Editorial by Juan Carlos Lopez

After many many shows in the year only a few remain and it is clear that competitors are still hungry for more and keep on racking up the expenses and the industry continues to exist and profit. A few different shows have been down in competitors but in contrast the pro level shows including the upcoming Kentucky Pro seem to be getting a bigger number of competitors even when being the last pro show of the year.

A Human Industry

This industry the fitness industry it is, is a very tough and rough industry as it is not very large or too small. It veers more towards smaller if you compare it to the baseball, football, soccer or even hockey community. Things in those industries work in a different manner and each player is really a professional as he/she gets paid a salary and is employed by a company. Now in the fitness industry there are no real professionals per se, a pro card means that the federation has awarded their physique as to being on a higher level. But the moment this person turns pro there are no guarantees of employment or even large endorsements from supplement companies. All federations are running a business so to keep themselves alive they have to make money, photographers have to charge for their services, supplement companies have to market their products for sales, trainers make a buck from having their clients compete at these shows. The competitors can model and make some money but in turn they can be trainers, own supplement companies or even become photographers. So there are many possibilities and many actors in this piquant play. Its a free market and anyone can really try to do their best and make money in every single possible way. Its up to the other parties to accept these offers so competitor with a national level under their belt can start training competitors for their first shows and he/she doesn't need any license or even be a registered dietician. This is all makes things very personal and humanly as possible as they all rely on trust, same thing with some suit makers that don't own it as a registered business, etc...

Now the other end we have how people react to business, that is if they are professional or not. Education can be the most important factor when dealing with people. Those people that work with a company will show up to meetings, return calls, deliver a product, etc.. Their jobs which make them money and make them stay alive in a capitalistic economy in the USA for example. They have to learn how to be a good worker otherwise they will be out of a job soon. Many people that are not exposed a lot to this organized type of lifestyle can be accustomed to a more free environment where they don't have to be tied up to anyone and can have more liberty can sometimes forget those basics with being organized. From my experience when dealing with other people there are a large number of people who don't treat business as business or act unprofessional when dealing with a business transaction. You will hear stories such as person A talk to person B about person C and person A doesn't even know the whole story. But again this is just clearly a bad practice, communication in general can be already bad but rather than person A asking person C about a matter directly they will just avoid them in the future.

There is a lot of backstage drama and badmouthing of people always, national events draw that type of comments mostly given the large number of competitors. There are trainers, photographers, supplement companies that do that as well as its the nature of human and also of competitive business. I have always said if you have an issue or problem with someone go up to them and confront them and see what the problem is. In most cases they will avoid you and runaway but there are few people that will actually want to sit down and try to hash differences. Even friends that are made in the industry can be your enemies in a short time because of misunderstandings that may never be cleared. The best policy is to communicate but then again many people will not do this. When you are dealing with a lot of people it will be hard to keep things perfect even when you deal with everything the right way someone will not be professional about it. Everyone makes mistakes so its best to accept them and clear things up and be organized about things... but then again the human part comes in and won't allow that. Seldom does someone that act up unprofessional is able to really turn things around and understand that their practices were incorrect. There are always two sides of the story and those that are willing to sit down in person and talk about it are the ones that are professional. If someone is not willing to discuss the issues are probably the ones that are wrong.

Now getting more into the human aspect just in the past months for example a new company/website didn't realize the human factor and dealt with business in their regular way. The issue with all this is that people can react towards things in negative ways even if it wasn't meant as an offense to anyone. For example if you are criticized by a newspaper after playing a baseball game regarding your poor performance that is fine, they have the right to say that. The player may not want to give any interviews to that newspaper and that would be a bit over the top and maybe childish but again in the end its really his choice. As long as the newspaper doesn't spread rumors of accepting bribes (for example) without any proof whatever else the newspaper writes about his performance in his game its all free press.

Some will learn the lesson and others won't but there are things you can't change and you have to accept them.

Back to Issues