NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville personal trainer and founder of Zero to Hero Coaching, Cody Kelly vividly remembers the moment the gym changed his life.

Kelly grew up in West Nashville and graduated from Hillwood High School before attending Nashville State Community College, where he pursued a business degree. Over time, his background in business, retail leadership, and fitness would collide, shaping a career rooted in both physical and mental transformation. But the journey there was far from easy.

Kelly dove in headfirst with plans to earn his personal training certification in 2017, however, life had other plans.

“That was when I went to college, so I postponed,” Kelly shares.

He soon stayed busy working in retail leadership for more than a decade. Despite the demands of his career, fitness continued to surface in the background of his life. Kelly says fitness was not always a priority growing up, but his first experience in the gym marked the beginning of something new.

“I was 17. It was about the first time in my life I could start leaning out. I was a very overweight kid growing up,” Kelly says.

He recalls being the “biggest, socially awkward and introverted child” in his class, a reality that shaped both his confidence and perspective.

One random night on the internet would change everything.

“I was on Bodybuilding’s website and fell in love with their programs,” he shares. “It was so cool to see how my body was changing and it was the first time I gave myself confidence that I didn’t go out and find, I gave it to myself.”

That shift would later become the backbone of his coaching philosophy.

“Learning about how a business runs? How do you lead people? How do you inspire people? How do you empower and be a coach and develop them, starts with being self-led in yourself, and then being the one that people look up to,” Kelly adds.

In early 2023, life forced an unexpected pivot—almost overnight. Kelly finally earned his CPT and Nutrition certification and planned to ease into coaching. Instead, circumstances accelerated his timeline.

“I actually got laid off. It was my first layoff ever,” he shares.

Kelly immediately turned to the person he credits as his biggest supporter: his wife.

“I said, ‘Hey babe, I just got laid off.’ She paused for a second and said, ‘Well, I guess you need to get your ass in the gym.’ And that’s exactly what I did.”

Since then, the couple sold their home and moved to Franklin, where Zero to Hero Coaching has continued to grow from its humble beginnings.

The name of his company came to Kelly in a dream.

“I woke up one day and realized everyone, including myself, has their zero moments and their hero moments,” he says.

Kelly believes life’s most heroic moments are often born out of adversity—a lesson he learned early through his family.

“We were very poor,” he shares. “The lights were always going to turn off, water was always going to turn off.”

Kelly doesn’t share these details to dramatize his past or paint himself as a victim. He shares them because they are true—and because they shaped everything that followed.

“When you grow up knowing the lights are always going to turn off, you don’t wait for it to happen, you just stay ready for the dark,” he explained.

Through it all, there was one constant source of stability.

“If it wasn’t for my grandparents, I wouldn’t be here today.”

He repeats it often, not out of habit, but out of certainty and gratitude. His grandparents showed him firsthand how to break cycles when life feels unmanageable.

With Zero to Hero Coaching, clients work one-on-one with a trainer who understands what it means to show up for others.

“At the end of the day, I’m a trainer, right? I move weights around in the gym, but I am here for the mindset part of it all,” he says. “I believe that it’s about having a strong capable body and also a strong resilient mind.”

Kelly says he isn’t afraid of first-time gym-goers and identifies most with those clients.

“One day, one week at a time, one workout at a time,” he adds.

For Kelly and his wife, the leap into entrepreneurship came during an incredibly unstable season.

“We had six months left in our emergency fund, but that wasn’t in cash, that was in a secondary line of credit on our house. Interest payment were going up more and more, and debt was piling on the credit cards,” he shares. “Six months later my wife also got laid off.”

During the rebuilding period, Kelly did whatever he could to keep his coaching business alive.

“I was willing to die for it. I was selling all of my precious belongings. I played guitar since I was 12 and sold my guitar, sold my music, sold my amps, sold all my furniture. I was selling all these things I love because I wanted to make this work.”

He believes in building people up first—because leadership follows self-belief.

“No one is coming to save you except yourself. Be the one that leads out [of your situation],” Kelly says. “If you want the accountability, if you want support, if you want the plan, that’s where I come in.”

From early struggles with poverty and instability to the intentional, empowering environment he creates for his clients today, Cody Kelly’s story is one of resilience, self-reliance, and purpose-driven coaching.

Today, Kelly trains clients at Common Ground Gym, a private facility in Franklin, Tennessee. He currently offers free discovery consultations and is available to connect on Instagram.

Give the new year a fighting chance alongside someone who is willing to fight alongside you.

Author: Tala Shatara