Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Reena Vokoun, founder, and CEO of Passion Fit, located in San Diego, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Passion Fit™ is your health, wellness, and fitness guide to help you transform your career, family, and life! The mission of the company is to empower women to flourish both personally and professionally through wellness. The vision is to continue to build a local and global online wellness community where women can have fun, make friends, feel supported, and be encouraged to achieve their dreams and goals.
My company's products, services, and content include books, transformational programs, ongoing monthly memberships, online courses, personal and professional development coaching and consulting, local and live stream fitness and dance classes, an online boutique of activewear and accessories, wellness retreats, workshops and speaking engagements, a YouTube channel of online videos, a blog, newsletters, social media content, and media appearances.
Passion Fit serves individuals, companies, non-profits, schools, universities, and the media to help people transform their lives through a focus on fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, work-life balance, productivity, and healthy lifestyles.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Reena Vokoun, and I'm the Founder and CEO of Passion Fit. My lifelong passion for health, wellness, and fitness and desire to help others is what led me to follow my heart, make a bold move and leave corporate America and my amazing job at Google to become an entrepreneur and start this company.
I have 20+ years of experience working in the digital advertising, media, and tech industry in sales, marketing, and business development roles for Google, Reebok, Grokker, Yahoo, GE, CNET, and Passion Fit. I have a BBA in Marketing and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MS in Advertising and Communications from Boston University. I'm certified as a health coach, group fitness professional, nutrition, behavior change, yoga/mindfulness specialist, and employee wellbeing and professional strengths-based coach.
My Indian-American upbringing, the fact that I'm a mom and wife, and my academic and professional backgrounds are major influencers in my unique approach to Passion Fit. My own experiences and challenges during my academic and professional careers and witnessing others during those years showed me how much overwork, stress, a lack of work-life balance, and burnout can impact your health and life.
Therefore, I'm passionate about educating others and helping them take control of their lives in these areas. My philosophies on health, wellness, and fitness are holistic, combine the best of the East and West, and incorporate considerations for your family and career. My products, services, content, events, and business partnerships are consistently met with a strong work ethic, positive results, high integrity, creativity, strategic thinking, collaboration, authenticity, passion, and professionalism.
Do you have daily rituals for work / wellness / fitness / mindfulness?
A few of my daily rituals include starting and ending each day with some mindfulness practices, including deep breaths, calming music, reading, and reflecting on what I'm grateful for. When I wake up, I think about my intentions for the day, create a positive and productive mindset, and plan for work and home. I also exercise five or six days per week for energy and stamina. I teach Pilates, boot camp, yoga, barre, and dance classes Monday through Friday, and then on Saturdays, I usually walk or do some light yoga or stretching. Sundays are my rest day. In addition, I practice the Mediterranean style of eating for myself and my family. I focus on eating whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables each day. I also take my vitamins and drink hot water with lemon and honey. I prioritize seven to eight hours of sleep each night and focus on twice-daily skincare and dental care regimens. Finally, I like to track my health metrics on my Fitbit wearable device, so I'm mindful of my steps, calories burned, zone minutes, heart rate, and quantity and quality of sleep.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
A few of my biggest accomplishments within my business have been becoming a TEDx speaker, where I spoke on "Why Wellness is the Secret to Personal and Professional Success," writing and publishing my best-selling and award-winning book, The Wellness-Empowered Woman™, building a local and global online community of over 14k people and providing corporate wellness consulting and speaking to Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
In my opinion, one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner is dealing with uncertainty. You don't always have the answers when unexpected operational issues come up, you don't know if a product or service launch will be successful, and you don't know what changes may come up for your customers that could impact their needs and use of your offerings.
However, I've found that the best way to deal with uncertainty is to focus on the things you can control, let go of the things you can't, work as hard as you can, and trust you'll figure things out. In the end, the outcome will be what's it's meant to be, and you'll learn and grow no matter what!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Pursue a business you're passionate about and clearly align with your core values and vision.
- Create a solid business plan that identifies your target audience, solves a problem in the market for that audience, and includes a sustainable business model and monetization strategy.
- Survey your customers early and often so you can build products, services, and content that truly meet their needs.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
When making decisions, do your research, gather and analyze data, talk to experts and then ultimately follow your heart and trust your instincts!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://passionfit.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passionfitllc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionfitllc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/passionfitllc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reenavokoun/
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.
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