A 20 Year Fitness Business Career
In this episode I chat with Lori Patterson, founder of the Boot Camp Challenge about her 20 year fitness business career. Lori has been in the fitness and wellness industries since the early 1980’s and has continually pioneered new ways of bringing people together and bettering their fitness lives. We’ll hear how she’s been a master at pivoting her business every handful of years to keep herself happy and her business thriving.
We discuss:
– Pivoting her business to adjust to her needs at the time
– Going above and beyond for your clients and their needs
– How the Army taught her that you always need a team
– Why You get up and serve others, even on days when you don’t want to
– Fitness is not only for young people, it can be sustainable for a lifetime
… and more!
Here are some highlights:
Lori Saw a Need and Created a Solution
“I saw many people moving through our group exercise programs and classes and wanting more, wanting additional service,” says Lori. “But couldn’t necessarily afford one-on-one. We had a whole schedule of group exercise classes which I ran. And I would see %80 of them, predominately women, asking for additional knowledge and education. And they also really liked the group, they liked being a part of a crew. When I started thinking about this program, which later became Boot Camp Challenge, I knew they wanted the added value from personal training including the camaraderie, benchmarks, nutrition information, and accountability.”
Fitness Bootcamps Were New when Lori Got Into Them
“Bootcamps were not in the industry yet,” Lori said. “All the way back in the early 80’s the only group exercise classes were called high impact aerobics. Then low impact came in as an option, then step, then slide, then spin/cycle, then kickboxing, and then yoga and pilates. At the time these were all separate disciplines and we brought them into the fitness industry, meaning ‘us’ that were leading classes at the time. And we would take from these other disciplines and move elements into our classes. And I was the one who actually brought bootcamps in. I didn’t know it at the time. I want to say that I was smart and wise, I wasn’t. I saw the need of my customer and I knew the Army.”
Lori Was Repeatedly Told to Expand Her Bootcamp Classes
“We were launching these bootcamp classes in 6-8 clubs and it never crossed my mind to license it or franchise any of it,” says Lori. “I was busy running my business. I was running the club, I was running Boot Camp Challenge, I had three children and a husband. And we were doing into corporate. Then I started going and I would always ask people if they were doing bootcamps and everyone always asked me what that meant. They would then ask me to come and train them to do it and insist that I should start selling it.”
It Can Be Good to Stop and Think About What You Want
“I think humans as a whole think that when we grow up we put our selves in these boxes,” Lori said. “And you think ‘I should do this,’ ‘I should do that,’ and we both know as coaches that’s the worst thing. Stop getting in your own way. Stop and take. Realistic view of what you’re good at and what you like. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world says.”
Your Actions Expand Outward
“Helping one person is more like a ripple,” says Lori. “Because that one person will share that intel, their strengths, their joy, with their loved ones and then it slowly becomes greater and greater. I think that when you’re a business owner in this industry you don’t always get to see the ripple, or the tsunami, at the end. It is sometimes hard to get out of bed. I think that’s why we connected. To find people who are like minded for those days when it is difficult to get out of bed. You may only have 6 people but that 6 people will one day become 600.”
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Connect with Lori here.
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