Very Short Interview #1

I did my very short interview with Jimmie Jennings of Body by Jimmie. He has been in the fitness industry and running his own personal training business for over 15 years. He has innovative ways of training his clients using little to no weights and getting great results. He takes on any kind of client but has down most of his work with the sororities at the University of Florida.That in itself is innovative he found a niche target market and has used to make a living for years. What really makes him an entrepreneur though is the clothing line he has been developing for the last 4 years "redarh niart." Backwards that says train harder this has been trade marked by Jimmie. The design's purpose is so that when you are looking into the mirror at the gym, which you often to do to make sure your form is correct, you can read the text plainly. You can buy these products at trainharderfitness.com. Jimmie has also received his first order from a store and his products will be available in a few Total Nutrition stores throughout central Florida including the one here in Gainesville.

*this is me sporting one of his shirts that has                                            
 Jimmie himself on the shirt wearing the "Train Harder"
 logo. It is a shirt that features a shirt it is "Shirtception"

Question #1: What do you wish you would have been taught before starting your latest entrepreneurial pursuit in "Train Harder?
Jimmie: "Well, I did not have any formal business education so in the beginning I really struggled with the marketing aspect. Knowing how to market or who to market to."

Question #2: In an Entrepreneur class what do you think should be taught?
Jimmie: "Like I said in my first answer the whole marketing aspect was very tough for me so that would be what I would focus on. Creating a product, deciding who would want that product, and then learning how to reach those people."

Question #3: What is the one thing you attribute your success to the most?
Jimmie: "I think having good character has been an advantage for me. People in the community know me and see my products all the time and I am a pretty out going guy. It is like if you talk to someone who owns a business or sells a product and you see that they are actually a real person you want to buy from them, so that has been an advantage for just being in the community."

The first thing that I learned that surprised me was Jimmie came up with this concept on his own and has been marketing and trying to make it profitable with no formal business or marketing education that in itself is impressive. His last answer on good character was really interesting because when you think of Nike you do not think of Phil Knight, or I don't at least, you think of the swoosh and the brand but people around Gainesville don't think of "Train Harder" when they see the shirt they think of Jimmie Jennings the person cause they know him personally.