Stephen Campolo – How I Built A 6 Figure Fitness Empire On Instagram

UPDATE: During a recent interview with Yahoo! News, Stephen revealed that he will be speaking at the next Disrupt Puerto Rico conference in October. For more information and for tickets goto: https://www.disruptweek.com/

During a recent interview with Thrive Global, Stephen Campolo reveals how he has went from dead broke to building a 6 figure fitness empire and how he went from fat kid in high school to becoming a celebrity health coach and online exercise influencer. Stephen has worked with some of the top celebrities and entrepreneur in the world today and he shares his insights on fitness and health.

What’s your backstory?

I am a former fat kid turned fat loss and muscle building expert. I struggled with my weight for most of my childhood and early adult life. It wasn’t until high school that I got tired of feeling sick and tired with how I looked. So I decided to do something about it. Taking the first step of action towards bettering my health and image would start a sequence of events over the next few years that would ultimately change the direction of my life.

I became obsessed with seeing my body change week over week and I wanted to learn everything I could about the human anatomy and nutrition and weight training. My first job was working at Gold’s Gym where I was the cleaning boy, wiping down machines and cleaning bathrooms…but I didn’t care because I loved being in that atmosphere and talking to all of the personal trainers and bodybuilders, trying to soak up as much information as I could.

After graduating from college and getting my Bachelors degree I went to work in the corporate world. It was a typical 9-5 sitting in a cubicle. I did it for 2 years and was miserable every day. I knew that life wasn’t for me, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. During this time my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer so I knew I didn’t want to be away from her all day. My good friend was the head personal trainer at a prominent country club where I lived and asked me to come work with him. The hours were good and the pay wasn’t bad so I did it. During this time I was training some of the most powerful CEO’s in the country and some celebrities.

About a year after being diagnosed I watched my mom take her last breath. This was a turning point in my life. She was only 52 years old. I realized how fragile life was. And I knew I didn’t want to spend my life training people. I felt like I had a lot of knowledge to share about fat loss and fitness so I started sharing my thoughts and beliefs on social media. Little by little I started gaining traction and started to build a following. At first I just wanted to do it for fun because I truly loved helping people, but I started getting tons of messages asking if I had a program to buy or if I did any coaching. This led me to create my first fat loss program.

Momentum grew and shortly after launching my program I was able to leave my personal training job and do my online fitness business full time. In a very short amount of time I have helped thousands of people all of the world reach their fitness goals and my client transformations are some of the most impressive around.

Currently I am getting ready to do something no other fitness influencer has done before. I am doing a 12-week transformation challenge in which the winner will win a brand new car. I know the hardest part about getting started is lack of motivation so if people know they can possibly win a car, then that motivation will get them to the finish line.

What made you decide to choose this career path?

Having taken control of my health and life I knew I could share my own knowledge and beliefs with others that would greatly impact their life. For me it isn’t a career, it’s a calling.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Looking back over the past few years I laugh because I truly had no idea what I was doing. I had no structured plan or idea. It was just simply me being me and sharing knowledge that I though could help others get healthier and fitter. I think sometimes being naïve and isolated can be beneficial in a sense because you are almost too dumb to believe you can’t do something, I just simply believed I was meant to help others and no one could tell me different. When you are firm in your beliefs, nothing and no one can get you off your path.

What do you think makes your company/personal brand stand out?

My story. I am not a genetically gifted fitness model who was born with abs and big muscles. I’ve had to work hard and overcome my own flaws and setbacks to get where I am. Sharing my personal story and vulnerabilities with my audience has allowed me to connect on a very deep and intimate level with people. People appreciate that, especially in a world full of fakes and pretenders.

What’s a quote that you live by?

“What gets measured gets managed.”  This goes for your nutrition, workouts, business, relationships, spirituality. You have to know where you are in order to make adjustments to better improve things in your life.

– Stephen Campolo