Blurry service relationships – Exploring recurrent encounters in personal training through photo-elicitation interviews

There are a variety of service occupations characterised by recurrent contact with familiar customers. Through the performance of emotional labour, these service worker/customer relationships can potentially flourish as part of ongoing relational trajectory that evolves with each encounter. Using data gathered from photo-elicitation interviews, this article explores how a group of personal trainers reflect upon their longstanding relationships with familiar clients. The implications of performing emotional labour in such contexts included a blurring of the personal/professional, as service-based, economic exchanges slipped into actual friendships. Theoretically, the findings indicate that where emotional labour is recurrent and highly affective, subtle discursive and embodied tactics may be employed to establish boundaries and support a sense professional identity, while sustaining close ‘friendships’ with clients.