We recently connected with Sydney Samborski and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sydney, thanks for joining us today. Over the course of your career, have you seen or experienced your field completely flip-flop or change course on something?
COVID completely changed the fitness industry. Since we are going on a year with little to no COVID restrictions, I feel like it may have actually changed the field for the better. When I was laid off from CorePower at the beginning of the pandemic, I thought I had lost my identity. I was Sydney, a CorePower teacher. When I finally mustered the courage to begin teaching fitness classes over Zoom, I realized that my identity did not have to do with a business or corporation where I was teaching. Rather, it had to do with ME and the community that I cultivate. Coming out of COVID, people craved community. We had been pent up in our houses and apartments, some of us without a partner or a roommate to keep us company. For many, their fitness instructors, grocery store clerks, and frontline employees were the only people many were interacting with. As we have returned to fitness classes and training sessions full speed ahead, you see so much more gratitude for the simple things. We realize these little things that were once taken for granted, are a privilege. Without these privileges, some people’s mental health really took a toll.
I believe the changes COVID brought also required us to be more resilient and flexible. Not a single day was promised, so even with restrictions, we were just grateful to be working and practicing. It was a time of massive self reflection as well as time to gain even more knowledge. Having come back to the industry, it is clear to see those who sought more learning opportunities especially as it pertains to diversifying their businesses and learning about the social injustices present in our communities. Throughout the pandemic and through the present, being an active ally in the community has also been very important to me, though this wasn’t something important to many businesses prior, even though it should have been top of mind. I am grateful to be in a studio with so much diversity, as it makes our community the beautiful place it is.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Before I was a fitness and yoga instructor, I was on a trajectory to be a marriage and family therapist. Though I definitely utilize skills that I learned in school on a day to day basis, I don’t use my degree in the field I went into. I felt a lot of pressure to go the 9-5 job route, and even interviewed for a couple during COVID. I realized sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day was nowhere near my passion. It is challenging, though, because I feel like a lot of people deem success as utilizing your degree that you worked for, or working in corporate America.
I came into college with a lot of college credits, which allowed me a lot of freedom my junior and senior years of college. I became so invested in the studio I was at, CorePower Yoga, that I interviewed for the role as assistant manager. Since I had so much flexibility in my class schedule, I got the job! I believe I brought a fresh perspective to the studio and a vibrant energy that it had been missing. Something massive I learned in this role is, just because I was young, does not mean I am any lesser than people who have been in the job for years. In fact, I have learned that the fresh perspective previously mentioned is essentially to staying on trend within the fitness industry – something that is ever changing.
After being devastatingly laid off at the beginning of the pandemic, I began to teach my own fitness classes over Zoom. After awhile of doing this, I craved in person classes again. I had just moved downtown Minneapolis, and I reached out to the studio manager of the Target Center Life Time. Luckily, she had classes for me to teach. It took a little adjusting and getting to know members, but eventually I loved this place like home. As we all hoped to do in our careers, the manager moved to a different club, leaving the manager position at Target Center vacant. I applied for the job and went through a few rounds of interviews and eventually the position was mine.
Downtown Minneapolis is unique because not only were we hit hard with COVID, but we also had a lot of social unrest within our community. This space needed a lot of love and compassion to bring it to the place it is today. We have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go – but I am so proud to be here every single day.
Though I was relatively young for the manager position, that is something that I leveraged at the time. As I mentioned, the fitness industry is ALWAYS changing. There is also a lot of competition in a very close radius to Target Center. I am someone who values relationships, especially when it comes to my own industry. Rather than having malignant relationships with said competition, I have made an effort to get to know and visit other boutiques to create relationships. Instead of having the mentality of having to crush the competition, we are stronger together. Additionally, frequenting other boutiques helps to keep me and my team’s programming on trend.
I made a promise to myself in high school that no matter what industry or profession I ended up in, I would always be an advocate for mental health. Between my freshman and sophomore year, I tried to take my own life. I was bullied badly and one of my bullies told me to kill myself. With my impulsive teenager brain, I tried to do just that. It resulted in me waking up in a pool of my own blood then in a coma for a few days, before being transferred to a mental health hospital. Those who know me now are shocked about this story, because I am bubbly, positive, and outgoing. It took a long time to get to the place I’m in now, but I know my purpose in life is to give those who need it, some extra hope. Even when you feel like you can’t live another day, I want to be the example of turning your life around for the better. Whether it is mental or physical strength, I want to inspire everyone to be the strongest version of themselves.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Trust. Trust is the number one thing between an instructor or coach and their students. Just as trust is the number one core value in a relationship, I truly believe there is nothing more important when it comes to a succeeding business. If you are a leader, you must gain trust within your team for them to perform to their highest abilities. You also must build trust as an instructor and coach by speaking to the WHY behind the workouts and movements. Once you have trust and rapport between your team and your students – you can create a community unlike any other.
Before we had the expansive reach of social media, we just had word of mouth, which came from community members spreading how incredible a coach’s skillset was. I think the industry has become a little bit jaded as it pertains to trust because of social media. There are many people on social media who appear to be successful in the fitness industry solely because of how they look. When you look into their profile further, you find out that they actually don’t know what they’re talking about. Again, this comes down to trust. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know where to begin as it pertains to getting into fitness and end up following someone like this which leads them to false promises.
One of the major ways to cultivate trust via the internet is BEING REAL. Instead of curating the perfect feed, physique, and life. Be real. Be real about your struggles. Be real about your successes and your failures. No one is perfect and we all know that, but it we are being exposed to less and less realness because that is what people think makes them successful. I have found that when I post about my struggles (anxiety attacks, depression, body image struggles) that’s what make people trust me. Instead of displaying a 6-pack of abs, being real about what is going on in my life helps people gravitate to you because it makes them feel less judged. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have heard “I want to take your class but I need to get into better shape first.” NO. Show up where you are and I promise to meet you there. THAT is what creates trust and also what creates a safe space and community.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I previously briefly shared this story but I will go a little bit more into depth on it because it is 100% what has made me who I am today.
About 8 years ago, I tried to kill myself. I felt stuck in my own life. I was bullied and I was belittled and I had no self worth. When one of the perpetrators of my bullying told me to kill myself, I obliged. I took all of my prescription medication and any other pill I could find in my house. I told my family that I loved them in a letter, but that I can’t do this anymore.
My dad found me and my letter not long after I took the pills. He rushed to me to the ER and frantically handed the doctors all of the bottles of pills I had taken. I drank charcoal to neutralize the medication in my system but the hospital had already made a mistake. I was allowed to go to the bathroom by myself. Rule number one of suicide patients is that they are not to be left alone. I stood up from the toilet and all of the medication made me have a seizure. I hit my head on the sick and again on the floor.
After not coming back from the bathroom for far too long, my mom requested they send someone to look for me. Since I had locked the door, they had to unscrew the hinges off. There, I was lying in a pool of my own blood. I had cracked my head open and needed 9 stitches. Due to the head injury, I also had to be in a medically induced coma.
After 5 days in the hospital and a week in a mental health unit, I was ready (or as ready as I could be) for a new start. My parents put a lot of rules in place for my own safety and this was truly the re-birth of my life. I frequently tell this story because I felt so muted going through high school. I didn’t fit in and I didn’t feel like I had a place or a purpose. Now, those things could not be further from the truth. Not only do I retell the story to remind myself of my strength and resilience, but to give others hope. Knowing that if you are struggling, you will not struggle forever. It takes a lot of work and some help from others (you cannot do this alone!!), but you will not struggle forever.
The casual use of the words ‘anxiety’ and ‘depression’ have made them less meaningful, but I believe mental health is more important now than it ever has been. With all of the stimulus we absorb on a day to day basis, our mental health is more at risk now than ever. Seeking fitness is for so much more than just wanting to look a certain way. It has become a mental health outlet for so many. In fact, fitness GAVE me a purpose. It may have even saved my life. Movement and working out is my therapy and my safe place. It allows me to connect my body and mind in a way I have never had, and it gives me goals to work towards.
This circles back to the previous question about trust. Sharing my story, though it makes me feel vulnerable, allows my community to trust me. Showing up and being “perfect” is way less relatable than showing up as is and allowing others to do the same. So, next time you believe you have to show up perfectly, I challenge you to think differently!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKFmAw53DXat9LmKuQMDC_g
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydsam.fitness/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-samborski-892175133/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKFmAw53DXat9LmKuQMDC_g
Image Credits
Image credits to Madeline Harpell.