Run, Don’t Walk…Sprint When You Gotta: Leah Eber and Life Solutions Fitness
Header: Leah Eber, Life Solutions Fitness [PHOTOS: COURTESY]
Written by William Bryant Rozier
Leah Eber, owner of Life Solutions Fitness (LSF), a come-to-you personal training and health and wellness consulting company, has always been in athletics and was once a professional. She was big in track and field, started at around age 11 or 12, and excelled her way to getting a full-ride to Purdue University in West Lafayette; she became a four-time Big Ten champion. In 2012, she qualified and competed in the London Olympic Trials.
After she received her bachelor’s in business and apparel & design, Eber competed professionally in the States, where the paydays were in the thousands and she earned clothing sponsorships (free gear) from companies…Nike was one of them. She was on her way to competing internationally in the diamond league…globetrotting to Australia, Dubai, and Germany.
But then the one thing happened that most athletes don’t prepare for: early retirement from an unforeseen injury. Full stop on that sweet professional life. Not able to do for herself, and already somewhat of an expert in a field that she could parlay into something loftier, Eber started her own business. “Since I wasn’t able to achieve my own high goals, I wanted to find a way to help people pursue their goals in the health field,” she said.
Eber admittedly is a bigger picture, widescreen person. Her parents instilled in her that the sky is the limit which comes in handy when inventing your own playbook and rules for engagement as an entrepreneur. So she went to a professional coaching school and a Health Wellness and Nutrition School…bachelor-level programs that are self-paced.
She was scared to start her own business in the universal (almost boring) way that every entrepreneur is scared to start one, especially since Eber did so well climbing that corporate ladder, in her 60-hour/week job. But this was where big-picture reliance comes in. Eber wasn’t too afraid of the what-if’s of entrepreneurism. “It was a huge risk for me,” she said, “[but] I feel that you [truly] grow outside your comfort zone.”
Eber prepared for the future while in college (the second time around), reading more than what was assigned, interviewing doctors, nutritionists, and dietitians as kind of an uncredited independent study. She added the outside learning to the high intelligence of competing as a high-level athlete. “I went into with the mindset of I could fail but I’m going to set myself up so well that failure not an option.” Two years after graduating again, she started her company.
With LSF, Eber does personal training, health & wellness coaching, and nutritional guidance. Her clients are mostly attained by word of mouth; she started first with friends then grew from there. She has about 15 to 20 clients and about half are African-American…not everyone needs all of her services. Eber tailor-makes a game plan for each client with the help of a thorough six- to seven-page assessment questionnaire. Yeah, she isn’t playing around; she’s covering all of her bases…for you.
“Health and fitness is really a saturated market, it’s really everywhere especially online,” Eber said. “Most people focus on one thing, where I’m conquering different markets.”
The hardest wrinkle she deals with? Traffic, she said. She has to have difficult talks with her clients sometimes. “[But] It’s interesting to see as [my clients] become healthier, they’re able to influence other people who look up to them,” she said. "To me, it’s the most worthwhile journey a person can take."
Leah Eber, Life Solutions Fitness
Website: LifeSolutionsFitness.com
Facebook & Instagram: @LifeSolutionsFitness
Email: ContactForLifeSolutions@gmail.com
Phone: 260.255.4623
