We recently connected with Laura Vineyard and have shared our conversation below.

Laura, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Over the course of your career, have you seen or experienced your field completely flip-flop or change course on something?

For many people their experience of fitness is removed from joy and tied into painful negative feelings towards the self. The fitness industry has long played into the struggles people feel about their bodies as a way to sell memberships, and shakes, and whatever the next trend may be. For decades activists have worked to push back on those tactics and in the last ten years we’re starting to see big shifts in how many gyms, trainers, and even big companies approach their marketing and business models. Folks are realizing that if we challenge ourselves to make fitness more accessible and inclusive for everyone, it’s good for our clients and it’s good for our businesses. At Body Positive Fitness Alliance we’re buidling a community-based learning network of fitness professionals who are specifically interested in taking their practices in this new direction. It’s really fun to get to connect and learn with folks who are changing the industry.

Laura, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into fitness via sciance and roller derby. My wife and I had moved out to Indiana for graduate school to pursue biology PhDs and while we were there we fell in love with this wacky and non-traditional sport. We ended up finishing our degrees, but decided to study fitness and business management alongside and open our own gym after graduation. Our dream was to build a studio that brought the welcoming attitude and joy for movement that derby embodied. Once we our gym was open we realized that our point of view was really unusual to a lot of people. Many folks we encourtered couldn’t grasp what a gym was for if it wasn’t centered on weightloss or transformation. As a part of that experience of feeling rather isolated in the fitness world I ended up connecting with Michele Burmaster who created Body Positive Fitness Alliance (BPFA), a network for fitness professionals. Years passed and I took over the Executive Director position at BPFA and we’re out here cultivating those connections for trainers who can’t necessarily find a local network that reflects their values. We also provide a platform for content creators to build courses to share their expertise. We believe strongly in the power of sharing the spotlight and amplifying the good work that’s out there.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Empathy. Good trainers know their stuff. Great trainers also understand their clients. You have to be open to this person who is putting themselves into a very vulnerable position with you and treat them with kindness and respect.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Originally BPFA was joint network of trainers and folks just interested in fitness. It was great to connect with a broad range of people, but we realized that if we wanted to provide quality experiences and resources as an organization that we needed to narrow the focus of our intended audience. BPFA is now specifically an organization by and for fitness professionals and that shift has made us into a much more effective organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bodypositivefitness.org/
• Instagram: BPFAofficial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodypositivefitnessalliance
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/BPFA

Image Credits
Body Positive Fitness Alliance Real Body Fitness Photos