16 Years & Still Evolving: Empowerment, Grit, & Growth

Another Year. A Different Kind of Milestone.

Last September, I celebrated 15 years in business by looking backward.

I reflected on the leap I took in 2010, leaving a toxic workplace and taking a chance on myself. I wrote about empowerment, grit, growth, resilience, the people who helped me along the way, and who ultimately became the reason I kept going.

This year feels different.

Sixteen years isn't necessarily the big, shiny milestone.

But maybe that's exactly why this anniversary means so much to me.

Because this year, I'm less interested in looking back at how this business started and more interested in recognizing the professional I've become because I kept showing up.

So, after 16 years... Allow me to reintroduce myself. 
Hi. 
I'm Ajia Clancy. 
An ACE Certified Health Coach & Personal Trainer, Menopause Specialist, competitive equestrian, educator, speaker, writer, and the human behind Ajia Clancy Coaching.  And that last part matters.  The human behind it.  Because if 16 years of coaching has taught me anything, it's that health and wellness happen in the context of a whole human life.

My clients aren't just bodies performing exercises.  They're people with big goals, little goals, changing bodies, complicated lives, families, health histories, horses, injuries, jobs, limited time, and stress, and every messy piece in between.

My job has never been to pretend those things don't exist so we can squeeze someone into a perfect fitness plan.  My job is to build the plan around the person who actually exists.

That understanding may be one of the biggest ways I've evolved over these 16 years.

The Credentials Grew.  So Did the Perspective.

When I started this business, I knew I wanted to help people become healthier and stronger.  What I couldn't have understood yet was how much more I would need to learn to do that well.  Over the years, I continued my education in behavior change, cancer exercise, fitness nutrition, menopause, orthopedic exercise, senior fitness, and more.
I've asked questions, attended CECs, earned certifications, read research, and studied, and truthfully?  I've discovered that something I believed five or ten years ago needed to evolve because I know more now.  And I'm proud of that.

I don't want to coach exactly the way I coached 16 years ago.

Education, experience, and the people you serve should change you.

Professional growth isn't collecting letters after your name and then deciding you've arrived.  It's being willing to keep learning long after nobody is requiring you to.

Sixteen Years Taught Me That Harder Isn't Always Better

​There was a time in fitness when harder seemed to be the answer to almost everything.  Burn and sweat more.  Eat less.  Never miss.  No excuses.  Push harder.

And, thankfully, I have evolved right along with this industry.

Today, I believe some of the most powerful coaching questions are:
What are we trying to accomplish?
What can your body tolerate right now?
What do you need today?
What gives you access to more of your life?

Sometimes the answer is 10 Minutes, NOT 20; mobility, modifying the goal, strength training, taking the damn rest day, working harder.
Sometimes the most successful thing a person can do is stop believing every workout has to punish them to count.
That's not lowering the standard.
That's learning to coach the human instead of the spreadsheet.

My Definition of Strength Has Changed

Sixteen years ago, I probably would have talked about strength mostly in terms of performance, reps, sets, and weight.  Those things still matter.

I love watching someone get physically stronger.

But today, my definition is much bigger.

Strength is carrying your groceries, doing something you thought your body couldn't do anymore, getting off the floor, learning to advocate for yourself, maintaining independence as you age, navigating stairs, recovering after illness, returning to the saddle, setting a boundary, trying again after you've stopped for three months, walking farther.

Recognizing that today's capacity may be different from yesterday's, and refusing to equate that with failure.

Strength should give you access to your life.

That has become one of the principles at the heart of my work.

My Work Has Become Bigger Than Personal Training

I'm incredibly proud to be a personal trainer.  I'm also proud that my work has grown beyond that title.  


Today, I coach, collaborate, program, speak, teach, and write.

I contribute my professional perspective.
I create resources for people who may never become 1:1 clients.
I work with equestrians who understand that the horse may be the athlete, but so is the person sitting in the saddle.
I work with people navigating changing bodies and changing seasons of life.
​
And I continue looking for ways to make evidence-informed fitness and health information feel more approachable, understandable, and usable in the real world.

Different audiences and platforms.

Same mission.

Help people feel more capable.

What I'm Most Proud Of After 16 Years

It's still not an award, a certification, follower count, or making it 16 years, although, let's be clear, surviving entrepreneurship for 16 years deserves a celebration.
 
What I'm proudest of are the moments most people will never see.

The cancer survivor learning to trust their body again.
The client who got stronger than she thought she could, or stopped believing exercise needed to be punishment.
The equestrian who realized improving herself could improve the partnership with her horse.
The older adult who maintained independence.
The person who came back after disappearing for months and discovered there was no shame waiting for them here, or returned to something they loved.

The moment someone says:  “I didn't think I could do that.”  And then they do.  That's still the good stuff.  That's still why I'm here.

So, What's Next?

Last year, I toasted the next 15 years.

One year into that next chapter, I can tell you this:

I'm still evolving.
I want more challenging of fitness-industry bullshit that convinces people they're failing when, in reality, the plan failed to account for being human.
More collaborations, education, speaking, and writing 
More conversations about strength through different stages of life.
More opportunities to help people understand their bodies instead of fearing them...and more ways to help people recognize that caring for themselves does not require hating themselves first.

Sixteen years ago, I took a chance on myself.  I couldn't possibly have known where it would lead.  I'm grateful that I didn't need to know.  I just needed enough courage to start..and then enough grit to keep evolving.

Thank You
To everyone who has attended something I've taught or challenged, encouraged, hired, referred, taught, or trusted me, read something I've written, shared a post, or simply followed. 
Thank you.

You are part of these 16 years.

And whether you've been here for 16 years or 16 minutes, I'm glad you're here.

Here's to 16 Years & Still Evolving. To empowerment, grit, growth..and to whatever the hell comes next.