Meet Brandi Hamma

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Hamma.

Brandi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I spent 14 years working in the restaurant industry working just about every position but mainly in the last nine years bartending. I kept with this job as it was always easy money and I’ve been known to be a leader, which always got me promoted in every place I worked out. The money stayed consistent but I didn’t see a reason to leave it until eventually, I took a huge chance on my new career.

I began school to get an associate’s degree in the health and fitness world. I also began working front desk at Elev8 Performance in Costa Mesa. I saw it as a potential opportunity for growth. That became an understatement for what it turned into. I was constantly surrounded by knowledge and support. I began to grow my clientele starting off with teaching group work out classes by the beach in Long Beach then began training two private training clients.

The rest is pretty much history.

My clientele grew from two to now almost 40 clients that I train anywhere from 1-4 times a week. I do semi-private group training sessions as well as weekend boot camps. All of this growth is about a year. It has been organic, word of mouth, and with exposure through social media.

I made it my mission to help my clients create a positive and healthy relationship with fitness. As well as seeing this shift with their activity and nutrition as a lifestyle, not a burden.

And it has been the most heartwarming thing to see my clients blossom as people as well as improving their mental and physical health. I take pride in creating that space for them to feel comfortable at any fitness level, where ever they are in their life and have some fun in the process. It is not an easy change to make or to incorporate into your routine, but I let my clients know that that is okay. And to be proud of themselves for being there every single session working to better themselves in any and every way they wish to.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The journey of switching from job to school to career while also at a point having the three in my daily routine while I grew, has not by any means been easy. Letting go of comfort from what I knew, and learning to trust that I had to do so to thrive in my career was one of the hardest, but beat decisions I’ve been made. There has been a lot of sacrifice including a social life, less time with family, some huge financial struggles, to just name a few, but it has all been worth it. I still train a few hours on the weekends but I get a lot more time with my fiancé and step kids and my pets now. Before I worked every weekend all weekend bartending. The struggles and constant lessons are all worth it.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
My style of training appeals mainly to general population (gen pop), those overall looking to get stronger, and lose weight/body fat in the process. I take pride in establishing a powerful relationship with putting our health, not just physical, into focus and thriving in countless ways. And it shows. My clients not only lose pant sizes and body fat percentage, but they build confidence, better relationships with themselves and the people around them, have a better way of thinking when it comes to food and nutrition, and see their energy, as well as their moods, boost in a way they didn’t think before was possible.

I’ve heard horror stories from clients and other people about how past trainers or fitness professionals jaded how they looked at fitness. They’ve been shamed, had a lack of compassion, and gave them no room to be human. The sadness that gives me, pushes me more to be a better trainer and friend to them.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am about to become certified in body contouring/cool sculpting which is meant to be paired with an active, health-minded lifestyle. This enhances clients’ results while aiding in burning off fat as well as pushing out inflammation. I am also certified in RFT which was created by Joey Sakoda (aka Da Rulk). It is a body movement style of training geared towards first responders and MMA fighters but is beneficial to every single person, no matter your preferred style of activity or training. I intend to grow with that style and hope to train clients in those fields to benefit their careers and performance. Maybe, one day, I will have my own facility with all of my specialties under one roof. We will see what the future holds.

Contact Info:

• Address: Elev8 Performance
  2950 Airway Ave Suite A5
  Costa Mesa, CA

Image Credit:
Renee Bones (@reneebones)

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