Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kelly Howard, CEO of Fit is Freedom, located in Houston, TX, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My business is Fit is Freedom, and we work with women who are roughly 50 and up and ready to make this time in their lives amazing. These are all busy women who have been putting their families, companies, and relationships for a very long time and are now realizing that it's up to us to focus on who and HOW we want to live the rest of our lives. I'm all about fitness, fun, community, and consistency. As the Fitness Consistency Expert with a touch of adventure, I help women get active and stay active through coaching, courses, and retreats.

Tell us about yourself

Just before I sold my previous company, I was leading a small, local hike, and a woman showed up with a cane. Not hiking poles, but a cane. She told me that she wasn't going on the hike because she wasn't in shape, but she had dared herself to even show up in the parking lot. No way was I letting her leave! With a little teamwork and a lot of coaching, she completed that hike, and it literally changed her life. I recently received an email and a selfie from her, hiking a big trail in a National Park for her 65th birthday. No cane is required. That hike was the impetus for my current business, Fit is Freedom. I absolutely believe that if we aren't fit, we hold ourselves back from so much joy, fun, and adventure we can have in life. Fit is not a perfect weight; it's a way of living life well.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a (four-time) business owner is what I have brought to my client's lives. Early on, when my companies focused on helping single people meet, it was the friendships and relationships that I helped foster. As I moved into the outdoor adventure market, it became the fun, the new activities, and the friendships that came from that company. Now, as I focus on helping women become consistent with their fitness, what I see happing is the empowerment, the joy, and the excitement that comes from a fitness and even adventure focus. When I look back over almost thirty years of clients, what I see our the lives that I have helped change for the better, and that feels amazing.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Learning to manage your time and be consistent with your work while not overloading yourself. I break my days into very specific "3 Actions" per day. Not three projects, but three actions. The way I make the distinction is if the action can be broken into many, multiple steps, then it's most likely a project, and I need to break it down further. I also keep my work week to 30 hours or less. Time expands or contracts to fit your schedule.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Working 80 hours a week isn't going to make you successful. It wasn't until the fourth company that I really got this lesson, and it came from getting burned out first. I believed that if I just worked hard enough, on the other side would be a success and all the rewards, including play and relaxation. When I woke one morning and had to crawl to the bathroom because I was in too much pain to walk, my body forced me to slow down. The wonderful thing about all that pain was it led to exactly where I am today, running a location-independent business with the perfect hours-to-fun ratio while teaching others this important lesson!
  2. Only work with clients you love. The wrong clients can ruin you and your business. The first time I "fired" a client, I was nervous. It was in my event business, and we had a very toxic couple join. I knew they had to go, but I'd never done that before. When I gave them the news, they barely blinked. After that, it was easy because I understood how much the wrong clients could pull you and your business down.
  3. Trust your gut and say yes. Trusting your intuition takes real courage because there is nothing but a feeling to go on. When I bought BCO, I had zero plans to make an offer on a company that day, but I knew it was the exact right thing to do when I did it. It was a gut decision. When I was invited to sail across the Gulf of Mexico, and I'd never been sailing offshore, I said yes without hesitation because it just felt right. And it was. I made that 700-mile sailing trip across the gulf eight more times and loved it every single time.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://fitisfreedom.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fit_is_freedom/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-howard-fitisfreedom/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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