Author Topic: "Making it" in the industry  (Read 19145 times)

Fitgrl

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"Making it" in the industry
« on: March 21, 2006, 07:41:48 AM »
New to the board (been lurking for a real long time) and I have a question that I'd love some feedback on.

I'm thinking very seriously about trying to make a career out of the fitness industry. I've done one amateur show and placed fairly high but I didn't win. I think that I can win and eventually turn pro, if I decide to dedicate myself and give it 110%.

Here's the question: Can I make a good living out of this?

I imagine that some of the big names like Jenny Lynn and Monica Brandt do very, very well for themselves. But, face it, the prize money for pro shows is not great and probably doesn't even cover costs. If I become a personal trainer, my income will be directly limited by the number of hours I can work in a day (not much potential there). I have no desire to do a "private" web page because I wouldn't pose naked.

Even turning pro seems kinda dicey to me. The Weiders and Manions run the IFBB and NPC with an iron fist and I get the feeling that if you don't want to play their game, then you're out of luck. Is it just coincidence that the pros who sign with JMP Management win the shows???

What would I need to do to "make my fortune?"

Thanks for your input.

Rachel

1Fast400

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2006, 08:28:39 AM »
If you're really attractive and have a good body you can do some top level national shows to get attention.  Most of the women that make money in this industry don't compete or aren't that good.  If you have that "look" you might be able to get a lot of model work.  Beth Horn, kim lyons and a few others come to mind.  None of them won any shows, but do quite a bit of modeling work. 

IMO, the best way to make money from this industry, is to not compete in it.  Few and I mean VERY few will make a worthwhile living from it.  If you have great connections, then things might change.  Given the amount of time put into this sport vs what it gives back, huge imbalance. 

Fitgrl

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2006, 09:02:34 AM »
IMO, the best way to make money from this industry, is to not compete in it.  Few and I mean VERY few will make a worthwhile living from it.  If you have great connections, then things might change.  Given the amount of time put into this sport vs what it gives back, huge imbalance. 

Really?  Why not compete?  If competition isn't the key, what is? 

ToxicAvenger

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2006, 11:40:01 AM »
Really?  Why not compete?  If competition isn't the key, what is? 
she said it in the first few wordsof her answer..she ws trying to be nice about it..

simply put

if you r good looking(like a 9 or above)..go for it..if not..forget it...

looks (as with most things in life) willget you what you want...

carpe` vaginum!

wes mantooth

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2006, 11:46:04 AM »
Really?  Why not compete?  If competition isn't the key, what is? 

key is...fantastic body, great face, and really good connections. the fitness women that make money are the ones that are doing the mag shoots, paysites, blah blah balh. there are really only a handful of women that compete that do alot of modeling. girls like elaine goodlad do alot of print work because she doesnt have a busted face like a lot of girls in the industry. she is also married to a top photographer too...that helps.

do some photo shoots, submit your prints EVERYWHERE and start bugging the shit out of people. get a website and spam the f**k out of it....if you have the look...theyll find you

email dina.....shell tell you.

midknight

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2006, 11:48:44 AM »
pain day

1Fast400

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2006, 11:55:19 AM »
Competition dieting will eventually wreck havoc on your facial features, skin and a load of other things. 

ToxicAvenger

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2006, 12:03:37 PM »
Competition dieting will eventually wreck havoc on your facial features, skin and a load of other things. 

ya mean excess thyroid gives the skin that dried out prune look ova time...its called accelerated aging  :)
carpe` vaginum!

ToxicAvenger

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2006, 12:05:51 PM »
hey fast..sorry i thought you wus a girl

anyhow do you remember the name of the drug dan d once mentioned in MM2k...for tanning..its usually used to skin disorders where some parts of the skin dont produce melanin creating a patchy effect..but can be used for tanning ..esp by people travelling to tropical countries..its injectable...wtf..i'm soo brain farting and its bothering the heck outta me  >:(
carpe` vaginum!

Butterbean

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2006, 12:31:14 PM »




I imagine that some of the big names like Jenny Lynn and Monica Brandt do very, very well for themselves.

I'm pretty sure that Jenny Lynn also works as a personal trainer.

I'm not sure if Monica needs to supplement her income (from the industry) or not, but if she doesn't, it seems like she's pretty much the only one or one of the very few.

R

CQ

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2006, 12:33:10 PM »
If you're really attractive and have a good body you can do some top level national shows to get attention.  Most of the women that make money in this industry don't compete or aren't that good.  If you have that "look" you might be able to get a lot of model work.  Beth Horn, kim lyons and a few others come to mind.  None of them won any shows, but do quite a bit of modeling work. 

IMO, the best way to make money from this industry, is to not compete in it.  Few and I mean VERY few will make a worthwhile living from it.  If you have great connections, then things might change.  Given the amount of time put into this sport vs what it gives back, huge imbalance. 

Excellent post.

Rachel, if you want to make "your fortune" as you said, competition is not the way. Although a few girls have done well, I would venture a guess that statistically speaking the chances are slim. And yeah...like the guys posted have above you need to be quite cute :)

Have you considered 'splitting the difference'? Compete for the love of it, and try and see where opportunity/hard work may lead you...but if you are looking to become wealthy I would look elsewhere ;)

Best of luck

ToxicAvenger

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2006, 12:36:25 PM »
i ust noticed..my thread about "do bbng girls or fitness girls fart more frequently" got removed  >:( >:( >:(
carpe` vaginum!

Nicole Weeks

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2006, 12:57:45 PM »

Here's the question: Can I make a good living out of this?\


In a word: no. You burn more money than you'll ever win back at a show. If you focus on fitness modeling, and not competing, you could potentially make decent money. But it's the same odds in fitness modeling as it is in modeling in general: lots of models, few who are successful. Don't rely on any organization to promote you. You have to promote yourself. Don't wait for someone to eventually bring your name up out of thin air. You have to give out your business cards and comp cards and get your name/physique out there so you become better known. Do it because you have fun doing it, not because you NEED the money. That's what a day job is for....to fuel your habit: fitness and competing.

-Nicole
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Fitgrl

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2006, 09:57:37 AM »
In a word: no. You burn more money than you'll ever win back at a show. If you focus on fitness modeling, and not competing, you could potentially make decent money. But it's the same odds in fitness modeling as it is in modeling in general: lots of models, few who are successful. Don't rely on any organization to promote you. You have to promote yourself. Don't wait for someone to eventually bring your name up out of thin air. You have to give out your business cards and comp cards and get your name/physique out there so you become better known. Do it because you have fun doing it, not because you NEED the money. That's what a day job is for....to fuel your habit: fitness and competing.

-Nicole
www.nicoleweeks.com
WNBF Figure Pro

Why can't the fitness industry be more mainstream?  I just don't understand it.  I can understand why bodybuilding isn't (it's to easy to view bodybuilding as freaky), but fitness should be a different story. 

midknight

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2006, 11:28:29 AM »
Why can't the fitness industry be more mainstream?  I just don't understand it.  I can understand why bodybuilding isn't (it's to easy to view bodybuilding as freaky), but fitness should be a different story. 


here's your reason...


pain day

wes mantooth

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2006, 11:43:48 AM »
Why can't the fitness industry be more mainstream?  I just don't understand it.  I can understand why bodybuilding isn't (it's to easy to view bodybuilding as freaky), but fitness should be a different story. 


men that dont work out are intimidated by women with fitness/ figure bodies. women that dont work out usually hate women with good bodies. if you want to be "mainstream", either be painfully skinny and you can do runway or the sports illustrated swimsuit issue, or be fat like everyone else in america and model for layne bryant.

zw8lifter

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #16 on: March 24, 2006, 07:49:38 PM »
men that dont work out are intimidated by women with fitness/ figure bodies. women that dont work out usually hate women with good bodies. if you want to be "mainstream", either be painfully skinny and you can do runway or the sports illustrated swimsuit issue, or be fat like everyone else in america and model for layne bryant.


I don't know about that. The WWE Divas, the Dancing with the Stars girls, the girls I see in the gym (some of them anyway), and a lot of the track/gymnastics/cheerleading girls I went to college with all look a lot more like girls you'd see in Oxygen than the starved models of SI or the overfed models of Layne Bryant. In my circle of friends, we all pretty much think those more athletic girls are sexy. Not that we all agree 100% on everything, but in general we see fit as sexy. Most of my friends don't lift weights. I know, I know... they aren't really friends if they don't lift weights. ;) Seriously though, I think you're underestimating how sexy non-lifters think fit girls are.

genex

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #17 on: March 25, 2006, 03:52:25 PM »
Here's an article about breaking into the industry that we have posted on our site:
http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/articles03/modeling/modeling_1.htm (part 1)
http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/articles03/modeling/modeling_2.htm (part 2)

And Mike is right in his post too and he should know...

gene

Fitgrl

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #18 on: March 27, 2006, 07:25:30 AM »
Here's an article about breaking into the industry that we have posted on our site:
http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/articles03/modeling/modeling_1.htm (part 1)
http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/articles03/modeling/modeling_2.htm (part 2)

And Mike is right in his post too and he should know...

gene

Gene -- is modeling it?  I was thinking more about building a business ...

genex

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #19 on: March 27, 2006, 09:43:10 AM »
I was just referring you to that one article.  There are other options as people have stated whether it's personal training, design services, suits, contest related, etc.

There's more money in the tertiary businesses than competing (e.g. supplements, tanning, suit design, etc.)

gene

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2006, 04:53:49 PM »
Why can't the fitness industry be more mainstream?  I just don't understand it.  I can understand why bodybuilding isn't (it's to easy to view bodybuilding as freaky), but fitness should be a different story. 


If you can understand why bodybuilding isn't main stream you should be able to understand why fitness isn't.  I agree with you that fitness should be a different story but it is not.  Think about it, the top fitness competitors don't even make the covers of most bodybuilding/fitness magazines, muchless main stream commercials, etc.  The only person in fitness today that I know that has done anything national is Julie Shipley and that was before competing in the IFBB.  If she wants to win in the IFBB that means no more national commercials.  Sad but true.

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2006, 06:44:14 PM »
In a word: no. You burn more money than you'll ever win back at a show. If you focus on fitness modeling, and not competing, you could potentially make decent money. But it's the same odds in fitness modeling as it is in modeling in general: lots of models, few who are successful. Don't rely on any organization to promote you. You have to promote yourself. Don't wait for someone to eventually bring your name up out of thin air. You have to give out your business cards and comp cards and get your name/physique out there so you become better known. Do it because you have fun doing it, not because you NEED the money. That's what a day job is for....to fuel your habit: fitness and competing.

-Nicole
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WNBF Figure Pro
Very well said.

sarcasm

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #22 on: April 02, 2006, 09:31:25 AM »
you'd make more money doing porn.
Jaejonna rows 125!!

Bast175

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #23 on: April 02, 2006, 08:10:41 PM »
you'd make more money doing porn.

or stripping.

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Re: "Making it" in the industry
« Reply #24 on: April 03, 2006, 06:47:44 AM »
Really?  Why not compete?  If competition isn't the key, what is? 

Think of it this way:

Anna Kornikova, mediocre tennis player, worth hundreds of millions of dollars modeling and advertising.
Venus and Serena Williams, Best tennis players ever, never modled as far as I have ever seen, very few endorsment contracts compared to Anna, not worth nearly as much money.

Anna has probably made 20 times Venus and Serena will ever make.
It never gets easier.