DREAM GIG / KEITH THOMPSON, CELEBRITY SPIN + FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
KEITH THOMPSON FOUNDER + OWNER, KTX FITNESS
Before he was a celebrity spin instructor and Founder + Owner of KTX Fitness, Keith Thompson grew up as an obese kid from Ohio who never imagined that his calling would focus on inspiring people from diverse backgrounds and multiple time zones to achieve their fitness goals. While he admits to not having known anything about cardio fitness when he first landed in Atlanta as an IT professional more than a decade ago, he took his first step (literally) toward a healthier lifestyle and never looked back. After taking his classes, it’s easy to see how people keep coming back—the music playlist, his energy and unconventional style of teaching (it may not be for everybody, but it’s motivation for many who’d otherwise not be moving—from beginners to the advanced).
While he has enjoyed global recognition, Keith, now Los Angeles-based, shares that his journey to fitness and entrepreneurship hasn’t been easy. Here, he shares the joys, misconceptions and insights on the business side of fitness for those who are contemplating this path.
What does a day in your life look like?
[Prior to COVID-19], I was at the gym training at 6 a.m., personal training throughout the gym, helping people on the phone with fitness tips and dealing with friends at home.
On preparing high-energy routines (because you make it look easy)…
It’s in me. There’s nothing I have to prepare. You can stop me on the spur of the moment and my energy is in me at all times when it comes to teaching fitness...that’s what makes me different. I can get out of my bed at 4 o’clock in the morning and be ready to go. I don’t take vitamins, [eat] special foods and I don’t do sports drinks.
What are some of the sexy (and not so sexy) parts of the job?
When I can motivate someone who is not motivated and feeling like they’re not attractive…and I can use my class to make them feel like they’re the sexiest person in the world after a workout. That’s what I love most about my job.
Not so sexy…
Sometimes dealing with other trainers, or when you know you have given your students all that they can do to become successful, but they’re working out and not doing their part as far as eating right. When they don’t reach their goal, sometimes it makes you think you’re not doing something right. Sometimes lack of motivation comes from leadership. If the trainer is not pushing it and doing it, I don’t think the students will. Anybody can get up in front of someone and make them workout and tell them to do jumping jacks. For a while, I didn’t do anything but push the workout. I didn't push the nutrition or push the other side. So it has something to do with the trainer also.
“Walking away from Atlanta and moving to L.A. was the biggest challenge and fear of my life. I was working in a very good job in IT [when] I heard a voice from God saying if you walk away from this job, I’ll pave the way for your fitness career. I quit instantly. ”
You have obviously gone viral (that’s how I found you). What does this moment feel like (and were you ready for all the attention)?
Keith Thompson and singer, actress and television personality Tamar Braxton. Other favorite celebrity guests to sweat it out in his classes include Elise Neal (pictured with Keith in top image), Shaunie O’Neal, Torrei Hart, Deborah Joy Winans (“Greenleaf”) and Margaret Avery.
I was not ready for the attention when I went viral, but it came so quick that I had to just jump in there, take it for what it was worth and get into it. I [also] had to deal with negative attention. Recently, I posted a picture of my transformation in 10 days and people inboxed me and said you need to take that down...you’re a professional. Sometimes I’ll start dancing in my classes and people [in the fitness industry] will say, ‘Why are you doing all that? It doesn’t take all that...dancing is not part of fitnes.’ I get a lot of negative publicity as well as positive…but I still keep it moving.
“I had already been doing what I was doing in Atlanta for years, but I wasn’t known because I wasn’t on social media with it. It was old to Atlanta, but it became new to the world.”
What are the misconceptions?
Sometimes people think that because you have 100,000 [social media] followers you’re on top of the world. People look at your social media and look at your clients and think you’re bigger than what you actually are. [In reality,] a trainer can have a million followers and still not have a job...still be looking for work...still struggling. That’s the downside. I know it’s true because a lot of trainers with 85,000 followers come to me and say, ‘I need help…my followers just follow me because they’re trying to see what I’m doing...because they’re trying to learn my craft.’ People look at their social media and look at them training the same client every other day and think they have more than they really do.
People also come up to me and ask why am I charging? They say I’m doing good...l don’t need to charge people and I’m like where did they get that from? I get a lot of that because they see me with 120,000 followers. That’s the biggest downside to me. At the same time, social media makes you what you are. You have to take the good and the bad with it.
On celebrity drop-ins
It gets you the hype for that moment, but after they [celebrities] leave the gym it’s gone. Everybody talks about your social that day. They’re like, oh, look who was in the class. If a celebrity is just doing a pop-in, it makes people think your class is the bomb. But unless that celebrity physically takes you under their wing, shouts you out and says, ‘This is my trainer’…it’s really not going to do anything for you. The gift that I have is that people come for my energy.
And television appearances
The only one that took me to another level is when I was on “The Queen Latifah Show.” That’s when I really got my brand.
“If I could call on just one favor to anyone in my industry or beyond, it would be Beyonce and I’d ask her to come to one of my spin classes.”
How did you know you were on to something special with your unique way of teaching spin?
Because no one was doing what I was doing. When I went viral, even spin teachers were like, ‘What is this...what is this class called?’ They thought it was something new, so I was like okay, if they think it’s something new, I’m going to make it new. I had already been doing what I was doing in Atlanta for years, but I wasn’t known because I wasn’t on social media with it. It was old to Atlanta, but it became new to the world.
What challenges have you had to overcome to pursue this path in the fitness industry?
Walking away from Atlanta and moving to L.A. was the biggest challenge and fear of my life. I was working in a very good job in IT [when] I heard a voice from God saying if you walk away from this job, I'll pave the way for your fitness career. I quit instantly. I had to move to L.A. and walk away from Atlanta but leave my business open for my teachers to run it for me. It was a challenge. In the beginning, it didn’t look so fresh, but now it’s all coming together even in the midst of coronavirus. Now, I’m doing the online thing. I never would've tried to do this in Atlanta. It would’ve never been an option.
The day that you decided to be proactive and make lifestyle changes, what was going through your head?
At his heaviest, Keith weighed 300 pounds but committed to losing the weight after his relocation to Atlanta in 2008, where he took his first spin and step classes.
I had moved from Cleveland to Atlanta, and I didn’t know anything about fitness. But when I started seeing how everybody in Atlanta worked out and how they loved fitness, I figured that I had to do it. When I walked in the gym and started working out, it came so natural...from day one. I walked into my first step and spin class and I had the energy...I walked in there and you would’ve thought that I had been on a bike [and step] all my life.
On the business side of fitness…
What’s a lesson you had to learn the hard way?
Not letting your spouse run your business.
What’s more important in this industry—who you know or what you know?
All of the above because they all play a part. If you don’t have money you can't operate. If you don’t have people in there you can’t do it. If you don’t have the right people, the classes won’t be good.
While [teaching these classes] and being the founder of KTX Fitness looks [easy] from the outside, the reality is…
Every night when I shut the gym down, I’m dead!
While I love[teaching/training,] I also have dreams of…
Having a Netflix deal
Advice I wish I had when I was starting out…
Save your money for times like this [COVlD-19 pandemic]. When I first started and first went viral, I was doing great. Then I neglected Atlanta and went into the red.
Pro Tip:
What are your top 3 recommendations for someone looking for an entry into your industry?
Be knowledgeable of the education of fitness.
Be able to understand and deal with people and other trainers (that’s the worst part and why people aren’t successful).
Know how to control your finances.
If I could call on just one favor to someone in my industry or beyond, it would be [Beyonce] and this is what I'd ask…
If I could call on just one favor to anyone in my industry or beyond, it would be Beyonce and I’d ask her to come to one of my spin classes.
Last Words on Career and Life+Style
I had to sacrifice
My whole life in Atlanta…I had to leave my house, my car, my friends…everything.
If I were interested in pursing this career path today, what should I stop and do right now as a first step?
Get certified.
Favorite fitness gurus
Massy Arias and Ulisses Jr.
What I’m vibing to…
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Favorite quote
"And that’s your warm up…”
—Keith Thompson original
Item I can’t live without
Chick-fil-A
Favorite website
YouTube.com
Something people would be surprised to know about me
People think I love to be around people and that I’m always hanging out...but I’m private and low-key when I’m not working.
Favorite travel destination
Lagos, Nigeria. I have the time of my life every time I go.
*My April 2020 interview with Keith has been edited for context, space and clarity.
**Keith is pictured with actress Elise Neal in cover photo
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