Before working with Barry
Before working with Barry, I struggled most with clarity.I knew I was deeply passionate about movement, dance, and wellness, but I couldn’t clearly articulate who I was truly here to serve or how to communicate the value of my work. Everything felt scattered and burnout was evident. That lack of clarity created self-doubt and frustration, even though I knew I had something meaningful to offer.Working with Barry was a powerful and affirming experience.He didn’t try to mold me into a brand that wasn’t mine. Instead, he helped me uncover what was already there and bring structure, language, and strategy to it. Through thoughtful questions and deep listening, Barry helped me clearly identify my ideal client—midlife women—and understand why they are naturally drawn to my approach. The process felt collaborative, intentional, and deeply aligned.As a result, my business now feels focused, confident, and true to who I am.My offerings are cohesive, my message is clear, and I’m no longer trying to speak to everyone. I feel grounded in my purpose and confident in how I show up. I trust my voice, my instincts, and the direction I’m moving in. This work has brought clarity, alignment, and renewed excitement for this next chapter.
Solange LaBelle
Working with Barry was a deeply…
Working with Barry was a deeply reflective and powerful experience. He pushed me to think beyond surface-level branding and really dig into the why behind Hardkore Pilates—who I want to serve and what I want people to feel. Through thoughtful coaching, client interviews, and asking the right questions, he helped me turn what I felt into words people can truly understand.He’s an expert at guiding, clarifying, and bringing meaning to life. He has a rare ability to take thoughts and emotions that are hard to articulate and transform them into clear messaging that people can connect with and digest. He helped define Hardkore Pilates as an experience—not just a workout—where clients can disconnect from everything else, reconnect with their mind and body, push past their comfort zones, and leave feeling accomplished, proud, and strong both internally and externally.As a result of this work, I now feel a sense of clarity and calm that I didn’t have before. I finally have a clear understanding and explanation of my brand, which allows me to attract the right clients and communicate my mission with confidence. I no longer feel overwhelmed—when people visit my website or read my brand strategy, they’ll immediately understand what Hardkore Pilates stands for and what we’re about.Most importantly, I now feel like I can let go and trust the process. With a clear brand foundation and a branding guide my instructors can follow, I know the Hardkore experience can be consistently replicated as we grow. This work has given me alignment, confidence, and the freedom to allow both my business and brand to evolve authentically.
kristen daunais
Redefining brand, mission, vision, & beliefs
Before working with Barry, our biggest pain point was identifying our new “why” following an ownership change. We struggled to find clarity around our mission and vision statements—something we could then turn over to our staff so everyone knew what we were working toward. Without that clarity, it felt like we were floating, untethered, with employees unsure of direction and duplicating effort.Working with Barry was an incredible experience. He is kind, thoughtful, gentle, and wise. He dug deep, asked the right questions, and consistently came back with clarity that was uncannily accurate. I felt both comfortable and challenged in the process, which made it incredibly productive and enlightening.As a result of working with Barry, I feel much more grounded and confident in the decisions I make for the business. I now have a clear set of core beliefs to guide our choices, ensuring that we are always aligned with our brand. I’m genuinely excited to watch the business grow and thrive with this newfound clarity.
Julie Saccento
Fitcarma helped me!
Working with Fitcarma and Barry has been a game changer for both me and my business. From our very first session, Barry engaged in conversations to better define my business and lead me to the results I was looking for. Through the Fitcarma program, I uncovered my true superpowers, clarified my “why,” and gained a deep understanding of my ideal client. Together, we crafted a powerful brand script and developed clear, aligned client offers that reflect the heart of my work.We redefined my vision, mission, and beliefs so they feel authentic and purpose-driven—and then brought everything together through a complete website revamp that truly represents who I am and what I offer. For the first time, my message, brand, and marketing all work in harmony.Barry has the ability to see both the big picture and the small details that make a brand come alive. If you’re ready to move from uncertainty to clarity and confidence in your business, I can’t recommend Fitcarma highly enough.
Michael Zweigart
I have loved working with Barry on my…
I have loved working with Barry on my Brand Script. Our calls were productive and inspiring. I'm looking forward to may call with Shay. This whole experience has really helped me put my story and vision into my brand, studio, and align myself and instructors.
Tricia Scheeler
💡 One of the most underestimated growth…
💡 One of the most underestimated growth levers in business? Refining your brand language.We recently completed a full update of our copy, positioning, and website at The Ripple Club. What started as a marketing project turned into something much bigger—a strategic exercise in clarity and alignment.Back in 2021, my wife and co-founder, Alicia Dedigama, led the transformation from Aqua Spin → The Ripple Club. That rebrand gave us a strong identity. But this year, we took it further by asking: How do we express not just what we do, but the deeper value we create?With the guidance of Barry Kostabi from Fitcarma, we redefined our language to better capture our mission:✨ “Where Movement Becomes Empowerment”Reclaim confidence in your body with our low-impact, water-based classes that energise your body, calm your mind, and lift your spirit.✨"Fitness For Limitless Possibilities"In the pool, every movement feels possible and every effort feels supported.The biggest takeaway? 👉 Clear, authentic brand language doesn’t just tell your story—it shapes how your team, clients, and partners experience your company.If you had to describe your company’s mission in one sentence today, would it still resonate with your clients and team?
Yannick Dedigama
Chromacore Loves Fitcarma
My business partner (and daughter) Sara and I spent months creating a blueprint for our new brand. It resulted in a clear and excitingly new concept in fitness/wellness – understood very well by us. But we were not connecting with our target audience because our message was heavy on our product – the workout, the studio, the instructors, the experience. We did a fair job on what clients gain, but we missed the mark on capturing their emotional problem – what do they want to fix, accomplish, or avoid and why? This was the heart of our work with Barry. We looked forward to every meeting, prioritized our assignments, and really loved the breakthrough thinking that happened during our virtual one-on-ones. He has an uncanny way of suspending time and focusing mental energy to get stuff done! Because we participated in the development, it was easy to use the new messaging in our website, marketing materials, and even a Valentine letter to our staff! Our advice to other studio leaders: Barry can help you tap into client motivation and harness it. This is the way to differentiate yourself from the competition, and the competition is getting fiercer every day!
Linda
Satisfied Clients of Fitness Career Mastery
The biggest pain point we as a team struggled with before Fitness Career Mastery came into our lives, was the mere fact that we didn't know how to bring out the best way possible to describe our Fitness program, nor how we were presenting it to our clients to convince them that we had something even more and better than Fitness alone. The experience of working with Barry was outstanding, we noticed he values consistency and motivation, especially in health and fitness. Barry's ability to be organically creative with our business pertaining to Africa, was mind-blowing to us. This outlined his decisive, forward-thinking, and excellence in keeping our brand on point.. Barry is an empowering coach who challenged us to bring our best while keeping things vibrant and culturally rich. We are glad to have brought Fitness Career Mastery to our rescue, because it has enhanced and changed the sound of our business tune towards more of our ethnicity and now everything we are offering, or speaking about resonates our African culture. This perfectly represents the exact business model we had wanted all along, because on our own we didn't know how to make it happen. We are truly satisfied clients of Fitness Career Mastery.
Kukuwa Fitness
the best in the industry
I cannot say enough good things about Barry and Shay of FCM. Barry's VIP Day provided my team and brand with an invaluable amount of clarity and confidence as we relaunch our website. He articulated how we see ourselves (and hope others do too!) in a way that we could have only hoped to. Shay is a true master at creating not a service, but an experience. Her ability to get to the soul of people and connect on a deeper level is a true gift. The best investment in our business yet!
Danielle Stead
Before finding Fitness Career Mastery I…
Before finding Fitness Career Mastery I felt like I had a very clear sense of what I wanted my studio to feel like, but I had no idea how to translate those feelings into words, let alone an actual brand message. I knew that my brand wasn’t simply the style of exercise I teach, but I couldn’t figure out how to articulate what my brand was. My calls with both Barry and Shay helped me drill down on exactly what is most important to me. We were able to uncover all my points of difference from other local studios, and then Barry turned that into language I can use to describe it while Shay made sure that my classes deliver on the promises my brand story makes. Not only did this help crystallize what I’m trying to accomplish, but it also made working with a graphic designer on my visual branding easier because I had such a strong sense of who my client is and what my brand is. My business now has exactly the vibe that I was going for and I am able to market directly to my dream clients, increasing my confidence and sales. I couldn’t have done it without Barry and Shay!
Tate Musch
Great Experience!
I had a great experience with Barry and Shay and I was so pleased with the final product at the end of our sessions. Barry helped me bring focus to what I am doing and put that into clear messaging. He helped me understand how important it was to show the passion and purpose behind what I am doing and was very good at helping me find my why in what I do. Barry took the time needed and asked all the right questions to understand me and my vision and help me tell my story.
Studio Emerge
Super Sharp & Specific Advice + Outstanding Materials!
It has been a pleasure to work with Barry! He is an outstanding communicator with a fine-tuned intellect. My main struggles and challenges have been to communicate all that is in my mind and experience with those who would benefit. Picture my somewhat chaotic state: I have hundreds of ideas on a daily basis about the Original Hot Bikram Yoga practice, I have been teaching 20+ years, I work with researchers around the country (in psychology, physiology, medicine, art, etc.), I have written a book on the practice, I have hundreds of dedicated local and international students, and have piles and piles of content to share. Yet I have struggled to organize all of this and share it with those who would likely benefit. I have felt challenged in how to connect the potential of this practice with those who need the results.Barry really got to know the special mission of my yoga school over the course of our meetings. He has helped me reorient my thinking about communications in a way that will last well beyond our specific projects. I have a lot to implement but now I feel like I know what to do. Less lost in what to do with my constantly-expanding excitement and content.The resources provided are top-notch as well! I highly recommend working with him.
Ann Chrapkiewicz
Nailed my brand story with Barry!
I don’t usually work with someone after just one podcast listen, but after hearing Barry and Shay speak, I knew they were my people! I worked with Barry to refine my brand story and get my messaging on point, and wow—his expertise made all the difference. He really helped me find clarity and communicate in a way that feels authentic to me.Funny side note: Barry’s voice is so calming, it’s like a meditation session while getting serious business advice! If you want someone who truly gets it and can guide you in nailing your brand, Barry’s your guy! Highly recommend!
Oreet Jehassi Schwartz
