Going on Gut: Lisa Keller on Multisport Training of Alaska

“Leap and the net will appear.”

It’s October and it’s cold. The track at Service High School in Anchorage looks a little desolate on this Thursday night. A group of runners bedecked in running tights and coats are drilling in the field inside the track. It’s quick feet. The drill that chatters your legs as you force your muscles to react quicker then the electric impulses can fire.

“You guys breathing hard yet?” the coach asks cheerily. She chats with the group as she leads them through the drills, effortlessly moving between friendly chitchat and assertive instruction.

“Really drive your arms.”

The coach is Lisa Keller, owner and head coach of Multisport Training of Alaska.  It’s an Anchorage-based business that specializes in individual and group training for running, biking and swimming, and especially training for triathlons. Keller does everything from organizing clients’ personal training plans to teaching group lessons such as these.

In 2002 Keller was a substitute coach for Alaska Sports Academy when the owner decided to move to the Lower 48. With a clientele base already in place, she was able to transform that business into one more specialized, focused on the sports that make up a triathlon. She has coached swimming and running since the ’80’s and has been involved in triathlons since 1984.

Shortly after the owner of Alaska Sports Academy left, Keller and her husband separated and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her mother encouraged her to get a “stable” job to help support her children.

“I already had a job,” says Keller. “I just thought, how can I make this bigger?”

She is a natural entrepreneur. “I’ve always struggled with bosses and always had ideas, but never felt like I could make a difference. I like to work for myself and my clients with no one in between. I’ve mostly gone on my gut instinct,” says Keller. Though she confesses, “I’ve never actually written a business plan for Multisport Training of Alaska.”

Since 2002, the business has evolved and grown, adding more individual training and even including some clients in the Lower 48.  Keller’s favorite, though, are the conditioning groups.

“We call them political discussion groups with an exercise problem. A lot of it’s the conversation that happens.” Alaskans love their activity and groups such as these provide an outlet for people to come together and socialize as well as train.

“We are such a special place,” she says. “Everything is so connected and people are more forgiving of oddities.”

The tight-knit community has allowed Keller to market her business mostly through word-of-mouth, something unlikely to be as successful in a bigger city with more competition. Social media outlets such as Facebook have also helped her connect with clients.

“Email has made this so much easier,” she says. “For new sessions I’ll send out an email blast and update my Facebook page.”

There are 1,600 recipients on her email list, an easy and inexpensive way to market.

Keller’s main goal for clients is to have fun and challenge themselves. “I coach a lot of Type-A people, and part of my goal is to impart that [training] is not your whole life, just a part of it.”

She finds it most rewarding to see clients gain new skills and accomplish goals.

“People who couldn’t get down to the end of the pool now have decent swim times,” she says.

With accomplishments also come challenges. Keller is the product making her biggest struggle the work-life balance. She has two daughters and most of her coaching happens in the evening when it is most convenient for clientele.

Because of this, Keller is trying to scale back some of her coaching in order to spend more time with her children and focus on her other businesses. Keller co-owns Up and Running Event Management with two other women. The business provides logistical support for running races, triathlons and cross-country skiing races. This includes timing and results as well as course or event management. She also recently started a T-shirt company with her boyfriend called Ravenous State. The T-shirt designs focus on the use of Native American ravens.

“Now you can officially call me a serial entrepreneur,” says Keller. “I like to create. I think that being an entrepreneur is about creating.”

She also believes that being a successful entrepreneur means knowing when to quit and move on to the next thing. Business owners have to be fluid and move with the constantly changing times.

“Just leap and the net will appear,” she says.

Keller offers this advice: “As an entrepreneur you have to be willing to be afraid. The hard part is putting yourself out there. I’m afraid all the time, but I love being on the edge.”

Connect with Lisa Keller online:

Multisport Training of Alaska

Up and Running Event Management

Tags: entrepreneur, fitness, Lisa Keller, Multisport Training of Alaska, Ravenous State, triathalons, Up and Running Event Management

This entry was posted on October 10, 2011 at 7:30 am and is filed under Entrepreneur Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.