Don Saladino is a coach and fitness entrepreneur who has trained A-list actors, athletes and musicians for 25+ years. In addition to running his global online fitness business, Saladino has trained actors like John Krasinski, and recently trained Ryan Reynolds for his role in Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine.
MLM Founder Greg Scheinman took a trip to Saladino’s famous training barn in New York, got in a workout and sat down with Saladino to talk about money, midlife, muscles and more.
Please enjoy this week’s How I See It with Don Saladino.
MLM: Almost everyone reading this will know your credentials in the fitness industry and the clientele you’ve trained. But we want to know. Why do you train? What are you trying to accomplish personally?
Don Saladino: When I train, I train to challenge myself and to feel good. It’s plain and simple. Is it important that my body looks a certain way? I’d be lying if I said it didn’t matter. Of course, it does. But that’s almost the aftermath of everything. I’m in love with the process. I’m in love with the grind. I’m in love with getting under the bar and feeling a little nervous. I’m in love with walking in and not feeling 100% but walking out and feeling 110%. These are things in my life that I can control.
MLM: You’re in your late 40s like many of our MLM readers. Do you believe that we can continue to improve and get stronger as we progress in middle age?
DS: There’s no reason why you can’t keep improving body composition and no reason why you can’t continue to get stronger. I don’t want to lose strength. There’s a level of equity I’ve developed with my strength and with my muscularity that I want to hold on to. I want to continue to work on mobility and practice the things I’m not good at.
MLM: You’ve trained some of the biggest names in Hollywood and there’s enormous pressure on your time. How do you handle not overcommitting and saying ‘no’?
DS: It’s funny you ask me that. Last year around the holidays I committed to a few things and then felt really upset with myself for doing so. I was committing to it for exposure and other reasons, but it didn’t feel right. The second I backed out because I had other things going on, I felt a weight lifted off my back. We have to realize that there are going to be times when we turn down an investment or an opportunity, and it feels like a loss. But it’s not.
MLM: How do you define success?
DS: I define success as peace of mind. We can dress up success in so many different ways. I know people making a million bucks a year who live comfortably, and I know people making 20, 30, or 100 million a year who spend an insane amount of money and drive themselves crazy. They’re always on the go, and while they might be successful monetarily, they’re often insecure about life and business. I call them mental midgets because they’re stuck in a state of mental insecurity.
On the other hand, I know people making a couple hundred grand a year who are happy, putting money away, living in a good place, and feeling content. So, I don’t define success by money anymore. What impresses me more is a person who is confident and at peace with themselves.
MLM: What is one career philosophy you have that people would be surprised to learn about you?
DS: I know I’m expendable. I’ve said this plenty of times, especially in my line of work. I know I can be replaced. I think that’s been one of my good qualities. It’s not that I don’t think things could dry up—look at what happened in 2020. But I’m also not obsessing over it. I’ve really worked hard not to dwell on “what ifs.” Instead, I focus on what needs to be done now and what I need to do to be successful.
You know that if you make certain decisions, things can go wrong. But I’ve done a good job of being present in my business and focusing on what we’re working on now. It’s simple for me: I’m not going to sit here and worry about another pandemic or if people won’t want to learn from me when I’m 60.
Over the last 20 years, the amount of business opportunities that have come my way were unpredictable. Most of the stuff I do now didn’t even exist before. That’s proof that I just need to be present and go with the flow.
