her decisions. She doesn't invest in business support. She tries to figure out everything on her own. She's definitely reading all the free stuff. She's listening to every single podcast. She follows how to grow your business or how to your classes, post on Instagram or downloadable PDF.
but really nothing changes because she's afraid to fully back herself and she keeps saying, it's just a hobby. It's not a real job. I'm just, I'm just running one or two sessions a week. And as long as she keeps saying that, she's giving herself permission not to succeed. Let that sink in. Every time she says it's just a hobby or any other phrase like that,
Jen Dugard (05:28.748)
She's giving herself permission not to succeed. And that's less scary, isn't it? But here's what I want these people to know. If you identify with this person, if this is you or you know someone, you don't need permission to build something that belongs to you and that you believe in. And childcare isn't a cost that you created. It's a shared investment.
in your family's future and you have the right to be part of creating that future.
I can relate to this a little bit in my own way. So when I first started my business back in 2008, my very first goal was really simple. I did want to earn enough money to cover the family daycare fees for my son at that time. This was my measure of success or my measure of ability to move forward in my business. But it wasn't because I felt guilty about it. It was because in those early days, it felt really achievable.
I was in that early season, my son was three months old and I just, I just, I was just trying to find my feet, get known. And for me, start to build a solid foundation. And here's the difference in that. Even then, I knew that I needed to find some business support in order to get to where I wanted to be.
I had a fitness background, I'd listened to countless podcasts, but I didn't know exactly how to run my business back then. But by 2012, or sorry, yeah, 2012, I'd been laying that foundation at that baseline income for a few years, and I was ready to go all in. So I always knew that whilst meeting the requirements or the charges of daycare was a small milestone,
Jen Dugard (07:31.311)
It was never gonna be my excuse not to do something and it was never gonna be somewhere that something that kept me stuck. And I never felt guilty about going out to do that. So in 2012, I was ready then to go all in. I'd had a second baby in 2010. I'd spent a couple of years continuing to grow the business. And at that point, I decided to invest in my business. I spent $10,000 in a 12 month business mentoring program.
That was absolutely huge back then. But that investment completely changed my trajectory. I learned all of the structures, systems and strategy to become the go-to trainer for moms. And that is when everything really did start to grow. My profile started to grow and that's when I really did become known as the go-to trainer for moms in my local area.
So if you're listening to this and you're thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm not ready to invest that kind of money. I get it. I really do. And you also have to understand that staying in the hobby mindset is going to cost you something over time. It costs your progress. It potentially costs your confidence. And maybe it costs the impact that you have the ability to make.
Let's talk about the second version of the trainer or the avatar. This is a trainer who's been in business for years. She's amazing at what she does. She's got the experience. She's got the certification. She's got the empathy. She's helped so many moms, but she's still using language that is keeping her small. She says things like, I'm just a personal trainer. I'm just doing this on the side. I just run moms and bums group training sessions.
I'm not working full-time when really she is working full-time hours and she can't understand There's a frustration because she can't understand why the trainer down the road who has less education and less less Understanding is busier than she is within her business But it's not rocket science. Here's why the other trainer down the road runs a business not a hobby The other trainer is looking at her numbers. She's got a plan
Jen Dugard (09:56.205)
she's invested in support and she treats her business, her mission, like a profession. And our trainer, who is absolutely amazing, our amazing experienced trainer feels frustrated, potentially she feels resentful that she's not being recognized. But she has to at some point own the fact that she hasn't yet shifted her identity from hobby
hobbyist business to business owner. She still feels like she has to earn the right to put herself first. She won't always ask for help with the kids so she can work on her business and she sees things like investing in her business, maybe a one day event or a retreat or training as taking time away from the family budget or a retreat takes time away from family holidays. But in reality, that
Day's education, that business retreat is an investment in the family because it helps her to build the business that will ultimately help to support her family.
So do you recognize yourself in any of these versions? And what can you do if you do recognize yourself in either of these client avatars or stories or trainer avatars? So step number one, as it often is in life, we need to start with awareness. We want to start to catch the language and the words that we use. If you find yourself saying just, if you find yourself saying only, and the word should,
These words are really little, but they carry a lot of weight. So instead of saying it's just a hobby, you could say something like, I'm laying the foundations for something really meaningful. Instead of saying I should be with my kids, try saying something like, I'm showing my children what purpose and passion really look like.
Jen Dugard (12:04.76)
So once we've started to change our language, we wanna start to understand the workings of our business. And if you've listened to this podcast before, you've listened to this necessity that everyone should have within their business, and that is to know your numbers. Even if you're running one session a week, I want you to know what that is worth. If you have 12 spots in that one session per week,
and each of those spots is worth $20. That's $240 potential revenue. I want you to know that if you fill seven of those spots, or if you only fill seven of those spots, you're leaving $100 on the table. Because when you understand your numbers, you stop guessing and you start making solid decisions. And that one session worth $240 over time, when you start treating your business as a business,
could end up being 10 sessions at $2,400 potential revenue. I think I might've done those maths wrong, but you guys get the gist.
Okay, what else can you be doing? Structure your time. So many of our Mumsafe trainers do not work full time. And I believe you don't need to work full time in order to have a full time mindset.
What you do need to do is block the time that you do have available. You need to get really protective over that time and work from a plan. You need to use proven systems instead of chasing shiny new ideas or following the latest download PDF as to how you're going to grow your business. Carve out the time, have a plan, make every action that you do in your business aligned with the outcome that you want for.
Jen Dugard (14:01.026)
your business. And then I also think it's really important that we allow ourselves to accept the season that we're in. However, we don't need to let it define us. So if you're in a season where the kids are really little and you can only do so much, that's absolutely okay. But at the same time, you can keep building, you can keep showing up for the time that you have available and you can keep
seeing the bigger vision and know that every single step you're taking right now is laying the foundation for your future business. It's not a hobby, it's a future business. Because when your kids, and they will, ultimately start school or life opens up again, or like my kids, they're kind of at the other end, although sometimes I think there's more headspace that I require now than I did when they're little. At some point through the different seasons of life, you're going to have
more time and more space to spend on growing your business. And you'll already have the foundations ready to grow, rather than at that point starting from scratch.
I think it's really important to understand that running a fitness business for mums isn't just a nice idea. For many of us, it's a calling. It's a real responsibility. You are part of shaping the way that women are looked after across the fitness industry, the way that families and communities move forward in health. So I believe that you owe it to yourself and to them.
to treat it seriously, to treat it like a business. You deserve to earn good money for the work that you do. You deserve to have built something sustainable. And you deserve to stop apologizing for wanting to both create impact and income. And when you shift from a hobby to a professional and run your business like a business,
Jen Dugard (16:14.74)
everything changes. I've seen this time and time again within our MumSafe trainers. They show up differently, they speak differently and their clients and their industry really start to take them seriously.
So here's your challenge for the week ahead. I want you to catch yourself every time you say the word just. And if you're inclined to do it, hop onto Instagram, shoot me a message and let me know how much that pops up to you, for you. Replace the word just with a phrase that reflects where you're going. I want you to revisit your numbers or do your numbers. Know what success really looks like for you.
If you want help and you want a spreadsheet to help you to do your numbers, head over to Instagram, shoot me a message, ask me for the spreadsheet. I'm more than happy to give it to you. And I want you to ask yourself honestly, are you moving through life running a business or running a hobby? Get really, really honest with your answer. Because if you truly want to make a difference for moms,
And if you want to be part of the movement that is raising the standard for how women are looked after, then I don't think that we can afford to think small anymore. I want you, I want us to back ourselves and that has to start. And why wouldn't you start today?
Jen Dugard (17:51.094)
If you're ready to start to make that shift and to stop playing small and to start building the fitness business that you know you are capable of, I would absolutely love to hear about it. I'd love for you to head over to my Instagram, send me a message, let me know that you're going to change the way that you are thinking about your business and move from hobbyist to business owner. Let me know what part of this episode landed most with.
you today. I hope you've enjoyed today's session. I believe that you are not just a trainer. We are part of the solution in ensuring that all mums have access to safe and effective exercise at every stage of motherhood. I believe that you are able and have the capacity to build a business that has a real impact on the community that you live in and on your family.
And I believe that together, when we all take these steps forward, the whole landscape of the fitness industry can change. Have a beautiful rest of your day. Thank you for joining me and I will see you next time.
