Michele:  

And so I made made the best of the situation that we have. And I think that that's what every fitness instructor has to really think about because we go through that mourning process that grieving process of loss and can I and should I am what I. And what was really important to me during this COVID period during all this shut down was to mentor and help those instructors.

Will:  

INTRO: Hey, I'm Will Brereton, founder of Sh1ft Fitness. And this is Group Fitness Real Talk, a show about how to survive and even thrive as an instructor in 2020. Do you feel like being a group fitness instructor is a lot tougher than it used to be? Well, you're not alone. But don't worry, because I'm here to help. I've been a group fitness instructor for over 20 years, and I've been an international trainer and presenter for Les Mills and Beachbody LIVE. And right now I run my own group fitness brand Sh1ft Fitness. I've seen it all and I'm ready to get real about what it's like to be a group fitness instructor right now. I'm going to be interviewing some of the biggest names and group fitness and we're ready to discuss the topics that others may shy away from. Each episode will be jam packed with tips, stories, inspiration, and a lot of real talk to help you not only survive, but thrive in the world of group fitness in 2020 and beyond. For the first episode of the podcast, I wanted to deep dive into a topic which is affected most, if not all of us in 2020. And that's how to cope when your world is turned upside down. How do you feel about 2020, sad, angry, confused or maybe scared? I know that I felt all of these emotions over the past few months and more 2020 has thrown so many massive changes at us already. And the only thing to be sure about is that there's more uncertainty to come. Whether you've lost your live classes or lost your job, or even you or someone you know has lost a loved one, you've probably felt some amount of personal loss this year. Now, this grief is real, it's tough and it's sometimes overwhelming. But you have a choice. You can let the grief consume you and give up or you can acknowledge it, give yourself time and work through it. In today's podcast, I'm interviewing Michele Park. Michele is a friend and former colleague of mine and was the format expert for PiYo. She's had to deal with two huge life changes in the past year. The first was when Beachbody live announced its closure suddenly at the end of 2019. And second, just as she was finding a feet COVID hit. Michele has had her moments of darkness and as you'll hear, she's still working through her feelings of loss. But despite the setbacks of the last year, she remains amazingly optimistic. She's been a huge inspiration to me and is a fantastic leader in the fitness industry. I'm really confident that this episode is going to give you not only some great practical tips, but also leave you feeling positive about the future.

Will:  

Okay, so Michele Park, welcome to the show.

Michele:  

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Will:  

I feel like this is a conversation that I envision asked having over at least one bottle of wine at some point during this year, but events have transpired against that. So I thought why not have it as a podcast so that everybody can listen?

Michele:  

I love it. And I'm so glad you said at least one bottle because I was thinking I was thinking two might be good -- one for you, one for me. I'm a red girl. What about you? 

Will:  

Yeah, I prefer red. 

Michele:  

Perfect, perfect.

Will:  

Okay, so I'm going to jump straight into it with two big questions that I want you to answer, like in your own time. The first is how did you find your passion for fitness? And the second is how did you end up as a format expert for PiYo?

Michele:  

Oh, gosh, okay, so this is a funny story. I didn't like fitness at the beginning. I hated it. I did. I was a tap dancer in school though. So I think there's fitness and tap dancing. So I didn't do any sports. I was a tap dancer and in middle school and then High School out here, which is, you know, like 14 to 17 that really fun, awkward age. So I did that at that time, and really enjoyed it, but I didn't like fitness. I didn't like running. I didn't like lifting I wasn't introduced to any of that. The first introduction to some sort of fitness was when my mother took me to a place called Venus de Milo. It sounds a lot more exciting than it really is. No, don't be thinking anything fancy. It was--

Will:  

I'm seeing marble statue. 

Michele:  

I know -- I got a visual. No, none of that. I was a little I was I was probably about 30 pounds heavier when I was about 13. So my mom took me to this place called Venus de Milo and and you had this eating style that you had to do and don't even make me tell you what it was because it was not a good thing and then not nothing we would call like high carb, low fat or any of that kind of fun stuff now, but and you were you did this little training circuit where you lift a little bit of weights and then did a little cardio and then you had this really fun tool where you sat on this kind of rolling wood thing. I can't if you ever went to Venus de Milo anybody in the US you will understand what I'm talking about. But if you put your body over the sand was supposed to roll away the fat Well, there you go. Thank you very much.

Will:  

And I've got this vision of -- I think it's the movie with the woman where they're all in the gymnasium, and they have those rubber bands that go around their waist in the machine, just kind of --

Michele:  

-- Oh, yeah, pretty pretty much like that. Except that these were like wooden balls.

Will:  

Okay.

Michele:  

I'm gonna have to get a picture and I'm gonna have to send it to you. 

Will:  

Yeah, we'll put those in the show notes! 

Michele:  

Yes, please. So that was how I was introduced to fitness, not the best. And then I needed a job but then I was like, 17 and a half and I thought I'm gonna start. I need job. I'm gonna start working. Why not? Because I don't like fitness. Why not start working at this holiday health spa. That's right down the street. Perfect. So I went to get a job at holiday house by thinking they would put me at the front desk and no, they trained me to be a floor trainer, which was teaching group exercise classes on cement with carpet over it for classes for half an hour class today in an eight hour period it was I didn't like it at first. 

Will:  

What type of class was this?

Michele:  

Oh, hi impact. How high can you kick? How much can you pound your body into the floor? How much can you do? Yeah, I also got to look around the floor and kind of monitor the floor. So I was a pseudo personal trainer and fitness instructor at 18 probably. But I fell in love. 

Will:  

So you have been doing it for a couple of years...

Michele:  

Oh, well. I know that you can't see me right now. But if you did, you'd say I can't believe she's 53. Yeah, so I've been doing it for 36 years. Is my math correct? 5678 -- that's the math that I know.

Will:  

Perfect, all that we need. For a long t ime. And you've seen a lot of changes in those times I bet.

Michele:  

100% and I've been and it's funny because I've been a fitness instructor I have my own personal training company for a while, you know, it worked for 24 Hour Fitness. I was in management there. I was called a health spa. I was a management there and so yeah, I feel like I've I feel like I've got around in fitness, if that's an appropriate thing to say in a good way, in a very good way. And then so, I'll tell you a story of how I became the format expert. So when I went to 25 fitness, I was in management so I managed about 24 group exercise clubs, never the sales, always group exercise. So quite a transition for a girl who was rolling excess fat on a wood machine, and fell in love with fitness teaching on cement and then I was managing about 24 clubs for 24 Hour Fitness and I loved that job. I absolutely loved it because now one of the most important things to me is community -- so I love creating community. And when I had that job I met Chalene Johnson. So Chalene Johnson was the owner of Powder Blue Productions (not at that time. At that time she hadn't developed like her signature programs Turbo Kick and Piyo --

Will:  

-- Okay, so you met Chalene pre-Powder Blue when she was constructing and sort of freestyling...

Michele:  

Yes, yes. Freestyling that's what we use to call it. I just taught it like an hour ago. But um, yeah, so we live probably about 10 miles away from each other. So they hired us both on as managers and we both had about 20 to 24 clubs. And so we had a lot of the same people in our area. We lived so close that they kind of divided up California, north and south, east and west. So we probably had clubs about 10 miles away from each other's but somebody went all the way to West Hollywood and somebody went to San Diego and those are like three hours apart. It was it was a really fun time. She transitioned and built her own company, Powder Blue Productions with those other formats I was saying, Piyo and Turbo and All Star Presenter Camp Hip Hop Hustle. And I was still working for 24. 

Will:  

This is in the 90s?.

Michele:  

I'm not good with dates. You're not great with math.

Will:  

So some time ago.

Michele:  

Some time ago...My first baby. So that was... Bradey's, 24 so it was 24 years ago. So you do the math.

Will:  

So we're mid-90s, just so that they can picture the fashion that was being rocked at the time.

Michele:  

Oh, dear leg warmers, strings rolls on the outside. Roll socks, yes. White shoes, legwarmers roll the socks down, yeah super low cut in the back. I'm getting a visual.

Will:  

Yes. Exactly. That was the visual I was going for.

Michele:  

I'm gonna move on from that visual! So she went and made her own company and left 24. And I was still managing with 24. I was doing a lot of program developing with 24, which I absolutely loved. And we used to have these things called expeditions where we train instructors in 24 Hour Fitness branded format. So I was very involved in that. And she called me up and she said, I need an area promotion director for this area, and this area would be Orange County, California. And they don't have they didn't have anybody in this area. And I said, Well, I'm still working for 24. And but 24 had stopped doing their program design. So I was ready to move on to something and I said, I never say no to chalene because she never led me wrong. So I'm like sure. I always jump so I said, sure. Yeah. So she took me on it and I was area promotion director for Orange County, presented a lot of performance Triple Kick and then Piyo, Hip Hop Hustle only one time because my quality of movement doesn't go into that genre. 

Will:  

Haha, yes, knowing your sweet spot and knowing your boundaries.

Michele:  

Yes, yes. Exactly, exactly. So I did that for quite a while. absolutely loved it. And then she was developing this program named Piyo and Piyo was -- so turbo kick was the phenomenon like everybody had heard of turbo kick, everybody loved turbo kick. It was, you know, it had been an infomercial. It just was. It was the top and doing really well in every club. The community was crazy. Like, the turbo fanatics I used to call them -- and she had another program called PiYo. She developed them at the same time, but PiYo didn't get the same attention. And, and we talked about this a bunch of times, like PiYo didn't get the same attention because it was very different. It was kind of like, Turbo Kick was branded, here's your choreography. Here's your music. Here's everything, right? PiYo was, here is your choreography, here's your music, fly, be free, make your make your own choreography, it was like, we didn't give you any guidelines for it. So it wasn't thriving. And I truly believe it wasn't thriving because there was no community behind it. There was no sense of, oh, she's doing the same, like somebody in Florida couldn't take it PiYo number five, and go to California and, and get the same, same kind of experience. So it was all different all over the place. And, and it was very, very yoga at the time. Very, very yoga. Nothing wrong with yoga. I absolutely love yoga, but it was very yoga. And it was hard to make that transition into that genre. Because at that time, there wasn't a lot of people doing that. And so it was kind of frowned upon. So she said that we used to call Piyo, every lesson, they were called rounds. So Piyo lesson number 18. We were sitting in the back of a 25 Fitness in Laguna Hills, this is this is a big game changer for me. So this changed the direction probably of my career. So we're sitting in the back of the studio and there was an instructor Lauren teaching, she was teachinng PiYo lesson 18. And, and it was good. It was good. But at that time, there were a lot of great cooks in this kitchen, right? Like a lot of great, really creative cooks in this kitchen, and it just kind of had so much going on, that it that it had too much going on. So she said, Is this how you teach PiYo? And I'm like, okay, Chalene sit in the back of the classroom. And she's asked me like, Is this how you teach PiYo? So I'm like, do I lie to her? No, no, and I'm looking the other way. No. She says, oh, and she's thinking because she's a thinker. Like she sits and thinks and before she speaks, and she says we need to do something with this. We need to kind of fix it. And I'm just new nodding my head. And she says, and let me preface this by saying I have a lot going on at the time, I was still doing stuff for 24 Hour Fitness. And you know, I had just had a baby like and I just there was a lot going on in my life. And she said you should do this and I said, Okay, like not even a split second, another thing, another jump. And that was the best decision that I have ever made, in my opinion. And it just set the the path of my career which I have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed and I'm enjoying now, but so I was, I was a PiYo format expert. We'd call it something different when I worked for her but a PiYo format expert for her for Powder Blue Productions. And that wasn't around or less than round 18. And

Will:  

So for anyone that isn't familiar with the term format expert. Can you just explain what that means in the, in the essence of what you were doing with relation to PiYo?

Will:  

Absolutely. So, in PiYo, I was choosing the music. I was creating the choreography and putting everything together from A to Z right?

Will:  

Creating the entire workout and the music and the moves and putting it all together and then and then would and then Chalane would be involved in the signup process?

Michele:  

100% Yes. 100% -- and that was majority of the time we worked together, like that is one of my favorite things to do, like go to her house and, and create and put on the song and just move to the music and be like, Oh, yeah, that's perfect. That's perfect. Right, all the moves down. And then we would test out the choreography with multiple groups of people across the country and put it out in at that time, DVD form. Right? Yeah, at that time DVD form. So yeah, that was what I did for her at lesson 18. Lesson 23. She sold her company, the Powder Blue Productions, instructor development company that owns Turbo Kick, Hip Hop, Hustle, and empire to Beachbody live. Yeah. So I was part of the package.

Will:  

So that's when you transition to Beachbody live as format expert.

Michele:  

Yes, exactly. And that was around 23. Ma'am. And when Beachbody went goodbye, we were on 67.

Will:  

Okay. Wow. So your time for PiYo was kind of weighted towards the Beachbody live in terms of number of releases that you were managing.

Michele:  

Yes. 100% and and we morphed and changed that program from a good program to a great program by the end so that I'm really proud of that. But we did as a village. You know, it takes a team, takes a team of great people...

Will:  

I do have to say that on all of the Beachbody live programs, I think the PiYo was the the best from my perspective in that it just filled a niche in the market that no other format was filling a great mixture of, you know, parties and yoga, yes, other formats, however, but they don't have the strength element and the cardio element that PiYo had, and then bringing it together with the musicality, allowing instructors to teach the slow, medium or fast depending on what was in front of them. It really was something that I don't think any other format replicated, which is why it was so sad when the events of sort of the end of last year happened. So that probably brings us to a good time to jump forward. So you are format expert for PiYo, you're creating the workouts and then in November of 2019 Beachbody live suddenly announces it's going to be shutting down. So tell me about that experience from your perspective.

Michele:  

Um, so I haven't really I haven't really discussed this which is really kind of funny because I never asked what what happened that day or how does this all transpire? There's nothing there, no secrets or anything, but it was quite a shock. It was a shock to everybody. Now I'm sure that behind the scenes, some people probably knew the people that had to know. But the format experts for all of Beachbody live formats did not know. So I was up in San Francisco with my daughter. I had just the week before I just got back with a really fun girls trip to New York was Salinas, a bunch of the girls and everything was great. And we're talking about what the what the future of and then I was in San Francisco with my daughter, and I started to hear like, I had a phone call from offense. She's like, did you hear and I'm like, Did I hear what did I hear? But now, now what? And then she told me she said she heard a rumor that Beachbody live was going away and I'm like, there's no way there's no--, you know, it's not possible. There's no way, it's thriving. We have 16,000 instructors, you know, the format's of doing well, you know, PiYo was at that time and actually, give and take a few months here and there when new formats came out, but it was the number one format. Yeah, how could they do that? It seemed kind of strange to me, but nothing would surprise me. So that was on a Sunday. On a Monday, I got an email that said, you know, we need to set up a call and I'm like, okay, well, now I know. Now I've already known, now I've heard from two sources. That's a rumor and one sources a definite I'm like, okay, I know. So I was the last, we were the number one format -- I was the last format expert to be told, which is kind of ironic to me. And that was on a Monday and the instructors were told on a Tuesday, and I had a phone call with HR. They were very, very nice. I think they were worried. You know, you always those calls are hard. I'm sure they're hard for for both sides, right. Yeah. Because and I knew what was coming. So I was already prepared. I think probably there are some tears on the other from some of the other format experts which you know, it's their brand, it's what they've been passionate about for years, and I completely understand that, but I was ready. So no tears on my end. And again, I was in San Francisco having sourdough bread and possibly a glass of wine, and I let them know that and I said, "Don't worry, I get it. I understand." And I'm really good at handling that kind of stuff in the moment. So and I think that honestly, I really think they were very nervous because some of the conversations might not have gone so you know, so pleasant before--

Will:  

-- and you were very connected with your group of instructors, your community instructors, a few thousand instructors that you're in communication with every day, multiple times per day in the PiYo community on Facebook.

Michele:  

Yes, yes. 100%. And I couldn't say anything. So I couldn't say anything at the time. And so I was told on Monday. I did tell one person, a very, very good friend of mine, very involved in the process. So I let her know. And then the instructors got an email the next day and then it was, you know, horrible. We have a PiYo live Facebook group. Tons of Instructors -- very, very active. I'm very active in that group, you know, go in there once a week, we talked about the format. For me, it's a lot about community. So my first instinct was to reach out to them and tell them but I couldn't do that. Like it just wasn't, first of all, it wasn't my place. I didn't want to deliver that news. But I knew it was my place to make sure they got through like that. So, Beachbody live asked very politely if I would shut down that page for a couple days, just just to calm everybody's nerves, because everybody would blow up. And so they closed it down for two days. And then we came back on and I did a live.

Will:  

Yeah, not the best idea when it comes to social media, because a lot of people have immediate knee jerk reactions that they may later come to wish they hadn't.

Michele:  

Yes, yes. Yeah. And I probably would have been the exact same way. Yeah. We can do this, it's not going to shut down and blah, blah, blah. But, you know, really, really was the best thing. And then when I came back on, and I was at a town and when I came back on and we did a live and and you know you can't you, you can't see it because it's a Facebook Live I'm pretty sure majority of the people on the other side of that live were in tears because it's a format that's very community oriented. Yeah, very passionate, not fanatical, but very, very passionate, you know, very positive. And so they were, they were pretty devastated.

Will:  

This is a story that I want to get more into -- sort of, the process of saying goodbye to PiYo as well. But I think that what's really interesting about having this conversation now is that it's going to resonate with so many people, even if they weren't PiYo instructors because so many, well, actually everybody, but obviously this is a podcast that's specifically for group fitness instructors. This is something that I think is really pertinent to right now because so many instructors, PiYo or otherwise are dealing with loss, loss of classes, closures, clubs, losses of connection to their community. And when something you do brings you so much joy and you pour so much of your hearts into it, having it suddenly taken away from you, like you did with PiYo, or like a lot of instructors have had with gym closures and class closures over COVID it's it's like losing someone. It's not dissimilar to that kind of process of grief. So, yeah, the announcement gets made, and you've done the live on Facebook. And it continued for another two months, and there was another release. Is that correct?

Michele:  

Correct. Yes. They made the announcement. Yeah. Then we had another release. And then actually, the month after that, we had a bonus block release. And, and then it closed, and then it was kind of like a silent month, and then it closed down at the end of March. Right.

Will:  

And so tell me about your emotions during that period. Like while you were kind of still actively involved with it, but saying goodbye. How was that?

Michele:  

It's funny that you said grief. And I honestly probably wouldn't have realized that that was it until probably about the last month and just because of changes that I'm going through, but I'll tell you what the exact stages because I I thought about that. I thought, well do I really just transition from boom being super sad to being okay optimistic for the future? Absolutely not. There were different stages. So at first it was disbelief, 100%. Yeah, 100% denial. And then I was like, okay, fine. That's it. I'm going to save the day-- And then I thought, okay, if I can't save the day somebody is going to ride in on a white horse and save the day like somebody is going to buy it. Somebody's going to come and revive it. car. He's gonna change his mind, something's going to happen. So that was my next step. And I was like crossing my fingers and holding my breath. And then I was angry. Because nobody was and maybe that should have been the first one. But then but nobody was. Nobody was saving the day. Nobody was saying anything. I was like, Okay, well, it is going away. And I kept thinking to myself, and again, this is partly denial too right? How can this big, huge group of people that's been teaching this format forever that I'm pretty sure it's profitable...I don't know. I'm not in the corporate side of it. I don't understand. Yeah, sure. There's tons of behind the scenes, but how could that go away? Right, how could they let that go? So there anger.

Will:  

Yeah. How can it class that's so popular that has, you know, 10,000 instructors in a group talking about it constantly suddenly evaporate?

Michele:  

Yeah, it was crazy to me and I I will never understand that nor do I you know...at first I wanted to know the answer, wanted to know the truth and now I'm like, well, it is what it is and then we're not going to change it. So and then, and then after that, so like this anger and save the day denial and then I had to get in this reality check like okay, well, this it's not coming back. I want to save and, and help this community. These people need new choreography, they need music they need a place they need, you know a stage they need to keep going. They want to keep going. Yeah. Now what do I do so then I went into planning mode and, and not in survival mode, but planning mode and and mentoring mode because that's what I love to do. Like I love to serve. So serving mode was what I was going into next. Yeah.

Will:  

So tell me a bit about that. What was the next step?

Michele:  

So, it's funny because there I had this grand plan, right? I had this plan. I knew exactly what I was going to do. Okay, well, if they're not going to create and do anything more with pile like, I can do something. And you know, I kind of went through the right processes, I made sure that I connected with people that I needed to connect with at the time. And I said, can I do this? No, I want to do this. I knew that I didn't want to do PiYo live just like it is out of respect for the creator, like I don't want to do that, that's not my place. But I knew that I love moving to music. I knew that I loved the type of movement that we did, the experience that we created, so I knew I want to do something along the same lines and and I've been creating since I worked for holiday health spa, so just a couple years, so it's in my blood, like, you know, it's in my blood, like you, like it's in our blood.

Will:  

100%

Michele:  

Yes, you completely understand. You wake up in the middle of the night and you're like, okay, grab a sticky, write that little choreography down, okay, put it back, go back to bed, and then you're, you know, in the morning, you wake up and you've got choreography. So like, that's what I was known to do. And that's what I could do. And that's what I'm passionate about. So I thought I'm gonna put it all together. I'm ready to launch. I'm going to call it this. I'm gonna do this. I'm ready to launch the Beachbody live is closing March 31. I am launching April 1.

Will:  

Tell me what happened, then.

Michele:  

Ready to go. Boom, there's this little thing called COVID, a little thing called COVID that happened. And I'll be 100% honest, I was, it has been an actual blessing. And I know people are gonna be like, wait, you were ready to go and it got stopped and COVID stopped you, like it's a blessing? But I was very close to the brand, super close to the brand. I've been living eating and breathing that brand for seven years, like seven of my mature years, of my smart years. So I had been living eating, breathing that brand and if I would have created something, if they would have gone away on March 31, which they did, and I created something to launch on April 1, it would have been to PiYo-esque, right and as much as I absolutely love PiYo and it has this huge place in my heart, I couldn't do that disservice to the instructors. I couldn't do the service to the creator. I couldn't do that. I just had to realize that I am more than the brand and I think that we don't, as instructors, like, we teach these certain brands, we work with these certain companies and we just become branded ourselves...

Will:  

-- your identity becomes consumed within the format that you're teaching rather than sort of in and of yourself.

Michele:  

100%. I mean, I had taught multiple format since I was 18 years old, and probably for the last four years was only teaching PiYo. I mean, I did other stuff I ran, I lifted like I took but teaching, I was only teaching PiYo. So it was very hard for me to take myself out of that brand. And I needed to, I mean, people people knew me as the format expert. Yeah, it was branded in their mind as the PiYo go to person. But I had to give myself space to to take myself out of that place, because and that was part of the grieving process, too. That was a little challenging.

Will:  

So you, you had this, this thing that you loved, and you were fully engaged taken away from you. And then you kind of sounds like you dealt with that you began to make a plan for an alternative that you thought was going to be, you know, great and fulfill you. And then you had that taken away from you again, what was the emotional reaction when COVID happened right on the cusp of you launching the new thing?

Michele:  

Again, I was angry, let's go back through that process, shall we? Let's go back to the beginning. But I didn't let that -- I knew, this time I knew and I was smarter this time because I had been through that loss once a big a bigger loss. And now in my mind, this is either a continuation from that bigger loss or a little bit smaller loss. And I have learned from the last time COVID came and I could have, I could have probably launched, I really could have launched still, but it would have been, I'm glad I didn't, but people are probably gonna be like, why? Why are you, you know, you didn't launch a product that you love, but I'm glad I didn't because here's the deal. So many instructors were out of jobs, they didn't have any money coming in. How can they afford to do what I wanted to do and what I was going to give them. So it gave me a chance to kind of regroup, refocus, rebuild, and it, it took that pressure off of me to say, here's your product, here's your your thing. Okay, now you're paying for the service, but you don't have any money because you're not teaching in the gym. So I felt a little guilt there. Now, I don't know. I know now, I have a feeling now, I know exactly what I'm gonna do because we've got this great hybrid going on.

Will:  

As you say this story, I'm just thinking of so many parallels with instructors who were teaching classes that they loved feeling really secure in their careers, and had that taken away, and then have had to sort of forge ahead and find a new way and then -- and then a lot of people are, depending on where they are around the world, at risk of going into further lockdowns. Right. So that second kind of having the rug swept from under you is sort of sitting on the precipice for so many instructors out there. So tell me, what have you applied? What have you taken from those lessons to bring forward into what you're doing next?

Michele:  

Um, and it's funny you say that, that they're waiting for the kind of the rug to be pulled out again, because I'm out here. I'm in Southern California. And in California, we were, you know, we went on lockdown. Yeah, everything was closed, gyms were closed, everything was closed. And then we opened, we opened for a total of group exercise in one of the facilities I teach open for a total of 10 days. And I taught two classes. And then the governor came in and he said, boom, all gyms are closed again. And then even when I went back to teach, it was masks and 15 people in a classroom and

Will:  

-- so it's just not the same experience, right? Like, no, not the same thing was bringing you the joy that it was before. It's different.

Michele:  

Yes, it is very, it was very different and it was joyful, but it was just a different sort of joy and you have 15 people in the room and you feel bad because you know, there's you know, 4 or 5, 20 30, whatever more people that wanted to come and couldn't come and and I was lucky enough to have already had you know, kind of a hybrid situation going on. But it was very challenging when that gym closed up again and then now we are back in lockdown again and our gyms are closed, so we're closed again. We have some gyms that are doing fitness outside and that's brilliant. I think that's very creative. It's perfect. But you know we're in Southern California it's going to get kind of hot pretty soon so there there are other challenges for that thing too. It was, it was hard for me. When the gyms open this is gonna sound weird but it was hard for me when the gyms opened back up because I had been enjoying, it's the hardest the fitness instructors say this because you know that the in person experience is one of the best non negotiable experiences ever, touching, feeling -- look, not feeling, that'd be weird. Hello. Maybe, maybe where you are but in California we're pretty good. Um, you know -- eye contact, walking, high fiving people -- like all that kind of stuff. like that experience is a non negotiable, that's a plus. But we've been teaching virtual for a while and really like we have created this amazing virtual experience which I think every instructor has the ability to do. And so it's hard for me to go back to in person because I'd been going from teaching as large virtual classroom to the smaller in person class. So it was challenging for me there. And then when we got shut down again, I was kind of it was, I was a little happy because then I could go back to teaching virtual and that's so weird because I never, never would have thought that I wanted to take that experience the in classroom experience and do it on camera. Now, we've been doing it forever in Park Studios, but --

Will:  

I want to touch on that but first we'll finish off this part. And then we'll touch on Park studios, because it's a really interesting one as well.

Michele:  

Yeah, I was challenged to have all these local people, I thought, you know, how are they ever going to come to virtual and, and so I made the best of the situation that we have. And I think that that's what every fitness instructor has to really think about because we go through that mourning process that grieving process of loss, and can I and should I and what I and what was really important to me during this COVID period during all this shutdown, was to mentor and help those instructors. So I don't know if you and I even talked about it, but I came up with a course for them, which I did a lot of online. I did a lot of online zooms, free online zooms, giving them tons of information, trying to set them up, right because again, that's what I love to do like mentoring that community and trying to get them to the place where they need to go but we came up with a course let's get virtual and we've taken a lot of people through how to do that because, I just think that as fitness instructors, we have to be, we have to be able to pivot. I

Will:  

I could not agree with you more. And like one of the things I've seen is that there are some people who have jumped on the tool, and we're going to come back to virtual because this came with Park studios and running with it. But there are a lot of other instructors who I think are in that denial stage in the anger stage in the bargaining stage, and they're looking forward to their classes coming back. And I think all of us really want that to happen. But if we're if we if we get honest with ourselves just for a second, like we're in summer, now we're going into winter, it's unlikely that sort of things are going to get easier and regardless of how you feel about the virus, just looking at the reality of you know, people have stopped going to the gym, people are working from home, like the whole schedule has changed and being able to at least understand and appreciate the power of virtual is something that every group fitness instructor needs to do.

Michele:  

I agree 100% and and we need to embrace it. It's scary to embrace. It's funny that fitness instructors who thrive these introverts, right, who thrive on the stage and become extroverts are, are nervous to go in front of a camera with people on the other side of the lens. It's funny, we were nervous, we're scared to do that. And, you know, you and I come from background of being on camera, so it's easier --

Will:  

I was still scared when I did my first livestream classes though, all the technology, it's like, I don't know if the cameras gonna work. And is my microphone working? I'm stressed out and I have to be there for the people in the class. Like it is not simple. It's not easy.

Michele:  

No, no, it's not. I started teaching on Facebook Live and I'm like loving it. And then I'm like, I have to make the transition to zoom. Because I want to see those people face to face. I really want to have that experience. And I have a really good friend Her name is Lindsey Coleman. And she she set my she set me up. So that's we had a great experience. And then this morning, remember, I taught the class this morning. No microphone, like what happened? Ever. Yeah. And so there's always those kind of things. But yeah, I think the more we're able to kind of go With the flow and just say, Okay, well, you know, stuff happens. Yeah. And we have to be able to kind of rise out of that. Because it's not all about us. It's about us fulfilling and making sure that we're fulfilled for sure. But it's also about those people on the other side of the camera that really need us right now, then I don't think we understand now than ever. I agree. 100 percent.

Will:  

So let's talk for a minute about Park Studios. Because when I think of Park Studios, I think of you as being a real kind of forerunner and a bit of a trailblazer in the term of virtual teaching, because I think that you were probably the first person I saw doing Facebook Live teaching, period. Now, tell me a bit about that. Like, what got you into doing that so much before the curve?

Michele:  

It's so funny that I wondered, I thought to myself, it seems like it's just such an everyday thing now. How did we ever first start? 

Will:  

The first time I saw you doing it, I was like, ooh, this is new.

Michele:  

What's she doing? What's going on? So, Beachbody live gave permission to their instructors to teach virtually. Yeah, so they came up with this big thing like you can teach virtually, you know, go for whatever you need to do --

Will:  

 Which, I think every format should do. Like, it should just be like a thing. Yeah.

Michele:  

Yeah, especially now. So, they were kind of above the curve on that one, too. So I followed suit. I'm like, well, I don't want, I've never wanted it to be just about me. I know a lot of talented you know, people. I know a lot of talented Master trainers. And, and so I thought I'm gonna put together a group of people and I'm gonna...and I thought, What can I call it? Well, my last, my last name is Park. Park Studios. There we go.

Will:  

It was a large brainstorm, lots of post-it notes.

Michele:  

Probably, probably lots of post it notes. That's how I roll. But um, so that's how we came up with it. And I reached out to the instructor I said, listen, can you trust me, this is what I want to do. And I'll tell you what we had. We have probably 300 people sign up like, right, right off the bat. Mmhmm. And I was very excited, the majority of them were instructors. I think the majority of them were instructors. Yeah. Yeah. PiYo community and they wanted to come and do more PiYo. But they also wanted to come and be voyeurs. They wanted to kind of see what the other master trainers were doing, how they were teaching. And it honestly really was a great teaching tool for newer instructors because they could come in and see how it's okay to teach this pre-formatted class or way. So it gave them permission to do that. And, and that was awesome. We offered PiYo, mostly PiYo, the very beginning with some Turbo Kick. And over the years, because we've it's been going on for three years, wow, it's so crazy. And now we have you know, brought in like P90X, but we'd have like HIIT strength. We have -- Amy's in there. Amy is in there. And she's teaching. Yep. She's teaching SH1FT and

Will:  

Excellent. I love that

Michele:  

-- and Holly's teaching L1FT and Flow. Yeah, we love it, one of our favorite classes, and lots of PiYo and some people doing barre. And so it's really expanded. And my main thing with that was getting that community together. Yeah, I was taking care of my, I don't even call them staff, the instructors. They're my partners, like they're my partners in the studio. So it was really important for me to treat them really well. Make sure they were paid and compensated really well. Make sure that they could kind of pick their times I don't have a set time every month. I give them a schedule, they come in and pick their times. So this is really--

Will:  

--These are the great things about virtual that instructors that are still kind of holding out needing to appreciate, right? Like you can structure what you're doing, you're not going to be beholden to the gyms timetable.

Michele:  

No, you get to choose your format you get to choose your time. Depending on the platform you're on you can choose your music, you know, that's a big beast. But, you know, there's--

Will:  

-- that could be a whole other podcast --

Michele:  

Yeah, we don't want to talk about that. But there's tons of stuff that you can do and so much flexibility and it was really important for me to give my partners in Park Studios this flexibility. And, and so we did that and we have we have went from we probably went from like 250 to 350. And now we're back like around 300 members and so I like to think of Park Studios as a boutique-y like gym. Yeah, it's very, it's very community oriented. And we do Facebook Live, we have private Facebook group, we do Facebook Lives, and we do zooms and then all of the classes are housed on a platform. So they're all housed on a port a member portal. Yeah. And we've been doing we didn't house all that stuff. By the way. We were doing everything Facebook Live for the longest time...

Will:  

For an instructor this just starting out, that's really an important thing to realize, right, like your studio is where it is because you've learned and you've gone along the way, but you took that off with 300 members on Facebook Live with no investment, just you, your camera delivering it to Facebook.

Michele:  

Yep, me a camera, nothing else. A boombox. Boom, go. And majority of the instructors in there were doing the exact same thing. Now we had a couple instructors were like tech savvy. Yeah, and this whole setup and everything and, and then we were all jealous, right? But and again, that was a long time ago and we have made tons of mistakes, but I have learned from those mistakes. And the great thing is about about is I made the mistakes so I can help people, you know, not make the mistakes or at least get through them when they do make them because it's probably inevitable, but yeah, yeah. And it's okay. Like it's okay.

Will:  

It's okay. I think that is excellent to hear from someone who was obviously you know, at the top of the industry and in front of the camera all the time to know that like at the start you made mistakes that you were doing it in the low tech way and that you've had to muddle your way through to the point where you are now. That's, I would say, very reassuring to people who are still scared to take that step.

Michele:  

You know, you know, another thing that's really important probably for them to know is so, you know, I had a big following in class, right? Like, a lot of people came to class and got this great, huge, you know, big huge PiYo live page, and I thought, wow, it's just going to be, this could be huge, and I'm gonna do Facebook Live and, and everybody is going to want to come like, and I'm pretty sure that a lot of people that were doing it thought the same thing. Yeah, but guess what? It's not me, or another instructor. It doesn't matter. Like, I might have five people on class. And it's not about me, it's not about my quality of work. It's not about me as an instructor. It's just everybody. Right? So important to realize, because people think, oh, gosh, if I don't have five people sign up for my class, or if I don't have 10 people that want to join my facebook group, I shouldn't do it. That's not enough people. Yeah, and I just don't I think that that's a bit of pride that you kind of have to get over. And it will grow.

Will:  

Absolutely. And I know. like I remember when I turned up to a class, into the new class and there would be two or three people there, for the 10 minutes before, I'm like, I don't want to do this, I don't want it. And then I start teaching and my teacher brain will flick on and I will have a great time and we just have a little kind of mini party of our own.

Michele:  

Yes, one hundred percent, one hundred percent. And I think that is, that's hard. Because you know, instructors do have that, that ego sometimes, but I think that we need to throw that aside, like, throw it aside, it shouldn't even be there anymore. And just realize, you know why we're really there, why we're really in front of the camera,

Will:  

and the fact that you'll create a video that someone can watch later. And so you kind of have to you have to put that ego aside and understand that the medium that you're now teaching through allows a different experience and so to roll with that and to not get too caught up in it.

Michele:  

Yeah, there's so many opportunities, I mean, Facebook Live and zoom and housing all these -- and I have a really good friend who lives locally who justice does everything on zoom. And then she saves her recordings. And it's a great opportunity for instructors. She saves her recordings, and then she sells them all for $5. Here's a $5 class, sends them out to them. I mean, that's great, too. I just think sometimes we're not quite sure how to think outside of the box. And I think right now in this time, right, we have to think outside of that box.

Will:  

Yeah, definitely. And if you don't, then you probably won't be able to continue being an instructor. Like you have to be able to kind of pivot. What I was going to ask you -- so that's the Park Studios side. What is next for Michelle in terms of the format expert, Michelle, what have you got in the pipeline there?

Michele:  

Well, I am super close. super close to -- I love to create I absolutely love to create. Having this COVID time, we'll call it, and this this chance to... it's funny, Beachbody live left. That was huge brand for me. If that wouldn't have happened, if that wouldn't have happened, right? If COVID wouldn't have happened you think of all these things -- I wouldn't be in this place. But I'm in a place right now where I've realized that I'm not that brand, and I'm much more worth and that I actually do remember how to create this stuff prior to PiYo, so we're gonna we have something coming out probably within the next month, kind of like a one stop instructor shop. So I'm very, very excited.

Will:  

No news just yet, if anyone's super curious, but there is stuff in the works. Maybe we'll have to do a part two to this interview.

Michele:  

Yes, lets, let's do a follow up because it's probably it's probably one week away from being announced. And I will tell you first -- maybe we can just do an add on. We could do an add on to it.

Will:  

Yes, exactly.

Michele:  

Yeah. But I'm excited. Because just like you...that's how our brain works. We love to create, we love to create and if I, if I'm not, I feel it just makes me I don't know, makes me a little anxious if I don't like that's when it's our gift. It's a gift. It really is a gift. Like I see everything you do with with SH1FT. Oh my gosh, it's just, it amazes me every single time seriously. And as well, I told you, that's one of my favorite classes to take at Parks Studio. Don't tell all the PiYo...

Will:  

I won't. It will be our little secret. So, what I heard a lot during his interview was your desire to really connect with community and to make sure that no matter what happened, and what changes hit you unexpectedly having the resilience to still continue doing that. And I think that's such a an important message for instructors who maybe feel like they're floundering or don't quite know how to adapt to all the changes going on in their life. So with the stuff that's happened to us since November last year, with the closing down of Beachbody live, and then COVID. And then the success you've had with Park Studios, if you could give an instructor's listening to this one piece of advice based on your experience, what would that be?

Michele:  

You know, we've touched on a couple of the key words throughout and kind of like peppered them in but I'll tell you a couple things. I think that I used to be the person that told everybody to jump and I still do believe that I still do believe that you need to jump but I want people to know that it's okay to to tiptoe into that cold water first and so it's okay to get your feet wet. I think that some people are scared because everybody else is doing it and they feel like I should be doing it. But it's okay to not want to do it as well. It's okay to be that student. It's okay to go slow. It's okay to go at your own pace. But when you're ready, you need to make sure you know that it is time to pivot. Pivoting is huge. And we are a group fitness instructors we do really well on our feet. So exactly, it should come easy to us. 

Will:  

We've been pivoting since those Europeans were doing in the 80s.

Michele:  

Yes, 100 percent. So you have to learn how to rebuild because things are broken down. Rebuilding is hard. And sometimes that takes a little mental clarity first, and really sit down with yourself and figuring out if that's what you want to do. Find a mentor so you can refocus. That's really important. You're always welcome to reach out to me for any ideas. I know Will will help you with anything you need.

Will:  

We'll put all your social details in the show notes so that people can reach you.

Michele:  

I love doing that. I think that's extremely important. And I want to tell you that just to not give up because I think a lot of fitness instructors because they see what everybody else is doing because they feel like they should have gone and done this three months ago. They think it's too late and it's not too late to do what you love to do. It is not too late.

Will:  

Absolutely Well, I think that is a perfect note to end on. So thank you, Michele, for being on the show. Thank you. Thank you and I will look forward to our part two, and also a bottle of wine that will drink whenever we manage to see each other in person.

Michele:  

Please do, please do. I just told my daughter that I have to go over there next year. That's my plan. But

Will:  

--you need to come back. Yep, yep. Okay. Thanks, Michele.

Michele:  

Thank you.

Will:  

OUTRO: So that was my interview with Michele. One of the key outtakes for me is that every instructor needs to understand that it's okay not to be okay. But you also need to acknowledge that and work through it. Now, we talked about the stages of grief and I've gone back and looked and there are five stages denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. And right now, you're probably at one of those five stages. The reality is that if you're stuck and one of the first four stages and you haven't yet got to the point of acceptance about what's happened during 2020, then you're not going to be able to move forward. So I challenge you to think about how you're feeling and try to identify the stages that you have worked through. Now, as you heard from Michele, she didn't do hers in those order. But she went through all of those emotions as she dealt with the loss of Beachbody live, and then the changes that COVID brought. It's okay to bounce back and forth between the stages, but you need to reach acceptance because with acceptance comes hope. And with hope comes the realization that there are opportunities out there. Like Michele said, it's okay to dip your toes in the water and try something new. But once you feel ready, it's time to go all in. I really hope that this episode has helped you to reflect and understand your emotions of loss a little bit better, and hopefully given you some newfound optimism for the future. Now I would love to say that the worst is over. But the reality is none of us know what's around the corner, the best that we can do is prepare and support one another in the group fitness industry. Now I've spent a lot of time across the last few months speaking to and learning from my shift fitness instructors. And what I've learned is that now more than ever, there is so much power in supporting your fellow instructors and working together to protect and to champion the industry as a whole. If there's anything I can do to support any of my podcast listeners, please reach out to me. My contact details can be found in the show notes. Finally, for everyone that has reached that point of acceptance and is ready to move forward, we've created a guide for you the things that every instructor must do in 2020. Now it's jam packed with tips and actionable things that you can do right now to ensure you're still teaching group fitness for years to come. we've linked to the guide in the show notes, so head there to download that today. Now just before I go, I want to give you a sneak peek into next week's episode, I'm actually going to be doing a deep dive into the guide that we've created. So it's those eight things that you must do as an instructor in 2020. It's just me for this one, because there's so much to get through. And the team have packed it with loads of smart hacks that you can implement immediately to improve your group fitness delivery. So catch you at the same time, same place next week.

Will:  

Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying the show, don't forget to subscribe for all the latest episodes wherever you get your podcasts. And while you're there, please drop us a review. You can also get in touch with me at will@sh1ftfitness.com. I'm Will Brereton and you've been listening to Group Fitness Real Talk