Anna Maria Giannelli - Calls, Coaching, Competing & More!!
Superstars don't need camera crews - selfies suffice.
When you think about living the dream, there's no better example of that than Blackstone Labs' Anna Maria Giannelli. She first met PJ, when her and her brother competed and got to meet the highly influential CEO and President of one of the fastest growing companies in the fitness industry. From that initial meeting, Anna Maria and Rocco have both become fixtures of the Blackstone Labs Legion and personal friends of PJ's. I met Rocco just a few months ago at an in-store at Supplement Warehouse in the Greater Chicago area. I got to meet Anna Maria when I visited the BSL HQ in Boca Raton, FL, when I took over the Legion. I'd interviewed her sometime before for StrengthAddicts IGTV and she'd made a terrific first impression on me. Meeting her in person, was everything I thought it would be. She was super cool, down to Earth, and had a great personality.
As the lone girl in the Blackstone Labs call center, Anna Maria has become a major part of the team, and not just to speak with female customers, but all in all. Whereas some ladies might be intimidated to work in a room full of alpha males, I did my best to eavesdrop on her calls while sitting at Billy Gagliardo's (BSL's General Manager) desk. She was extremely familiar with the BSL line and clearly had done her homework. That's the norm amongst that crew. They know the line inside and out and they can give new and returning customers invaluable information on how to use the various products to reach their fitness goals. Very few companies do this. Many, simply, pay high school students, college interns, and/or contract out said services to call centers. One day they're selling vacuum filters and the other, they're selling fat loss and muscle-gaining products. That's not the case at the Holy Grail of Hardcore Bodybuilding Supplements!!
Who knows, maybe the next time you dial the call center or visit BlackstoneLabs.com, you'll talk to the Queen, herself!!
Just one look at Anna Maria's social media and you really get a pretty good feel for what she's all about. She loves her dog, she loves helping people through the call center, and she's also a really competent and committed coach. You can tell this because coaches that are in it for the money, alone, will take as many clients as possible. That's not the case with lady of the hour; she only takes clients based on what her real availability allows. When a person looks for a coach, they're making a very serious commitment. A good coach, whether it's for a lifestyle client or a competitor, can have a direct impact on much more than a person reaching their goals. A great coach can help transform a person's body and mindset. A lot of times, coaches are basically taking a lump of clay and helping a person find themselves. As someone who's conducted hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews, I can speak directly to the power of fitness. Sometimes, it all starts with a coach who cares, that believes in their clients, maybe when no one else does - including themselves. Sometimes a great coach can literally lead an individual out of the darkness. That's precisely the kind of person that I think Anna is.
Beyond sales and coaching, though, Anna Maria has also competed. We spoke, at length, about this on her interview for StrengthAddicts. While I could totally see her doing more shows, I also think she could be a major influencer, in time. And I think she could reach a lot of people for far more than her looks. There's so much more to her and she has such a fantastic perspective on the sport and the industry, that the more exposure she gets, the more fans she'll earn. There's plenty of women marketing themselves a certain kind of way. There's no novelty to it. Perhaps, some ladies think there's only one way to become popular, but all roads lead to Rome, it's just how you get there, is all.
I think women who cover all their bases, keep their platforms content-diverse, and who are eager to network, will go very, very far in the fitness industry. It may take a little bit longer, but that's the way to really making it, in my opinion. Also, I feel that women who have large female support bases, also tend to far outproduce women with almost exclusively male support bases. Perhaps my theory wouldn't hold water in the short term, but who cares about being famous for a year or a few months? I always prefer the Big Picture approach. Women who enjoy massive female support have fans that become friends, and real friends will go to bat for you unlike any other. After all, LOYALTY IS EVERYTHING!!
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