Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Votta.
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I initially started down the path to becoming a personal trainer after the housing market crashed in 2008. While I had always had a love of science and health, I was at that time pursuing a living flipping homes. When the market crashed, I was encouraged to focus on what I was most passionate about, helping people. I started as a personal trainer with a large gym chain and while I enjoyed making a difference for people, it was very clear that the fitness industry at that time was missing the boat on how to make a true difference in people’s lives. Shortly after I started, I started to explore the science behind the workouts we as an industry were having people perform. Sad to say, most of what was being done was based on “gym science” and not actually proven scientific information.
It was in my first month as a trainer I also was hired by a young girl to help alleviate her back pain she had suffered for years. So I did everything I had learned in my short period of time as a trainer to help her correct her issues, unfortunately with no luck. It was then that a fellow trainer introduced me to techniques he had learned about called MAT or Muscle Activation Techniques. As soon as I started diving into the science behind MAT, I knew that MAT was what the industry was missing!! Finally, I had found some solid science!! I ended up taking that young lady to her first MAT session and we were both blown away by what a difference the technique made for her in one session. From that moment on, I pour my heart and soul into learning everything I could about MAT, the human body, biomechanics and the true science behind human movement.
Within five months of my first experiencing MAT, I enrolled in the actual year-long course to become certified in these techniques. I continue to this day to enroll in CEUs in order to further my skill set as a practitioner and to gain better mastery over these techniques. Within that same five months, I left the large gym and launched Better Body Fitness. I saw clients in their homes and at other small local gyms. I became a skilled practitioner and became known for the guy that got people out of pain when no one else could.
For two years, I grew Better Body Fitness until I had the opportunity to purchase a brick-and-mortar location in Odessa, FL. My fiance and I took the leap and purchased Fitness-Tek personal training studio in or around 2010. Within two years, we had expanded to three locations and helped 100s of people gain back their freedom by eliminating the pain that they had suffered with, in some cases for years.
Today because of my commitment to be as involved as possible in my kids’ lives, Annabella 6.5 and Dylan 4, we have downsized to two nice small centrally located offices, one in the northwest corner of Tampa and the other in Land O Lakes.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nope… while we have outpaced most in the fitness industry, if not all, it has not been a smooth road. The biggest obstacle I would say has been the education of our prospective clients. Give where the fitness industry was and to a large degree still is we are constantly working on overcoming the misinformation that is out there in regards to how the human body works when it comes to the muscular system and nutrition.
I would also add in the learning curve associated with owning a business. Coming from a fisheries and wildlife background with a few finance classes sprinkled in there and my wife with a phycology background, I would say we were ill-equipped to handle the business stuff in the early years.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Fitness-Tek?
We are a private personal training studio specializing in a very specialized technique called MAT, muscle activation techniques. We are known for getting people out of pain where others could not. I am one of 2 MAT specialists in the Tampa area. I am the only master-level specialist and for a number of years taught one of MAT’s programs here in Tampa.
We understand biomechanics (human movement and how forces impact them) like an auto mechanic knows automobiles. With this knowledge, we can take someone in pain and move them out of pain and into a place where they can begin to gain strength and function. We pride ourselves on giving people back their lives!!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Come in for a session! Experience what we do and how it can impact your life, even if you are not in pain. Then tell everyone you know. We have grown Fitness-Tek by 100% word-of-mouth networking!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.fitness-tek.com
Image Credits
Dona Greene
