Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Miyamoto.
Hi Mike, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am originally from Japan. I came to the U.S. to study for a Master of Business Administration at an American university in 2003 when I was 28 years old.
I was already good physique at the age of 13 and playing baseball, Karate, Judo such as martial arts and enjoy playing tennis or golf as well. I think I was a regular healthy Japanese teenager with pretty good muscle. I am always interested in bodybuilding from the age of13, but the bodybuilding is the super strange sport in Japan and especially for a teenager. I keep lifting weight for other sports but cannot keep avoiding my passion, bodybuilding. I decided to compete for the first bodybuilding show at the age of 25 in Tokyo. I never see bodybuilding as a business or profession. I was raised by traditional Japanese parents, I was expected to get a conservative job like a medical doctor, teacher, or banker. So I worked for the financial company in Tokyo and after graduate MBA in the US, I choose to be a banker in Los Angeles until the age of 42 when I started my own personal training business in Torrance.
I am born in 1974. My generation is generally not familiar with entrepreneurs like now. I might be wrong, but the education system in my generation was educated to be a good corporate person, not entrepreneur and I thought the corporate man was coolest & best job in the world. I was kept climbing the corporate ladder until I won Musclemania World Natural Bodybuilding championship at the age of 38 in 2012. After winning the show, I became the only Japanese Muscelmania Natural PRO bodybuilder who live in the mecca of bodybuilding, Los Angeles.
Even although I was a full-time professional banker in real life, I was a Professional Bodybuilder in social media. I am not a big and handsome guy in the world of fitness, but I had enough followers in social media, Facebook at that time. I posted my competition or training pictures constantly and I had many questions or messages every day from my follower/fun. Since I was a full-time banker, I did not have a time to answer for all of the questions, so I started online coaching with fee to excuse not answer all of the questions for my followers.
When I got the first coaching fee from PayPal, it was hard to believe people are willing to pay for build muscle & burn fat and at the same time, I noticed I can make money even although I did not wear nice suits or go to office. The passion of climbing corporate ladder was decreasing, and I started to think I might be able to make a living from my passion, bodybuilding which I never consider as a business for the past 40 years. I was doing both a full-time professional banker in daytime at real-life and professional bodybuilder in nighttime at social media for five years.
I used to be the star employee in my division but decreasing my job performance in bank while I am acting like a professional bodybuilder in social media. My profit as a professional bodybuilder was not enough to make a living but finally became zero passion about my corporate career in bank. It’s time to quit the bank at the age of 42 with no backup plan.
I am lifting weight for 30 years and competing bodybuilding for 20 years but did not know about personal training business which is considered as diet and health industry, not fitness and bodybuilding industry I knew. But I started my own fitness personal training business with zero clients in Torrance from 2017. When personal trainer usually starts their own business, they already have some clients. But I started from zero clients, and I knew there are many Japanese people in Torrance, but I lived in eastside of LA at that time, so not familiar in Torrance.
To be honest, I was so scared and not comfortable to be being my own boss, so I started back to look for a job after doing two weeks of my full-time business owner. But it is the last chance to make a living from my passion/bodybuilding at the age of 42, I got to go through this fear as a business owner. Fortunately, my social media experience as a Muscelamania Pro is helpful for personal training business, I could survive 1st year and gradually thriving 2nd, 3rd year. And then pandemic hit the 2020. Even although huge corporations like 24 hours fitness or gold gym filed the bankruptcy in a few months after lockdown, how small business owners can survive? I decided back to the basics of personal training business. It is human connection at face to face. I 100% focus onsite training instead of partially doing for online training. I know about diet and training, I provided the best result in the world with kindness, empathy, and respect to every client. The basic business strategy went up to the highest sales during pandemic.
Yes, social media and some business technic might be necessary, but the most important thing of business, especially in small and local business is to take care of existing clients/customers from the bottom of heart. The business expert says the social media is a word of mouth in modern day, but not always true for local business. The best word of mouth is the real word of mouth. Any business technique without respect to clients are worthless. The 5th year of my own personal training business, I am very thankful to have the opportunity to help people who need to be fit and healthy. I still can’t believe I make a good living from my passion, bodybuilding in my dream city Los Angeles.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My road is not smooth at all. But in my case, since I move to the U.S at the age of 28 years old, I still struggle about language & cultural barriers every single day.
My native language, Japanese doesn’t have pronunciations like “L” and “R”, I still can’t pronounce “Los Angels” properly. And also greeting like hugs or even handshakes are not exist in Japanese culture, I am still confused about those simple everyday stuff in daily life.
I am a mainstream man in my home country Japan, but I am a foreigner or minority in my permanent resident country America. In my next life, I never immigrate to another country, it is very hard to be an immigrant even in the land of opportunity America.
But I still enjoy overcoming every obstacle/ challenge as an immigrant, and those obstacles/challenges definitely made clearly me stronger and smarter every single day.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a diet fitness personal trainer. I specialize in building muscles and losing fat at the most effective & healthy way and make clients more beautiful and confident.
My natural bodybuilder and corporate career background allow me to help normal people in sustainable & practical way.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Never follow money, follow your passion.
People do not care about your greatest accomplishment or knowledge at all unless you take care of people. But if you take care of people from the bottom of your heart, some people are willing to pay more than you expect.
Enjoy overcoming the obstacle/ challenge. They make you smarter, stronger, richer and more fun.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://linktr.ee/mike_miyamoto
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mike_miyamoto/
