Don’t put your health on hold until you get to your destination. If you are too far gone to enjoy it when you get there, what’s the point?
Michelle is an entrepreneur with a lifelong passion for physical fitness. As a Certified Personal Trainer with a B.S. Degree in Exercise Science and Fitness and advanced training for special populations, including but not limited to Cardiac Rehabilitation, Pregnancy, Children and Youth, Diabetes, Stroke, PVD, COPD, Asthma, Cancer, Hypertension, HIV/AIDS, MS and Joint Rehab., she has spent her career providing exceptional training at every stage of a person’s life. As her passion continued to evolve into a family affair, Michelle launched My First Workout® with the goal of connecting kids with good habits. The progressive strength and conditioning program focuses on enhancing performance and preventing injuries in children 5 – 10 years old. Michelle’s goal in creating this program is to assist parents in building essential lifestyle habits from the earliest moments in their child’s life, which will improve the health of all our children.
Where did the idea for My First Workout come from?
The idea for My First Workout® came about on a Sunday morning in March of 2018. My young son, who was 5 at the time, and I were having a lazy morning together. I was overwhelmed with appreciation for the special bond we have. I attribute this connection to our many exercise adventures together and I am so grateful that he is a healthy and happy child. My mind began to wander, thinking of other children, and I wished that every parent had something they could enjoy with their child to connect with them on a much deeper level — like exercise — which has brought so much joy to our family. My focus in creating this program is to assist parents in building essential lifestyle habits from the earliest moments in their child’s life, which will improve the health of all our children.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
A typical day for me is wearing lots of hats. There are many responsibilities and obligations that I must fulfill as a wife, mother, daughter, friend, personal trainer and CEO of a start up company. I am an avid list keeper and I jot down every need that arises in the course of a day and knock them off one by one. If it doesn’t make the list, it probably won’t get done. My memory isn’t what it used to be!
How do you bring ideas to life?
All my ideas are brought to life on my daily hour-long walks. I am able to think so much more clearly and creatively when I am walking.
What’s one trend that excites you?
A trend that excites me is children’s health and fitness, especially when it comes to strength training for children.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
When there are items on my to do list it’s hard for me to rest until they are done. So I accomplish quite a bit in a day because I always feel the pressure to get as many things off my list as possible.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Nothing is ever as it seems.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I am not as nice as everyone thinks I am! I’m a pleaser and I’m working on that.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Exercise daily.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Social Media only highlights the biggest and best moments. When the grand moments are all people see, the illusion becomes the reality in people’s minds whether it’s the truth or not.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I initially chose the wrong company to do my website. I knew “when to fold em'” and I cut ties.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
If there was an app that could use all the ingredients I actually had in stock in my pantry and fridge and come up with a recipe based solely on those ingredients, it would be very helpful! I don’t like leaving my house once I’m home.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I purchased a My First Workout® kit. Hands down, it is the best $100 spent because the kit went to my 5 year old child and he will have the equipment and education from the program for his entire lifetime. He can share the knowledge he learned with his children and in turn, his grand-children. This product builds habits into a family that become a lifestyle. Better quality of life and good health is priceless. Bad quality of life and bad health is extremely costly. This program gives children better quality of life and health from an early age and it is perhaps the only gift that I could give my son as a child that he will still be using in his old age.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
I love my Intuit software for keeping all my finances in order. Each week, my FSU intern and I go through all the expenses and itemize them. It is extremely helpful to push a button and have all my accounts refresh with the latest purchases so I can file them away. Reporting and knowing my bottom-line is a cinch with this software.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The Bible for every situation in life. Easy to Love Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey for parenting help.
What is your favorite quote?
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit
of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.'” by E. Bombeck.
Key Learnings:
1. Don’t put your health on hold until you get to your destination. If you are too far gone to enjoy it when you get there, what’s the point?
2. Timing is everything. It pays to be patient and persistent.
3. Focus on what you want to have happen not on what you don’t want. Then make it happen.
4. Surround yourself with good people and let them do what they do best. The skill of delegation is a wonderful thing when the load starts getting too heavy to manage on your own.
Connect:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.