This post orignally appeared on Handshake 2.0 and was written by Z. Kelly Queijo.
You're considered fortunate if you can make a career out of something you love, and truly blessed if you get to turn what you love into a business of your own. Anne Jones Thompson considers herself blessed. In the first phase of her professional life, she coached tennis for Virginia Tech. Following retirement, she took her love of coaching and turned it into a business.
Thompson launched TriAdventure Multisport Coaching & Fitness in 2003. She and her team of coaches provide personal training to those who are just getting off the couch, to seasoned athletes of any level including men, women, boys and girls of all ages. Triadventures specializes in endurance coaching for running, biking, swimming, triathlon, general fitness, and nutrition counseling.
“We can work with anyone,” says Thompson. “The main thing is to know who you are working with, what their goals are, and to understand how they can be motivated.”
In her nine years in business, Thompson has found that training and running a business go together. “Both need a lot of commitment and focus. You have to spend time on all the little details that combine to make one successful. You have to love what you do...it has to be your passion...and I firmly believe, you should do what you love, and love what you do.”
In addition to working with youth, Thompson finds working with beginners to be the most fun because everything is new and exciting to them. Motivating the seasoned athletes is a little different. “If we can guide people to achieve ther goals, help them realize the journey is what's important, and teach them to believe in and rely on themselves, we've done our job.”
Throughout her coaching career, Thompson has been a runner and has competed in many triathlons, among them, the Ford Ironman World Championship. Known as the “Kona” for its location in Kona, Hawaii, this race is the only world triathlon championship. Of the tens of thousands who attempt to qaulify for one of the 1800 coveted places, Thompson qualified and competed in the 1992 Kona. Getting in is just one hurdle. Making it all the way through the 2.4-miles of swimming, 112-miles of biking, and running the 26.2-mile marathon is the other. Thompson made it and the experience carries through to her work today.
“I love working with others and helping them reach their goals. I believe a good coach really cares, and if you really care, you can coach anything. I feel I was born to coach.”
