From shop worker to Instagram gym guru
A SUPERMARKET worker started posting fitness videos in lockdown – and now has almost 90,000 followers.
Megan Brown, 24, had no idea how much Instagram would change her life when she started her fitness page.
It was initially meant to reach a few local people and keep them in the loop with her progress.
Now, however, she has tens of thousands of followers, has quit her job, and collaborates with some of the biggest fitness brands in the UK.
Originally from Cowbridge, Megan studied fashion marketing in Cardiff and took a part-time role at Waitrose while studying.
After graduating she upped her hours to full time while she worked on her next move.
It was at this point her partner Lloyd, also a personal trainer, suggested she join the world of professional training as she enjoyed it so much. She explained: “I started doing an online course, studying online, you can do it as quick or as slow as you want.”
During this time she started her Instagram, which had a modest 581 followers at around the time of the UK’s first lockdown last March. While working full-time as a key worker, Megan decided to post videos to help people work out from home with minimal equipment.
“I think a lot of people at that time were looking for workouts to do at home because they had more free time. When the gyms were open and before Covid not many people did their workouts because we didn’t need to. So I think people just enjoyed seeing some home workouts that they could copy at home with no equipment.”
Megan’s following quickly started growing, and the demand for helpful content continued.
She moved into a house with her boyfriend in Bridgend, with the home slowly becoming her own personal fitness space.
Megan explained it was a rewarding but busy year, adding: “It was stressful to try and balance two jobs, and especially when you’re trying to grow a business.”
Large fitness brands such as Gymshark, Myprotein and Ryderwear began messaging her to work together on Instagram.
“When Gymshark emailed me I thought it was fake. Like, seriously? It’s just honestly a dream come true to work with your favourite gym brands.”
In September, once she had completed her qualification, Megan launched her own app for online coaching.
“I’d say half of my clients work out at home, and they prefer it, or they don’t have the time perhaps to get into a gym and they’d rather do it at home.
“Or they don’t have the confidence yet to get inside the gym so they’re quite happy to.”
Thanks to her high social media following, Megan was able to hand in her notice last week and finally take her personal training business fulltime.
“It feels amazing and it feels really nice to be able to do what I want to do, what I’m passionate about, and know that I’m actually helping people at the same time.
“It’s just a really rewarding job.”