Employed vs. Self-Employed Coach: Choosing Your Path
Behind the Design, Episode 34, with OPEX Coaches Daniel Persson and Brandon Gallagher
A coaching certification doesn't decide the kind of career you'll build. Employed and self-employed coaching can both create a strong career, but they ask for different responsibilities, different sacrifices, and a different definition of freedom.
Brandon Gallagher and Daniel Persson have both owned and managed facilities, worked inside other gyms, and built coaching work outside of gym ownership. Their point is simple: the better path is the one that fits what you want to do at this stage of your career.
Start With the Responsibilities You Want
Gym ownership often looks like the natural next step for a coach. However, opening a facility includes far more than coaching clients. Owners deal with leases, contracts, cleaning, staff coverage, payments, scheduling, and the everyday work that keeps the business open.
That doesn't make gym ownership a bad choice. It means the decision deserves more thought than, "I want my own place."
The key question isn't which path is better. It's which responsibilities and freedoms fit you best right now.
In this conversation, an employee works within somebody else's facility or system. A self-employed coach or employer owns the setting, creates the systems, or runs the business. That business could be a physical gym, an online coaching operation, or a mix of in-person coaching, contract work, and coach education.
Working as an employeeSelf-employed or employerCoaches inside an established systemBuilds and maintains the systemCan focus more directly on coachingMakes decisions about the business and teamUsually has less responsibility for operationsCarries responsibility for operations and resultsMay have limits on schedule, rates, and growthHas more room to shape the business and role
What Employment Can Give a Coach
More room to focus on the craft
An employed coach can spend more attention on coaching classes, training individuals, working with small groups, and improving program design. The main job is to show up, coach well, and develop the skills that make someone better on the floor.
That focus can matter early in a coaching career. Brandon noted that some people are excellent at coaching but struggle with the business side. For them, an employee role can create space to get better at the work they enjoy without also carrying the full operational load of a gym.
Flexibility, systems, and mentorship
Employment can also make it easier to work at different facilities, coach at more than one gym, move to a new state, or pursue another opportunity. A coach can see different systems in action before deciding whether they want to create one of their own.
Daniel also pointed to the educational side. A good facility may offer senior coaches to learn from, a proven way to generate clients, and an existing structure for coaching and development. Instead of building every part of a business alone, the coach can learn inside a system that already works.
Where the Employee Path Can Feel Limited
A coach who works for someone else may have less control over rates, class times, the number of sessions available, and the direction of the business. If there is no way to expand their role, the coach can hit a ceiling based on decisions someone else makes.
Structured facilities can also limit schedule flexibility. Classes have set times, and the coach needs to be there when the business needs coverage. That may not fit every coach's family life or priorities.
Still, career progress doesn't always mean ownership. Daniel described the path of becoming a highly skilled, high-value coach who has major influence without taking on staff management, head coach responsibilities, or business ownership.
Career growth can mean becoming exceptional at coaching, even if managing people or owning a company isn't part of the plan.
What Ownership Makes Possible
The freedom to build the setting
Owners get to make the larger decisions. They can choose the location, equipment, branding, class structure, pricing, payment setup, training systems, and the people who join the team.
That ability to build something personal can be fulfilling. Brandon described wanting to pursue his own venture because it felt like an extension of him, even when another route might have looked more successful in the short term.
Daniel shared a similar experience from gym ownership. He attended a coach meeting led by a head coach he had hired, watched the meeting run well, and didn't need to take over. Seeing a system he built work without him leading every part of it gave him a sense of fulfillment.
The responsibility behind that freedom
The owner also carries the consequences. When the business works, the owner benefits. When it doesn't, the owner is responsible for the bills, staff coverage, client concerns, payroll, maintenance, and the many details behind the scenes.
Coaching may need to take a back seat while the business grows. Brandon felt that tension when management responsibilities pulled him away from coaching work he enjoyed. Ownership can have a higher ceiling, but it also brings more stress and more decisions.
More control means more responsibility. The owner gets to decide how the business runs, but also has to own what happens inside it.
Freedom Depends on Your Values
Neither remote coaching nor gym ownership automatically equals freedom. Daniel defined freedom as not being dependent on decisions and behaviors that conflict with personal priorities. Someone who hates worrying about rent, staffing, and floor coverage may feel freer as an employee or contractor.
For another coach, freedom may mean deciding the direction of a business, building an environment, and creating systems that reflect their coaching philosophy. Brandon described freedom less as doing anything at any time and more as having fewer barriers in the work he wants to do.
The work itself doesn't disappear in either role. Coaches still need to show up for clients, whether they coach online or in person. The important distinction is where the friction sits. For Daniel, being responsible for gym scheduling and making sure a coach was always on the floor created friction. For someone else, that same responsibility may be part of the work they enjoy.
Learn When to Deliver Within a System
A coach can learn a great deal while working within someone else's system. Daniel called the ability to deliver within a system an underrated skill. Analytical coaches often want to question and improve every process, and that instinct can be useful. However, there is also a time to carry out the agreed-upon process.
He shared an example of a young, highly analytical coach who was reviewing class coaching against an SOP. The coach was ready to question part of the system during a review. Daniel asked whether that moment called for analysis or for checking whether the class delivery met the established standard. The coach understood the difference.
A coach can take notes on what works, what feels difficult, and what they might eventually do differently. Yet they still need to deliver when the system requires it. That experience can later help them create clearer systems of their own.
Trust, Control, and Owning the Result
Daniel's leadership point was direct: a company can operate on trust or control, but it can't fully operate on both at once. A leader who says, "I trust you," while double-checking every decision communicates control instead.
A gym can use detailed oversight, transparency, bonuses, and KPIs. It can also hire capable people and give them room to do their work. Both approaches can exist, but leaders need to be clear about which one they are building.
When an owner makes the final decision, responsibility stays with the owner. If a coach makes a mistake inside the system, the team can discuss it internally and improve. Externally, the owner shouldn't expose or blame the employee.
Control and responsibility need to stay connected. An owner who directs the work also owns the outcome.
A Hybrid Career Is Also an Option
Brandon and Daniel both work in a middle ground. Brandon runs his own business while coaching online and in person. Daniel supports gyms as a contractor, provides coach education, keeps some hours on the floor, and runs remote coaching without owning the facility where he works.
This route still involves running a business, but it doesn't require taking on every responsibility of a physical gym. Coaches building an online component can explore the CoachRx free trial, while the OPEX Method Mentorship offers structured education and mentorship.
Brandon Gallagher can be reached through @BGPerform, and Daniel Persson through @danielcapersson.
Choose the Path That Fits Your Current Stage
Employment can make sense for a coach who wants to improve on the floor, learn from experienced people, work inside a proven system, and avoid business operations for now. Ownership can make sense when a coach wants to build the system, take responsibility for the team, and create something that reflects their own ideas.
The choice also doesn't need to be permanent. Brandon moved from ownership into employee and management roles, then continued building his own work. Both coaches have experienced more than one version of this career.
Build Around the Work You Want to Own
The career decision comes down to the kind of work a coach wants to carry. Some coaches want to spend their energy coaching and getting better at the craft. Others want to build the setting, direct the team, and accept the responsibility that comes with it.
Choose the freedom that matches your priorities, not the version of freedom that sounds best from the outside.
For the full pathway into this kind of program design, look at the OPEX Method Mentorship.
Connect with the coaches
Brandon Gallagher:Brandon’s Instagram (@bgperform_)
Daniel Persson:Daniel’s Instagram (@danielcapersson)
Join us live on Tuesdays mornings 11:30am EST on the OPEX YouTube Channel
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