Xochil Gonzales from XoFit Gets Real

We sat down with the founder of XoFit, Xochil Gonzales, to talk about life, love, family, and how she came to create her fitness business. She gets real and we're not mad about it!

Good morning. This is Peter Keller from FringeSport, and I am today talking with Xochi Gonzalez, who runs XoFit. Xochi, how are you doing today?

Xochi Gonzalez: I am doing great.

Awesome. Well, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you get into training and what do you do?

Xochi Gonzalez: Okay. Yeah, so I am the owner of XoFit, and I started XoFit back in 2015 when I lived in Houston. It was at the peak of my, I guess I would say, physical fitness at the time. I was going to the gym twice a day, I was working out really hard, and then I started becoming friends with different people and they just... They said, "I want to look like you and I want to train like you," or, "Do you teach classes or are you a trainer?" So, that's kind of how it started. It just started like that and I was teaching classes at a park in Houston, and then things kind of happened in between the year I got pregnant, and then I kind of... Slowly starting back over as a mom with XoFit. So, it's been an interesting journey just because, like I said, I was at the height of my fitness career, and then I got pregnant, and bouncing back has been, definitely, a challenge. So, now I'm XoFit with a baby, and so he's definitely made this very interesting for me.

Well, congratulations, first of all.

Xochi Gonzalez: Thank you.

Second, you had mentioned working out twice a day when you were in Houston. Were you looking for a fitness competition, or were you just addicted to working out? Why did you get so into it?

Xochi Gonzalez: That's a great question. Honestly, I loved the way it felt when I was working out and I was training hard. I didn't have specific goals that I wanted to meet or anything like that. I wasn't in competition. I think my own competition was myself, and at the time, I kind of just wanted to prove to myself that I could lift heavyweight, and when people would teach me different techniques or... I actually fell in love with jump rope at the time. I would see people doing double unders, and I said, "I'm going to do that at the end of the month," and then I was practicing my jumping skills and I was doing double unders by the end of the month. So, I just kind of kept challenging myself and I was lifting at the time. My PR was 200 pounds and I weighed about 110 at the time.

Wow. That's 200 pounds in which lift?

Xochi Gonzalez: It's the generic.

Okay. Just like a deadlift?

Xochi Gonzalez:  Oh, sorry, yes. In deadlift, yes. That's what it was. I'm sorry.

No worries at all. That's very awesome. So, you said people started seeing you and saying, "Hey, I want to look like you," and that's when you started training? Is that right?

Xochi Gonzalez: Yes. I was working a 9:00 to 5:00 at the time, and I kind of was just in a rut before I started training. I actually met my fiancé where we used to work at the time and I started getting into fitness, and that's kind of how my name came about is because he was joking with me and he told me... He's like, "You're so fit," and he's like, "You're so cool," because my name starts with an X and an O, and it makes that S-O sound. So, XoFit kind of just stuck with me, and then I was like... He kind of created the brand for me, and at the time, I was like, "I'm going to have a XoFit class."

It just kind of stuck, and at the time, I would go to the gym, and friends would meet up with me at 5:00 in the morning to train and they would ask, "Are you going to teach a XoFit class on the weekend?" I'm like, "Okay." So it kind of just... That's kind of how it happened. I've always enjoyed training. I have a background in kinesiology and I've always enjoyed that particular field, but at the time, when I graduated, I kind of went a different route and I was... Like I said, I was working a 9:00 to 5:00, I was working with websites, and then kind of went back to the gym and just kind of figuring out what it is that I wanted to do with myself at the time.

So, you had mentioned that you moved from Houston to south Austin. How many clients did you have in Houston, give or take, when you made the move?

Xochi Gonzalez: At the time, I had anywhere from 10 to 20 clients, just kind of depending on their personal goals and if they had reached those personal goals, and then they kind of switched it up on me.

Got it. When you made the move, did you... I presume that you lost all your clients since it's about three hours between south Austin and Houston. Is that correct?

Xochi Gonzalez: Yes and no. I still had the following and they were interested in an online program, or if I offered anything online. So, when I moved to Austin... Yeah, when I moved to Austin, my son was four months and I wasn't ready to get back into the groove of things just yet, so I kind of gave myself about more than eight months until I started working out again, and then, once I was comfortable with working out and just kind of getting that self-confidence and that motivation back that following year, which was actually 2017, is when I started training online. I would create workouts in my garage and my home gym and I would send my clients the workouts that they would do either at home or at the gym, just kind of depending on what it was that they were looking for.

Awesome. So, you had those online clients. How did you start building up an in-person client base again?

Xochi Gonzalez: In-person, it did take a while. I was working out with a group called FIT4MOM in Austin, and the trainer... She kind of got me back to wanting to teach, and she wanted me to teach a... Excuse me, a FIT4MOM class, but I knew that I had my XoFit and I knew that I wanted to do that at some point, and so I... That's when it kind of just... I slowly started building clientele through mom groups and mom friends, and I still have the same following from Houston. So, I mean, it's kind of how I've been marketing myself now, is through social media and kind of just spreading the word through our neighborhoods. Like I said, through mom friends is kind of how I've kind of bounced back and gained these clients now.

I love it. So, would you say it's mostly moms who you're training, or what demographic do you mainly pull from for your clients?

Xochi Gonzalez: That's a great question. The majority of the people who come to my gym are moms, yes, but that's not... I train a variety of people; I train non-moms. I do train women who have no kids, and then I also train guys as well. So, I mean, it kind of just depends on what type of style they're looking for, and then I kind of just explain to them what I do. They check out the gym and all that, and they're kind of sold.

I love it. Awesome. Well, believe it or not, that's about what we've got time for. Is there anything else that you'd like to tell our readers and our audience?

Xochi Gonzalez: That is a great question. Yes, so kind of going back to the beginning of my new journey, after having my son, I was two and a half months early, and so he was... At eight weeks he weighed one pound, nine ounces, and my fiancé and I had a very, very hard time kind of just transitioning from that, just moving forward. Something that I kind of just want to explain after having him... Because I had to have an emergency C-section with him, bouncing back into fitness was something that I just... It was put on the back burner, but once he started improving and his health was improving, that was my motivation. I want to tell everybody to find your motivation and to find what it is that you want in the long run. For me, it's my family. I want everybody in my family to... I want to make sure that I am the caregiver for everybody here in my household, and my son kind of taught me that, because he was just born so early that I call him our miracle, because he just kind of opened up a lot for us, and that is one of the reasons why I do what I do and I do it from home, is because I'm still able to have that time with my son, who is right now napping.

But in between, I train my clients, and I just want to make sure that I let everybody know that no matter your journey, especially if you're coming back into fitness, whatever it is that was holding you back, find that motivation and find that reason as to why you're wanting to go on this journey, because fitness is... It can be a very, very, very tough thing for a lot of people. It was for me, even though, three years before I had him, I was at the peak of my fitness level. So, that's definitely what I want to tell everybody.

Wow. It's super inspiring. I love it. I've got a couple of kids as well and they're really big for my inspiration to stay fit because I want to... I got a couple of little girls, and they love it when I throw them around. One of the things that I really like to do. They also love to jump on top of me all the time, so I need to be fairly robust and durable. That's a big reason for me. I love it.

Xochi Gonzalez: Definitely. Yeah. My son, he keeps me on my toes, for sure. He's been in the garage with me when I'm working out, and he'll mimic everything that I'm doing, and it's just amazing to watch, just because we've come so far with him, and I just... I'm extremely thankful for my fiancé, who has set up my gym as well. He's my backbone for the gym. We started off with a lot of used equipment and he made it work for me. He got my setup going with my cameras, and I have a TV in here so I can watch myself record. He thought about it all, and so without him as well, I would not be where I am today with... I've uploaded over 150 videos on Vimeo, and that's kind of where I send my... That's what I use to send to my clients. So, he [inaudible 00:15:53] a lot as well, so I'm thankful for that.

I love it. Awesome. Well, I found you on Instagram at _xofit. That underscores X-O-F-I-T, and I also found you on Facebook at Get XoFit, and that's facebook.com forward slash G-E-T-X-O-F-I-T. If anybody wants to reach you or find out more, where should they reach out?

Xochi Gonzalez: You hit it right on the nail with that.

Awesome.

Xochi Gonzalez: Definitely on Facebook, definitely on Instagram. That's the best way to get a hold of me.

Well, I love it. So, this has been Peter Keller from Fringe Sport, and it's been my pleasure to talk with Xochi Gonzalez of XoFit. Go out and lift something heavy today.