Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Beth Learn, Founder of Fit2B Diastasis Aware Workouts, located in the United States.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Fit2B provides specialized workouts for women with Diastasis Recti and other postpartum issues to do at home. We offer "TummySafe" Pilates and Yoga as well as cardio, weightlifting, Tai Chi, Tabata, stretching, and more - all with a focus on core awareness, posture, and a flatter tummy, stronger body, more energy, and fun!
Our goal is strength, not soreness, and we have something for anyone in any season or mood. Our workouts will not only give you the confidence to try new things, but they will help you sort out your stomach shape while you're exercising.
We have over 300 workouts videos that are professionally filmed, ready to stream to any device or via Roku! My mission here on Fit2B is changing lives one tummy at a time and making movement meaningful for women who want to be stronger contributors to their families, communities, and world!
Tell us about yourself
I became interested in fitness at age 16 when I showed up in a dress to my step aerobics high school PE class. Wow,! I had no idea what to expect, but I was instantly hooked on moving to music and how it made my body feel! Even as a child, I was interested in bodies and how they adapt during pregnancy and birth. At just 18 years of age, I certified as a group fitness instructor through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) and headed off to college at Oregon State University, graduating with honors with my bachelor of science in Exercise and Sport Science & Pre Physical Therapy in 2001.
I used my group fitness certification to pay my way through school, teaching up to 14 classes per week! I remember studying at the club on a recumbent bike in between classes! My knees and linea alba would pay the price of all that overexercising later…
I maintained my AFAA certification for 16 years with a wide variety of courses and workshops. I now maintain a certification through Yoga Alliance which requires that I complete at least 30 hours of continuing education every three years. In 2019 alone, I completed 53 hours of training.
After graduation from college, I was hired as a full-time assistant manager at a federal fitness facility. My job responsibilities for "Club Fed" – yes, that's what it was called – included all aspects of management and customer service as well as personal training, designing and leading exercise classes for all demographics, writing and editing the club's newsletter, speaking at group luncheons, designing and implementing new group fitness formats, and creating member retention programs.
Once I became a mother, I began lessening my workload outside the home, focusing on my children, not going crazy, and relearning my body's new landscape. My niche in the fitness field shifted from trying to make everyone sore to helping people regain their confidence and strength from their deepest core outward. I developed a heart for true beginners and people starting over.
As a mother myself, I felt like I was starting over – reclaiming territory, if you will – and I could deeply relate to others who were trying to find their fitness groove again in bodies that feel unfamiliar. I found out that I have a Diastasis Recti, and I set out to learn how to teach fitness in a way that would actually help abdominal gaps get better.
I began designing diastasis-aware workouts to help women {and a lot of men} connect with and use their bodies at a higher level. My goal is to help people unmuddle their middles without ripping their bodies apart. Over the course of 11 years, my team and I have professionally filmed over 300 top-quality home workout videos that cater to the niche of chronic living, pelvic floor weakness, pooch tummies, spinal degeneration, knee injuries, and more!
Each day I am motivated by the feedback and questions from my customers in my private member forum. I love hearing how my work is helping them. I enjoy answering their queries. I geek out on talking to people about their bodies, helping them reach their goals, and reminding them of the truth that they are meant to live fully strong lives. That's what gets me up (and my two kids) each day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I think my biggest accomplishment is simply persevering. I've created a lot of workouts and written a lot of blogs. I've got a podcast and created 16 e-courses. None of that would happen without me continuing to show up. It takes endurance and tenacity, and resilience to be a business owner.
I'm also really proud that my business is debt-free, built from the ground up from nothing, reaches people in 40 countries worldwide, and makes a true difference in women's lives and their families as they learn how to be strong and confident in their own skin!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Owning a digital business offers unique problems. For example, just this past month, a few of our members notified us that Google search results were sending them to Cialis (viagra) prescription websites instead of our site! Some awful hacker had set up a dummy link to divert people away from Fit2B and toward their illicit website. I used to cry over things like that because I was so frightened of everything crumbling, all my hard work just evaporating... which is something that can happen in the digital world. However, I've learned to trust my team, trust my customers to stick around, and laugh it off.
What did I do about the viagra hacking? I got on our social media and made fun of it. I owned the situation, talked about how we are "keeping up" with the issue, and - as a core fitness specialist who is qualified to offer some advice on pelvic floor dysfunction. I also took the opportunity to point out that if any men in our audience are also having trouble "keeping up" with things, that exercise and physical therapy are proven to work better than viagra at actually solving ED, which is a circulation issue. I made lemonade out of lemons.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Don't do it unless you truly LOVE what you are doing, making, and selling. You will need to eat, sleep and breathe all the ins and outs and ups and downs of growing, operating, and running your business for YEARS if you want it to survive and thrive.
You've got to have more than grit, and you've got to be fiercely determined. You have to dig your own pond and convince people who love your style of the pond to come swim there over and over. If you don't believe in your pond, you won't finish it, you won't keep it fresh, and no one will come back to swim there.
Do you have daily rituals for work / wellness / fitness / mindfulness? If yes can you please explain your rituals so we can include them as well?
As far as daily rituals, I do many of the typical things like brushing my teeth before bed, washing my face, going through the "Big 6" lymphatic drainage points by Dr. Perry Nicholson, and eating protein with each meal. I also make it a point to always exercise my body in ways I enjoy each day. Exercise is essentially defined as "moving on purpose." So whatever I do to move my body with intention counts as exercise. This can look like lifting weights, going for a walk, working in my garden, bouncing on my rebounder trampoline, or practicing for a future Fit2B filming session as we create new workouts.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
There is more than enough business for everyone. No one else can do what you want to do like you will do it. Shine brightly in your own way, and don't be afraid to share the spotlight. People out there need your unique brand of awesome sauce. Take one step toward your goals today.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://fit2b.us/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fit2bstudio/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.
