How To Move Your Bootcamp's Location - Jessi Schlegel
Kyle Wood: As group fitness business
owners, or bootcamps, we end up
building a community in one area.
That's part of what makes boot camps
amazing as part of what makes them great.
Is that we take people who live
locally to us, we bring them together.
We exercise together.
And yeah, that is how
a community is created.
So what happens when you need to move?
When you need to go to a
different location, you can't
take those clients with you.
How do you start from scratch?
That's one of the things we talk about,
on Everything Bootcamp today with my
guest, we also talk about gyms, keeping
your trainers, not just your clients
morale up, but your trainers morale up.
And, lots of other stuff.
I think you're really going to enjoy it.
And uh, here it is.
Hello, welcome back to
everything bootcamp today.
My guest is Jessi Schlegel.
Jessi is based in Vancouver, Canada.
Our first Canadian, on the show.
She helps manage a small neighborhood gym
and runs her own business Fitness VYR.
She's been a trainer for, we were
just working out, about 15 years.
And has a wide range of expertise
in yoga, nutrition, and fitness.
Jessi, thanks for coming on the show.
Jessi Schlegel: Thanks for having me.
Kyle Wood: Yeah, it's awesome to have you.
So today, the way I've been
enjoying kicking these calls
off is to ask you a question.
Casting your mind back, do you
remember the first group fitness
class you attended as a participant?
Jessi Schlegel: Oh, God.
Yes.
It was a long time ago and it was a
step aerobics class and it was awful.
Kyle Wood: You didn't like it?
Jessi Schlegel: I didn't like it because
I was already in sports school and we went
through a lot of movement and stuff and
I thought, oh, this is going to be easy.
And I attended it.
And after the warmup,
I was pretty much out.
Because the steps got so
complex, I couldn't follow.
So that was a nice hit to my ego.
Kyle Wood: Yeah, like,
I'll be good at this.
You're the first person, which
I think must speak to a lot of
going back, like 15, 20 years.
Like what the common form
of group fitness was.
The other third person told me
it was a step aerobic class.
Happily, you'd be the second person who
was like, 'I really didn't like it'.
So, the other person, she had a
background in dance, so she loved all
the rhythmic stuff that was involved.
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah, that was
never my favorite thing to do.
And I think it was actually a
Latin inspired step aerobic class.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
I used to do musical theater in my teens.
And the one thing that like
I always was like, just my
sticking point was the dancing.
Could sing, could act, but trying
to in that big, like gangly
teenage body as well, just, just
way too much up here in my head.
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah.
Same here.
The in Sports School, the most difficult
ones were the, all the dance-y things.
Rhythmic gymnastic, dancy stuff.
Um, ballet.
I had to do ballet also.
That was fun.
So yeah, it got better over the years.
Let's put it that way.
. . Kyle Wood: Yeah.
Yeah.
And I found that as well.
Like once I started exercising regularly.
Like, I feel much more confident
on my feet or on a dance floor now.
Yeah, I think it, it just says that
like fitness, regular exercise
really does carry over to all
these different areas of your life.
Jessi Schlegel: For sure.
Yeah.
It helps a lot.
It just makes you feel like, it
feel like you can pick up things
quicker and more easily and just
follow along a little bit faster.
Cause you've done certain movements
already at some point in your life.
Kyle Wood: Yeah, absolutely.
Definitely.
So one thing we're sort of focusing on
with these early podcasts of Everything
Bootcamp is, because it's such a big
part of our lives, is the pandemic
we've been in the last 18 months.
And so I'd like to take a step forward
from your first aerobic class, but
through to like the start of 2020.
So, you running, managing
this small neighborhood gym,
running your own business.
And I know from talking to you
before that, that was especially
the gym getting shut down was
like an incredibly difficult time.
You had trainers other trainers
other than yourself who, you
know, you were concerned about.
How did you, as, as like
a manager navigate that?
Like what was really important to
you during such a difficult period?
Jessi Schlegel: Um, a few things.
Like you're trying to keep the
business alive, and you're also trying
to keep the trainers that you, um,
like our trainers are contractors.
So it's a little bit different
than if they were employees 'cause
there was a lot of help out for
employees when the pandemic started.
But it's a lot different for contractors.
Um, there was a lot of uncertainty
as where we could get help as a
business and where the individual
trainers could get help and where
everything was going at that point.
And I think we also didn't
know at the time for how long
everything would shut down.
Cause there's a huge difference whether
Richard's shutting down for two weeks
or six months or, you know, that all
has an impact on, on what you kind of
want to make sure is taken care of,
like we also have to pay rent and stuff.
And, um, so yeah, I know we didn't
know whether the clients would
come back or could come back or
possibly they could come back.
So there was a lot of uncertainty
and I think our objective was just
to keep it going as best as we could.
And we had to get quite creative
because the physical location
had to shut down for awhile.
And I think it was, huh, for classes a
little worse than for personal training.
I think we had more restrictions
on teaching classes.
Um, personal training was not as big
of an issue, um, but we had to come
up with a solution for that problem.
And what we did at the
time was we went online.
So we switched everything.
Uh, where the two weeks were initially
where everything was shut down.
We pretty much used that to move
everything online and come up with
free classes first to even get
people to notice that there is
such a thing as online training.
Back then it wasn't, it wasn't.
Like that was only almost two
years ago, but still, uh, it
wasn't a huge thing back then.
And so we just started random fit
camp boot camp inspired classes,
um, to get people used to the
idea and have them try it out.
And even for us to try out
how the equipment works, what
we have to be careful with,
what works, what doesn't work.
And, um, yeah, it was quite, quite
the journey, moving everything
from our normal routine to a,
something completely unknown.
Just so we could pretty much, what we
did at that time is that most of our
trainers kind of worked for free for
a couple weeks because we just didn't
know how we were going to pay them.
What was allowed, what wasn't allowed.
So we just pretty much sat down
for two weeks and brainstormed
and tried out different things.
And I think if it wasn't for our
trainers, we probably wouldn't
be here anymore as a gym.
And their health and enthusiasm and
willingness to try out new things.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
That aspect of team of
like being in it together.
So important that to, be able to see.
I mean, it'd be easy to get indignant
and be like, no, you have to pay me.
But being in it together on
how can the business evolve?
How can the business survive?
And trusting that you will
be looked after in the end.
That that speaks volumes about the
trust you had obviously already
built with your trainers, that
they were willing to do that.
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah, I think it
helps that it is a small, smaller
gym, and we only have about,
oh, between 10 and 20 trainers.
So it's not a huge team of people.
And I think because they all kind of
live in the neighborhood, they were
all friends and, clients from the
neighborhood and from around it really
helps, um, get them engaged in the gym
and interested in what we're doing.
Kyle Wood: So, and for yourself,
for your own business, did you have
to kind of shift gears down with
that as well for your own clients?
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah.
Yeah.
I pretty much did the same thing.
Um, cause most of the clients that
I train have their own apartment
gym, so I would go to their
apartment and train them there.
But also the apartments were shutting
down their gyms and everything.
So kind of the same thing.
I switched most of it either to outdoors,
luckily it was in the summer still when
we were heading into the pandemic, so, um,
it wasn't as bad yet outside, but yeah.
And luckily by September, October,
when it gets a bit more rainy here,
we had it figured out with online.
So we switched most of it online,
private, and at work, which was...
yeah, we needed those summer
months to figure everything out.
Kyle Wood: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bit of a, I guess it's
not really a blessing.
The whole thing was very
difficult, but yeah.
So, I know talking to you that
this kind of ended up being a bit
of an introspective time for you.
You like to read and think.
So what, what came up for you personally
during this time about like, sort of where
you were heading with your fitness career?
Jessi Schlegel: Um, I was just thinking
more about how I can, like how I'm helping
people now, how can I help them better?
You learn and you read a lot
in, you're always questioning.
I find as a trainer, you're
always questioning yourself.
Are you good enough?
Do you have enough experience?
Where can you improve?
Well, I'm asking myself those questions.
Um, but it was interesting
seeing what's really difficult.
Even what's difficult for people and why
they couldn't exercise anymore, right?
So for me, the objective was to find
something, um, to highlight that
fitness is important or should be
important to people and finding a way
to get that out there in the world.
Um, cause I sometimes find that people
started shutting themselves out.
Like they couldn't go to the gyms anymore.
Um, they might've not been as great going
on long hikes or long walks or something.
They just needed some guidance.
And all of a sudden, all the gyms
and everything was closed, right?
So they stopped exercising and
stopped, um, making healthy
choices and healthy decisions.
Um, and I just saw that in a lot of
people and they started gaining weight
and they were sitting more on the couch
and started having shoulder issues,
back issues, all kinds of issues.
And I just saw that the health of most
people was going down and I just really
wanted to make sure that everyone has
some sort of access to a fitness class.
It doesn't have to be fancy or
complicated, just a simple online
class is better than doing nothing.
So that was kind of the thought
process that I went through, how
to facilitate, um, fitness and
fitness classes for most people.
And yeah, the online
helped a lot doing that.
It's a lot easier now
to reach people at home.
Um, yeah.
And they hopefully feel better
being able to do something
than not doing anything at all.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
It becomes a feedback loop, doesn't it?
Where the sedentary activities,
feedback into like more, you know,
and, and opposite that way as well.
Like I've heard it described as like
a, an upwards or a downward spiral.
So, you know, certain activities will
lead you down spiral, but then certain
activities, like it's a positive
feedback loop where they'll lead you up.
And the, yeah, the lockdown, the
isolation from friends and family, the
spending more time on computers and
devices, you know, even that action of
you being such a movement person, like
even looking down at your phone, the
tightness that creates in your neck
has like a negative feedback loop.
Compared to like, was that TED talk, Amy
Cuddy's one which talks about power poses.
And that's like, how can I take up
as much space as possible and all
your hormones and stuff change when
you, when you just sit there and
take up as much space as possible.
And then now suddenly we're on the couch,
we've got our legs crossed, we're
looking down at our phone, we're
taking a small amount of space.
Yeah.
And it's even that action,
can be really challenging.
So what was your plan of attack?
So you ran the classes online,
you still charge money for them?
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah, we had
a good mix of some free intro
classes and then our regular, um,
normal classes on the schedule.
And, um, yeah, I think the
schedule outline kind of stayed
the same as it was before.
And then throughout the pandemic,
we had different regulations and
we would allow, um, hybrid classes.
So like five people could come to the
gym in person, and then we would still
run the class online at the same time.
So it was kind of our hybrid classes
were a little challenging, but fun.
Fun in the end.
Cause you didn't like, not only did
you have everyone in person, you also
had to make sure all their equipment
was set up and the TV was working and
the internet was working and we all
know not everything works all the time.
So it was a little stressful at times, but
still a very fun, fun experience overall.
Kyle Wood: And what did you find yourself
personally focusing on during this time?
Jessi Schlegel: Not
the things that I like.
I started being more concerned about the
quality of my camera and their internet
connection and cleaning the equipment and
making sure everyone follows the rules.
And that, for me, was like, a huge
shift that I actually don't get to
do what I liked to do and what I was
going to do, which is training people.
I become so much more.
It becomes, uh, you're kind of now a
technician in a way or an internet person.
Which I am not, or I wasn't at that time.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
At conferences when they record
them, that's usually the first
thing they outsource, you know?
It's like often they'll get a
sponsor if they can, they'll get
like, you know, Lenovo or Dell or
something to sponsor it or Microsoft.
And they'll send people in and
they'll handle all the tech stuff.
You don't have to worry about it.
Jessi Schlegel: I totally
understand why now.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
It is true.
Like even you're talking about Zoom,
I remember back when the pandemic
hit, I've been using Zoom already a
lot for various courses and things.
And, and I was like, all right,
if anyone doesn't know what
Zoom is, come jump on a call.
And I think I ran two calls and had
like 300 trainers joining the calls
over the two calls, just to see.
And now, you know, we talk about
Zooming someone it's just part of
our language, but yeah, back then
it was such a steep learning curve.
So you feel like now you're able
to spend more time again, as you
described, the things that you're
good at and that you enjoy doing?
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah.
I think everything is a learning curve.
And once you get past the point
where everything's overwhelming and
you've kind of, you can troubleshoot
a little faster, um, it doesn't
become such a big thing anymore.
So now I'm slowly able again, to focus
on, oh, what are my participants actually
doing in this class, rather than focusing
on where the camera is going or whatever.
Yeah.
It's just slowly, it's
going back to normal.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
There's something else we
need to talk about Jesse.
And that is that you're moving.
So was that something you planned
to do before the pandemic hit?
Jessi Schlegel: Yes.
We planned to do that before, but
the pandemic slowed everything down.
Kyle Wood: Oh, actually did the opposite.
I wondered if it sped up, but it's
actually had the opposite effect.
Jessi Schlegel: Actually, you're right.
Yes and no.
That it sped up my chances of being
able to work from anywhere also slowed
down, um, the building process, cause
we bought, um, a piece of land and
we have to build everything there.
Kyle Wood: So tell us a little
bit, if you're comfortable, tell
us a little bit about your project.
Jessi Schlegel: So our project was
to, um, go a little bit back to nature
and we wanted to own a piece of land.
So we bought that piece of
land on a lovely, tiny little
island, um, off the coast.
And our idea was to move there.
I was going to build a little gym
there where I could work out of and
run workshops out of and do a lot
of videos for courses and just live
a bit of a more, oh, simpler life.
Easier.
Not necessarily.
And we started building, but
then the pandemic hit and in
Canada it was a huge deal.
The wood prices went up.
So everything was really expensive
here, which slowed us down and
then materials weren't delivered.
So that slowed us down.
And you couldn't travel because
we still have to take, um, two
ferries to get to our island.
And, um, at that point it was considered
a different, um, health region.
So for a while we were not allowed
to cross from one health region to
another health region, unless you
have a construction site there.
So we kind of always fell through
the cracks with that, luckily
and could go back and forth.
But, um, yeah, it was quite challenging
to actually get something done there.
And, um, yeah, so that
took a little bit longer.
But on the plus side from the
start, I was able to teach there
with help of my cell phone plan.
So you can imagine me standing
in the middle of nowhere in the
woods with my cell phone, trying to
teach a class, and my clients would
hear the parts in the background.
I'm like, oh, sorry, dude.
Noise cancellation.
So, yeah.
And then one day I remember
there was a deer behind me
while I was teaching a class.
So those kinds of things happened.
Um, yeah, that was fun.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
That's exciting.
I think that's a dream people,
even in the subgroup of people
who are trainers, probably have.
You know, we're interested in
fitness, we're interested in moving.
We usually like the outdoors that comes
with it and the dream of buying some
land and setting up, a small space.
Do you have plans of having people
come out, or will it be more
like a hub for virtual content?
Jessi Schlegel: I would love
to have people come out.
Cause like the one thing I also
learned during the pandemic is how
disconnected we are from nature and how
important nature is for our wellbeing
and just being out there exactly.
When we were so bombarded with all
the technology and all the new things.
Um, one week out there would do wonders
to my mental health and to my brain.
And I really feel that people need to,
um, get that kind of back into their
lives, being outdoors and, and working
in nature and being out there, um, it
really does help with a lot of things.
So I I'd love to have smaller groups
over, um, for workshops or weekends,
um, and make it a bit more of a all
'round destination where you, um, have
maybe a nature walk or you go to the
beach and then you have a class and
then you go to the garden and learn
something about gardening and maybe
work with our neighbors together,
who's um, she's a lovely person.
She does pottery and it kind of creates
that own environment over there.
There are so many lovely things to do.
So it's more like a destination weekend
where you can do 5, 6, 7 different things.
Or you'll borrow a paddleboard
one day and then you bike
through the park the next day.
And then you do a couple of
classes while you're there.
That kind of thing.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
A chance to reconnect, you know, I
always find reconnecting with nature
ends up connecting with myself
and, reminding me what's important.
I think that's the biggest thing.
Nature reminds us that we're actually
just guests on this planet, in a way.
Like I live near the water, I go look
at the ocean just going for miles.
And you're like, 'Yeah, okay.
I'm actually a pretty small little thing.
Maybe the problems that I'm stressing
about are as big a deal as, as I'm
making them out to be at the moment'.
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah.
And you kind of slow down and you
have to, like, one thing I had to
learn is: you have to be patient.
And when something's not in the
carts, you have to have a plan B and
it's okay to not know every single
moment of the time what's next.
So like for example, we tried to
get off island and you know, you
might have heard of island time.
Everything's a little slower and people
don't usually run after the clock.
Everything's six o'clock.
So we had those great plans to
pick something up off island.
We try to get ready and we realized
that we had a nail in our tire.
So we had to fix that first.
And you can have all the plans you want.
If you have a flat tire,
you have a flat tire.
So then we realized we couldn't fix
it because we didn't have the tools.
So we had to find a neighbor who
had the tools to then fix it,
which then took another half hour.
And so everything kind of snowballs and
takes a lot longer than you think, and
you kind of learn to be okay with that
and seeing the positives in it and like,
'Okay, well I didn't make this ferry, but
it was maybe good for whatever reason'.
And we spend more time here
and got to know our neighbors
because they're equipment now.
Right.
So it makes you slow down and
just appreciate each moment.
And not judge right away, whether
that was a good or a bad thing.
It was just a thing or a moment.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
That's such a good reminder.
We're always sort of making that
choice between, I guess, convenience
and doing things the slower way.
Yeah, I'm the same.
I often prefer to do things the
slow way, much to the annoyance
of other people at times.
But, yeah, I also have a tendency to
make things super efficient, but I
can make things too efficient to the
point where there's no satisfaction.
All right.
Are you ready for the
rapid fire questions?
Jessi Schlegel: Sure.
Kyle Wood: Cool.
So first question is: what are the
top three things you do each week that
you found help your business grow?
Jessi Schlegel: Um, I find, uh, the
three T's - teach talk and tell.
Teaching means trying to educate
the clients that I have and just
explaining to them why I do certain
things and what my plan is, where
I want to go with them and then
coordinate with them what their plan is.
It's just creates a little bit of bonding.
I talk, which means, um,
I try and stay connected.
So if someone emails me or if
someone has a comment on, on social
media, I try and stay engaged with
them to just make them feel like
they're important, which they are.
Um, and I, I ask them to, to bring
friends and tell other people about
me if they like what I'm doing.
Um, so it kind of spreads the word
and I've always found even in our
little neighborhood, word of mouth
really is the best advertisement.
We have so many people who bring friends,
um, family members, team members.
Um, yeah, that's what I do.
Kyle Wood: Awesome.
Thanks.
There's a good tip - teach, talk, tell.
All right.
Favorite song to work out to?
Jessi Schlegel: Oh yeah.
Everything eighties.
I'm known for my eighties playlists
and, um, a lot of people tell me
that I was born in the wrong decade.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
I really, like the fashion
from the eighties, the music.
Yeah, it just always gravitates me.
Like I've always felt a pull towards it.
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah, my poor clients.
Kyle Wood: Well, I mean, you can
definitely know eighties music when
you hear it, but it felt certainly
like a feeling of like individualism.
You know, you look at these
like ridiculous, theatrical, get
ups that the bands would wear.
The hairstyles.
Jessi Schlegel: Oh yeah.
I think it also reminds you that you
shouldn't take yourself too seriously.
Sometimes in classes, people get too
serious about their workouts and they
forget to have a little bit of fun and
I'm like, 'Okay, how can you not have fun
when you have leg warmers, and a funny
hairband?' There's no, no, no chance.
Kyle Wood: Yeah.
They'll always judge, the
wedding DJ, or band on how much
eighties music is in there.
It's got to have a high level.
Get me dancing.
All right.
Last question.
Where would you like to head next with
your business or in your fitness career?
Jessi Schlegel: Well clearly now that I'm
expert in internet things and everything
technical, I'd like to create a little bit
more content for other trainers and other
clients in form of courses or workshops.
Kyle Wood: Cool.
Jessi Schlegel: Um, yeah.
I'm not sure if that's the same for
you, but in Canada you have to get,
um, continuing education credits every
year in order to keep your licenses.
And I would like to just create a
little bit more fun stuff for trainers.
They don't get too bored
teaching those sessions,
Kyle Wood: Yes, eighties themed.
Jessi Schlegel: Obviously, yes.
Without equipment.
Kyle Wood: That would be great.
Yeah.
I think, you know, online
content can be dry.
I try and add the element of connection,
which is really big for me, cause I'm
not like a super extroverted person.
So that's where I try and create
a bit of a point of difference.
But, definitely awesome to have someone
like yourself who has such a wide
breadth of knowledge as well, that
you can draw on to, to be sharing that
with the rest of us in the industry.
Jessi Schlegel: Yeah,
I'm excited to do that.
Kyle Wood: All right, Jessi.
Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Thank you for your time.
So you're not doing
courses for trainers yet.
Where can people follow you
or keep up to date with you?
Jessi Schlegel: Um, you can
check out everything new on my
homepage, which is jesseschlegel.ca
That's where I have all
my news, all my updates.
Kyle Wood: Perfect.
I'll put that in the show notes.
So if you're listening to this on your
phone, you just got to scroll down to
find Jessie's website and thanks again!
Jessi Schlegel: Thank you for having me.
