Gym Owner to Laptop Lifestyle! Online Coaching Growth via Podcasting with Sherry Shaban

If your dream is to live the laptop lifestyle, then you will definitely want to hear this episode. Today’s guests made the move from physical gym owner to a fully online weight loss coaching business. Her name is Sherry chabanne and she tells us exactly how she grew her Instagram to 36,000 followers, which you can literally copy and start doing today. We also hear why Sherry thinks it is crucial to offer more than just a self guided course.

And she also shares her biggest source of leads right now. Sherri chabanne has over 23 years of experience in the fitness industry, she has helped thousands of people worldwide. She founded make peace with food and host the fall in love with fitness podcast. My name’s Joel Oliver, and this is profits through podcasting where we help health focused entrepreneurs generate leads and revenue for their business and grow their impact in the world through podcasting.

You are, let me see if I have all this in order, a [00:01:00] certified athletic therapist, an osteopath, a nutrition consultant, and a health and life coach. Is that all of the things that you are?

Yeah, there’s

a few, plus a mom, a few things missing, but essentially I’m a big, big nerd. I’m just a person who’s incredibly curious. I love to learn. I’ve been motivated by my own life struggles and just a deep sense of curiosity around human behavior. So it’s led me really to where I am today.

let’s understand a bit more about what that actually is. So are you doing any type of in person work with any clients at this point? Or is it all online?

Yeah. So right now I’m, I’m a hundred percent online. I always make this joke that I manifested the pandemic. And prior to that, I was a CrossFit gym owner. And because of COVID, I actually found myself closing down my gym and going online. And it was really funny because about two years before COVID happened.

So this was around 2018. I had already [00:02:00] started working on this online course. I was super fascinated about this idea of being able to extend my reach past. The four walls of my gym. I just, I had a message to share. I had this vision about a podcast. I even recorded so many podcast intros, like on my iPhone.

I’m like, Oh, this, this is a good name. This is a good title. And I’d record a bunch of intros. And I always just envisioned being able to have that freedom to do it. And then all of a sudden, when the pandemic happened, sure, it didn’t happen exactly like how I wanted it to happen. I thought at least I’d one day sell the gym and move on, but then I ended up right away.

I had my course ready by that time. It was like divine intervention and I launched my first six week program online. And then after that, it became a 12 month program. And then I slowly started moving on more into what I’m going to call it. Hypnotherapy and psychology, but really it’s understanding human behavior and understanding [00:03:00] why we self sabotage. Why is it that people will work really hard for six weeks, be super committed, no matter what it is that they’re doing, and then all of a sudden self sabotage and why is it that we tend to have these coping mechanisms? People call it addictions. I don’t really believe that they’re addictions because when we really understand the way the mind works and the way that we have these conscious beliefs and unconscious beliefs that essentially lead us to doing what we’re doing. It really just unraveled this really, really big picture. And the big picture right now has become this movement called make peace with food, which is. My main program. This is a course where I help women overcome unwanted eating behaviors. It started off as a 12 month course. Now it’s become a membership and in 2025, I’ll be teaching the teachers.

So I’ve developed now a version where I help coaches work with their [00:04:00] own clients, understand why they continue to self sabotage. So it’s this thing that continues to evolve and really fueled by passion. Yeah.

that’s that’s great background. And we’re going to dive in a bit more to the mechanics of the business and the marketing side of things. But let’s also set the stage here with the podcast that you have fall in love with fitness. So I think maybe I am correct then that you started the podcast in 2020 COVID ish era as well.

Is that right? And you’ve got over 200

episodes

yeah, yeah, It’s something I’m super proud of. It’s top 3 percent right now ranked as, as podcast. And not that that was the aim. Cause to be honest, when I launched it, I didn’t even know where it was going. I just want people to fall in love with fitness. That’s all I want them to do. And that’s it. I started interviewing different guests.

I had a lot of really amazing guests actually right from the get go. And right now where it’s at is, is I could see my, my voice developing in there. I also now have my offers that I can interject in there. And so it’s, really just this thing [00:05:00] that continues to evolve. And just recently this year I started a mini soads.

So initially when I launched in 2020, it was a, One episode per week where I’d have a guest interview. And now I do this little 10, 15, 20 minute clip another time in the week where I do talk more about the nervous system and regulating the nervous system. And so It’s a living thing.

And I think that’s hopefully after this conversation, any entrepreneur who’s listening or anyone who wants to go online, all I’ll say is. Keep it as a canvas. And what’s super interesting about the personal development world is that you have to have a vision and you have to have a five year vision and you have to lock it in and you have to move towards that.

And that actually becomes so rigid. And when we’re so rigid and we’re trying to move towards perfectionism, that’s actually where we start to, to make mistakes because then we start to procrastinate. When, you It doesn’t look the way we really want it to look like. If there’s mistakes, if it’s not perfect, then we won’t launch it. Then it becomes this analysis paralysis thing. And then we’re worried [00:06:00] about people judging us. And then that’s the paranoia part. So now we’re paranoid. No one’s going to like it. No one’s gonna listen to it. , everyone’s going to say these negative comments. I don’t know if I can take that. And then eventually we get paralyzed.

And then three, four or five years later, we still have that idea. That we’ve never set in motion. And so just start and have that vision. Yes, but be loose with that vision and be playful because it’ll continue to expand and evolve. And either way, this is what we hear in business 101. You have to have this constant evolution of your product because if it’s stagnant. You’re not keeping up with, with the evolution of what’s going on around you. At

Absolutely. Yeah. It’s never going to be perfect when you start, if you think you’re going to wait until it is perfect to launch it, it’s not even going to be perfect. You might as well just get going and let it all, work out and improve along the way. So, okay. That’s great to see a COVID podcast continue on.

There were many that started, not all of them kept going after, but you have clearly kept it up. So at that time, do you even remember, were you thinking, you know, I’m just, [00:07:00] Kind of isolated. And I want to connect with people and this seems neat. Or are you thinking more like I want to do this to generate leads for the business or what did that look like when you started the show?

first it was contribution. It was, it was passion. It was, I just have a message. I know I have a voice and I want to just slowly develop it. I want to share my perspectives with the world. And let me tell you, I was. I was very afraid. I mean, when you first start something like this and you’re starting to put your voice out there, I mean, that’s, that’s permanent.

So there was a lot of doubts around even how it was going to develop, but then eventually, like I was sharing, it started just to morph into, okay, this is now the vision and the direction of the podcast. But when I initially launched it, it wasn’t all right. I want to generate leads. What I wanted people to be able to do is connect with me. To know me, to be able to understand where I’m coming from, my perspective, to like me, to trust me. So, you know, that no like trust that’s, that’s essentially what you [00:08:00] want to do. And a podcast is a great way to do that. less and less people now will travel to your website to learn about you. They’re going to, okay, what’s Joel really like? And then they’re going to try to stalk you on social media. And that’s, that’s your truth. And I find more and more, and especially as I’m aging gracefully, as I’m getting into, you know, my, I’m in my forties right now, but as I’m getting into my forties and my fifties, I noticed now, I actually want to hear people speak.

I don’t really want to watch anything. I don’t want to be on social media. I enjoy hearing people speak. And I think, That’s also where a lot of people are moving to and the other great thing about podcast is people will have your attention and you’ll have their attention for a good 30, 40, 55 minutes, however long your episode is, whereas social media, there’s a lot of scrolling. There’s this need to, to look at the next thing. Whereas when you have that opportunity to connect with somebody and share your knowledge, share your expertise, have a guest [00:09:00] on, then when you have something to offer, You’re able to do that and they already have a great background

right. Let’s touch on the business here a little more. How are you delivering all of this? Is that all you, is it like, you know, their group calls or is it an online course at your own pace?

Like, like, how does the membership look? Just tell us a bit about that.

Yeah, it first started as a course. So all of my memberships, they have a basis of a course of some sort. I like to see the course as the language that we’re going to be using on our calls. So the course is really a way for people to learn more theoretical things. But then when you get on a call with me, I have a weekly call and it’s a coaching call. This is now where we can take that information and put it in motion because otherwise it’s just kind of stagnant. We learn things and if you, I don’t know about your experience, Joel, but I’ve. Purchase so many different courses that were just do it on your by yourself and do it on your own. And [00:10:00] yes, I try to tend to see myself as a pretty self motivated person, but the average person will just purchase a course, maybe get excited about it for a week or two, but then put it on the side. And so for you to continue to keep people engaged, I think it’s really important to have that option. don’t want to just create the stuff, but you want also people to use it and to have and find value from it and then to have progress. I

for a lot of types of businesses. That accountability is huge because there’s a wealth of information we can look up, and I’m definitely guilty of it. Like you said, you’re self motivated. I think I am as well, but there’s just so much there that you just don’t.

Apply until you have someone like you or where you’re, you’re being held accountable. That’s worth a lot to people because that’s how you actually get the results. So that’s, yeah, that’s, that’s very good to know. I’m curious too, with a business of this size and what you’re doing, is this all just you?

Do you have any other team members at all helping out?

do. I have three other people working with me. So [00:11:00] I have somebody who co facilitates the retreats with me and also is my support coach. And then I have two people who do everything else in the back end and it’s We use a lot of different softwares, but we have a great schedule to, of when we’re going to release certain things.

When certain things are going to happen, they take care of all of that. I generally tend to focus on more, I’m going to say the revenue generating tasks. So the parts of the business where I’m writing content. So I, I create all of our, our copy, whether that’s an email or even on social media posts.

So that type of stuff would be. Something I would, would definitely have to have a handle on because ultimately that’s, that’s the voice, that’s the message and I try to simplify things as much as possible. I think we have this, this image in our mind that we have to work so much harder to really create that, that brand or that vision.

But I will say. That it’s actually about working smarter. How can I be more efficient with

my time? And if you notice, there’s [00:12:00] probably 80 percent of the tasks that you’re currently doing that are not revenue generating, that you could actually probably leverage to other people to do for you so that you do focus on that 20 percent that does help you. Move the needle forward.

I also want to say when I first started, I did it all. And there will be a moment. So if you are getting started, there will be a moment when you are doing all those things. But as you start to notice that your time becomes more and more scarce and you’re starting to see the ball rolling and revenues coming in. That would be the time where you would start to look at what can I outsource? What can I put on somebody else’s plate?

That’s a very important thing to identify as a business owner because the time is so valuable. We don’t want to be getting caught up in things that could be delegated There’s no real reason for us to be doing them. So that’s great to hear. You’ve got that team and that works well for you. This is a big one for people who are up and coming in this business. They’re trying to grow their brand and their audience. It’s always fascinating to see. How did you do this? So you’ve got, I think it’s about [00:13:00] 36, 000 Instagram followers, 5, 000 on YouTube.

First of all, are these your main sources of leads like the social and the podcast, and if not, where else are they coming from?

 When I first launched, I, I think I launched my Instagram in 2017. Yeah. And it really was around COVID time as well that I got the majority of my followers. I think just people were more curious and were more looking for that. But I will tell you also that the majority of where let’s say my revenue generating audience is, is in my email list. that’s really, really where it’s at. And if you have a way to lead people in, so this is called a lead magnet. For example, If you have a download, if you have something where you’re going to make an exchange for an email address, that will be the best way for you to communicate with your, your audience, especially anyone that you want to convert into a client. And I also want to say that as you see people unsubscribe to your [00:14:00] emails, which is going to be very, very natural. See that as a good thing. Because what’s actually happening is your audience is getting stronger and stronger. Your list, your email list is getting more and more powerful. Basically what you’re doing is you’re concentrating the number of potential buyers in that list.

So even if you have 3000 and. Half of those people 500 people who are actively looking at your emails and your email rate is 30 or 40%. That’s very successful. That’s a lot of people. And when you’re looking at social media and people have 30, 5 million followers. You feel like you’re not enough. You feel like, Oh my God, I need 5 million followers to be successful. But that’s not true if you have even 500 people in your email list and you know that you’re going to convert about 2 percent of people into an active, let’s say client and someone who purchases from you and you have a high ticket product. When you do the math, that’s, that’s a really, really successful model. So I would say ultimately where [00:15:00] I always want to lead people is into my email list.

Yeah, email is a great tool to have to take ownership of your leads, so absolutely a lot of benefits there. Now I’m curious. Just to touch on Instagram for a bit, because I think the health and wellness area, there’s just a lot of people on Instagram doing well.

Like you’re, you know, you have the 36, 000 followers. A lot of times we see the biggest audience is social media. When it comes to that following that you’ve created on Instagram specifically, how did you get there? Like, was it just kind of, they just showed up or were you being intentional about growing that?

How do you describe that growth on Instagram specifically for you?

At first, I think my journey would maybe look something like this. At first when I was posting on social media, it was all about Sherry, Sherry, Sherry, look at Sherry did. She did something cool at the gym. Look at Sherry, Sherry, she’s eating. And then the moment I started focusing my attention on, okay, what can I give people? Because [00:16:00] nobody cares what’s going on with Sherry or how many muscle ups she did today. It’s, it’s really not that important, but what is important is what can I offer somebody? And so as soon as I started turning that around and especially this, this, it really grew both for, for the audience on YouTube and also On Instagram during that COVID period, I just started giving more things, offering more things.

I started giving people workouts instead of look at my workout. Hey, here’s a workout for you. Here’s a recipe for you. Here is a podcast episode for you. So that was one way I did it. But then the other way too is through network networking. So I’m involved in a lot of groups and a lot of opportunities to really share your handle with other people. And it’s, you know, every time I travel, I don’t want to say I’m always selling, but I’m always in the conversation of check this out, check this out, check this out. So I have people

from Peru that follow me because when I’m in Peru, I’m going to show people my my stuff. So that’s also another way to do it.

[00:17:00] But. Really collaborating also with other people who are on Instagram. So when I, for example, do a podcast episode, I share that podcast episode and have the guests share on their platform and then vice versa. So when this episode’s out, I’ll share on my platform, I’ll tag you and then people will go and look at your account.

So Asking really is important. I feel like we don’t ask enough. We don’t ask people, can you share this? Could you tag me here? Or even tagging other people. That’s a really great way to do it.

That’s great to know. So it was like a multifaceted thing. It wasn’t just, you sit there and wait, you were proactive in the networking, in the interaction, that sort of thing. So that’s really neat. Also, if I, if I heard this correctly, you weren’t doing this obsession over the algorithm and trying to see how do I hack the algorithm and get, you know, get success.

You just started giving value. And then in your day to day, you’re networking, that sort of thing. It just, it just grows that, is

that

correct?

yeah, a hundred percent. And again, I I’m going to [00:18:00] say this and I hope, I hope this is a great takeaway today that the focus won’t be, I need to grow. A crazy amount of followers so that I can get, sales or that I can have a successful business. And that looks really great on the outside. And, and definitely it’s something I’m, I’m very, very grateful for.

People come to my account. Okay. So this girl, okay, there’s, there’s activity happening here. So I’m going to be here to listen. So I like to see the social media being more like that. Just validity, more, more validation, more social proof rather than it is. A place where I can necessarily generate leads.

I still, I’ll look at all the things that I’m doing and I’ll still see that I get the most amount of, of leads coming in really from, let’s say the Facebook ad that I launched or even my podcast. I have, I have downloads also on my podcast. So places like that is generally where I tend to get the most leads.

And then where I make the most conversions will be through emails.

 Are you doing many appearances [00:19:00] on other podcasts?

Yeah, definitely. That’s, that’s a big part of something I’ve started doing this year. Being on other people’s show is. Is a really great way to share your message. It’s also a really great way to make connections.

Joel, you and I are now connected. We’re in each other’s network when you reach out and you want support. I’m of course, like this is this, and it’s great because we get to know each other and then you may refer me to somebody else. To be on my guest, I’ll ask you to come on my show. And then it, it just starts to, to build like that.

, and that’s why it’s so important not to have that rigid vision, but, but really just to keep open and it not having to be about this specific number that you have to reach, but how much more value can I give? The more you’re in that place of how much more can I give? How much more can I give? How much more can I give? That’s when you’re going to start to see people care to, to want to follow and learn from you.

Yeah, it’s great that you described that like you did, because that’s exactly it. Like, if you’re doing this podcast hosting and guesting, and you’re not even following them on [00:20:00] Instagram or something like you mentioned, or LinkedIn and keep, because you can’t just keep track of everyone in your head.

So I want to see people I connect with, I want to see their content. Then I might think, Hey, you know, I, I have a good referral for Sherry or whatever the case. So yeah, if you’re not doing that kind of thing, you’re leaving so much benefit there when you, when it comes to this

podcasting. I’m glad you talked about all that.

I have a last question I’d like to chat about, and I think this is an important one because, people are listening to the show and hearing people like you talk and give advice on how you grew your business and insights there.

It can seem like, wow, these people have it all. It’s all going perfect. There’s no worries. They just, they figured it out. Everything’s great. What would you say is a current either challenge or a priority that you are thinking about right now as you move towards the future? It doesn’t have to be something that’s like a problem, but something that’s on your mind that you’re thinking about and having to work

on.

Yeah, so good. I love this question. And I actually wanted to speak to it a little bit [00:21:00] and and you’re right. It does sound like man. She’s so lucky. She’s got it together. Like she’s

crushing it. But I do want to say when I first did start and launch things and even when I first went online. Not every single course I put out there was successful and this is something that I have embraced something that I really learned to do is that I have way more to learn from failures. Then I do from successes and also that word failure. I think it’s just, there’s so much stigma around this word and really feeling like it’s a dead end word and it’s not, it’s an opportunity for you to improve things. What I’ll always say as, as being the part of my business that would be the most challenging is working with people.

Or let’s say hiring people, and it’s, it’s probably something that I’m sure that you’ve heard before. So having the right team and having the right people who support your vision and your mission is going to be the most important thing as well. And when you notice that there’s a person that maybe is not a [00:22:00] right fit, don’t keep them for too long.

Just, just release them, allow them to move on in life. And try to fulfill that, that gap before it’s too late. And I would say right now, I think what I want to really put more energy and effort into is bringing to life this make peace with food movement. For coaches, and that’s a big challenge for me because I generally have always worked with clients, so I’m, I’m always B2C.

I’m always business to client. And now it’s going to be business to business. And it’s, it’s something I’m so excited about. I have a vision and it’s very loose and it’s very open and I’m, I’m open to learn from it. So that’s, that’s something that I’m now creating the marketing around. It’s a whole new brand around. I’m updating my LinkedIn also to, to just reflect on that portion of my business. There’s a lot of research I still have to do and it’s, it’s just fun. And the challenging part is fun because. [00:23:00] it brings the excitement. Otherwise it would be so boring if you’re always doing the same thing over and over again, then there’s no challenge. Where do we grow? How do we continue to improve? So I think those are, those are the things that, that come to mind right now.

Yeah, that’s definitely a good reminder and it’s inspiring to hear because you could just kind of plateau and just keep doing what you’re doing, which if you’re not moving ahead, you’re moving backwards, you know, is the saying. So to see you take on this whole new challenge and say, I’m going to try this now.

That’s cool. It’s great to see that you’ve still got that spirit in you. So yeah, really, I’m sure you’ll do great with that. So looking forward to see how everything

goes.

Thank you. Received.

So it’s Sherry Chaban, the fall in love with fitness podcast. We’ve got sherrychaban. com plus a bunch of other links for you, your websites and social media.

We’re going to put all that in the show notes. So thanks so much, Sherry. This was really insightful. I

appreciate it.

Thank you so much, Joel. Such a pleasure to be on here today.