Dooley Noted: 3/31/2016
The Couple: Eric and Beth Bergmann
Professions: strength coaches, massage therapy students
How I Met Them:
I had the honor of introducing the Bergmann’s to NeuroKinetic Therapy (NKT), at Catalyst SPORT in September 2015.
How They’ve Changed Me:
The Bergmann’s have incredible focus towards their training careers and their dedication to learning NKT.
They attend nearly every weekly study group, and they were so inspired to offer more services that they both returned to school to learn massage therapy.
I’ve watched them grow their businesses as they also grow their marriage. This personally inspired me that with the right person, I would not have to sacrifice my career. With the right partner, I could build my businesses with his continued support.
Only a few months after taking their first seminar with me, they were already assisting to teach. They never let a lack of confidence in, but they stayed dedicated towards their studies and taught anything they could learn for themselves.
If you have an opportunity to work with the Bergmann’s, take it! I’m very proud to know them.
Their answers to list of my questions:
How we met each other:
Her: Shortly after receiving a promotion to a managerial position at a gym Eric and I worked at, I was told by our boss I should contact the previous manager Eric Bergmann with any questions I might have.
(To this day I still think he intentionally set us up! We haven’t stopped talking ‘business’ ever since!)
Him: We met each other at a boutique gym chain where we were both managing personal training departments. She danced into the corporate office and I immediately knew there was something special about her.
How we work together to build our business:
Her: While the business is shared we’ve individually taken charge of certain aspects of the day to day. For example Eric has a better brain for P and L’s and I have more patience for web design and online social media. This was a relatively organic delegation of responsibilities. But I thank my lucky stars every day that while we are so seemingly similar, we also have eerily complimentary strengths and weaknesses.
Him: Because our business is built entirely off of referrals with no real marketing of any sort, consistently working to improve our skills as individuals and as a team is, in my mind, the single most important thing we do.
That said, I do think we have an unfair advantage in that we can geek out or woodshed with each other whenever we want. Many fitness professionals struggle just to find people who share their interests, much less someone who can discuss the intricacies of change psychology or lever arms.
Book that changed you:
Her: Franz de Waal’s “Our Inner Ape”
Him: Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Transcendence of the Ego”
Best website:
Her: Best breakdown of research in health & fitness: http://suppversity.blogspot.com/
Him: For all the concepts he introduced me to and for some great programming: ericcressey.com
Biggest mentor:
Her: Dance (& Life) mentor extraordinaire Alexandra Wells
Him: Late, great professor of philosophy M.C. Dillon
Secret to success:
Her: Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.
Him: Have goal. Make plan. Follow plan.
Secret to happiness:
Her: When you are ready opportunity will present itself. Be ready.
Him: Modify your world towards your values, not vice versa. Understand that this is a recursive process.
Secret to fitness:
Her: Work = Dividends
Him: Define fitness for yourself. Hypothesize. Test. Repeat.
Secret to wealth:
Her: Budgets (and Excel)
Him: Financial capital? Math. Human capital? Invest in relationships.
Best advice you’ve been given:
Her: Making a life, and taking a life are the ONLY things in this world that cannot be changed.
Him: Strive to be in a constant state of self-improvement.
Your acronyms:
Her: CPT, NKT, FMSC
Him: CSCS, NKT, FMSC
How you can be contacted for assessments/help:
BergmannFitness.com
beth@bergmannfitness.com
eric@bergmannfitness.com
Honor and acknowledge the people who change you.
As always, it’s your call.
-Dr. Kathy Dooley