[quote style=”boxed”]Constantly living your dream and keeping a positive mind set. And knowing that positive thoughts and energy will bring along what you want and aspire to be if life.[/quote]
Lisa Schneider has been involved in fitness for 14 years, beginning as a personal trainer in a private rehab personal training studio. After completing a comprehensive course in Pilates in 2000, she was able to realize her passion – The Pilates Method.
Perfectly timed to meet increasing demands for Pilates in South Africa, Lisa opened her first Pilates studio. Soon after, she began the rapid growth of her business in close connection to a large commercial fitness club in South Africa. To date Lisa runs and owns 7 fully equipped Pilates studios in South Africa with 40 comprehensively trained Pilates instructors working in her clubs.
To supply the ever-increasing need for Pilates training, Lisa founded Trifocus Pilates Teacher Education which provides comprehensive education in Pilates exercise science.
Lisa met her friend Danna Reuben in South Africa in 1979 and has kept in contact ever since. Danna trained as a professional ballet dancer and danced in principle roles for many shows. To date Danna is a dance critic for D Magazine and a Professor of Dance appreciation in Dallas. Danna also has many close ties to the Pilates and fitness arena in Dallas.
Lisa proposed bringing Trifocus Pilates Teacher Education to Danna’s home town Dallas Texas and will be running Trifocus Comprehensive and Exercise Science courses later this year.
“We are both very excited for this new venture and know that the courses will grow as big as they have in South Africa in the United States as well!”
What are you working on right now?
Right now we are working on our CYQ accreditation in the United Kingdom. I am also constantly working at upgrading and updating my Exercises Science and Pilates educational manuals. Trifocus Pilates definitely has the most beautiful and detailed manuals available and we constantly upgrade and update them to remain that way.
What does your typical day look like?
Well as well as running fitness organization I have two young daughters. Danna 6 and Carla 2. So, my general day consists of getting up at 4:40am to work on my manuals, getting the girls ready for school, going to gym to train myself, going to visit the managers at my studio, returning emails and calls and building the business.
What is the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
Well, I can’t say that I ever really had bad a job. Whatever I have done in life I have done with my full effort and commitment. If I had never enjoyed it at the time I tried to look within myself to find my true passion. Thank God I have found it now!
3 trends that excited you?
New fitness trends, new business trends in health clubs and new and creative ways of doing business.
How do you bring your ideas to life?
I constantly imagine and dream of bigger and better ways of expanding my business and sharing my passion, so I would say through thought and stillness, I manage to create how I would like to see my life and I try to fulfill my passion and bring my ideas to life! I always try to see the positive in people and enjoy turning negative situations into positive ones!
What inspires you?
I love to see young and passionate individuals bring their ideas and passion to life. I always want to stay ahead of the game and get inspired by the passion of other like minded people!
What is one mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it?
One mistake I made was trusting and giving too much of myself to a person in business. I have learned that trust is something that happens after years of knowing people and having like minded ideas about life.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Constantly living your dream and keeping a positive mind set. And knowing that positive thoughts and energy will bring along what you want and aspire to be if life.
What do you read every day and why?
That’s a funny one. The only thing I read every day is medical articles on the internet and Facebook. I read the articles so I get to learn the complex human body even more to upgrade my manuals and Facebook so I can keep in touch with friends that I don’t see often and so I can network.
What book can you recommend to readers and why?
Any book on the human anatomy and how it relates to exercise make fantastic reads. I think anyone would benefit from learning how their body actually works and not being naive towards the subject of exercise and health.
What is your favourite gadget, app or piece of software that helps you every day?
That’s easy..My iPod at gym, my Black Berry and my laptop. They are all essential gadgets in my life I could not live without!
Three people we should follow on Twitter, and why?
I have to be honest I do not twitter at all. I prefer Facebook. But, if I did twitter it would be any fitness personality that would make me get off my ass and exercise!
Who would you love to see interviewed on IdeaMensch?
Anyone that would offer real ideas to fix this downwards economy that the world has been going thorough for the past couple of years. That would be really smart and interesting!
When is the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it.
Yesterday. My husband is the only human to really make me laugh out load. He knows me better than anyone in this world and has the ability to make me laugh at myself and my eccentricities.
Why do you feel that your Pilates courses are different to those that the united States currently have?
I feel that our courses are more detailed; far better priced and have far better structure. Most Pilates courses do not look at the whole human body when studding it and only concentrate on certain fragments. We see the human body holistically and study the whole of the human body in relation to exercises in our courses, I think that most fitness courses and Pilates courses especially are excessively over priced and as a result cause a barrier for entry with the prices they charge. I think that Pilates and the human body are such magnificent subjects that should not be charged the earth for people to study and appreciated. We offer well priced course with payment options so everyone can enjoy and enhance their life with the knowledge of Pilates and the human body! And hopefully make a wonderful and enriched career with it! With regards to the structure of our courses I feel that most organizations are far too long winded with the structure of the courses. Trifocus Pilates either offers one comprehensive course where the student can get all their education done in one go or we offer it done in 2 modules. Most Pilates courses are so drawn out that the student does not get to fully benefit from all Pilates has to offer as it takes too long to certify themselves comprehensively.
Connect
You can reach me though my Facebook site Trifocus Pilates (Education) We also have a Facebook Trifocus (Group). My US website site is not yet running but you can also link up with me by my South African website: www.trifocuspilates.co.za
Looking forward to hearing from you all! I am elated to bring the Pilates course into the US and I know that all fitness enthusiasts will benefit from the course!!
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.