Today we’d like to introduce you to Alycia Israel.
Hi Alycia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hello! My name is Alycia Israel, and I am the CEO of Alycia’s Barbell, an online women’s health and fitness company.
My journey started in 2009 when I became a personal trainer within collegiate recreation and went on to pursue my Master’s in Exercise Physiology. I was obsessed with strength training and helping women find their own strength and become empowered by the gym.
The reason for this is because I grew up in a home of domestic violence. I was abused growing up and had to protect my twin sister and my mom from our sociopathic convict father who has been in prison for the past 15 years. Long story short, during the end of my senior year, my mom took my sister and I to dinner and told us she was divorcing our dad not only for his abuse, but she found out he had be stealing and committing various crimes, so she and my older sister were turning him into a private detective. We later had to escape from our home while he was away and move to a different city and essentially stay in hiding until he was officially arrested, and she could divorce him safely. He’s been in prison ever since. My Mom also had to file for bankruptcy, and I had to work full time in factory for a few months in college to help get her back on her feet.
So that is where my passion for strength and empowering women comes from, and ultimately how my current business came to fruition. After college I went on to work for Ohio State as the Fitness Programs Coordinator for 2 years and then the Personal Training Coordinator for 5 years. Thereafter is when I decided to launch my online coaching business full time, being what it is today:
Alycia’s Barbell (AB for short.)
Our mission is to inspire as many women as possible to unleash their inner Badass and become confident AF in their bodies. We give women the tools and strategies they need to reach their goals mentally and physically through evidence-based fitness, nutrition, and a growth mindset.
AB essentially exploded when it took off in 2019, we’ve helped over 1,000 women within the last 3.5 years and the business grosses over half a million in revenue with a team of 6 women.
I also now run a podcast called Be Your Own Daddy – which is a designed to help women make the money they deserve by learning money skills, break limiting money mindset beliefs, to ultimately become financially independent.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The first obstacle was being brave enough to leave my full-time job and go all in on my business. Higher education does not pay well, so I had to have 3 other side hustles while working at Ohio State to make ends meet. One of those being my online coaching business. I had over 6 figures of student loan debt, so I really had no choice but to make a pivot. My back was against the wall. Wouldn’t you know, the universe responded and the first year I left Ohio State my business made 6 figures and has been growing ever since.
The road to entrepreneurship is never smooth and I made a lot of mistakes and experienced massive learning curves. I got my degree in exercise physiology, not business, and as my business grew that became massively apparent. At first in business, I was doing everything myself, under charging, and just exhausted. So, I hired a few mentors to help me build a team and figure it all out. I can’t stress that enough. Hire someone who has built the thing you want to build and listen to them. There is no need to make all these mistakes in business that could be avoided. INVEST in your business. Alycia’s Barbell would absolutely not be where it is if I did not hire professionals to help me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Alycia’s Barbell, LLC?
Alycia’s Barbell is an online based functional coaching service for women. We offer high touch expert level 1-on-1 coaching and personal development services to all of the women we work with. Our coaching focuses on your personal goals, health history, unique hormone profile, and mindset barriers that are unique to women.
We help women improve their metabolic and hormonal health, build strength inside the gym and out, and feel confident AF mind and body.
We have come to be known for our skill set in helping women overcome hormone dysfunction specifically that might be causing a barrier to losing body fat and/or building muscle, but also living an optimal life. We found a large gap between health/fitness and Western Medicine, and it was hindering our client’s results. I myself have struggled with hormone issues in the past so I became very passionate about helping other women overcome this as well in order to live their best life.
All of the AB Coaches are Functional Nutrition & Metabolism Specialists, and we have virtual functional practitioner to refer our clients if needed, so they get the medical support they need versus being told “they are fine” when they feel awful and can’t lose weight.
We bridge the gap between coaching and medicine, so women can live the life they deserve.
More about what we do can be found at www.alyciasbarbell.com.
What matters most to you? Why?
Helping women realize how much strength and power they have. There are a lot of social constructs in our society that lead women to believe they are “less than” or incapable. So, it is my personal mission to teach women how absolutely untrue that is, and that they have every right to have everything they want in life. Amazing health, a great income, a supportive and equal partner, and a voice that is heard. Men and women have a lot of unlearning to do, and I want to be a part of that unlearning.
This matters to me because I know first-hand why having strength and financial independence for women is vital and a necessity. Being codependent leaves you with zero freedom or choices. Women need to take responsibility for themselves so they can make choices that are in alignment with their needs and happiness, versus relying on someone else to make those choices for them.
Pricing:
- Pricing looks different for all of our clients depending on their unique needs and goals. So we first jump on a call to see what would be the best fit. But on average our coaching can range anywhere from $199-$700/mo.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alyciasbarbell.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/alyciaisrael
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alycia.israel
- Other: www.instagram.com/alyciasbarbell
