Pump It Up! Project Manager Elevates Female Fitness

Notes from Chris

Episode 580

27-year-old Lucy Dunne is—by her own account—a free spirit. In her heyday, she spent years partying hard and traveling the world not knowing what the next day held. As an Aussie now living in Alberta, Canada, Lucy found herself working full-time as a lead project manager tasked with providing signage solutions for corporations across North America. Like most jobs, it had its ups and downs.

The job kept her busy, and she was making ends meet. But there was one area of her life that she wanted to improve—her health and fitness. Lucy had acquired a new habit of binge eating, and it didn’t help that she was smoking up to a pack of cigarettes a day. But it wasn’t until she was having trouble fitting into regular sized clothes at retail shops that she knew something had to change.

There’s a lot of noise in the health and fitness space. So instead of looking to all the experts, she decided to do it her own way. She said “so long” to hours spent on the dreaded treadmill and stairclimber machines and introduced weightlifting and other activities that didn’t feel like such a chore to her routines.

Instead of denying herself the things she loved and meticulously counting her calories, she started to adopt an “everything in moderation” mentality and focused on macro ratios more than calories. Over the next three years, trips to the gym and meal times stopped being something she dreaded, and more importantly, she was seeing good results.

By 2015, she was 65 lbs down from her original weight and felt that she could finally stop hiding behind large purses in pictures. Lucy was so proud of what she had accomplished that she decided to document the remainder of her journey on Instagram—and that’s when everything changed.

Each day, Lucy shared a bit more about her journey. Because of the transparency and authenticity of her posts, she began drawing the attention of other women who were looking to improve their health and fitness routines.

At this point, she knew what worked best for herself, but she wanted to get a better idea of what would work for others as well. So, Lucy Dunne decided to get certified as a personal trainer and nutrition coach.

And before she knew it, a new transformation was underway… of the side hustle variety! She called it Dunnebells.

With an avid Instagram following looking for her help, she started with them. Within the first month, she had roughly 20 clients enrolled in each program, and with each month that passed, her programs were selling out faster than she could open them up!

In the beginning, Lucy’s side hustle was earning her $1,000 a month. Gradually, her monthly earnings bumped up to $2,000. By October 2017, she was making $5k a month. Now at $10k+ a month, her side hustle has become her full-time hustle!

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Dunnebells: Learn more about Lucy and her programs over on her website!
• Upwork: The global freelancing platform that helps businesses connect with independent freelancers remotely
• Squarespace: The website building platform that Lucy used to create her website for Dunnebells

SEE ALSO:

• Dog Sled Trainer Becomes Women’s Fitness Coach: For two decades, she trained sled dogs in the woods of Minnesota—but after a personal transformation, she started a fitness and empowerment program for women ages 45-55
• New Mother Gives Life To Self-Care Coaching Business: In need of some routine before returning to her job as an Ultrasound Technician, a new mother creates a side business focused on self-care coaching
• High-Risk Pregnancy Becomes Healthy Baby and Side Hustle: After making it through a high-risk pregnancy of her own, a clinical therapist creates resources for other women experiencing the same struggle

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,