Vision
Trainers On Fire Academy is a global community for fitness professionals to find the tools, skills, and support they need to run a fulfilling and successful practice on their own terms.
If I was able to make it ( Bulgarian born female trainer with an accent with zero one on one training and sales experience ) so can YOU!
MISSION
At Trainers On Fire Academy, we aim to spread our message about health and fitness worldwide by helping personal trainers implement effective branding strategies, modern marketing techniques, and strong communication skills. The TOFA method attracts more people to high-quality programs that lead to long-lasting lifestyle habits and results. Through our commitment to excellence, it’s our hope that millions of people reconnect to their bodies, learn to enjoy movement, and promote their health.
Together, we can make the world a better place.
MEET YOUR FOUNDER
Hi, there. My name is Kalina Cardoso, and I’m a certified personal trainer, nutrition, and life coach who specializes in helping busy overachievers live healthy lives they love. I take pride in running personal training and life coaching businesses that provide my small family and me with the healthy lifestyle we desire.
I’m also the founder of Trainers On Fire Academy.
The idea for the Academy was born while I was training my own clients. I kept noticing trainer after trainer burnout around me, overwhelmed with finding clients and struggling to run a sustainable business that pays the bills. I wanted to package everything that I had learned to make personal training profitable and give it to them, so they didn’t have to spend years figuring it out on their own.
With so many years of experience (both as a trainer and as a fitness manager), I’m passionate about coaching other trainers to success. I was lucky to have supportive mentors throughout my career, and I know many personal trainers don’t have that luxury. So I wanted to create a place where solo rider trainers come to learn new skills and grow their businesses.
Thus, Trainers On Fire Academy was born.
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I’m a firm believer that personal training can be a sustainable and profitable business — as long as you’re committed to putting in the work. I’m not here for quick fixes or “Make 7 Figures By Tomorrow” webinars. It takes time and effort to build a business, but it’s so worth it.
Since I made the switch from employed to self-employed, I’ve been able to enjoy living a life on my own terms, by my own design.
No more 10 hour days or giving half of my paycheck to the big gyms.
No more chugging energy drinks to power through a shift or other club members interrupting my clients’ workouts.
Instead, my business allows me the freedom to take vacations, have short workdays, spend time with friends and family, AND actually get a workout in for myself.
But it wasn’t always this way. I moved to the United States in 2007 (that’s a whole story I’ll only share over drinks) with a strong accent and no knowledge of the modern fitness industry outside of my career as a skiing instructor. Once I caught the bug and fell in love with exercise by watching my own body change, I knew I had found my place.
So I did what all newbie trainers do: I started working at a big chain gym.
While I was good as a trainer, I wasn’t that great at maintaining consistent monthly revenue. I just enjoyed enrolling the people who wanted to work with me, and I found it hard to pay attention to my sales and the numbers. And one of my managers noticed.
That first year, he came down on me again and again for not hitting the numbers he thought I could be hitting with my talent. Once, he even brought me into our boss’ office and shamed me for an hour while reading my numbers and making me look terrible. It was humiliating.
It felt like I had everything working against me: terrible sleep (I had just given birth to my daughter), limited availability, a strong accent, and a mean boss who was more interested in criticizing than teaching me.
Honestly, I just wanted to quit.
Thankfully, that competitive spirit I think all personal trainers possess wouldn’t let me. So instead, I buckled down and committed to growing and challenging myself more. I started self-educating on running the business side of fitness and sales techniques, and pretty soon, I was selling at least $5,000 in packages every month, while keeping my integrity and staying true to myself.
The best part? A couple of years later, when I had become a fitness manager, my team and I beat that same manager’s sales record not once, but TWICE. Take that Nate.
Throughout that process, I realized that I could achieve so much if I was just willing to educate myself on the necessary skills. Even though I could have continued my career as a fitness manager within a big gym, I decided to take a leap and start a personal training business in 2017.
Since the beginning of my career, I’ve sold over a half-million dollars in personal training and built three different businesses from scratch.
I know you want to help people change their lives, but you can’t if you’re constantly struggling to connect them with your service. I’ve been in your shoes, and I can now tell you that there’s a better way. Through learning business acumen, modern marketing, and strong communication skills, I’ve sold thousands of dollars in personal training and created lifelong clients that are still singing my praises. And now I want to teach you.
If I — a Bulgarian-born female trainer with an accent and zero one-on-one training or sales experience — can make it, so can you!
Together we can change the world. Are you in?
