An Interview with Eric Cressey

by Jim Labadie

To what do you attribute your success at such a young age?

1. Mentors

I have to give a ton of credit (and thanks) to several mentors who have looked out for me with respect to training/nutrition and – probably most importantly – business. Hard work and learning from your mistakes can take you as far as you want to go, but if you want to get there faster, you’re best off seeking out the advice of those who are where you’d like to be.

I’ve been fortunate to have guys like Alwyn Cosgrove, Dave Tate, John Berardi, Jason Ferruggia, Mike Boyle, Joe DeFranco, and – more recently – you and Ryan Lee. I only wish I had found out about you two sooner; things would have come about even faster! You can’t be an expert on everything, so it’s to your advantage to have a solid network of mentors to which you can turn when an unfamiliar situation arises. Chances are that one or more of them has been there at some point, made a mistake, and learned from it; why bother to make that same mistake on your own?

Case in point: Alwyn and I had a running email dialogue going about two months ago. I have one emailed saved in which he referred me to his production and shipping company (Vervante), recommended a great liability insurance agent to meet my needs (clubinsurance.com), and recommended two books by Thomas Plummer that have been great. That email saved me thousands of dollars and countless hours on trouble.

2. A Variety of Experiences

I can’t overstate how valuable it has been for me to experience as many different realms within the fitness industry as possible. I’ve worked in general fitness settings, collegiate strength and conditioning, and now athlete-specific training in the private sector. I’ve worked with some great physical therapists, and in the human performance laboratory of the #1 Kinesiology graduate program in the country (The University of Connecticut). I’ve spent a year training at South Side Gym, one of the world’s most renowned hardcore powerlifting gyms. At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve done a six-month internship in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation during my undergraduate years. All these experiences have given me a better frame of reference from which to coach, write, and speak at seminars. And, as a competitive athlete who practices what he preaches, I have a more informed perspective to offer those who have competitive aspirations as well.

3. Reading about Business instead of JUST Training

Third, more recently (thanks to recommendations from ALL of the aforementioned mentors), I’ve been paying as much attention to business reading as I do training/nutrition reading. I’ve already read hundreds of training books (and I’ll continue to read them), but in the grand scheme of things, increasing my training knowledge 5% probably won’t change my income or “brand equity” much at all. If I increase my business knowledge, though, both will increase pretty rapidly, as that’s the area with the greatest room for growth. It’s not any different than giving more attention to your weaknesses in the weight room, if you really think about it.

Our DVD and my off-season training manual are perfect examples. These are training ideas that have been rattling around in my head for years now, but it took business “know-how” and enough confidence in my ability to bring them to market to make them a reality.

4. An Appropriate Outlook on Continuing Education

Fourth, I’m positive that my outlook on continuing education has played a huge role in getting me to where I am today. If you ask most trainers to spend $199 to attend a seminar, they say that it’s too expensive. However, if you asked them to put $199 into the stock market with a guarantee that it would increase their income, they’re call it a wise investment. Does anyone see where I’m going with this?

Apparently, going to training and nutrition seminars in order to become a better training isn’t a wise investment; it’s just an “expense.” Last time I checked, when all things are held equal, good trainers make more money than bad trainers. In fact, I can speak from experience as someone who specializes in corrective training; I spend a lot of time fixing the damage some crappy trainers have done. I get the clients’ referrals, and the “other guy” gets all the public criticisms. Are those seminars, books, DVDs, and CDs still “expenses?”

And, these same people don’t seem to think that business education for trainers is a worthwhile investment. I can say without wavering that this couldn’t be more off the mark. Before I got into the fitness industry, I thought I wanted to be an accountant – so I spent two years at Babson College, the best entrepreneurial school in the country according to Business Weekly. They taught me a lot about how great companies like Dell and GE operate – but they never talked about the fitness industry. As much as I learned about business in a general sense in those two years, I can honestly say that VERY little of it applies to what I do on a daily basis now. Our industry is entirely unique, and that’s why products from guys like you, Ryan Lee, and Thomas Plummer are paying themselves off hundreds of times over. I’d call that an investment – not an expense.

People also need to remember that a lot of these expenses can be written off at year-end. If you’re incurring income as a result of these expenditures, they’re business expenses (although you should still view them as investments). I never lost all the accountant in me – especially since I’ve got three CPAs in my family.

I’ve invested over $8,000 on continuing education this year – and it’s only August.

5. Hard Work

This one probably should have gone first, but that wouldn’t have made for much of an interview, huh? I’m not going to lie: I come from a family of hard-working perfectionists in which mediocre just isn’t acceptable. There are a lot of people in the fitness industry who are working hard already, but need to learn to work smart. However, there are also a lot of trainers and coaches out there who are flat-out lazy and need to get with the program. I didn’t spend a penny on alcohol in my college career, as I worked every weekend, volunteered in any fitness capacity that I felt would advance my career, and trained to compete at a high level myself.

I’m not saying that people have to follow in my footsteps; hell, what I just typed doesn’t sound fun to me at all! But, at the same time, I think that the take-home lesson is that you have to be willing to make some sacrifices and use some elbow grease if you’re going to get to where you want to be. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."