Meet Dr. Darian Parker, PhD, NSCA-CPT, who has gone virtual with his personal training company and provides coaching services both in-person or live online. Read on to learn more about his exciting niche. – Sarah

ExerciseJobs: What attracted you to the field of fitness and exercise? 
Dr. Darian Parker, PhD, NSCA-CPT: I just love creating lasting and meaningful relationships with others. Fitness is an awesome platform for doing exactly that. While the fitness programming and progressions are important, I find that creating a quality social/emotional relationship on top of the exercise part is really the best part of it.

Your Job Title
I’m working for myself. I like to partner with various other companies that I believe in who can assist me in my overall philosophy of helping my colleagues grow, but I really enjoy having my own business.

Company you are with now
I currently have my own live or real time personal training service. I use current and relevant technologies like Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, Whatsapp, etc. to have similar training sessions with clients just like you would in person. In many ways this type of live training is even more intimate and appealing. I think it is the future of personal training.

I don’t have a website for my live online personal training business. I did this on purpose as my business is a referral based business primarily. I don’t like to have too much information out to pump up my business. I like keeping it smaller and making it more quality and intimate. I’m not focused on volume of clients, but rather more about quality of clients who really want to have a long term commitment to our training relationship.

Social Media:  
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darianparker/

A typical (or not so typical) day in the work-life for you:
A typical day for me involves doing my live online personal training in the morning which is when most of my clients train with me. Since I am not connected to a gym or brick and mortar setting, I can be anywhere I want to be and so can my clients. We often like to broadcast from various settings to make it fun like the beach, parks, piers and more. After that I spend time relaxing doing things I’m passionate about like practicing a new language, watching some thought-provoking documentaries and enjoying the beautiful and stunning scenery in the Pacific Northwest. In the evenings I just have a few clients who I work with so mostly I enjoy the time with my family. Overall, I feel a great sense of freedom and flexibility and my live training service has allowed me to have that feeling.

How did you get your current job in fitness and exercise?
For the past 18 years I have been a personal trainer. I have really enjoyed it. I started training when I was in college and never stopped. During the past 18 years I spent over a decade of it as a General Manager of a high end residential fitness club and a fitness executive. However, I have always come back to being a trainer. I really enjoy the relationships I have with my clients who are also some of my best friends now.

What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way?
I would say I was born with the skill of making people feel comfortable. I like to make sure my clients feel a sense of warmth and laughter when they work with me. Yes, we will work hard during the sessions, but you will also enjoy a genuine connection. I think that’s just part of my personality. The biggest skill I have learned along the way is how to create a training session that provides a solid training progression and a quality human to human interaction. As a trainer you have to be excellent at both program design/implementation and being charismatic, warm and inviting. That is not easy to do, but my experience working some amazing people throughout the years has taught me how to balance the two effectively.

What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you?
My biggest piece of advice is to invest into understanding your emotional/social make up. It is a huge part of being a great trainer. If you don’t know who you are as a person socially and emotionally then it will be hard to understand your clients. While people are simple, they can also be very complex as there is so much beneath the surface. Take the time to explore who you are and continue to grow socially and emotionally and it will help you be amazing in whatever you do.

If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what would it be?
Good question! If I didn’t get paid with money I would want to be paid with just time. Time is something precious and having more time with quality people is such a gift.