We all come up against this at some point. Then, later, we’ll come up against it again as long as we keep growing. This came up as a question on a female fitness business entrepreneurs panel I was part of at a recent conference. A young woman asked a question but let’s be clear, you could ask the same question in your 50s if you were new to fitness. Let’s say you’re a fitness pro and pitching a group of doctors or businessmen, do you think the same hasn’t happened before to women of any age?    So no matter if you are young or older, or in fact, if this is helpful to a young woman in any industry, feel free to share it. We need to have each other’s backs and the way to do it is by sharing things you’ve already been through.   This too is the value of a coach or a mastermind so you can surround yourself in a safe place with people you can confide in and know they’ve been there or will have something to offer.  In this episode on Being Taken Seriously at Work:   The real truth that may be the reason this bothers you What this is and other ways it shows up How to handle a gap between you and your customer (age, gender, experience level, economic or social circles)  What to do to create authority with rapport  Last Tip on Being Taken Seriously in Your Health & Fitness Coaching Job I’ll leave you with this last thought regarding the feeling that you can’t get someone to take you seriously. Think about the people who don’t are the 20% who really matter that you can gain 80% of your business from or they are the 80% of people who are hard to deal with, hard to serve, the most needy and demanding, but least profitable and not committed to getting your help as much as you are to helping.    Something I wish I knew sooner was that dropping so many of the things that kept me “busy” would have freed me up to work on the things that truly resulted in higher revenue with more ease. I spent a lot of years running from this to that. For too long fitness professionals were led to believe that’s how fitness worked. You should be doing 5 jobs. It was in fact what limited us all. Do we need part-time trainers in the industry? Yes, absolutely. But if a career is your objective, one that creates a sustainable life you love and a revenue that is consistent and either predictable or only limited by your ability to create it, you can’t play the game. A job done in tights, sneakers, or barefoot that changes lives is no less important than one done in a business suit.  It’s just that too many fitness professionals believe that it is and tell you so, even making it sound glamorous because they get a little “hit” of dopamine every time they are wanted and featured as an instructor. Being asked to speak at conferences for free in exchange for the “prestige” and exposure? Really? Women in the fitness industry asking for this of other women (and men) are unrealistic and keeps this industry in the dark ages.    The reality is trainers and instructors can spend as much time traveling between jobs as at jobs, turning the rate of pay into not that much more than minimum wage. The pandemic was a grateful game-changer for many, yet it was right there all along.    As soon as you stop playing someone else’s game, you can start winning at your own. If there’s a problem enough customers have and you solve it, you have a business.    Challenge yourself to look at problems from different angles, to ask and talk it out with someone who has been there. You will grow so much faster and feel so much lighter instead of carrying it around wishing, hoping, and then watching… as someone else does it first.    We don’t see ourselves like others do and an outside voice will accelerate your growth.    How to Take Your Business Seriously to the Next Level    Take this Action: If an intimate group business-building coaching with like-minded women for an influx of paying customers sounds amazing consider this. Whether your dream is to sell high-ticket, high-touch or to sell a