May 15, 2017

Meet Natalie Joseph of Body Unlimited Fitness in Sherman Oaks

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Joseph.

Natalie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As I was being born, my father, a nuclear physicist, removed himself from the dialysis machine to come see me. My mother, a hypnotherapist, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was 3 years old. Ever since I can remember, I watched my parents suffer and battle their physical ailments. I saw how difficult it was for them to smile sometimes just because they were in so much pain. My father always felt like he was a prisoner of his own body. He, at one point, was consuming 20 prescription pills a day (after his own mother gave him her kidney). I also witnessed my step mother, who had fibromyalgia, IBS, and Addison’s disease, very skillfully pick supplements to aid her body. She and my father cooked often and always included tons of vegetables. My step mother also would drag me hiking or biking up mountains. My step brother and step father loved sports. They introduced me to baseball and skiing. So, I started skiing when I was 5 years old and gymnastics a few years later. My step brother also had me jumping off the roof into our pool! My mother never knew.

Much much later, I had this dream that I was going to write music and inspire the world. And I actually did go on tour singing in several states in the U.S, South America and Mexico. Funny though, because my background is a mesh of Israeli, Romanian, Austrian and Canadian. In high school, I ran with the track team, but I was too busy recording music to commit to the team. My father passed away from congenital heart failure when I was 21 and suddenly the idea of living a healthy life and taking care of myself hit me in the face a little too hard. I went back to college and then became a certified personal fitness trainer. I have continued to study the latest research on health and fitness ever since. After years of working with individuals one-on-one, I began to realize that there are a few trainers out there who actually give healthful advice to their clients or who even care about their clients enough to ensure they are exercising appropriately. I have trained in so many facilities throughout the valley including the large corporate gyms. I have seen way too many trainers not watching their clients, looking on their phones while training, having their clients do exercises they are physically incapable to do and with weights they cannot lift. It’s just a mess out there!!! I began to see that there is a major need for a business that can offer smart, safe, and efficient fitness training by trainers who actually care. So, having 10 years of serious training under my belt, I began to put a team of elite trainers together. A team that could work together for the greater good of our clients.

The general vibe out there in the fitness world is to keep to yourself and promote yourself and your six pack abs as much as possible. Well, unfortunately, this very egotistical, non-social behavior does not support health and well-being. Just because you have muscles does not necessarily mean you are healthy and if you lost 50 pounds by starving yourself then that is not something to celebrate either! In other words, the fitness industry is a bit backwards and inside out. I am extremely passionate about getting the truth out to the people and what better way to do that then to build something larger than myself. As the universe would have it, I was offered the chance to buy a small gym in Sherman Oaks in 2014. My fiancé and I spent some sleepless nights giving the gym a facelift and putting our ideas to work. He has been a huge support and health anchor for me. I opened Body Unlimited Fitness in January of 2015. I now take care of my mother, who cannot walk anymore, and just had a baby girl 3 months ago. So, I completely understand how crazy life can be sometimes and how wonderful it can be. Making time for healthy habits like exercising, cooking, going outside for heart-healthy walks, drinking enough water, sleeping enough, following your own bliss, and spending time with loved ones are not extra bonuses in life, they are what makes the experience of life joyful. I plan to open more Body Unlimited Fitness locations and help spread the love and the joy of truly living healthy and fit.

Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth? Well I guess that depends on your definition of a bump in the road. I tend to try to use difficult situations to invoke my creative problem solving skills. Life is more interesting and enjoyable that way. My father was a genius. He had over 200 US patents in his lifetime. I even helped him make one of his gamma ray blocking materials in our garage one day. When he passed away, it was like the ground beneath me disappeared. I could no longer go to him for any support whatsoever. He was the kind of mad scientist who supported practically anything I felt passionate about. Not to mention, he was the big smart business guy who knew all the right people. I was nothing of the sort. At least I didn’t think so. So, I found myself pulling up my sleeves and getting deep into my work, keeping my eyes peeled and ears open. I deliberately put myself in situations that I felt uncomfortable in so that I could become confident and skilled. I even enrolled in a motorcycle safety course, which is where I met my now fiancé.

At some point in my early twenties I was working 3 jobs as a personal fitness trainer. Years later, as my mom’s health continued to decline, it became clear that she needed to live with me. I couldn’t stand the thought that she was all alone and could fall and hurt herself and no one would be there to help. I would cook for her sometimes since she could barely even make herself a toast. This evolution in my mom’s state of health really had an impact on me. I chose to spend more time helping her which forced me to reevaluate how to move forward in my life. At the time, I felt that I had less freedom to go after my dreams. But, I have been determined to let this shape my dreams rather than hinder them. What kind of life is it if you cannot share it with people you love? My incredibly loving, kind and understanding fiancé has been helping me take care of her for the last few years now. Just recently, we had a baby girl. I ended up having a C-section and it has been very difficult to even take a shower let alone run my business. But, it truly has been a dream come true. I have learned over the years that time management is key! It has shaped the way I lead my team of trainers- the BUF Team. I understand what it is to have a window of 5 minutes at very specific times to accomplish very specific things and it can be incredibly frustrating when you cannot reach people during those short bursts of opportunity. It has definitely taught me to rely on myself for most things. Also, it has pushed me to teach my own standard of reliability to my team so much so that I can still get things done! You know the old saying, 2 heads are better than 1, 3 heads are better than 2, etcetera. Well, with all that I have on my plate with taking care of my family and my business and my own self-care, there is absolutely no way anything can get accomplished if I don’t work with others, delegate responsibilities and keep raising the bar on communication, integrity and service. And I find that being open and honest with my family and my training team allows us to build business practices that are unique to us and work best for us (which makes for happier days). I am able to rise above difficult situations not only because I am determined to do so, but also because I listen to my team and have the unwavering support of my fiancé.

Running a successful business and leading a successful life is just as much about the people I share it with as it is about the choices I make every single day. I make room for each trainer on my team to be true to who they are and to feel comfortable to share with all of us. This requires patience, understanding and vision on my part, but I am honored to work with them and this is the only way I know how to ensure that we all can love our lives! It’s all about surfing the waves and embracing the ride.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Body Unlimited Fitness is a private fitness training studio powered by a team who genuinely care about helping others with a mission unique to the industry. We specialize in a vast array of fitness modalities in order to accomplish any fitness goal. Body building, toning and shaping, weight-loss, postural and corrective exercise, and nutrition counseling are just some of the services we offer. In addition to that, we help our clients with body awareness, coordination, balance, breath control and mental well-being. Even parents of children six years old and up have come to us to help instill in their children the importance of self-care, exercise and discipline. In the industry, right now if you were to seek out a fitness trainer you will find either an independent trainer who works by themselves and answers to no one or you will find a trainer who works for a company that only concerns itself with sales numbers.

My team, the BUF team, is the first of its kind. We meet weekly to share information on everything related to being a trainer including business ethics, exercise science, exercise safety, case studies and more. When a client signs up with us he/she has the entire team at his/her disposal. So, no matter the goal or need, we can help anyone. We are not limited to the knowledge or skill set of just one individual trainer. Being a part of a team ensures that each trainer displays a strong sense of responsibility and integrity. I have handpicked each trainer so that each one of them possess the expertise, experience, reliability and heart that is required to be a BUF trainer. To my knowledge and based on my experience working for and being in several other gyms, no other company or gym requires their trainers to have heart. If someone comes to us wanting to have six-pack abs then sure, we can handle that. But, fitness is so much more than just having an amazing physique.

Our clients know that when they come to us they will change their life for the better. Another reason more and more people are turning to us for help is that we have a family feel about us. We are far from a sterile and bland environment like the larger corporate gyms. Body Unlimited Fitness applauds individuality and we have character. I am proud to say that every trainer and every client feels like they can be themselves at BUF. Our trainers are passionate and our clients feel inspired. I believe the only way to influence the world in a positive way is to inspire the people in it. More happy and healthy people equals a better world for all of us. I am proud to run a business with values and goals beyond just earning a paycheck. We make a difference in people’s lives every day.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Absolutely, businesses like mine are needed in LA. As our world becomes more and more technological and social media is at everyone’s fingertips the information highway has become convoluted. People are unable to separate truths from lies and benefactors from predators. Today, anything can be marketed and sold to the public whether the product has any merit, value or benefit to the consumer. Businesses like mine stand for something and actually help consumers recognize and apply the right information. Los Angeles is known as a land of opportunity and yet, because of this, it is swarming with people who are gullible and are, unfortunately, taken advantage of financially. Financial well-being plays a role in mental/emotional and physical well-being. In our current state of affairs, so many important issues that impact our lives are up for debate including health care, health foods, and even air and water. It costs money to take care of ourselves properly. So, if my company is going to take someone’s hard earned money in exchange for a service that’s supposed to better someone’s life, it is my duty to make sure that we deliver.

In Los Angeles, I have met so many talented people of a wide spectrum of gifts. For the most part I meet people who want to improve our ways of life with their innovative ideas or with their magnificent artistry. Then, there are the sharks- the people who just want to manipulate situations for their benefit no matter how it affects others. I’ve met so many people in LA who have been victims of these masqueraders.

How can LA improve? I think that it’s definitely helpful to get the word out about businesses that are truly helping people and about the ones that aren’t. Apathy leads to situations where undesirable businesses can run rapid and LA is full of people who have plenty to say! “All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and consume,” said Noam Chomsky. So, keep stepping up LA. I do need to mention that if LA’s public transportation was to improve then that would help bring the city up to par with some of the other successful cities around the world. Since there is so much to see and do in LA, public transportation is one major way more people can commute. Who wants to go to any business if it means sitting in major traffic to get there? No one.

Contact Info: