Leading the way with Nancy Guillaume | Personal Trainer

Leading the way with Nancy Guillaume | Personal Trainer | Metuchen , NJ

Posted on May 13 2019

What’s inspired you to enter into the world of health & fitness? What’s your story?

I was introduced to fitness by my father who was a gym junkie. When I was about 5 or 6 he took me to the gym. I was too young to do anything but I watched. Fitness always intrigued me and I’ve always had natural strength. But I loved to eat and became obese in my adolescence. I decided to get serious and make a change at 19 years old. I was in college so I just incorporated my gym time into my weekly schedule and the weight started coming off. Then I started to research teach myself about nutrition and different styles of fitness. I’ve always loved food and loved to cook, hence why I struggled with my weight and I refused to give that up. So I looked for ways to enjoy life but still stay healthy. Fast forward 5 years later to 2015 I maintained my weight loss and was functioning as a fit adult. I began doing fitness and diet challenges for free on Snapchat and my response was great. So I decided to go get certified. By late 2016 I was a certified personal trainer, FitNance became my part time job and I haven’t looked back since. My foundation lies in the family and community in NJ that have literally seen and watch my progress. They’re so supportive and I look forward to seeing FitNance grown and progress.

What’s Your Training Style? (bootcamp, one-on-one, group?)

Bootcamp, one-on-one, and group I do it all. My favorite style to incorporate within those sectors is HIIT and circuit training because I love to get the heart pumping and maximize results. I created and launch on April 28th 2019 the FitNance Pop Up Brunch N’ Burn. I love dancehall and Afrobeats and HIIT cardio as I mentioned. And oh yea, I love food if you haven’t gaged that already. I’m a great cook if I do say so myself. So I found a way to fuse it all together. 30 min fun but intense HIIT workout designed by me, followed by Caribbean inspired food and drinks following a nutritional theme all hand cooked by me. My first one is Keto themed.

What are some of the barriers (if any) that you face as an African-American in the fitness community? How do you overcome them?

Barriers I haven’t faced any yet per se. I would say cultural barriers Caribbean woman are taught to be reserved and silent. And I am very reserved which has been a barrier for myself because putting my body, which has now become my advertisement, out for display is unnatural to me. We all know how the fitness industry is on instagram so just breaking through and displaying where my hard work has brought me is has been a struggle. Hope that answered the question.

I love quotes, mottos, sayings so bear with me. My favorite quote by Theodore Roosevelt “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty”. I was casually training for 2 years. One day I brainstormed about Brunch N’ Burn and told my father. He loved business ventures so he was ecstatic. Then he tragically died two days later. I know this probably isn’t the pain that Roosevelt spoke about but I harnessed that pain and ran with FitNance that moment forward. Launched my bootcamps, started training more 1-on-1 put forth that effort and difficulty which brought my body physical pain in the process. I spent mornings crying in the gym reminding myself what is fueling me. And though I’m not at the apex of success just hearing people tell me how inspiring I am and watching my visions being made into reality is already success to me. So I want to say that I reduce the amount of difficulty that my clients have to endure because I’ve worked hard for them. They just need to come to me with that effort and well the physical pain, well yea, that’s naturally going to follow. But if a better quality of life is what they want then they should keep FitNance in their future.

What’s your primary vision and mission as a trainer? How does this translate in your work with current or potential clients?

I want to make my clients see and understand that a healthy and active lifestyle is not only attainable but enjoyable. I’m a teacher by profession so I breaks things down to a simple science for my clients. I give simple nutritional counseling. And I’m an open ear at all hours so my clients truly become my friends.

What impact do you desire to make in your community?

So to answer this I’m going to use the Brunch N’ Burn. I want to show the black community specifically that you can have entertainment centered around health and wellness. We all love to get dressed up and brunch with our friends. We all love to buy cute fitness apparel as if that’s really what we wear to the gym. Why not combine that? Wear the Nike, Gym Shark, Fashionova, Lululemon gear that is photo op ready. And do the cute photo ops with your friends! But let’s hear it towards wellness. Burn those 300 calories first. And when they see what a good time they had I hope they then turn to me and say how can I do this every week and lose weight or be healthy? Have a fun workout? And I have the answer.

Where do you see your business in the next 5-10 years?

I want to do exactly what I’m doing now on a larger scale. 6 week bootcamps back to back. Pop Up Brunch N’ Burns monthly outside of NJ. Online training etc. I’m working to make it so that fitness is no longer my part time but my life. I get the same rewards as I do in the classroom with my clients so the transition for me easy. I’m just working hard to make it happen.
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