Corporate Queen of Fitness Court
By Bill Spring
Although Mary Mullenhoff grew up in Queens, N.Y., her start in life wasn't exactly royal.
Since leaving her family's crowded brownstone apartment, Mullenhoff has been the author of her own fairy tale — getting an Ivy League education, working as a business consultant making a six-figure income and, finally, becoming a successful athlete and personal fitness trainer in Southern California. She achieved her success through hard work and dedication.
Growing up, Mullenhoff's plan was to be come a veterinarian. Instead of a typical high school, she attended an agricultural school and then, at 19, went to Cornell University in 1982. Her interest in veterinary medicine quickly waned, but Cornell awakened Mullenhoff's passion for sports and fitness.
It started with a unique graduation requirement: a mandatory basic swimming test. Not only had Mullenhoff never learned to swim, she also had an intense fear of the water from a childhood experience.
During a family camping trip, Mullenhoff, then 6, nearly drowned in a swimming pool. "I started to sink, and I couldn't get out. I couldn't breathe, and I ended up going under."
Although an attentive lifeguard rescued her, she had not faced her fear. "I remember standing in line at registration and reading about this requirement, and my heart just sank into my stomach. I thought, 'Oh my God, what am I going to do?' "
Thanks to a helpful instructor and her own determination, Mullenhoff mastered the swimming test — and her fear. "It was awesome," she remembers. "It was the first time I felt like, 'Wow, I could really do this. I'm not a dork for not being born with innate athletic skills.' "
That realization brought confidence, and a hunger for more physical challenges. While in college , she enjoyed participating in countless sports and discovered that, with effort and practice, she could get better at just about anything.
Mullenhoff graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in 1986 and a newfound attraction to the business world that would dominate her life for the next 15 years. At a consulting firm in Manhattan, in the late 1980s, Mullenhoff worked as an employee benefit consultant. But the commute, crime and the weather pushed her heart West. In 1990 she and her future husband Paul moved to the Los Angeles area, where she held a similar position. Although the job's long hours and certain co-workers made life difficult, it got her back in touch with the physical side of herself.
"I was under a great deal of stress, and that stress led me to the outlet of sports." In 1991, she participated in her first triathlon (swimming, biking, and running). "Once I finished, it was extremely emotional for me. I had this feeling of fearlessness." This led to several competitive biathlons (biking and running) and daily trips to the gym.
In 1995, Mullenhoff ran the Long Beach and Los Angeles marathons, and in 1998, she began training with bodybuilder Cynthia Hill, who helped her compete in Galaxy competitions, which measure endurance, strength and physical perfection.
When the "new economy" companies started flaming out in 2000 and 2001, Mullenhoff was feeling a little burned out herself.
By 2001, she had completed many training courses and obtained certification through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. As a side career, she worked as a physical trainer without pay and was part-owner of Optimum Boot Camp, an obstacle course on Venice Beach.
Mullenhoff soon realized that her future lay in combining her business career and her athletic life. With her husband's support, she arranged to be laid off from her job and drew up a plan for Just Be Fit, a personal training business aimed at helping clients meet their health and fitness goals on a one-to-one basis. She launched the company with a newspaper ad in April 2002 and gave herself six months to succeed.
She was surprised when things took off almost immediately. "At first, it was very scary," she explains. "Then it became easy because it's exactly what I wanted to do."
She credits her background in sales and business for much of the success, but also believes it was fate: "It's almost like what I was destined to do this and never really knew it."
A big part of her newfound satisfaction comes from knowing that although she makes 35 percent of what she earned at her highest income level, she's making a difference in people's lives. "It's so fulfilling. People are getting healthier because of me."
Mullenhoff now plans to expand her business into corporate fitness training and franchising.
On the web: www.just-be-fit.com.
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