Shannon:

Each year I choose a word and I know that's not new. A lot of people do that. But I've had the year of no, I've had the year of yes, I've had the year of enough. And this year, it's the Year of 'and'. So I am all about preaching that the word 'and' can lead to so many things. You know, it stands for abundance, it stands for opportunity. It stands for collaboration, and even more than anything, and I was just having a conversation with another colleague of mine. There's room for all of us. The world doesn't have to be 'or'.

Will:  

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 in group fitness in 2021 and beyond. 2021 is the year of and. But what does that mean? Here to explain more as this week's podcast guest Shannon Fable. Shannon has been Idea and Ace instructor of the year and has spent more than two decades helping brands such as Anytime Fitness, Schwinn and Bosu in their business and programming. She has a lot of expertise to share. And I was super excited to have her on the podcast this week. So what does the year end actually mean? Shannon explains this further and how she believes the key to success and fitness is having a cooperative and collaborative mindset. If we all stopped competing and comparing ourselves to one another, and instead work together, we can achieve not only individual success, but also the collective goal of getting as many people as possible active, which we can all agree is the reason most of us love what we do. Shannon provides some awesome actionable tips on how you can open your mind to the opportunities in the fitness industry, and ensure you play a pivotal role in the fitness journey of your class goals. It's a great talk, and I hope you really like it. Shannon Fable Welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Shannon  

I am good. Thank you so much for having me.

Will:  

It's a good day in in the world today, isn't it? We were just saying.

Shannon  

It is such a great day. I feel like today is a brand new start. It's a new year. Finally.

Will:  

It actually is a beautiful sunny day here in Auckland where I am. So I walked out and saw the sun shining across the sky tower and the Auckland Harbour. Tell me about it where you where you are.

Shannon  

Gosh, yes, I'm in Boulder in the US. So it's a mountain town. And let's see, it is 47 Fahrenheit each day. So not too terribly cold, but a little overcast. But we can still get outside and I see the mountains. And that's that's all I need, whether it's gray or something. It's still a beautiful sight.

Will:  

Perfect. And so I wanted to get you on the podcast today, because you have had a particular focus on 2021, which I think is really, really useful for all of our listeners to hear about. And I thought we would just jump straight in. So why don't you introduce your focus for 2021?

Shannon  

Yeah, so what I've been telling people or I've never really talked to anyone about -- each year, I choose a word and I know that's not new. A lot of people do that. But I've had the year of No, I've had the year of yes, I've had the year of enough. And this year, It's the Year of AND, so I am all about preaching that the word AND can lead to so many things. You know, it stands for abundance, it stands for opportunity. It stands for collaboration, and it more than anything, and I was just having a conversation with another colleague of mine, I think, yeah, you're on the same page. There is room for all of us in the world doesn't have to be or, and for me personally in the fitness industry, it's been the blessing and the curse of COVID. Right, like, so many new opportunities have come up. And I think in the first couple of months, that was what the adrenaline that kept most of us running is helping people look at those opportunities and take advantage. And then all of a sudden the scarcity mindset set in Yeah, where we'll have persons bigger or this organization is bigger. And if they're doing it, how are we possibly going to make it and especially in the US, it became just lots of bifurcated choices? Are you for big business or small business? Are you for the local company or the you know, the corporate conglomerate or you're republican or are you a democrat? And it just kept speaking to me that and I'm a sociologist by trade so it doesn't come as any surprise if you know about sociology, but I just always look for the fuzzy middle because I just don't think that there are that many things that are black and white, right so specifically in the fitness industry, I don't think a fitness consumer or consumer looking for fitness experiences is going to go peloton is my thing. And that is not my thing, right? Or that gym is my thing. And or that's not my thing that's really interesting. We do, we need so many things.

Will:  

I have never heard it described by that. But I am a so I'm a political scientist, by by studying and so I always look at politics side of it. And obviously politics is so polarized right now, you have America, which is obviously a two party system. It's primarily a two party system in the UK as well. I'm now in New Zealand, where we have a different system of government and third parties can get a look in and you see how it does actually change the narrative and the discourse. But I've never really thought about how that polarization at the very top level of affiliation and you know, culture wars and politics, filters down into a you have to be brand a or brand b, you have to be for big box gyms or for studios, you have to be like a freestyle person or you follow a pre choreographed format. It's just it is it does come down to this tribalism that is just inherently unhelpful for people that are trying to get ahead and also sitting in the middle of choices.

Shannon  

Could not agree more. I'll start with a political thing. I sat on the board for the American Council on Exercise for seven years, and I was so honored to meet a former congressman in the US. And he lost his seat in Congress, because of gerrymandering. We won't go into all that. But he eventually wrote, wrote a book called dead center, because he believes that the polarization in politics is really just for show. It's the marketing. Yes. Right. Because you have to be for something and you have to double down on something. Yeah. And because we keep hearing these messages that are just the volume is so turned up at the fringes, we don't realize that they're most people fall somewhere in the middle of all of it. But that's not a sexy message. Yeah. And I think that's what's happening to the fitness industry right now. Right, you've got a lot of people that are very big, that have lots of money that have big production budgets, and you've got the little individual fitness pros that are doing their thing. So So two things happen, you see all the money that's been spent, and all the all the sound waves going to these big things that are happening, and it's just crushing people's soul. And then you combine it with fitness professionals have always had somewhat of a sense of a scarcity mindset, or I call it the poor trainer mentality.

Will:  

Yeah, I can you just explain a scarcity mindset for anyone that's listening to this and hasn't come across the term before?

Shannon  

Hmm, yeah, I mean, to me, the easiest way to put it as a scarcity mindset believes there, only a limited amount of resources. Yeah. And it will be very challenging for you to get your piece because there's too many people vying for it, right? Where when you come from a place of abundance, it's like, there are people in this world I was meant to serve. And there are things that I do that may not be unique, but the combination of how I do it, who I do it, and why I do it is going to resonate with a group of people. It may be a small group, it may be a large group, but it will resonate, and I can monetize that and scale that. So just thinking there's not enough.

Will:  

Yeah, for sure. And it's something that we've talked about on this podcast a lot in that, with all these new players, I'm sure we're gonna get into sort of the digital and the big companies that have come in and how that impacts individual instructors. But at the end of the day, like the scarcity mindset is essentially looking at the looking at the total world's population, and the people that already do fitness and thinking that you all have to compete for that. And just forgetting about that whole section of the pie, whether it's 80%, whether it's 70%, you know, but it's that whole section that isn't currently doing fitness that would do it and could do it if you helped motivate and enable them and get them into it.

Shannon  

Yeah, and, I mean, it's so interesting to me, I've just never been that person that thinks there's not enough to go around. And I'm competitive, don't get me wrong, I and I'm not suggesting that there isn't a need to be a little bit competitive to up your game and for all of us to try to do better and be more. But if if you can figure out who you are meant to serve, that you do have to get really clear about your target market. I think that's part of the issue we have which we can talk about, you have to know what the number one result is that you provide. Right. And other people may provide that same thing, they might even provide it to the same target market, but you have a very unique Why, why you got into it, why you, why you do it, what motivates you, what drives you, and that becomes your brand. And like branding is not your Pantone color, and your logo. The number of conversations I get into with people like, I can't do my website, because I don't know what my Pantone color is, and I don't have a professional logo A or B, like nobody cares. You have to be able to articulate your who, what, and your why. And if you know that that like like I said that unique combination and how you get that message out into the world will sit on people and and I love what you said it's, you know, in the US we talked about the 85% all the time. Scarcity mindset is thinking that exactly what you said the people that are already doing fitness are your target market. They may or may not be right, but there are so many people that need to get moving. We just have to figure out how to connect that, you just have to be really clear with who you're trying to connect. There are more than enough,every single person needs. That's the coolest thing about being a fitness special. Everyone needs some of what you've got. Yeah, you've just got to figure out how to get to them and make them understand that in their terms. So yeah, I just think there's more opportunity for fitness than ever, you could just get out of our own way.

Will:  

I agree. And well, I think we'll delve more into this in terms of the end and some of the what, how, and the why that you're talking about. But I think that that is like it's so clearly seen in the introduction of a lot of big players to the fitness industry. And obviously listening to this show our group fitness professionals, they're probably catering to a different market. But if you look at how peloton advertises how Liz Mills on demand, advertisers how Apple fitness are advertising, while they all have their own unique kind of unique brand and unique culture. And obviously, Apple fitness plus is doing a great job of being super diverse. They're all still fit people that are encouraging fit people. And there are so and if you just look at what who they are targeting with all of their marketing, capital, their marketing dollars, their their Facebook advertising, their social media advertising, and just think, well, they're clearly not targeting that person on the couch that much, they may be encouraging them for a really cheap deal or the fact that they get eyeballs. But they're not catering their content to someone that needs that extra person to person motivation. And they're never going to be able to do it. And this is something I've talked about numerous times is that when they're operating at scale, they have to be for everybody. Therefore, they can't really niche down as much as an individual instructor can. They can't provide that community support or that direct conversation or, you know, understand like, there was a Facebook meme that went around to basically every instructor in the world this week, right? And it was, instead of supporting these big brands, why don't you support your local instructor who does your song choice knows your name knows when your children are graduating, etc. And I think that this is a really great segue into 'and' because we don't need to think of it as a big competition, right?

Shannon  

Oh, my gosh, yes. So that post is killing me for so many reasons.

Will:  

Tell me about it. Because I get it right. Like I understand it. And I agree with it. But I understand what you're saying. Why don't you kind of elaborate on that?

Shannon  

Yeah, I mean, I mean, no disrespect, because I hear you. I know, this has been such a hard year. And I blame it on the lack of support that we provided to fitness professionals to advocate for themselves put themselves at the center of their fitness business. Yep. And build their own scalable businesses. So let's put that aside. I get where we're all coming from. Yeah, but to your point. The first thing that bothers me about it is you're basically fitness is already tough for a lot of people can we all agree like not everyone sees exercise as a gift like you and I do they see it as a chore. Therefore, it's something to be done. It's something on a list and things get in the way. So it's it's not like people are a lot of people are self motivated to do it, even though you may think they are because you surround yourself with a lot of people that are so hold on to that thought. If you've got that thought and then all of a sudden you're on Facebook, you are chastising people that are making a choice to move and telling them the choice they made is incorrect. If you are really are in this industry to get people moving and empower people to choose movement over sitting still. You just did the exact opposite. I mean, I am for any kind of movement. And I used to say that, you know, I most of my career was spent riding a bike that didn't go anywhere. For showing for 20 plus years. Yeah. And people would get so you know, instructors that get so irritated about will do well, where I live in Colorado, it's a huge cycling mecca. So come summer, nobody is indoors. And instructors would get so mad and I had the same irritation level. I'm like, why are you mad at them? Think about the part that you played in empowering them to go outside. So I'll get off that soapbox. That's my first.

Will:  

No I like that  soapbox there, right? Like, because I have had like understanding that your class gets smaller in summer and your your Saturday morning class might not be as big as it was in winter. But that's because people are out enjoying their lives. And a lot of those people will be out doing things with their kids, with their grandkids, in the park, playing sport that you have enabled them to do through the work that you've put in together with them motivating them to work out during the during the winter months.

Shannon  

Yeah, I mean, let's put AND on that. It's like, I hate that my classes are small. And I can see the part I played and making them small and that makes me feel really good. There's just a there's just a different way because you also I'm going through this great program right now called the shift and they talk about vibration and there's a there's a real law of attraction around your vibration and I think this and conversation changes your vibration. It's like I can feel that way. And yeah, I can look for the good in it or I can feel that way and that can happen. So that's my first irritation with that post because I'm like, you're basically telling a whole bunch of people, it's not the same as chastising people for choosing Starbucks over your local barista. Two totally different things, right. They were getting coffee anyway. So that's, that's part one. Part Two, the and thing is, I can you can do both things like the democratization of fitness because of digital offerings is real. Where people used to have to pay 20, 30, 40, 50 hundreds of dollars or whatever your currency is, to get into it. The barrier to entry from a financial standpoint is so low, right? How much is apple? $9.95? I mean, you gotta have the watch, but it's not any five peloton $39.95 they can do your thing and their thing.

Will:  

That's exactly right. Right. Like, if you apply AND to it, instead of going Apple's charging 9.99 How can I compete with that, you can go Apple's charging 9.99, which is great, because that means that someone can do that and come to my LIVE, and come to my live class or my livestream class where I provide something different.

Shannon  

And here's the thing I am so for leveraging third party content, and making peloton and Apple work for you. Here's what I mean. And you're alluding to what you're saying, I'm gonna say it in a slightly different way. What I offer to you is not just exercise, if you still think that your class is what you offer to the people that were coming, you are peddling the wrong thing.

Will:  

Agreed. 

Shannon  

They can get a class anywhere. So I can still teach my class. And here's the beauty of all these other options that are out there. I don't have to try to be everything to everyone. Because that's also what I'm witnessing instructors try to do is like, well, how am I going to charge 9.95? if Apple has 10 different formats, with 20 different instructors? Now, I've got to teach all these formats. Yeah, you're probably not good at all the formats so double down on yours. So then what I can do that's different than apple and I can leverage Apple & Pelaton is say, come to me for this. And what I can provide is making sense of all the other options to supplement or amplify what you're doing with me. And this is what I say like the 2021 fitness professionals, personal trainers, group fitness, anyone needs to start studying and behavior change and health coaching. Because that has always been your differentiator. You just never you never really knew how to put that in a box. But that's what you need to be selling is I can be your Sherpa. I can teach you some of the things and have interactions with you. But I also can help you make sense. Like I train a guy in the UK and I don't make up any workouts for him. I don't have to do that anymore. I say take this on peloton, do this outside and then here's a list of exercises that you already know how to do, do it. And you know what? Super valuable. 

Will:  

Sorry to jump in. I just I was just thinking that no, I had never had this realization before but your exactly right with behavioral change because and I'm going to take the example of someone who teaches in a gym, be it say they tip they taught a body pump class in 24 Hour Fitness, or in one of the gyms in the UK anywhere around the world. And they had a good slot. And they built that slot up because more people came and they were successful as a teacher. And let's say that now they don't have that slot anymore, they're not able to teach it the gym is closed, it might have shut down it might be that the class timetable has been reduced. But when you think when you roll back, and they thought I taught a really good class, the reason more people were coming to the class is because you were motivating them to make a behavioral change, you are motivating more people week on week iteratively to make a change to their behavior to come into exercise. And that as you said, that was what you really did. And I think a lot of people think, Oh, just 24 has a really good membership sales, or they were doing a sale or body pump is a great format. I mean, those can all be true, but it wouldn't make your class bigger, because there's so many other options. The reason your class got bigger was because you were encouraging people to make a change in their behavior, and they were sticking to it. And that's how you built your numbers. And you can apply that regardless of 24 Hour Body pump, as an example.

Shannon  

Right. And we have to redefine community because I keep hearing that too. Like they're gonna come back for the community. Well, being in person is not a community. Um, everyone just happening to be at the same place at the same time is not community, in person or online, you are doing something more than that community is rallying around the same cause or the same thought or the same emotion or the same feeling. And, you know, I was one of the first body pump instructors in the US and worked for Les Mills at some point as to do and I remember realizing like the beauty of lesson of the body pump class in particular when it came out. It wasn't necessarily again, it wasn't just that people were showing up or that was teaching any differently than you are teaching it the that all came to the table but the brilliance of that format was your ability to see progress week in and week out and the predictability of it so you could hang your hat on the experience every day right? And always know what's gonna go in the same order and that the lunch track is always going to feel like crap and thank god this thing is next and right you just knew, shit shoulders are at the end sorry, shoulders are at the end at least that's the cooldown coming. Like you knew and and I want instructors to remember that like that's the the smart programming like, I'm not gonna say an individual instructors programming is better than peloton But to your point, they have to do it in a way that is not linear or progressive. Yeah, it is very ad hoc. It's very drop and drop out a la cart, right? You can stack it. I mean, like I do I do. I have such problems. I do Peloton, Apple and Mirror like literally every day, but I do a ton of material. There I've got ADD. But what I still need a fitness professional for is to usher me through my experience, right. And that is just a different level of perfect, you're selling a different product. And if you're not, if you're still just selling your experience, you need to upgrade the product that you're selling doesn't mean more bells and whistles doesn't necessarily mean higher production quality. But you need to update you need to upgrade your operating system like what are you actually offering that because no, you can't compete with peloton and Apple but you don't have to.

Will:  

Yeah, I actually said that in my first podcast of the year I described this, the changes that we're going to be coming for any group fitness instructor, particularly those that are back in the gym, is that you're gonna have to be a host you have to welcome people in, you have to make sure that it's clean and hygienic, and they feel safe. But I think maybe like having talked to you, I realized that host is probably the wrong thing. It's more like a concierge, right? Because you're actually the person that comes in bring them and then when they come back the next time you are providing an upgraded more personal experience. Whereas a host, you know host could be a one time thing, you are a concierge taking them through a journey. And when they come back to know where they've been and where they're going.

Shannon  

Right, you have to become their empowering chief. And I've preached about this for a long time even before COVID like, you know, stop at the end of your class just promoting your next class. Yeah, or going online and telling people, oh, sub alert, sorry, I'm not going to be there, like that drives me absolutely crazy. Like you can't be the center of the consumers solar system.

Will:  

Now more than ever right.

Shannon  

Oh my gosh, no, not at all, like Patient Centered healthcare. It's the same thing. Like we have to put the consumer at the center. And know that we potentially are one spoke, they're the hub, we may, so be be a spoke. But I want to take it one step further be a spoke, but be the person that can connect all the other spokes and make it make sense to the hub. That's the that is the value bring. So like at the end of any class, you teach, whether it's in person or live, it's, hey, we just did this great Body Pump class, we worked all body parts, we did it in an endurance-based way we burned tons of calories. I would suggest that when you leave here you go do XYZ and maybe tomorrow do this. I don't want to see you back in a body pump class. But maybe I'll see you next week. Right? And give them the options because I mean, gone are the days that that folks want the wise woman on the mountaintop telling them what to do they want someone beside them just just advocating for them and making sense of what they're doing and saying Yep, that's good. Keep going. Another little small step, another little small step. That's going to be the difference this year.

Will:  

Yeah. And and I think that you, I feel that you've hit the nail on the head there. And that the opportunity for instructors this year, is to understand that the hub and spoke is like is a paradigm of fitness that is changing because the gym was the place that people went for fitness. And for most people that was the best or the yoga studio, or the swimming club or the running club, like people were doing all of these things. Whereas with the democratization of fitness with things like classpass, encouraging people to try different things with digital fitness, where they can have 14 day free trials of I mean, you could basically go a full year of doing 14 day trials on different things if you were so inclined, we have to accept that it's now a case of helping people to understand how to put together their fitness journey rather than providing it all for them. And that goes for gym, as well. As we know from some of the other work we do, everybody just has to get across this new way of this new paradigm of fitness.

Shannon  

Yes, 100% I mean, you know, I think about class pass and how disruptive that was when it came how angry people were class pass. I think that they were successful not because they brought the price point down like that was everyone's argument, right? You're driving us into the ground? But they saw what the consumer needed, which is, I want what I want when I want it. And that's it. Orange theory also saw that.

Will:  

I don't want to have, I don't want to commit to everything being just this, I want to be able to do different stuff.

Shannon  

Yeah. And I think because people really put it in that context of commitment and blame it on the millennial mindset. Yeah. Like, again, it's I look at is not just a lack of commitment, the lack of commitment is because their needs their wants, and their schedules change more frequently. Yes, Gone are the days and I think we see it more now with COVID. Because we've all been affected this way. Yes. But gone are the days that most people have an eight to five, Monday through Friday with the drop off of the kid at this time and a lunch break at this time and pick up at this time. So I don't even know that the gym makes sense anymore sometimes. Right? Right, like I think about it for myself, unless like I have a neighbor. And she's like, the studio is getting me through this because it is my one time of the day that I get to leave the house. Where I'm the opposite. And I'm like, I have no reason to leave the house that just adds complexity, complexity in my day, I would rather go downstairs and invest all my money in building out my gym. And we're all going to be different but but it used to be so homogenous, right? Everyone was driving somewhere and the gym made sense. So we tried to get the perfect real estate

Will:  

And that's why the classes were in the morning, in lunch, in the evening. And that that that whole thing is that's not going to be the case right? It's gone.

Shannon  

Totally gone. Totally gone. And and I think clubs and instructors can see the neat thing is people are also discovering I can do a little bit here in a little bit there. Also the the 60 minute class, not that it's gone. The people that were always doing it are always gonna want it.

Will:  

Right, but they're getting old.

Shannon  

Oh my god, I can't tell you the last time I did a 60 minute class, I cannot remember the last time I press play for 60.

Will:  

I only do it if it's yoga. And that's because yoga like yoga are the most particular about their, their, their reasons and their rules. And I'll do a 60 minute yoga class. But yeah, if there's a 60 minute class on the timetable, I find that it makes me anxious just going in because I'm like, I don't feel that I'm using this time appropriately. Particularly I'm doing strength or HIIT.

Shannon  

Right. Right. And and it's it's just it's an I had to come to this realization as a fitness professional that

Will:  

Annd someone who does do a 60 minute class, they'll do two classes back to back. Like it's the thing.

Shannon  

Exactly. And there are going to be people that that's exactly what I say because I was like pulling my words back my mouth. That's why I try not to speak in absolutes. I don't think anything is completely dead. I think there's always going to be an audience. I agree. What I do caution fitness professionals from Is this the same thing happened in the US with politics. Like we have confirmation bias, we look for confirmation of what we believe because we want the past to still be true. Yeah, we want what we did to still be relevant. We want the way that it looked to come back. And I just think as long as we are driving looking the rearview mirror, we are going to crash. Yeah, um, you know, the people that wanted 60 minute high intensity classes that were doing the choreography before you even introduced it and embellishing it. They are still there. Yeah. But you know, what's really interesting is I find they're not actually coming back to the gym because they can find fitness anywhere. It doesn't matter. They were already the superstar of their experience. Yeah. So circling back to your point. It's like, we're, we're after even if you are back in the gym, like you're after a different person. I was speaking to someone that said the other day. It's been really interesting in the gym, because it's all new people. They're teaching group fitness to this whole new group of people. And the instructors are really struggling because they're realizing that they actually weren't really adept at addressing beginners. They could tolerate beginners. Yeah, they could shape shift some of the stuff for beginners, but at the end of the day, we still were teaching for the 15 people in the front row or the 10 people in the front row. So it's, yeah, it's a wild and crazy ride. I mean, I think Darwinism, right. The people on the other side are the are the quality instructors that are really in this for the right reasons. And there are still going to be people that do it for ego. And that's okay. They can there are people that resonate with that, like I I'm tired of instructors being mad at Instagram stars, like, don't be mad, don't be a hater. Like, they cater to a certain group people. They are not the people that you are trying to find. Yeah, someone that's just gonna follow an Instagram star is not your person. And that's okay. Like, again, scarcity versus abundance.

Will:  

Yeah, I have sympathy for this for this mindset, because I will state very openly I got into fitness because I went to my university rec center, and it was a class of like, 80 people and the person at the front was like loving it, and everyone I was loving it. And I'm like, I want to be that. And then I went into Les Mills. And I just like I got hooked on the idea of being the rock star at the front of this, at the top of the stage, creating this great experience. I was 20, I didn't like it, there was an ego aspect to it. And that's fine. And I've grown through that. But I wouldn't want to suggest that my reasons for getting into it weren't completely pure, because they were I loved it so much, that I wanted to be in it right at the center and sharing that love with everybody else. And now I've moved into a point in my career where I'm more about bringing people along for the journey and bringing new people in. But it would be, it would be completely inconsistent for me to think that the person that I was back then wasn't bringing a lot. And I think that to think that people who are bringing more people into fitness is doing a good job. And instead of getting angry at them, think of how you can see what they're doing, emulate it but for a different niche, different audience a different group of people that needs you.

Shannon  

Yes, 100%. When I when I do my career coaching for fitness professionals, I've always said there's three motivators that are behind every business or career, right? Ego, money, social contribution. Yeah. And all three of them are in there some way. They're just all in different orders. Yeah. And to your point, I would never suggest that someone that ego is first, money second, social contribution is any less relevant than someone that's social contribution, money and ego. It's just a different business path. And I knew I did my best work with the people that it was social contribution, money, ego last. Yeah, but to your point, same thing. Like I joke all the time that I became an instructor because I walked into a class and I'm like, I could do better than that. And I had a tape in my bag waiting for that day that she just didn't show up. Right? Yeah. And there is that endorphin rush of Oh, my God, they like me. And I always say like, most fitness instructors get paid an ego strokes. Yeah. And, I mean, there's a chicken and egg conversation around that. But we get paid an ego strokes, which made COVID really hard. And like, ushered us into this scarcity thing, because we're not getting the thing that made us feel good. 

Will:  

And we may never get that, again, like being a being a fitness instructor now is going to involve a digital element, it's going to involve community building, it's, it's only going to be a few a very small percentage that are going to go back to having the prime spot class at a gym, and even then it's probably not going to have as many people in it. And so that you either have to decide that what you were in it for is no longer there. And you maybe want to drop out or do something different, or you have to reformulate the things you get the feedback from and, and I don't think that's a bad thing, right? It's just a development thing. We've just gone through a natural transformation. As everyone's always said, we've gone through, you know, five years of transformation and one. But I think for individual instructors, probably more than that, I think the industry has done technological change five and one. But the difference in being an instructor has changed fundamentally like I don't think you can measure it in years. Now if you're an instructor, you know, you're teaching to a camera, you have to understand how to do AV, you have to understand how to take payments, you have to understand what platform you're gonna go on. None of this is necessarily as fun to you as standing up and being adored. Or getting to the end of a, getting to the end of a class and having an endorphin rush and having people clap to you like that. You have to you have to reframe.

Shannon  

You do and and I love that you stated it. I think more people need to hear this message. And if you've decided this isn't for you, that's okay too, you might have to reframe, you either have to, you know, reframe and mold into what this what this is now, or review all the opportunities and find the best place for you to go that exactly what you need out of it. 

Will:  

And don't feel bad about it right?

Not at all, yeah, who wants to keep doing something that doesn't feel good? Or right? I mean, I'd say give it the old college try. Yeah, you don't know until you change your mindset. I think there are still ways to get that same feeling. But you've got to figure it out. 

Will:  

You're gonna know that you've done a good job, not from the direct feedback. Okay. So let's let's also say that Group Fitness will come back, gyms will come back, there will be opportunity. Yeah, I just think there's two things that everybody needs to accept. One is that it'll come back different and there's probably going to be less opportunities. And the second thing is, if you want to make a career out of it, that can't be the only thing it just can't. And so like the the ego stroke or the feedback that you get, or knowing you've made a positive contribution to someone else's day, isn't necessarily going to come from their beaming face sweaty, beaming face at you at the end of a workout. It might come from a Facebook post saying thank you so much for this two weeks later. And so you have to know like, know what you're trying to achieve. You have to know your why and then you have to be a bit kind to yourself and appreciating that it might come in different ways.

Shannon  

Yeah, I think it can be very I think this could be a major mental shift for people. So a couple things there, you said it, I want to highlight it. You've got to know where to go to find the feedback and store it up so that when or if you don't get it, you have it. Like I always tell people, I have a praise folder in my email inbox. I have had it for 15 years. And anytime, anytime, no matter how small it is, screenshot it, I email it to myself, like I throw it in there. So that if I do have I mean, it's the only thing that got me through COVID when there was a dry spell and just not getting much feedback. So that's one. But the other thing you said is Brenee Brown, I can't even paraphrase what the study was that she talks about in one of her books about I think this has been really freeing for me not having to show up to conferences and make assumptions about how people are feeling about my work. Yeah, let me give an example. Some people have that face. Yeah, where they may be totally jonesing on the information you're providing, but they look like they hate you. And I don't know. But I'm giving a business presentation or teaching a class and all I can do is hone in on them. I'm gonna turn them. And it almost hijacks my experience so much I I will tell you a story about this actually happened in a live class in because it's the funniest story and very pivotal in my career. But what I have loved about having to move behind a camera where the feedback is asynchronous. Yep, is that I had to shift my mindset to trust that whenever I showed you a podcast or a webinar, or a live or a conference or anything, I trust that I am prepared. I trust that I prepared the best that I can. And I am delivering the best product with the purest of intentions. And the people that were meant to hear it or hearing it and getting what they need. Yeah. And it has been such a more peaceful 10 months of work than ever before, because I can't play that mind game with myself where I detached from the actual experience because I'm so worried about what that one person is thinking. And I hadn't really thought about that in a long time. And I told you I tell the story just so you can laugh at me. I was I was that instructor that used to teach the 5:30 kickboxing class to a packed room of 100 people. And I will never forget I was turned around and you know, back in the day, we had our stages. Yeah, yeah. 100 people in the room, turn around, do my music and someone bangs on the stage turn around and she goes. So are you gonna bring it this week? I'm like, huh? Because I was here last week. Yeah, I was I was here last week. And it was not a good workout, I left. I'm like, I, so if you can imagine where does she place herself. It's like right in the front row. And I'm step touching, bringing the heart rate up in a smart, respectable way. She's already doing air jacks, like, whatever. Long story short, I also had a client in the back. Her name was Stella, love Stella, and she was my client like very overweight. She was one of those that she's just smiling the whole time. And she's just happy to be there getting a little bit better every week. And I loved her. And but all I could focus on was this woman on the front row because I'm like, I'm gonna kill her. She still ended up what happened she still ends up leaving in the middle of class and it had nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me, whether or not right? And I turned around and looked at Stella when she walked out of the room and Stella's like, doubled over in the back like dying. And afterwards, she pulled me aside and I don't remember her exact words. But basically, she's like sweet pea. You are teaching to me, not her. And I need you. Could you remember that next time? And I was like, Oh my god.

Will:  

And it stayed with you forever. Right? That's the type of feedback that sears into your soul.

Shannon  

Yeah, and I but it's been a long time since I had I always embraced that in movement type experiences. But I hadn't realized I was also doing it in my lectures, right in my conference presentations that way. And that has been, I mean, the one gift I hope instructors can see is there is such a release in just trust that you're putting good out into the world and the people that were meant meant to hear it will hear it. Yeah. And you may not ever get the direct feedback. But you know, if you're doing your best work, people are going to are going to receive it and you can put your head on the pillow at night feeling really good about yourself. I know it's kind of freeing and I imagine that's what celebrities probably have to do. Right?

Will:  

 100%

Shannon  

How do they deal with all the negative feedback? Do you do that? I doom scroll onn Instagram of famous people. I'm like, oh my gosh, look at all these mean comments. This is so awful, but they, you know, they have to develop I'm going way off on a tangent. But the good thing about this is, I agree and that is figure out how to how to be okay with it.

Will:  

And it's one of the like, it is one of the themes of this show. Like right back at the start. We talked about finding your signature strength as an instructor. I had Susan Renata, very famous, Les Mills Master Trainer. And she talked about a strength, a character strengths survey that you can do and figure out what are the things that you like to do and, and people can refer back to the show cuz I think it's really useful when we've talked about this actually in some of the other ones we've done. But it's figuring what, what what makes you happy, what brings you joy, what's your strength, and then how to lean into that. And if and if other things aren't, if you have weaknesses, don't worry about like fixing your weaknesses. If it's something to do with like, you know, you're not queueing correctly, or you're not, you know, if there are things that you are not doing that you need to do that's different. But if humor is not a strength of yours, don't be humorous, because trying to be humorous, will just fall flat, you won't connect with people. And you have to be okay with some people liking you and some people not and that is how you become successful. It's by finding the people that like you and you cannot find them if you're trying to cater to the people that never will.

Shannon  

Yeah, and I think I've shared this story too. Yes, Strength Finders is so important. And once you find who you are, do it times two. Jay Blahnik, who you and I both know is a very dear friend of mine and a mentor. And I remember telling him about presenting at a conference, like 200 people, I was bouncing on a trampoline. And one person gave me a negative review. And if you could just tell us back in the day, it's all I could think about. So it was back in the day when you got the feedback when you walked out of the room. The handwritten card. And it's like she had all this venom. And she just she wrote in all capital letters, and like, went over it twice and said, kill the cheerleader on crack routine.

Will:  

I mean, to be fair, hopefully you can look at that now and think that's quite funny.

Shannon  

I do. I did not find it funny at all

Will:  

I bet you did not.

Shannon  

Oh my gosh, because I was like 24 years old. cheerleader in college. I don't smoke crack like, and, and I was just like, I was so offended. Because I mean, you're bouncing on a trampoline. What other kind of personality? Are you expecting, do you want me to do like a yin yoga. Um, but I remember when I told you that story in a moment of weakness or wine, I don't remember. And he's like, I yeah. And I told him, I saved it. I'd had it in my office all these years. And he and he said the same thing he's like, but does it motivate you? I'm like, Well, yeah. Because he I'm gonna work harder. And I'm going to try it. And he's like, no, but he he is the perfect person. He's the guy behind Apple Fitness Plus and the cast of characters that he amassed, that has always been his thing, he had a war chest. Yeah. And he's like, you play a very specific part in my war chest. And I wouldn't have you any other way. Right? There are going to be people that don't like you, and I know who isn't going to like you, but they're gonna like this person. So that's why they're on the team. And I think if we all can remember, we are one big gigantic fitness team.

Will:  

Mm hmm. 

Shannon  

We are all on the same timetable. And some people hate me and my over the top personality, hate me. And that's okay. I don't need you to like me, because they might like you. Or they might like that format, or they might like that platform or that as long as you're moving. And it's okay. So, again, we go back to this, like ego, social contribution, etc. Like, as long as I know, I'm putting the best of myself out into the world, I'm being very authentic to me, there are going to be people that want that thing. And they're going to be people that don't, I can be okay with that. Like, this all gets so much better if we can just realize we're doing something really, really important that it's probably the only thing in the world that everybody needs. Everybody needs a little bit of what you've got to give. Everybody needs it. So just yeah, double down on what you're doing. Yeah, it's, it's, it's been a fun 25 years of learning. And I love I mean, I hate to say I love what's happened in the last year, but I love what it's forcing us to do.

Will:  

Like it's so much is there we've been stagnant for a while I think like group fitness as a as a concept has been stagnant. And they've been stuff that's happened around the size of it, a little bit of digital boutiques have come in, they've changed the game, things like Barry's having superstar instructors. But what we do in a classroom has been a bit stagnant for a while, like there's been concepts. But at the end of the day, we haven't had to really deal with change since sort of the advent of group fitness. So kind of, you know, 25 years ago, 30 years ago, right? Well, how long have I now and it's so it's it's exciting. I mean, doesn't mean that it's not like really stressful and very and creating a lot of anxiety, but it's also exciting to be at the forefront of a new thing a new paradigm and, and able to impact change in so many people's lives.

Shannon  

Oh my gosh, absolutely. I've always characterized that as we've been rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. Right? It's just, you know, creating a new product, a new format, another pre choreographed thing, we're just slightly upping the game like that 1% and we finally I got to the boiling point where it's like, I have so appreciated there have not been any new formats in the last 10 months. So we can all really think about what formats were working. What wasn't working, and I love talking to group fitness directors now that I feel like, you know, schedules had become these over bloated closets, full of stuff that you're never gonna wear, again, that don't really look good together. And we just kept going, you know, like, 127 classes on the timetable. 40 instructors. Yeah. And in in this time of having to shrink down, we're getting back to our core. I mean, you're not as old as I am. But I loved teaching in the 90s, you taught step, you taught high level, maybe you taught a three and three interval class. That was it. And you got really good at it where, you know, fast forward 10 years later, I felt like I had to be a robajo to make a living. Yes, not every format available. And and I always appreciated that with Les Mills. I mean, they wanted you to teach more than one but they were very adamant about, you're not going to teach all of our formats.

Will:  

Yeah, you're not you can't sit in the essence everything.

Shannon  

No, so yeah, I, I appreciate the evolution that is happening. And it is, and it's hard, and we can all we can all be okay with the fact that it's hard. Just because it's necessary, doesn't mean it's not hard. So yeah, I'm excited for what's to come for sure.

Will:  

Me too. Okay. So we have we've got about a few minutes to go. What I wanted to check with you at the end and sort of ask you is with with the focus on this being the year of end, are there any kind of specific tactics that you recommend to Group Fitness instructors in order to take to take hold of the opportunity that's presented to them?

Shannon  

Yes, I'm gonna give you two. One, I think you have to become extremely curious. Instead of controversial, and maybe those are the the wrong dichotomy. But instead of being frustrated by the Apples and by the Pelotons, or by this club, down the street, or that studio, yep, go get curious. Go do it.

Will:  

There are free trials. And you can try all these things for free, the only thing you have to do is cancel the credit card before the two weeks is out. But try all the classes, steal some stuff.

Shannon  

Yeah. And don't go in there with the the mindset of I want to find everything that's wrong. I want you to go into it with a mindset of tell me everything that's right. Yeah. Find all the good things about it, that you can go, oh, my gosh, that's amazing. And not because I want you to take that and put that on yourself, put that responsibility to be it right. You can't be Rebecca Kennedy, Christine Derecole and Greg Cook. Like you can't do it. Yeah. But what you can do is you know what else is out there, so you can start to become that Sherpa, I think that's so important. And I'd say the second thing, and there's a lot underneath this, you have to take control of your career, life does not happen to you. You're not an innocent bystander. So you can't just I mean, you can, but I would I implore you get your head out of the sand. This isn't happening to you. It's happening to everyone, like even playing ground for the first time and forever, it's happening to everyone, get your head up, take control of your career, just like we were talking about put the customer back in the center, you need to be in the center of the fitness ecosystem. Instead of being a shapeshifter, and just trying to take the opportunities that you see out there, you need to get to the center of your ecosystem and get really clear about who do you want to serve? What can you give them? And why do you do it. And then you can evaluate opportunities through that filtration system, or, and build your own business, like, I've been talking a lot about, we're all in business for ourselves, whether we work for someone else, or work for ourselves, correct, right? Whether you're an employee, or you work for yourself, and you really need to put that hat on. And you're good at teaching fitness, you're good at exercise, maybe you need to learn the technology side of it, whatever, I know, you do a great job with that lots of people out there doing good work on the technology side. But I would really encourage you to start thinking about the business side and not let that scare you not not let the term business turn you off of it. Because all business really is is getting clear about your who, what and why. And then building a system to continue to do those three things and and share those three things over and over.

Will:  

On that last one. I think that's a really, really good point to end on. Because I think that we get all very stressed and put a lot of focus on the how, like how do I do it? What platform do I use? What camera do I use and often at the expense of going back and thinking about the who, the what, and the why. And we on this podcast talk about how a lot because the how is important, right? But the how, like how has to come? I mean, the difficulty is if you're a great fitness instructor and you've been doing it for a while then it's all about the how because like lockdown happened and you couldn't teach classes and all that sort of stuff but you your How have become a factor of the same thing that you've been doing year in, year out and so the how related to the old paradigm. And if you haven't sat down and thought about the who, the what and the why, and then how it's going to affect the way you teach the way delivered the way you motivate people in a new world of fitness, then you, it's going to be difficult for you to really understand the how, because that comes later.

Shannon  

Yeah, because you're trying to nail jello to a wall, like, you're just trying a lot of different things. And, yeah, that's the system that I've taught for 10 years, that you have to rebuild your foundation, then you have to figure out all the ways that you can extend the opportunity to build trust and credibility with you. So people can find the offering that you have that is proportionate to the amount of trust they have in you, then you don't have to sell anyone, and you won't be spending so much time thinking about the marketing tactics, because then all you're doing is promoting what you're doing. And it becomes the self fulfilling cycle. And you're living in this state of flow, because it feels really good for the people that you resonate with, and doing what you want to be doing. And and you're very clear in your why so it doesn't feel like work anymore. And I'm really excited about yeah, excited about.

Will:  

Sorry, I keep jumping in. But only because I'm so excited by all the stuff you're saying.

Shannon  

Yeah, I'm just excited to be back teaching that stuff this year, because I've been doing that for companies for so long. But But I think the series, The rise of the independent, and, and I always put an asterisk after that. Because I don't mean that I still mean it with an AND mindset, the rise of the independent through the lens of whether you work for yourself or someone else, it's about you being in control and being very clear about why you're doing what you're doing and who you want to serve. Like I said, and and learning that cooperation and collaboration is really important. But I'm excited to get back to teaching the independent how to do these things for themselves and make sure it aligns with the companies or the opportunities that they're working towards or for.

Will:  

100%. So if people have been really engaged in what you've had to say and want to hear more from you, where can they go to find you?

Shannon  

Yeah, my website's the best place, ShannonFable.com. And there's a section called Connect where I let you know, I let you know where, where I am, what I'm doing. And as we start to get these certain do some boot camps and some other group coaching with independents this year, that'll be on that link. 

Will:  

Perfect. Well, we'll put a link to that in the show notes. Shannon Fable. Thank you so much year of AND. Let's get to it.

Shannon  

Yes.

Will:  

So that was my chat with Shannon. What do you think of the year of AND? I think this topic is one that you probably need to go away and think about for a bit. Take some time to reflect on your role within the fitness ecosystem. Step back from the house, and really think about your what your who and your why. Then, once you've got that clear, think about the hub and spoke metaphor. Your customer should always be the hub, not you. But your role is to be that crucial spoke that links all the other fitness books together. It's not about getting them to work out with you and only you. It's about making them feel supported and empowered and awesome about being active. And if you can elicit that feeling in them, then they're always going to come back to your class. They might do a different class sometimes or some sport outside or an online workout in between. But that's not a threat to you, as Shannon said, So clearly, when you're the one that empowers your clients to really appreciate their fitness to get motivated to go outside to do stuff to make the most of their lives, then you should feel proud of the change that you are creating in their lives and the lives of their friends and family. 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.