James Smith Pledges Thousands to Help a a Mum-of-Three Quit the Rat Race
James Smith is best known for his brutal takedowns. Be it influencers, creatine gummy brands, or popular fitness myths, the straight-talking personal trainer and entrepreneur has never been backwards in coming forwards.
But his most recent video is less about breaking things down, and much more about building someone up.
While appearing at a recent Clean Health Live event, Smith made a complete stranger quit her job in front of 407 people.
Despite sounding like a scene ripped straight from The Wolf of Wall Street, the situation was far more nuanced, and paved the way for one of the most touching gestures ever to grace a forum.
“Clean Health pretty much help personal trainers get qualified, and they run educational courses for them online,” said Smith on his YouTube channel.
“I was a guest speaker. I got asked a question on a panel and, to be honest, I didn’t even know I was supposed to be on this panel. It was just lucky I was outside the room when it went on.”
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The question came from Hayley Debuf, a women’s coach and owner of Yarra Valley Performance in Melbourne.
“I’m a mom of three and I work seven days, starting at 5.30(am), work at a gym, come home and then I work until 7pm doing my own business,” she said.
“My question is: How do you know when to stop a safe, secure income for your own business?”
To which Smith answered: “You’re going to be in a position where if you don’t make it work, you are f*cked.
“And I can’t express to you how magical that is for progress.
“So rather than being fearful of the desperation and sticky position you put yourself in, you’re not going to believe me until it happens, but a year from now, you’ll be so grateful that you exposed yourself to this.
“Because there is a certain level that you’re going to find, that you can only find if you commit.”
Giving context to his response, James talked about taking his own leap. At first, that was the move to Australia — where he still lives to this day — for a better life, despite being a successful personal trainer in the UK.
Dropped into a far more competitive and hostile gym environment at Sydney’s George Street Fitness First, and struggling to make ends meet, his second leap was moving from in-person to online training.
He too was trying to build his empire in the early morning and late-night hours, exhausting every reserve to afford rent for the gym and his shared flat.
In March 2017, things came to a head. Smith admitted he was struggling for bookings, online prospects were looking grim, and he had to borrow £300 from his dad to cover shared furniture his flatmates had bought from IKEA.
His next move was to buy a whiteboard, some pens, and ingest as many evidence-based podcasts as he could find, sharing the knowledge he’d learned on unedited livestreams.
The whiteboard is still a staple of his content to this day, and it’s safe to say his editing skills have come a long way, too.
So, as Smith sat and pondered Hayley’s question, reflecting on his own journey for a good five minutes, he decided his answer wasn’t yet complete.
Demanding the mic back, he made a pledge that has the potential to make Hayley’s life exponentially better.
“Hayley, sorry I’ve been thinking about this,” he added. “If you quit next week, I will personally financially guarantee that you will not be out of pocket.
“So, if you quit the gym, we’ll give it six months. If at any point you’re in a financial deficit, I’ll cover it.
“I will work with you personally to grow your business one-to-one, and then we get to use case your transformation so that we can help other women do the same.”
Smith, who owns several businesses fully or in part — including Neutonic, James Smith Business Mentorship, and his own one-to-one coaching platform — admitted there were selfish reasons behind his action.
Despite earning more money in November than any prior month of his life, he confessed that feeling didn’t even come close to the tearful reaction from Hayley and her partner.
Smith recognised he was fortunate to have his dad, who was in a position to lend him £300 to cover the cost of a fridge when his move to Australia was looking like a false turn.
As a secondary point, Smith said the gesture wasn’t just for Hayley, but for all those currently split between a 9–5 and a 5–9, working on their dreams.
“I can accept people failing, but I can’t accept people staying in this situation,” he continued.
Smith is willing to stump up what could be thousands of dollars over the coming six months to help Hayley build her own brand.
She’ll also receive free access to his Business Mentorship programme, alongside personal visits from Smith himself to plan and track her progress.
His first suggestion? That she enjoys some richly needed sleep and time with her family.
For anyone walking a similar path, Smith used that legendary whiteboard to break down how a weekly personal training wage can be covered in fewer hours when self-employed.
In the video, which is posted to his YouTube channel, he also covered what steps people like Hayley can take to drive both interest and revenue.
“Over the coming weeks and months, what I want to find out is how long it takes us for Hayley to get to that point of break even, and above it,” he concluded.
“Then, I want to go ask her how hard it was. Because if a lady in remote Melbourne can do it in 12 weeks with three kids, I think that could be quite an inspiring story for other people.”
READ MORE: James Smith and Chris Williamson’s Neutonic Drink Secures £2.7m Funding from Major Investors
