Billy Hofacker is a financial coach specializing in helping fitness professionals and business owners improve their cash flow, reduce financial stress, and achieve long-term success. With over 25 years of experience as a personal trainer and owner of Total Body Boot Camp in Long Island, New York, Billy uniquely understands the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the fitness industry.

After navigating his own financial turnaround, Billy became passionate about empowering others to take control of their finances. He is the author of Fitness Profits and the host of Your Fitness Money Coach podcast.

Based in Clarksville, Tennessee, Billy guides his clients toward financial freedom through his coaching programs and mastermind groups.

Billy Hofacker: A lot of people who come to me need help understanding their numbers. Many businesses, not just fitness businesses, face this challenge. If you read The E-Myth Revisited, that’s the whole premise of the book – I’m a good plumber or electrician, so I open up a business, then realize the trade work was the least of what I have to do. I have to understand a P&L, budgeting, and forecasting. People are stressed out and confused.

What makes me different as a coach is similar to you. It’s not just the x’s and o’s. Many people believe they just need the magic spreadsheet, but the reality is coaching involves much deeper needs.

Billy Hofacker: The pros are that it’s really the only way. Everyone should embrace this at some level. If you’re always building the plane, then you’re never flying it. You have to do the thing to get better and learn as you go.

I heard a quote recently from Dan Sullivan about “who, not how,” but this person was saying “now, not how”—by doing now, I will learn. Some recent examples include starting a mastermind without prior experience. The advantage is, as long as you do it with a good heart and provide excellent service, the clients enjoy the process. They learn through it and see what you’re doing. It’s a good example because they need to do the same thing – they need to just do their budget and practice these different habits when they’re not comfortable.

The downside is you can take action that isn’t ideal for you. The things that look like quick action on the outside are often things that have been brewing for a while. I think about them, then decide it’s time to go.

Billy Hofacker: Yes, to a certain extent, I have been wired that way. Coming from the fitness background as a personal trainer, I’ve been preaching to people forever—just put the darn sneakers on and get outside and go for a walk, take those small actions and just get going. That definitely translates to this business, or really any business.

Business has taught me to trust myself, that no matter what happens, even if I fail at something, it’s going to be valuable. I’m going to learn something and make it right. Even if I make a mistake with a client, I’ve learned to trust that outcome and that process. While I’m definitely a faster action taker than some people when they first start, it’s something I’ve gotten better at because of experience in business.

Billy Hofacker: It started with what I call my financial awakening in 2010. I was working as a personal trainer and hadn’t opened my brick-and-mortar facilities yet. One morning, I was getting ready for work when I got a knock on the door. I opened it to see this jacked bald dude covered in tattoos standing on my stoop. Looking past him, I saw my brand new white Honda Accord hooked up to his tow truck—our car was being repossessed. That was our wake-up call. We discovered we had $130,000 in non-mortgage debt. It was overwhelming.

Fast forward five years: we paid that off and continued the journey. I didn’t share the story much at first. All that debt was from personal stuff, not business debt. Actually used my gyms wisely and learned from my past behavior. I had no choice, I had to be responsible. I was newly married, about to start a family.

During COVID in 2020, I had been in the gym business for about 10 years. That’s when I wrote the book and started the podcast. I was sitting in my basement—I say basement, it’s really the first level of my house where my office was—in New York, which was really strict. At one point, I wasn’t allowed to be in my gym by myself. I started the podcast, even though I was super uncomfortable with it. I knew nothing about podcasting, literally looked it up on YouTube. Now we’re hundreds of episodes in.

Billy Hofacker: I was literally driving to Chase Bank to take out some money when it hit me: this is what I’m meant to do. I’m uniquely positioned to do it. I’m the money nerd. I’m passionate about it, and these people need so much help in this area.

At first, I tried to be smart with my time since I still had two brick-and-mortar facilities. I started an eight-week group program with modules and weekly Zoom accountability calls. That was the start. I had started working with private clients I was already working with, and gradually took on more private clients. I found that I really wanted to do more private coaching—I liked it better and thought it was making a greater impact. It allowed me to really get intimate with what people were dealing with and help them. That’s what I’m doing now, along with going back to some group work.

Billy Hofacker: When I started, I helped people with things I felt really qualified for: getting out of debt, starting a budget. I still do that, but it’s evolved. With my experience running multiple gyms and managing a large staff, I’m finding myself doing more work with clients who want to expand, whether that’s opening additional locations, expanding services, or building wealth. I’m in a unique position to help them with healthy growth, growth that involves good strategy, good decisions, and making sure they’re tying their business goals to their personal goals and financial goals.

Billy Hofacker: It’s a work in progress. When I first started, I did every single part of the podcast. As a financial coach, I tend to lean toward the frugal side, especially when something is new and unproven. I have friends who were starting podcasts and outsourcing everything, but some of them stopped because they overextended themselves.

I started off slow, learned how to do everything myself, and over time have been delegating more. Now, I just record. Someone else does the editing, sends emails, and handles uploads. It was good that I did it for a while myself—I’m a bit of a nerd and like to learn things.

Regarding batching episodes, that’s a great technique, and I would like to improve in that area. The hard part is that I enjoy doing them in real time, which isn’t necessarily the best move for time management. I’m going to batch episodes soon, especially with the holidays and current busyness. But often, I’m just shooting an episode that’s going to be out in a couple weeks. I stay on top of it through time blocking.

Billy Hofacker: The podcast is good marketing, even from a perception standpoint. Even if people don’t find me from the podcast, being the host of a leading podcast positions me as an expert, similar to being an author.

There’s very few things more powerful than presenting in front of a captive audience. You’re the perceived expert, you’re literally helping them, and in some cases, you’re actually coaching them. It’s a great way to connect.

I’ve also been really intentional about connecting genuinely with people. It’s simple, but it matters. For example, I presented at a big conference last year and just wrote the guy a holiday card. I know there are 500 other people trying to get those speaking spots, so something has to be different about me. These little things are often overlooked, but they’re not hard and they’re fun. I enjoy it. I love people. I genuinely like the guy, and I hope I speak again, but if I don’t, I still want to maintain a good relationship.

Billy Hofacker: I just wrote a text to my wife that says, “Can you keep the kids down a bit?” And then I said “Love you,” because it’s not their problem. This is my home office, and I had a live virtual summit before this. I wanted to do it here because I’m comfortable here. I have an office space, but it’s hard to move things—I don’t have it set up the way I want.

At some level, you have to go with the flow. I am somewhat intentional about being mindful of those things. If I didn’t have the summit before this, I would have done this at the office just because I could. But if I can’t, I can’t. So it’s like all I can do is all I can do. We have four kids and are expecting another.

Billy Hofacker: If you’re a newer financial coach, it’s so easy to fall into a trap if something doesn’t work out—if you ask somebody to try your services or try to set up a one-on-one and get turned down. For example, I’m starting this mastermind, and while it’s going really well, I had a guy reach out who signed up and then changed his mind. I’m not happy about that, but my mindset isn’t affected. I’m not slowing down because of that. It’s no reflection on me.

If you put yourself out there and it doesn’t work out how you hope, it’s not a reflection on you. That person wasn’t ready and there are a million reasons why. Just keep doing your best, control what you can control, and things have a way of working out when you embrace that mindset.

Billy Hofacker: Check out the podcast, and you can find me on social media – I’m Billy Hofacker on Instagram. We can connect there, catch up, and see what’s going on.

About Billy Hofacker

Billy Hofacker is a Financial Coach who specializes in helping fitness professionals and business owners improve cash flow, reduce financial stress, and achieve long-term success. With over 25 years of experience as a personal trainer and the owner of Total Body Boot Camp in Long Island, NY, Billy uniquely understands the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the fitness industry.

After navigating his own financial turnaround, Billy has become passionate about empowering others to take control of their finances. He is the author of Fitness Profits and the host of Your Fitness Money Coach Podcast, a leading resource for financial education tailored to fitness professionals.

Billy is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) and a sought-after speaker who has presented for respected organizations like Perform Better and the Functional Aging Institute. Now based in Clarksville, TN, Billy continues to guide his clients toward financial freedom through his coaching programs and mastermind groups.