Jobs like personal trainer, garden designer……

[FlamingoHels]

Obviously there’s exceptions to every rule, but on the whole are they just for well off women / women with wealthy partners who don’t really need to earn much?

I know one PT and one GD (acquaintances rather than close friends) and both don’t appear to have many actual clients / paid jobs although they are very active on social media and create an illusion of being busy. Both appear good at what they do and have good marketing skills from what I can tell.

Was chatting about this to a friend who is herself looking for a career change away from the corporate sector, and she said she’d actually love to do something along the lines of PT or GD (she’s very sporty and outdoorsy) but she dismissed both of these jobs as hobby jobs for housewives. Friend isn’t rich and needs to earn a living wage.

Is anyone here a PT or GD or know one closely?

Adjust for no pension, no paid holiday, no sick pay, need to pay own professional indemnity insurance etc. maybe have to buy own kit and equipment, travel time between clients etc.

So supporting and guiding people to make changes which can quite literally save their lives in some cases is not worthy then? Because we aren’t helping someone get a qualification 🙄

People who work with PT’s aren’t just rich, bored housewives with nothing better to do FYI. I have a very diverse range of clients who come to me for different reasons, for both their physical and mental health.

I work in conjunction with some of my clients GP’s, consultants, physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals in order to deliver the most appropriate, safe and effective training for them, which helps then to lead independent lives.

I am actually a qualified professional, I’m constantly learning and updating my knowledge, working towards extra qualifications so that I really am the best that I can be for my clients, to help them meaningfully with their long term health and fitness. Why shouldn’t I be paid well for that?

I know a PT. I don't know how much he earns but his wife is a sahm and they live in a very nice house.

I find it quite horrifying that pt earn more than senior teachers on the top of mps

The senior teachers I know are on the upper pay scale...

Adjust for no pension, no paid holiday, no sick pay, need to pay own professional indemnity insurance etc. maybe have to buy own kit and equipment, travel time between clients etc.

That's a fair point, the employer's contribution to a teachers pension in the TPS is 23%

Also aren't we always told on MN that teachers aren't paid for the long summer holidays? I genuinely get confused about how it works, but whenever any teacher-bashers moan about the length of teachers' holidays the response is that they're not paid for that. So their headline annual salary isn't comparable with anyone doing a 46 week a year job.

But more generally people comparing the headline income of self-employed people with no pension contributions, no sick pay, no paid holiday, no redundancy entitlement with full-time employees in solid jobs is one of the things that annoys me most on MN. Not as bad as the all time most annoying "why would someone pay their cleaner a higher hourly rate than their nanny?" but still pretty ignorant.

That's a bit rude though PTs good ones have full sports degrees and are amazing like therapists they have patience, skills and people skills like no other profession.

The thing is teachers know the pay before they train PTs don't it's all down to hard work and gaining clients, so they are business owners with degrees so I don't see why they don't earn £50k +

Also I'm not a PT just hate how the profession is bashed.

Sorry I meant ups. 47k max with no tlr. And that's after the 6.5% rise.

Are you taking the piss?
They are business owners with degrees so should earn 50k plus?
When Dr's and teachers with post grad earn less? And people get stroppy over strikes. Wow.

Higher paid roles are not exclusive to those with educational achievement and neither should they be. PTs who earn well are not "just" PTs they are business men and women with a wide skill set.

Ds's PT was a young-ish man who rented space at a local gym when he started with him, he built his customer base and reputation working with teens, he took risks and rented his own small place, made it into a gym with very basic equipment at his own cost and slowly sourced and bought better equipment and built it into an small independent gym for clients only. Started charging monthly memberships, moved to bigger premises, started running circuit training classes, runs a free health and wellbeing social media thing.

No idea how much he makes, but he is a single dad with custody of a preschooler which he juggles with running his business. He now rents gym space to other PTs. He runs several charity events each year from organising his clients sponsored sky driving or race nights etc and raises thousands each year for a local young persons MH charity run by a mum who lost her dd with MH issues.

This was a young man with ADHD who left school without a single qualification because the education system failed him. His ADHD is actually a strength that he found in himself and drives him to achieve in what he is doing, it can also hit him hard when he makes mistakes and he can take time to recover. He helped my ds during a difficult time in secondary school more than any other adult he was in contact with.

I think he is absolutely entitled to be earning more than someone with the comfort and security of employment, pension and other benefits.

Hmm, why on earth does he have custody? Sounds a bit odd, wants to be the good guy giving to charity. Flags of a type all over that to me.

What a weird post. Why shouldn't he have custody and do stuff for charity? What is going on in your head??

They are business owners with degrees so should earn 50k plus?
When Dr's and teachers with post grad earn less?

Why are you comparing two different things? A business owner could make 30k or 300k, depending how successful they are. They are selling a product, how can there be a cap on that?
Plenty of teachers earn more than 50k & lots of doctors do but it’s irrelevant to the previous point.

Most of the PTs I know are men but the women I know who are PTs are busy. I know some people who have tried to be PTs who weren’t busy. But not because they had a wealthy partner. I used to work in the fitness industry, not as a PT or that side of it.

Like any business, you have to be good at the job and good at building a business. Some may not be great at either part.

I would imagine that times are tough for people who do jobs like PT, interior designer, garden designer at the moment. People are cutting down on luxuries. Which these are.

I think it can be both.

My PT is highly qualified, works incredibly long hours as clients need to train outside more traditional working hours and has built up a strong business over the years. She doesn't have kids, but one of her colleagues does and talking to her she has structured her days so she can do school runs but acknowledged this has limited her ability to have a full schedule of clients however, I believe she still makes a decent living.

On the other hand, I also have a friend who qualified as a PT whilst as a trailing expat spouse; she trains a few friends (not sure if or how much she charges but likely very much 'mates rates') and does a few groups again, mainly friends and friends of friends. She sees it as pin money and has no desire to develop it into a bigger business.

Garden designers are definitely not pocket money around here.

It’s like saying how can an artist charge so much for on painting. Mostly because it’s unique and they are the only one who can do it, and it’s their price and if someone is willing to pay for it then good on them.
I know a local lady who paints, she has several children so does it part time when time. She can take months to finish one piece. But sold one recently for €35,000! So even if she only sells one a year that’s a decent income. I think usually they are priced more like €5-10k each but smaller.

Not that it matters as it isnt the topic of this thread, he was initially with his sons mum until he was about 18 months old, and has custody because his ex decided motherhood was not for her. She also ran up a load of debt after they split fraudulently in his name that he was having to sort out via police / court.

Ds is no longer training with him since he started uni, was with him for 5 years and as a PT he was great.

Obviously I have no idea what type of partner he would be, way to energetic for my liking, but we are taking about PTs and their achievement not their relationships.

He isnt personally "giving to charity" he is organising events so others can. A bit of a strange and negative perspective to think of that as a flag for anyone 🤔

I'm a garden designer. Its generally a low paid industry unless you start your own business. I worked for 12 years in a few roles that were 25k or less doing skilled work in really stressful environments but came out basically as a one woman design department. I can measure up and draw surveys, consult clients, draw scale drawing and model the designs in 3d plus technical drawing for fabricators.

When I lost my last job I went freelance and now subcontract with other landscaping companies. You'd be shocked by how behind in skills they are. Lots still only do hand drawings so are easily blown away by some 3d renders when done by someone who knows what they are doing.

Saying all this, my business couldn't have worked if I was single. My oh supported me for 6months while i was building up. I was the lower earner anyway as I was just getting back after having two babies.

I make £25 an hour and in doing about a project a week term time so about 10k per year. When dd goes to school in September I can scale up. I think making 30-35k per year would be fairly straightforward but more might be harder and I'm stuck taking projects that I am given. I don't want the responsibility of employees though which is where the real money is.

I would't call any of the PTs in my high end gym, some of whom i am friends with, well off.

I know one ex PT. He worked in a gym and was a PT as well.for many years. He's now a full time firefighter.

I know of one landscape gardener. He makes a mint and employs 5 others.

I then know two gardeners who do bits of design. They are full time, always busy, and appear to earn a reasonable income. We live in a tourist area so maybe having many holiday let gardens to look after locally has helped their business.

I've never known any very part time PTs or garden designers. I do know someone who was an interior designer - she was very part time and wealthy.

The garden designers I've known all ended up doing something else as there are more people with GD qualifications than there are people willing to pay for their services. The on who kept going did it part time as her husband had some big corporate job.

Of course it's difficult when you are self employed with no paid holidays, sick leave and employer contribution pension. And that affects people most who are charging by the hour rather than those who are delivering large scale projects or consultancy.

Is a garden designer the new term for landscape gardener?

My PT has a stay at home husband because she makes enough to support both. Like anything, you can treat it as a little hobby and not make much, or you can take it seriously and get paid accordingly.

I know someone who has a very well off husband. Known her since she was 11 and was the local bike for boys. Nice girl but male attention was paramount to her. She used to work in a small clothes shop. Now she has her own shop and styles herself as a painter and model. She posts alot but doesn't get many likes and now shes talked about in every hairdressers in her home town, not in the nicest way....as in 'have you seen her paint splatters that shes calling art?' I say good for her, shes finding meaning in what floats her boat. Id kinda dont hate her but i know without her husbands money she wouldnt be able to persue her hobby's as if they were an income source. No1 is buying thise paintings in reality but i guess shes living her best life 🤷🏼‍♀️

My best friend is a PT. She charges around £60 a hour for a single person or does different rates if training with a friend. She also does classes which can make her around £200 for a 60 minute class depending on the amount of people who attend. She works her ass off though with long hours and there’s been times she has gone a couple of days without seeing her little girl. In my eyes she is awesome because she really changes peoples lives and health outcomes and it’s lovely to see someone be successful doing something they love which also helps people. I work for a job in the NHS and have zero chance of makinf as much as her or making such a life changing difference!