There is no question that Jill Ruth Rooks, a 2017 PFP Trainer of the Month award winner, and founder and owner of The Energy Lab in Redlands, California, sees the great potential we have as fitness professionals to have a profound impact on our clients’ lives. An impact that can be realized beyond exercise programming and fitness routines. Here is how Jill is raising the bar in our industry…
Business: The Energy Lab
Website: www.energylabfitness.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/energylabfitness/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jill-rooks
Twitter: @jillrooks
Year started in business: Started in the industry in 1999; opened The Energy Lab (studio) in 2011
Education & Qualifications
- ACE and AFAA personal trainer and group exercise certifications
- Institute of Motion, Level 3
- Anatomy Trains Fascial Dissection
- Cycling
- TRX
- Pilates
- Yoga
- Pre- and post-natal certifications
- MELT Method Hand-and-Foot
Recognition & Awards
- PFP Trainer of the Month, August, 2017
- The Energy Lab voted Best Fitness Center in Inland Empire in 2017 and voted Best Personal Trainers and Best Pilates Studio in 2013 and 2014
- Best-selling “10 Stories of Strong Living” Author, 2017
- Todd Durkin Mastermind Platinum Level
What inspired you to start your business?
People inspired me to start my business. I was an “in the trenches” instructor at several different fitness clubs and saw the need for connection and education and motivation. I have a journal entry dated five years before The Energy Lab came to life about creating a “neighborhood place where people could workout with a community, free of judgement and full of energy to learn and to experience their minds and bodies in the best condition of their lives, even as lives change and stand the test of time.” Bringing this vision to life is why I created The Energy Lab.
What is one hard lesson you’ve learned in business you believe has been most valuable?
One hard lesson that has helped me to understand and move forward from other hard lessons is that the one thing you can count on in life is change. The lesson that always comes to mind immediately after that is that you will always be the most passionate person about your business.
If I asked one of your clients why they choose you over other places, what would they likely say?
My clients and members know and trust that I care more. They also know that I will challenge their comfort zones and bring them to places of great change. They expect that the workout will never look the same as the day before or as anyone else’s and that there will always be an element of play, variability and laughter.
Name one or two ways you are trying to raise the bar in the industry?
Mentoring future coaches and trainers, modeling the actions we expect to see on the floor and giving of myself 100% are part of my desire to elevate what we do as health coaches and fitness professionals in the eyes of the world, of the media and of the medical profession. Understanding that the whole body and how the behaviors, thoughts and feelings of that person in the body are connected to their daily outcomes goes a long way toward assisting with behavior change. We are not here to treat or diagnose, but rather to listen and listen well. Listen to the sleep patterns, listen to the nutritional choices, listen to the stressors and how they are handled, and listen to voice that resides deeply within each individual to be able to meet them where they are and to appropriately provide a plan for them. I believe that one step at a time, day in and day out, I can play a part in raising the bar in our industry.
