2 personal trainers who are dating and work at the same gym explain how they keep their relationship strong

• Personal trainers Stefanie Tsengas and Maurice May have been dating since 2020.
• They said having the same career has made them better at what they do, but requires a lot of work.

In 2020, Maurice May, who goes by Mo, was working as a personal trainer at Ohio Sports and Fitness in Cleveland.

"So one day this beautiful Greek goddess opens the gym door," the 30 year-old told Insider. "I'd never seen her before."

26 year-old Stefanie Tsengas had been a personal trainer for four years, but had just started working at Ohio Sports and Fitness.

May saw Tsengas trying out a new machine and he took the opportunity to ask her if she wanted help.

"I appreciated it. I wasn't really interested, though," she said with a laugh.

But May was insistent, introducing himself every day until it became a running gag between the two. When Tsengas told him she didn't have the proper running shoes to use the track upstairs, May made a plan with her to go shoe shopping.

"I used to work in sales," he said. "Assume the sale. 'Let's do Tuesday at two o'clock.'"

After that, May asked Tsengas out for coffee.

Tsengas said she found May's approach attractive. "I'm very busy. I'm very go, go, go," she said. "I need someone to be decisive. I need someone to be assertive."

Neither expected they would ever date another personal trainer, they said, but the couple has been together now for over two years.

Although it comes with challenges, Tsengas and May said working in the same profession has brought them closer.

Sharing a career has some benefits

They're both incredibly driven and competitive, Tsengas said, and find having a shared mindset attractive. In addition to training, both Tsengas and May have their own clothing brands and Tsengas hosts a podcast.

The two also understand their busy schedules in a way that no one else could, they said, whether it's working with a client or editing a TikTok.

Tsengas said that they have made each other better at their jobs. May has learned a lot from Tsengas' extensive experience as a personal trainer, as well as how she markets herself on Tik Tok and Instagram. Tsengas said May helps her navigate work without burning out.

How they make their relationship work

While having the same job in the same place can have its benefits, it requires setting firm boundaries.

"When you're with each other all the time, it's easy to piss each other off," Tsengas said.

The two don't work out together or live together, and their clients are different enough that they don't clash over training styles. May works mainly with athletes under 18, and Tsengas' clients are all women, many of whom have aesthetic goals.

Tsengas and May said planning time away from work is essential to keeping their relationship strong. "Even though we're together a lot, it's not always intimate and in a very thoughtful, intentional way. So we go on dates and we spend time out together to think about us," May said.

Ultimately, the couple said communication, patience, and having complementary personalities has made their unique relationship setup work.

"I am goofy, I jump off the walls, literally," Tsengas said. "I wouldn't say I'm the most chilled person in the world, but he is. But he's also like I can be a weirdo and it's okay. I used to tell him, 'I'm sorry if I'm too weird for you,' and then I realized that he was worse, so it's okay."