We had the good fortune of connecting with Corie Campbell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Corie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Growing up I always wanted to own my own business. After working in the beauty industry throughout high school I pursued a business degree in University. I always dreamed of owning my own spa. Who doesn’t want to own a spa right? I spent over ten years in the beauty industry and after becoming a mom, and spending two years as a stay at home mom, I began to question my purpose. I spent a lot of time diving deep into what drives me. I asked myself questions like: What am I good at? What am I passionate about? What is my purpose beyond being a mom and a wife? I read the book “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren and it challenged me to consider the kinds of things I have been interested in my entire life, where my talents were and what skills God has gifted me with. Fitness became a central theme which connected all of those elements. The next two to three years I began what I call the “say yes journey”. I would just say yes to things that terrified me that would lead me closer to my goals of pursuing my purpose in fitness. My “say yes journey” never really started with the desire to own my own business, I really just wanted to pursue something that gave me joy and purpose outside the walls of my home. After completing my Personal Training Certification through ACE I began to look for work with local gyms in my area, but none of them allowed me the freedom to meet the needs of my family and be a trainer. They didn’t allow me the ability to be open about my faith and share how fitness and nutrition changed my life on a real transparent level. Enter my business degree and my super supportive husband. In order to combine my passion for fitness, my need to be available to my children (one of whom has special needs) and be able to create my own rules I would need to take the plunge and start my own business. I continued to say yes to the scary things, one step at a time. I opened an LLC, I opened a business bank account, I hired a designer to design my logos and help create the foundation of my brand and I made a website. I consulted a lawyer for waivers of liability, researched and purchased insurance and began buying equipment. Each small step made the business real, and fueled the fire to keep on moving. When we started building the studio gym I would stand in the unfinished space and look around and think “wow, this is too much for me”. But each small step brought my dream into a reality. Without a word of a lie, the week the studio was completed I had my first client reach out for a meeting and the rest is history. I guess the thought process of starting my own business came pretty organically along the path of listening for God’s direction and taking one small step at a time.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a personal trainer, I have the joy and privilege of watching people step into strength they didn’t know they had. There is something SO AMAZING about being a small part of guiding someone on the path of discovering how to make fitness and nutrition an on-going part of their life. I think for the most part people who become personal trainers have two main things in common: we are passionate about fitness, and we want to help others learn more about fitness. I have met some really awesome trainers, and we are all great because we are all different. We can all teach you how to squat safely, how to deadlift, chest press and do all kinds of other awesome exercises, but our personalities and how we approach training and programming is what sets us apart. I do everything one-on-one or in a small group setting, because that is just me and that is how I like to train. I want people to feel comfortable and confident to try new things and go at their own pace without the distractions or intimidation of anything else. I am most proud of my clients who are able to keep going after we are done training together. I keep in touch with most of them and I am so unbelievably proud of what they are able to accomplish on their own and how they continue to pursue fitness and nutrition as an active part of their regular lives after their program has ended. I still get texts and calls from clients who share a fitness success (or fail) or want to talk nutrition and it fills my heart with joy to know that I was a small part of teaching them how to gain the confidence and the knowledge to continue to do it for themselves. I am super excited for my current clients, watching their progress and continuing to meet great people. How did I get where I am business-wise? That is a huge question! I guess just one step at a time. In the beginning everything was super overwhelming. There was a list of a thousand things that had to be done in order to start the business. Government paperwork, building the studio, creating the branding, marketing to clients, and then actually running the business itself. I had to break things down into small actionable steps I could tackle one at a time. As a list maker I loved striking a big line down a task and moving on to the next one. Beyond that, I guess just staying true to the vision of the brand and to myself. Has it been easy. Heck no! It is never easy to do something scary and put yourself out there. The fitness industry is filled with all kinds of information (some good and some not so good) overcoming challenge is a day-to-day thing. In order to ensure I can offer the best to my clients I am passionate about continuing education. There is always more to know and I will never have all of the answers, but I do know some things about some things! I am blessed to have the most amazing clients who are willing to accept me for who I am and always remind me why I love to do what I do. Along the way I have learned not to overfill my plate. I love being a trainer, and a business owner, but first and foremost I am me, I am a mom, and I am a wife. In order to wear all the hats I have to intentionally prioritize my own spiritual, mental and physical well-being. Mental health is a real thing, and is OK to be not OK, and asking for help is not a sign of weakness it is a sign of strength. If I were to pick one thing I wanted the world to know about the brand it would be that Pure Joy Training is about so much more than fitness and nutrition. Pure Joy Training is about discovering your physical strength and learning how to translate that strength to help carry the weight of life’s struggles outside of the gym and it is about learning how to fuel your body the best way for YOUR body. Learning my son had special needs came with some pretty heavy weight, and fitness and nutrition helped me discover just how strong I am and that with training I could learn how to carry even heavier weight. Over time, the weights don’t get lighter, you get stronger. Same is true for life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh my goodness I am about to reveal how horribly un-exciting I am! I have lived in Houston for three years and I don’t get out much at all. My most favorite thing to do is walk in the parks while my kids ride bikes. Our most favorite one is Cypress Park which has a 1.5 mile walking trail and it feels like you have escaped the city. They also have a great play ground for the kids and some covered seating. When my friends visit we usually workout in my gym, cook our own food and buy wine from the HEB. I have been out to eat a handful of times and I always go to Mezzanotte Ristorante in Cypress for dinner and drinks. The food has always been amazing, the service is great and they have always had live entertainment so the atmosphere is fun.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I could shout out all day long. My journey has not been forged alone, I have been blessed to have an entire community of amazing people to lean on, learn from and be carried by. First and foremost my journey would be nowhere without God’s direction. Life has thrown me some pretty fast curve balls and I can guarantee I would not be standing here with the blessings I have without His faithfulness and provision. My husband Matt who is my rock and my very best friend. He has seen me at my best and and my worst and has loved me every step of the way. He supports all of my crazy ideas, even the ones that don’t turn out, and is always there to make me laugh and remember what is most important. My crazy kids, Bentley and Quinn. Bentley, my KCNB1 warrior is one of 100 kids in the world with this genetic condition. His dedication and determination reminds me to never give up when things get hard. And Quinn, my mini-me who loves working out in the gym with me reminds me that someone is always watching. They are pure joy and they are why I train. My parents who have always believed in me, prayed for me, and supported me in every way. They probably believe in me more than I believe in myself and have always been there to provide truth and encouragement even when it is hard to hear. My amazing family both through blood and marriage – they have each contributed to who I am, why I do what I do. I am so amazingly blessed by all of them. My dear friends, near, far, old and new. God has placed each of them in the right time in the right season to bring me to this place and I am grateful for their friendship, honesty, encouragement and their support.

Website: www.purejoytraining.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purejoytraining/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PureJoyTraining/

Image Credits
Loryn Payne Photography