We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tori Lord. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tori below.

Hi Tori, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When I was a senior in high school, I never wanted to go to a large university. I came from a small town and didn’t want to be one in a million. I applied to Penn State just “to see if I could get in” as it is a difficult state school to get accepted. I was all set to go to a smaller school but when I thought about it, I realized I worked way too hard in school to sell myself short. So, I went to Penn State to study Accounting and looking at internships no further than Pittsburgh. While at Penn State, I was waiting to take a group fitness class and this student, who is nameless and faceless to me now, told me about taking a course to become a group fitness instructor. So I signed up, worked harder than anything else I ever did, and became an instructor. I fell in love with learning about fitness and teaching in front of the room. I later found out I could be a fitness director at universities. This required getting a Master’s degree and I was worried about leaving the comfort of accounting. I don’t think most people go to college planning to be a campus recreation professional. My parents weren’t thrilled and didn’t really see what my plan was. So I applied to schools with graduate assistantships and I was offered an assistantship at Texas A&M University. This was terrifying – remember, I was never going to go past Pittsburgh! I took the risk and it was the best decision I could have made. I met some of the best people I know there and received some of the best experiences. Now, I’m a fitness director at UNC Charlotte and I never would have gotten here if I stayed in my comfort zone.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I love fitness and as a lifelong learner, I am constantly growing and increasing my knowledge in the industry. With hundreds of hours of trainings, conferences, and research, I am proud to always bring new information to those that I train and develop. I always say that I don’t claim to be a great fitness instructor but I do believe that I create great instructors. In my current roles, I get the opportunity to lead and develop current and future instructors on a daily basis. First, I oversee the fitness programs at UNC Charlotte where I supervise 25-30 group fitness instructors with an 80 class schedule. Second, I work as a Program Specialist for Savvier Fitness where I do weekend trainings in Barre, HIIT, and Balletone in addition to selling amazing equipment like the Booty Kicker (portable barre), bender balls, gliding discs, and more. I love this company – the way they care about their customers, how they make sure all content is backed by exercise science, and creates inclusive programs. My focus is always about making group fitness fun, safe, and effective for everyone!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

100% – If I could go back, I would start sooner! I would start teaching sooner and I would try to present sooner as well. I would also like to give yoga a chance because as someone with lower back pain, I avoided it. Now, it has helped me so much and improved my daily living activities.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Being open-minded. The fitness industry is always evolving and changing and what you think you knew may not be what’s best anymore. I think this is particularly telling after the COVID lockdown and having to reframe the way we teach and deliver our classes. The industry is infiltrated with fads and trends so it’s important to try new things.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @tori.lord.fitness
• Other: For updates join my listserv: http://eepurl.com/h1zH2b

Image Credits
Alexa Schoubert