James Fisher Jr.
LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE
Words & Photos By: K.G. Graham
Purchase Issue 22 of COSIGN Magazine here.
“My biggest fear is honestly just being average; waking up every day to the same thing with the same results, day after day.” – James Fisher Jr.
Over the past few years, “living your best life” has become a mantra that many have adopted, especially millennials. This applies to all aspects of life including career, business, personal, finance, and health. Essentially all people want to live life to the fullest, because like Drake said, “YOLO.” But what does living your best life entail? To me, it means waking up and living your life by your own terms; becoming healthier, gaining more knowledge, spending more time with family and friends, growing your business and securing the bag(s).
When it comes to business in 2018, consumers have become smarter and no longer want to be sold on something. In order to gain customer buy-in, entrepreneurs now have to be more authentic and provide their customers value. Every business should have a story, and one perk of running a media company such as COSIGN is that we get to tell the stories of dedicated entrepreneurs like James Fisher Jr. He is the author of “Trial And Error – 15 Ways to Maximize Your Fitness Goals.” He’s a motivational speaker and a “fitpreneur” that has turned his passion into his paycheck and is changing the game of fitness. Although he still maintains employment at his 9-5, where he’s a part-time business development specialist for several law firms and physicians, James uses his corporate setting as an opportunity to grow his clientele and network for Mission Fit Fitness, the company he’s the founder and CEO of.
Established in 2014, Mission Fit Fitness was created to give people the motivation to reach their health and fitness goals through physical activity and exercise, along with nutrition counseling and education. “My overall goal was to give people a real solution to achieve all [of] their health and wellness goals,” says James. In 2016, Mission Fit Fitness went from James personally training 10 clients a week to becoming a true thriving small business.
Mission Fit Fitness has helped companies with health care expenditures, while raising worker productivity, by simply helping employees change their behavior patterns and choose more healthy lifestyles. Participants have even called Mission Fit Fitness sessions, “recess at work.”
The programs include:
Eating for Energy
Outsmarting Fat
Jump Start Exercise
If There is a Will There is a Way
Stress Busters
Abdominals 101
Your Office is a Gym
All of which are brought onsite to your place of employment or business.
And Mission Fit Fitness makes sense for the employers as well. Health care expenditures decrease due to reduced absenteeism, reduced turnover rates, reduced workers compensation claims, reduced tardiness, and shorter hospital stays. The state of American healthcare system, coupled with current demographic changes, as well as changes in insurance threaten to not only exacerbate the crisis, but further erode worker productivity as well. “These environmental factors, coupled with the local competitive situation, signal a favorable opportunity in this market,” he says. “I feel the time is right for Mission Fit Fitness.”
As an entrepreneur, no day is ever “normal” for James. “Sleeping in, for me, is 5:00 a.m.,” he says.
A typical day for James looks like this:
4:00 a.m. – James wakes up, eats a small breakfast and hits the gym.
5:00 a.m. – After his 45 minute workout, he comes home for breakfast #2 and gets ready to go train.
6:00 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. – Three times a week, he personal trains.
8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – James heads to work at one or more of 10 hospitals or clinics.
2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – All Mission Fit Fitness sessions occur, lasting from 1-3 hours.
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – James heads back to the gym for his boot camp.
8:15 p.m. – He’s back home to meal prep and to prepare for the next day.
10:00 p.m. – James is passed out from a long day, and will do it all over again the next day.
And you thought you were grinding, right?
Growing up an athlete, health and fitness became second nature to James. He was always active in football, basketball, baseball and track. “I would watch old Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, wanting to have that certain look. Later on into my teens it changed more to having a certain physical appearance, to health, as I would have my childhood youth pastor pass away from cancer, my father of a stroke, and my grandfather having [and surviving] multiple strokes,” he says. “All of these factors, mixed with my own drive to push my own limits of my body to the max, had a role in where I am today.”
Inspired by the likes of Jim Stoppani, Ph.D.; Jeff Cavaliere M.S.P.T., CSCS; actor Michael Jai White; and Weight2Wear owner William Young, James looks forward to not only growing his currency, but to building his legacy in the fitness industry. “In 2015, I started the year off making less than $40k a year; [in] 2017 I made a little under $220k,” James says. “In a 300 billion dollar industry, you would think the motivation is clear, but for me it was never about the big coins. I used to train [people] for free. I still speak at many youth events; as long as lunch is provided, we can talk. But on a serious note, I don’t want to be known as the fitness guy who made a little money. I want to be known as the man who changed a life by showing someone who had shoulder surgery years ago, an exercise that will allow them to work out again and not feel afraid to push and work hard. I want to be the man [that] kids remember, that came to school and talked about success and how to make it in any industry. Money only pays the bills when you are living; when we are gone, legacy keeps your grandchildren fed. That’s what I want.”
