What's up world! My name is Jeff Kline; I'm a 24 year-old Fitness Model, actor, Personal Trainer, and Fitness Director out of Grand Rapids, MI. I'm 6'3” and I usually keep my weight around 215-220lbs range; for photoshoots/competitions I usually cut down a little bit to around 210lbs. So a little bit about myself, I grew up in Flint, MI and I have one older brother, Jason. I was kind of that annoying little brother growing up because I always wanted to be like him and do the things he was doing, and him always being a standout athlete got me into athletics at a pretty early age and it stuck. Just like many people in the fitness industry, sports were my life growing up. I played football, basketball, and ran track which turned out to be the sport I excelled in most. By the end of my senior year in high school I was a 6-time USATF All-American in track, 2-time state champion in Long Jump, and had broken the state record in the event as well. Along with other statewide and local accolades in football and basketball.
I set my sights to be a two-sport athlete in college and to eventually turn pro in track & field in my future so I accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Michigan. It was less than an hour away and had the academic and athletic reputation behind it so I felt it was a good fit for me. After a year of college athletics I began to fall out of love with the daily routine and just got burnt out. I decided to give up on the pro athlete dream and focus more on how I wanted to look as far as fitness. Keep in mind I was never over 175lbs at this time and I had just turned 19 years-old. I wanted to know more about THIS kind of fitness rather than the athletic side of it so I went and got personal trainer certified. I never actually planned to use the certification for professional reasons; I'm just an information junkie and wanted to know more about it for myself. I changed career paths and decided I wanted to impact the younger generations with all of the things that I was fortunate enough to experience up until this point so I decided to become a high school teacher. And being an information junkie, I found the area that interested me the most that I didn't really know much about so I majored in Political Science and History.
After graduating college and teaching 9th and 11th grade History, I followed my past trends and decided to take my career in another direction. I moved to Grand Rapids, MI and moved in with my older brother who helped me get on my feet and to start pursuing more in the fitness industry. After doing a local photoshoot for a friend of a friend, I ended up getting a fitness modeling contract and several sponsors. I'm currently an athlete for CTD Sports supplements, Limitless Fitness apparel, and am the spokesmodel for Solid Shave. When I first moved here I decided to test the waters and do my first physique show. This was a great experience for me as it taught me a lot about how to improve my body, and especially my nutrition. It's doubtful that I will do another show in the near future just because I personally don't quite see the cost-benefit for everything that goes into it being something in my favor, but for someone new into the industry I definitely would recommend trying it out and getting a great learning experience. I also work as a Fitness Director in West Michigan where I developed the personal training department and work closely with my trainers on staff, and clients to help ensure that they learn how to properly achieve their dream body regardless of age.
If I had to give any advice to young people or anyone trying to break into the fitness industry it would be the same question that my brother asked of me when I started getting involved in the industry: What is your goal makes you different? You should think long and hard about those questions and really have a good idea of your answers. The truth is that there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of guys and girls who have a six pack, are in great shape, or are very good looking; and those things are not always what make a person marketable, or what makes you different. The people who try to emulate their favorite fitness personalities have the hardest time trying to make a name for themselves because the person they're trying to be already exists! You have to think about things from a business perspective as well. What makes you marketable? Why should a business invest their time and money in you? Why are you different than the millions of other people in great shape trying to do the same thing that you are?
The first thing you should do is work with a photographer and gets some real photographs done so you can begin to criticize your own physique and make improvements. It may take a little searching, but you want to also work with a photographer who knows what they're doing. Anyone can buy an expensive camera and call themselves a photographer, but you want to work with someone who knows what they're doing for what you're trying to accomplish. That's why I really enjoyed working with John of BBpics.com. Not only does he have a solid reputation in the photography realm, but he knows his way around the fitness industry as well. He's worked as a judge for numerous fitness competitions so he knows exactly what to look for and how to bring out the best in the athlete. Many photographers can be skilled at the photography part such as good lighting, backgrounds, etc., but if they don't know which angles look best or how to show off the right body parts the right way, then you're just stuck with high quality photos that don't make you look good. Also, try to diversify yourself. John really brought out the best in me using different locations and different looks rather than just the standard shirt off in a studio with a white backdrop.
My final closing words may be the most important: Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, but do it in a tasteful way so that it doesn't come back to bite you when you start getting success. You might be the biggest, baddest, strongest, most shredded person out there, but if no one knows who you are then it's meaningless. I learned this early when I was in high school trying to find schools who would offer me an athletic scholarship. Even though I had all of the credentials, I was in a small city in Michigan so nobody really knew who I was yet. Same goes with the fitness industry, you have to do everything yourself to get your name out there because there is never going to be the easy free opportunity that you are sitting there waiting for. All of the fitness personalities that you look up to and admire were once in your position too. The only difference is that they didn't give up and they kept pushing to do everything they could to be successful and make a living out of it. So many people work so hard just to get more likes on Instagram or Facebook, but at the end of the day “likes” do not pay the bills. All of those things will follow as a result of success. It's going to take time I'll be the first to admit it. And there's going to be tons of bumps in the road and ups and downs, but it's all worth it in the long run. If you don't contemplate giving up at least once or twice during your journey, then trust me you aren't working hard enough. Keep a clear vision of what and who you want to be, and before you know it you'll be going to your local store and picking up a magazine with yourself on the cover.
