May 29, 2018

Meet Kimberly Pulido of KP FIT in Chatsworth

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Pulido.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kimberly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My parents divorced when I was a toddler and sports quickly became an outlet for me. I found an unusual amount of joy in playing catch for hours with any type of ball that was available. I could dribble a basketball for hours pretending there was a defender on me and shoot in grocery carts as if they were basketball hoops. I didn’t grow up with tons of money let alone toys. There were no sports camps or special trainings. There were parks and trees to climb. There were acorns used as footballs to play with kids in the streets of Sacramento. I found joy in teaching myself how to play any sport you can think of. I was clearly obsessed with being that girl who could become great at any sport with little equipment.

Fast forward to high school. I lived in Las Vegas with my mom and brother as my dad was stationed in California where he continued to serve the U.S Navy. The military would offer me an opportunity to explore college but that meant I would have to leave my mom in order to pursue a career. I chose to stay with my mom and to work at the local Walmart after I graduated. I was stuck to her like glue after all she raised me from the time I was 3. I didn’t have a close relationship with my dad since he always lived far. Leaving her wasn’t my first choice. It quickly became the choice I needed to make.

Hardship hit my mom and I really fast. She had entered a relationship that created turmoil in my life. Long story short I realized real quick that I needed to become someone great and not just a girl great at sports. Walmart wasn’t going to get me where I needed to be. I knew that I had to be in a position to show my mom there was more to life. It killed me but I had to break her heart and leave to California to pursue a career. So I left and I refused to fail. I attended Moorpark college where I played 2 years of basketball. After those two years I planned on continuing my collegiate basketball career while studying Kinesiology but I got smacked in face with reality. I tore all the ligaments in my knee and those dreams went out the door. It was only months after surgery that I ended up tearing all the ligaments in my other knee. It was very clear that basketball could no longer be my focus.

I found my new identity. After attending several months of physical therapy I found myself re injured. I decided the second time around that I would learn to rehabilitate myself. By this time I was well into my studies and had become a personal trainer at 24 hour fitness. Rehabilitating myself was beyond my scope as a trainer or a kinesiology student but I really believed I could do it and I did. During that process I fell in love with movement even more. As a trainer during that time I wanted to share a piece of my journey with clients. This meant teaching clients how to be able. Able to move the way their bodies the way they were intended to. They had many different goals but my goal was always to help them achieve new heights through smart and efficient mechanics. I found myself helping people through past injuries, eating disorders, depression, and low self-confidence. I found the reason I would quit school before receiving a bachelor’s degree. What I realized was that I could improve client’s quality of life outside of physical therapy. I was able to marry my passion for serving people and my passion for movement through personal training. I wanted to explore that path even more.

I wanted to be able to help more people through training without being told how to or how long my sessions needed to be so I quit college and 24 Hour Fitness at the same time. I went independent. All I had was faith and the will to not quit. I used my life experience of teaching myself how to become great at sports to help people be great with their bodies. I had to make this career work so that I could accomplish my initial mission. To show my mom there was more to life. I was good at doing so with limited equipment. I had a kettle bell, a resistant band , and tiny apartment gym with a few clients who believed in my training methods. Soon after going independent I bounced around from gym to gym renting space to expose to my training to more people. For 5 years I had just enough clients to survive bills. I almost grew tired of barely making it. I had tried many different business plans to figure out how to make it to another level in my career and how to make more money. I failed so many times. I had enough. Until one day I heard a voice in my head. I felt like God was telling to stay under water for as long as it takes. So I trusted that voice and decided I was going to find out how I could better serve the clients I already had. Next thing I knew they started a weekend small group for me to train at the facility I was renting from. They brought a group of 10 people for me to train at a cheaper cost per person but at a larger profit per hour for me. One group led to daily groups. Before I knew it I was able to train more people with hardly any extra hours worked. In less than a year of training the small groups on top of private training I was able to reach the next level of me career. I was able to finally acquire a facility of my own and KP FIT was born.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all. One of the biggest struggles was finding locations to build group fitness classes without spending tons of rent money. These groups would allow me to touch more lives and offer the stability I needed in my career. I needed time to build a program that focused on individuals in a group setting. The program would offer so much personal accountability that I’d have to charge more than local bootcamps in order to keep the size of the group small. The value really was in being able to give each individual more attention than they’d receive in large classes. No owner was really patient enough with me to build up the clientele necessary to afford the rent. Though it was understandable it was frustrating and made me question if my ideas were crazy.

Please tell us about KP FIT.
KP Fit strives to provide an environment that inspires mental growth in order to improve physical strength and appearance. We move with intention in order to allow the body to explore its abilities and it’s right to move as it was intended to. With commitment to the journey, we provide the tools necessary to achieve clients goals and to achieve our goal to improve the quality of their movement We pride ourselves in creating a culture of passion and community as it is imperative that clients provided with the support that they need to accomplish their fitness goals! KP FIT members know and support that there is a standard in our facility. We don’t overlook anyone and we hold every last client accountable to being consistent in their journey. This isn’t the gym you join and never attend. This is the personal training facility that you join to transform. I am proud to say that my plan to make every individual feel loved and supported whether as a private client or as a student in a group has worked. What was once a failed business plan is now a success. The KP FIT family has grown tremendously in a short period of time.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
There is nothing I’d change,. My dream past this facility is to guide young trainers who feel lost like I once did. I want to use my failed experiences to help other passionate trainers to reach to new levels in their careers.

Pricing:

Small group personal training- 16 sessions per mo- $175 12 sessions per mo $150 8 sessions per mo $125
Private 1 on 1 training $70-$120/hr depending on purchased package

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