CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One million subscribers, a huge number for anyone who makes their living on social media. A North Carolina personal trainer overcame some pretty big obstacles to get there.

It’s an around the clock job, owning a businesses and being a personal trainer to now serving one million people online. 

Sydney Cummings starts the day long before shooting her YouTube videos.

First, she does an early morning workout at home, live on her Facebook page and exclusively for these members. 

After spending the morning live online with her clients, she and her fiancé and business partner, Dustin Houdyshell, make their way to the studio to start shooting. 

While it seems all smiles, it wasn’t the easiest journey to make it to where they are. 

“Right after my younger brother passed away, he had a traumatic ATV accident and at the time I was personal training in Charlotte at a lot of gyms. And when my brother passed away I actually just kind of reevaluated what kind of legacy am I making in the world and what kind of impact would I leave if this was my last day,” says Cummings.

In her brother's honor, she and Houdyshell got right to work putting new videos on YouTube every day.

Cummings says mental health is a huge part of the fitness world. If you’re taking time to care about yourself it can help on the harder days.

Mental health is something Cummings and Houdyshell had to rely on, after being held at gunpoint just outside her studio.

“They fired eight shots and one of them actually went through my foot, so we had a four month stint where we didn’t film any YouTube videos. It was a rough couple years, it was definitely a test of how deep is your mission,” Cummings says. 

They powered through, and when the pandemic started they were at roughly 300,000 subscribers. In less than a year, they gained 700,000 and just recently hit the 1 million subscribers mark.

“It’s a tough thing to kind of think of a horrible time being a time of growth for our business but at the same time it’s all that we ever wanted for people is to know that you can access fitness anywhere,” Cummings says.

The growth didn’t stop, in a few weeks they’re hoping to debut a new studio. It’s 10 times the size as where they first started. They’re expanding with a clothing line, water bottles, gym gear, and more.

“Knowing more lives are going to be changed, more mental health, physical health, emotional health journeys are going to be able to positively change as we continue to grow, it’s all gratitude,” Cummings says.

If you’re looking for some fitness inspiration, all of her videos are available to you for free on her YouTube page.