MEM PLAYBOOK ACADEMY
The MEM Playbook: From PT to Fitness Business Builder
A practical academy for personal trainers who want to grow online, reach clients beyond their local gym, build recurring income, create content, deliver at scale, and explore community impact or social enterprise routes.
Built from Derrick Twum's journey — using personal training after prison to create income, freedom and the foundation for MEMFitness and MEM Academy CIC.
For PTs, online coaches, fitness creators, community coaches and trainers who want a bigger strategy than chasing hourly sessions.
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Founder story
Why this playbook exists
Personal training gave Derrick Twum a route forward after prison. It created income, flexibility and freedom — but it also revealed the limits of relying only on 1:1 sessions. Client numbers rise and fall. Cancellations happen. Income can be inconsistent. To build long-term stability, Derrick used PT as the foundation for something bigger: MEMFitness, a purpose-driven fitness brand, and MEM Academy CIC, a community organisation using fitness to create opportunities for underserved young people and people at risk of offending.
The MEM Playbook teaches coaches how to think beyond the session. It shows PTs how to build online offers, content systems, recurring income, community programmes, and social enterprise models that can turn fitness into a sustainable business and a vehicle for impact.
“PT gave me freedom, but the bigger plan was building a brand and a mission. The lesson is simple: do not just sell your time — build a system around your skills.”
The PT trap
The PT trap: decent income, unstable structure
- Many PTs earn decent money but stay trapped in hourly income.
- If they don't train, they don't earn.
- Client cancellations create income gaps.
- January can be busy, summer and holidays can dip.
- Gym-floor competition is high.
- Many PTs are good coaches but weak at marketing.
- Many PTs post randomly without a content strategy.
- Many PTs don't have a clear online coaching offer.
- Many PTs don't know how to package group coaching.
- Many PTs don't know how to work with organisations.
- Many PTs don't know how to build a CIC or social enterprise route.
- Many PTs don't know how to turn their story, niche or mission into a brand.
The problem is not that PT doesn't work. The problem is relying on only one income model.
The MEM solution
Build beyond the session
Traditional PT software helps trainers manage clients. The MEM Playbook teaches trainers how to build the machine that wins, serves, retains and scales those clients.
- 1
Get Found
- Build your MEM-Connect coach profile
- Choose your niche
- Use SEO-friendly profile content
- Post proof of work
- Collect reviews
- Build trust before the sales conversation
- 2
Create
- AI workout generator
- AI nutrition generator
- AI marketer
- AI business planner
- AI content generator
- Background remover
- Canva-style fitness templates
- Post scheduler
- Build content consistently
- 3
Coach
- Manage clients in CRM
- Build workout plans
- Build meal plans
- Track progress
- Manage bookings
- Take payments
- Run check-ins
- Deliver live 1:1 sessions
- 4
Scale
- Build online coaching
- Build group coaching
- Deliver live group classes
- Create challenges
- Create programmes
- Create digital resources
- Reach clients globally
- 5
Impact
- Explore community fitness projects
- Work with schools, charities, local authorities, youth orgs and employers
- Understand CIC / social enterprise routes
- Build a mission-led model
- Evidence outcomes
- Connect commercial growth with community benefit
Choose your pathway
Seven routes coaches can take
Most PTs only know one route. The Playbook helps you choose, combine or sequence the model that fits your goals.
- Pathway 01
Online Coach
Build a remote coaching offer, onboard clients digitally, deliver workouts, nutrition guidance, check-ins and accountability without being limited to your local gym.
- Pathway 02
Hybrid Coach
Combine in-person sessions with online programming, app-based check-ins, live sessions and recurring monthly support.
- Pathway 03
Creator-Coach
Use content, templates, short-form video, educational posts, testimonials, background remover, post scheduling and AI marketing tools to build authority and attract clients.
- Pathway 04
Group Coaching Provider
Move beyond 1:1 by creating group programmes, challenges, live classes, accountability communities and scalable coaching offers.
- Pathway 05
Impact Coach
Use fitness to serve communities, young people, inactive groups, ex-offenders, schools, charities or local projects.
- Pathway 06
Social Enterprise / CIC Founder
Explore how a fitness business can develop a community purpose, become a CIC, deliver funded projects, evidence impact and create a sustainable mission-led model.
- Pathway 07
Fitness Brand Builder
Use PT as a foundation to build products, programmes, events, content, partnerships, courses, communities or a larger fitness brand.
Curriculum
Thirteen modules, one playbook
Each module includes lessons, outcomes, a worksheet and the MEM tools to put it into practice.
Start with Module 1 to audit your PT business, then lock in your niche (Module 2), build a sellable online offer (Module 3) and restructure your income (Module 4).
All 13 modules have full lessons available now.
- 1Free preview~30 min6 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 6 lessons completeNot started
The PT Reality: Freedom, Income and the Client-Chasing Trap
Understand the strengths and limits of traditional PT income, and why coaches need a strategy beyond selling hourly sessions.
- 2Coach Starter~35 min6 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 6 lessons completeNot started
Build Your Coach Identity and Niche
Stop being a generic PT. Define who you help, what problem you solve, and why clients should trust you.
Lock in your niche, coach story and bio — then choose the one surface (online, local, corporate or community) to focus on for the next 90 days.
- 3Coach Starter~45 min7 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 7 lessons completeNot started
Build Your Online Coaching Offer
Create a remote coaching package that can reach clients beyond your local area.
Build your first sellable online coaching package and connect it to your MEM profile, CRM, workout builder, meal builder and AI tools.
- 4Coach Starter~40 min7 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 7 lessons completeNot started
Recurring Income: Stop Selling Only Single Sessions
Move from hourly income to packages, monthly support, memberships and scalable offers.
Restructure your PT income with a pricing ladder, monthly recurring offer, retention plan and a first upsell ready to launch.
- 5Coach Starter~45 min8 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 7 lessons completeNot started
Content and Personal Brand
Learn how to use content as proof, not performance. Create content that builds trust and attracts clients.
Build a sustainable 30-day content plan — five content types, a client-safe proof system and 12 posts mapped, batched and scheduled.
- 6Coach Pro~40 min8 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 7 lessons completeNot started
AI for PT Business Growth
Use AI as a business assistant while keeping coach judgement, safety and professionalism.
Build one safe, repeatable weekly AI workflow — programming, nutrition (in scope), marketing and business review — with a coach review step on every output.
- 7Coach Pro~35 min7 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 7 lessons completeNot started
Reach Clients Globally
Remove location limits and attract clients outside your local gym, borough or country.
Turn your offer into one that travels — pick a beachhead market, go async-first, take international payments and build a 90-day global growth rhythm.
- 8Coach Pro~50 min7 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 7 lessons completeNot started
Go Live, Group Coaching and Challenges
Scale delivery beyond 1:1 sessions using live classes, group programmes and challenge-based coaching.
Break the 1:1 ceiling — design a safe live group format, run a 4- or 6-week challenge, build accountability that doesn't go silent, and turn a class into a community.
- 9Coach Pro~40 min8 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 8 lessons completeNot started
Marketing Infrastructure for PTs
Build a repeatable marketing system instead of guessing what to post or sell.
Build a repeatable marketing system around your offer — sharper one-line offer, reusable templates, a weekly batching block, a lead magnet, a profile-as-sales-page and a 15-minute weekly review on the 4 numbers that matter.
- 10Coach Pro~50 min9 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 9 lessons completeNot started
From PT to Local Fitness Leader
Work with organisations, schools, youth services, charities, local authorities, gyms and employers.
Win local contracts with schools, councils, charities, youth services and employers — one-page programme, safeguarding pathway, full trust pack, risk assessment, attendance + outcomes report and a block price you stand behind.
- 11Coach Growth~55 min11 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 10 lessons completeNot started
Social Enterprise and CIC Pathway
How fitness businesses can evolve into community purpose models like social enterprises or Community Interest Companies.
Decide if the social enterprise / CIC route fits — community purpose, asset lock, governance, funding sequence, partnerships and impact reporting, plus how a commercial + CIC pairing (the MEMFitness + MEM Academy model) actually works in practice.
- 12Coach Growth~45 min8 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 8 lessons completeNot started
Build Your Fitness Brand Ecosystem
Map a bigger future beyond sessions: coaching, online programmes, products, content, communities, partnerships and impact.
Build the ecosystem beyond coaching — digital products, apparel, events, partnerships, a productised corporate menu, a funded community programme, the commercial + impact pairing and a 3-year brand map with quarterly focus discipline.
- 13Coach Growth~40 min6 lessonsFull lessons available0 / 6 lessons completeNot started
The 90-Day MEM Action Plan
Turn learning into action with a realistic 90-day growth plan.
The whole Playbook compressed into one realistic 90-day plan — day-30 foundations, day-60 layered offer, day-90 measurement on the 4 numbers, overbuild guardrails, 3 weekly blocks and a 15-minute Friday review rhythm.
Fitness Entrepreneur Lab
For coaches who want to build beyond PT sessions into online coaching, products, ecommerce, digital ads, brand assets and social impact.
All six modules (A–F) available now
- A · Fitness Business Models
- B · Ecommerce Numbers & Unit Economics
- C · Digital Ads & Marketing Foundations
- D · Launching a Fitness Product Brand
- E · Scaling Service-Based Fitness Offers
- F · Purpose-Driven Fitness Entrepreneurship
Worksheets & resources
Practical templates for every module
- Not opened
PT Business Reality Check
Audit current income, risks, drop-offs and time-for-money traps.
- Not opened
Coach Identity Canvas
Lock down niche, persona, story and clear positioning.
- Not opened
12-Week Online Coaching Offer Builder
Define deliverables, price and onboarding for your first online offer.
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PT Income Ladder
Map session packs, monthly coaching, group, challenges and upsells.
- Not opened
30-Day PT Content Calendar
30 prompts across education, story, proof, offer and community.
- Not opened
Weekly AI Workflow Planner
Plan your weekly AI assists for content, programming and admin.
- Not opened
Global Client Onboarding Flow
Standardise onboarding for clients you'll never meet in person.
- Not opened
First Live Group Programme Planner
Design a safe, structured first group programme or challenge.
- Not opened
PT Marketing System Planner
Build a repeatable weekly marketing rhythm.
- Not opened
Community Fitness Project Plan
Outline a community programme partners can back.
- Not opened
Social Enterprise Idea Canvas
Test whether a CIC / social enterprise route fits your idea.
- Not opened
3-Year Fitness Brand Map
Sequence coaching, products, programmes, partnerships and impact.
- Not opened
90-Day PT Growth Plan
30 / 60 / 90-day actions, metrics and weekly review rhythm.
MEM tools
The Playbook connects directly to your MEM tools
AI Business Planner
Clarify your niche, pricing, income streams and growth strategy.
OpenCoach Profile Builder
Build your public coach profile so clients, gyms and partners can find you.
OpenCRM
Manage leads, clients, notes, check-ins, payments and communication.
OpenAI Marketer
Create hooks, captions, offers, email ideas and campaign content.
OpenSEO Profile Builder
Make your coach profile discoverable in search.
OpenWorkout Plan Builder
Build and assign structured programmes.
OpenMeal Plan Builder
Create meal plans and nutrition resources.
OpenAI Workout Generator
Create session plans, programmes and client-ready workout structures.
OpenAI Nutrition Generator
Create general nutrition guidance, meal ideas and client summaries with safety boundaries.
OpenBooking Tools
Take bookings and manage your schedule.
OpenPayments
Take payments, packages and recurring subscriptions.
OpenGo Live
Deliver 1:1 sessions and group classes live.
OpenGamification Training Room
Create challenges and engagement loops.
OpenCanva-style Fitness Templates
Design PT posts, carousels, stories, sales packs, challenge graphics and service promos.
Open
Social enterprise & CIC
Scale your fitness business through community impact
Some coaches want to build more than a client list. They want to use fitness to serve young people, inactive communities, ex-offenders, schools, charities, estates or local organisations. The MEM Playbook introduces the social enterprise and CIC pathway, showing how a coach can design community programmes, build partnerships, evidence outcomes and explore mission-led structures.
The MEM difference
Why this is different from normal PT business advice
Most PT business advice tells coaches to get more clients, post more content and sell more sessions. The MEM Playbook goes further. It teaches coaches how to build a complete fitness business model: online coaching, recurring income, marketing systems, live delivery, community programmes, social enterprise thinking and long-term brand building.
| Traditional PT route | MEM Playbook route |
|---|---|
| Sell 1:1 sessions | Build online, hybrid and group offers |
| Rely on local gym footfall | Build global reach through content and profile visibility |
| Post randomly | Use a structured content and scheduling system |
| Chase clients manually | Build offers, funnels, profiles and proof |
| Trade time for money | Build recurring income and scalable delivery |
| Work alone | Connect with clients, coaches, organisations and partners |
| Keep purpose separate | Build impact into the business model |
| Stay as a coach only | Build a fitness brand ecosystem |
Who this is for
This is for
- Personal trainers
- Online coaches
- Fitness instructors
- Boxing coaches
- Strength coaches
- Community coaches
- Bootcamp instructors
- Youth fitness coaches
- Ex-offenders or people rebuilding through fitness
- Coaches who want to create online income
- Coaches who want to build a social enterprise or CIC
- Coaches who want to use fitness to create community impact
This is not for
- People looking for guaranteed quick money
- Coaches who don't want to build systems
- Coaches who only want random content ideas with no business strategy
- People who want to set up a CIC just to chase funding
- Coaches unwilling to do consistent delivery, marketing and relationship building
Final project
Final Playbook Project
Bring the playbook together by completing each artefact below.
FAQ
Questions coaches ask
Is this only for online coaches?
No. The MEM Playbook is for in-person PTs, online coaches, hybrid coaches, group coaches, community coaches and fitness creators. It teaches different routes so coaches can choose the model that fits their goals.
Do I need to already have clients?
No. The Playbook helps new and experienced coaches clarify their niche, build an offer, create content, set up online coaching and develop a practical growth plan.
Does this guarantee I will make money?
No. The Playbook provides education, tools, templates and strategy. Results depend on execution, consistency, market demand, pricing, delivery quality and sales activity.
Is this legal or financial advice for setting up a CIC?
No. The CIC / social enterprise section is educational. Coaches should seek professional legal, financial or accounting advice before registering a company, CIC or charity.
Can I use this to grow globally?
Yes. The Playbook includes online coaching, remote onboarding, content strategy, global client trust-building and digital delivery systems.
What makes this different from normal PT software?
Normal PT software mostly helps coaches manage clients. MEM combines coaching tools with AI business planning, marketing infrastructure, content creation, discovery profiles, live delivery and social enterprise pathways.
Can this help me create community fitness projects?
Yes. The Playbook includes a community fitness project pathway covering programme design, partnerships, delivery readiness, safeguarding considerations, outcome tracking and impact reporting.
Do I have to start a CIC?
No. The CIC route is optional. Some PTs may want to stay commercial, some may want hybrid models, and some may want to build community impact organisations.
Can I use MEM tools while completing the Playbook?
Yes. The Playbook connects to MEM's AI workout generator, AI nutrition generator, AI marketer, AI business planner, templates, background remover, post scheduler, CRM, workout builder, meal builder and live tools where available.
Is this based on real experience?
Yes. The Playbook is inspired by Derrick Twum's journey from personal trainer after prison to building MEMFitness and MEM Academy CIC.
Your next step
Build more than a PT business
Use your coaching skills to create income, freedom, online reach, community value and a brand that can grow beyond the gym floor.