A Tribute to 14 Years of Wellness
November 5, 2020
It’s hard to believe that I have been running a wellness company for 14 years. As I think back of the day that I decided to jump into business on my own, the excitement and fear was probably parallel in greatness. I have always been an entrepreneur. My creativity and drive to put a dream to life has always been at the front of my mind. I love coming up with new programs and events and expanding our service line, bringing health awareness wrapped up in fun to our clients. Wellness should always be fun. It’s finding out how to make it fun to YOU that is the challenge, as we are all different.
When I think about my 14 years of adventure running a wellness company, it hasn’t been easy. Owning a company is personal. This is a huge part of my life and will always be intertwined in my personal life. It is what it is. While it has its advantages, it has many challenges. Over the years, I have made it through the recession, a wedding, three pregnancies, a child with special needs, three office/home moves, my father’s death, and now the pandemic. As I think back, I remember running payroll at midnight the night of our wedding. I took a phone call while sitting in the delivery room waiting for my second daughter to be ready for delivery. I work on every vacation, if only for a few minutes. So yes, work is always “on,” but that is definitely OK. I value my position, the customers and the flexibility to work anywhere. I love that I get to share something that is so personal to me with others.
I also highly value my team. Some of the professional on the Kb Fitness Solutions, Inc. team have been on the team since 2013. Our team members, whether newer additions or long-term members, are so passionate about their area of expertise. They are committed to YOUR success, which helps them ultimately, feel successful. They are fun and loyal. They make Kb Fitness Solutions, Inc. what is is today and has been over the past 14 years.
Wellness and business compliment each other on some very important key issues. While business may not be your “thing,” I can assume that wellness is since you are reading my blog. And if business strikes your fancy, then I hope these tips give you some guidance as well. Here are just a few top tips that I have learned in business over the past 14 years that will help in wellness as well. Here goes:
My Best Business/Wellness Tips
Get Over the Downfalls Quickly.
I have a five-minute rule, and no, I am not talking about how quickly you can eat something that fell on the floor (Which is never. Throw it away. Yuck!) Life and your wellness program will have it’s ups and downs. If something bad happens, you have every right to be upset about it. Maybe you ate a huge bowl of ice cream after you just lost 20 pounds and you get mad at yourself. Or in business, perhaps you lost a big account. that is life. It will not always be perfect. It will have it’s ebbs and flows. Vent for five minutes and no more. The quicker you get over it, the quicker you can focus on rebuilding and positive aspects. It’s from failures that we grow and improve. Failures are necessary. Learn from them, and move onward and upward.
Your Business/Health Will Be as Successful as the Time You Put Into It
You have to be committed to the success of your business/wellness. Period. Everyday, I use my success strategy to keep the momentum of my business and my health. How this works is that you put three line items a day on your list to accomplish for the day. When you check off these three items, BOOM, you feel successful and not disappointed in yourself. It’s not too difficult to accomplish three things a day. For example, for health, these could be your three items on your list: 1) take 10 minutes to meditate, 2) eat a 100 calorie high-nutrient snack every 2-3 hours and 3) plan ahead the week’s meals. For business, your three items could be: 1) Follow up with 5 prospects, 2) write a blog, and 3) update the marketing plan for the anniversary special. If you cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, crawl … never stop moving.
Just Do It. Even a Little Bit Could Lead to BIG Results
I owned a company called Skinny Socials up to the time I gave birth to my first daughter. Technically, I still own it, but we haven’t operated since then. We hosted low calorie cocktail and healthy food events at restaurants all over Chicago. I was a video blogger. We would bring our dietitian team in and “Skinny Social Certify” various restaurants and then recommend their dishes to our followers. I started it in 2011 and dipped a lot of personal money into it. While in the beginning of the second year, we finally started growing and making money, I had accumulated quite a bit of debt, and it was stressful, to say the least.
I was getting a little burned out after a long week of work. It was a Thursday evening over the summer, and I had three networking events in one evening to attend. A corporate account invited us to an event at a Chicago hotel. I was exhausted and almost skipped it to only attend the other events that I paid for, but decided to go just for a little bit. I appreciated their business and wanted to say hello. I brought one of my team members with me to the events that evening, and we decided to stop at the corporate event first.
When we arrived to the corporate, the event only had a handful of people at it and served beer, provided by a sponsor. I am not a beer fan, so I drank some water and chatted it up with whoever was there. My employee and I headed to the bathroom before leaving for our second event. In the bathroom, was a lovely woman who was the beer sponsor. While making small talk, we came to learn that she was looking for an opportunity to highlight their new low-calorie beer. She thought Skinny Socials would be perfect. We hosted seven Beer, Bears, and Bubbles events for the Sunday Bears games at a West Loop Restaurant, and they were our beer sponsor. This beer company gave me the exact amount of money that I had invested in Skinny Socials. I was completely out of debt from the company start-up costs.
Attend every networking opportunity. You never know who you will meet and who might just change your life. If you are tired, just do a lower-intensity workout. If you want results, you have to work on your wellness/business even when you don’t feel like it. It WILL lead to BIG results, I promise.
Thank you to our clients who have been committed to working with our team over the years. We are forever grateful for your business, especially during this pandemic where industries, like Kb Fitness Solutions, Inc. is struggling to keep going. Please take advantage of our many anniversary specials this month. CHEERS to 14 YEARS!
