We recently connected with Amanda Aufiero and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

 I believe in complete honesty, transparency and that you can’t fake being genuine. So my goal is to try and show iStroll the way I see it and how it’s changed my life. Social media played a major role in that. 

I made reels to show that our workouts are tough but anyone of all fitness backgrounds can join us – even pregnant women (assuming you get the clearance from the doctor to workout). 

I share personal stories about how the community of mothers I met have supported me through every up/down of motherhood and they are some of my best friends. I share facts and statistics about the physical and mental benefits of working out, especially outside. Not to mention that your kid gets outside too – and watches you display positive, healthy behaviors. 

I debunk myths that I hear all the time. For example, people always assume that a stroller is necessary for the workout or that we require kids to sit in the stroller. Both are not true! Even though we are called iStroll, a stroller is not needed at all. We also don’t require kids to sit in the stroller! If your kids are older and don’t want to sit in one, that’s fine! They can socialize with other kids, play in the park, or workout with us! 

After being consistent with these messages on social media, it made an impact and has grown our business!

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?

I have over 10 years of Marketing experience and was working full time before I got pregnant. I had a very difficult pregnancy and decided to stay home. After my first son was born, it was a very tough adjustment to stay home all the time. I was actively trying to find mom groups where I felt comfortable. Nothing clicked. I found iStroll Brandon on social media and decided to give it a try. I always enjoyed working out but I found it extremely difficult to find time to workout with an infant. I assumed iStroll would be a very easy workout, but I wanted to get outside. Boy, was I wrong about the workout! It was amazing! It was tough and pushed me outside of my comfort zone. But the instructor was a mom too and understood how to help me modify, since I was newly postpartum. Over time, I couldn’t believe how much stronger I got. Most importantly, I realized the positive impact it made on my mental health. I was talking to other moms who were going through the exact same thing as I was and I never felt judged. Everyone was so kind and understanding. That was almost 7 years ago and I’m still very close with some of those moms. I began instructing part-time and then a couple years ago, the opportunity came up for me to own this location. So I jumped on it!

iStroll is a bootcamp workout made by professionals, for parents. Yes, we have a tough workout but don’t worry. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, we will make sure you feel challenged and help you take the steps to improve. We don’t require kids to sit in the stroller, so as my kids got older, they were able to socialize at a really young age and play outside with their friends. My 2 boys, who are now 7 and 4, are still friends with kids they met as babies! They still LOVE coming to iStroll. We do fun events for kids of all ages throughout every month, so my kids have a blast when they get to join. Plus, we do monthly Mom Nights Out, to keep the support of our mom community as well.

I’m so proud of the impact we make on the community. There is no other group that provides the level of workout, the flexibility to bring kids of all ages, and the support for moms the way we do. I don’t say it lightly that this group changed my life and I will be forever grateful.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The major time we had to pivot was during COVID! We thrive on our in-person workouts and community events. So when the world shut down in March 2020, it was extremely hard. However, iStroll as a whole didn’t miss a beat. Each location immediately adjusted and started conducting workouts over Zoom. I posted workout sets online, showed videos on how to do workouts from home, especially with kids, and we still did our fun events! We did crafts, had music/dance classes, invited speakers and even still did our monthly Mom Nights Out, all over Zoom. Our community was still there, even when the whole world felt isolated. It helped our family feel less alone. But don’t get me wrong – we were super happy to get back in person and get back to normal again!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

We went through a time where, out of pure coincidence, several of our members moved out of state. I was down to 2 members (who are still with us today!). I’ll never forget how defeating it felt.

But I believe so deeply in everything iStroll stands for and the impact it makes on lives. iStroll welcomes every mom of all backgrounds and promotes a healthy lifestyle for the mothers and the next generation. Our kids get to see that exercising can be fun and a way to reward yourself, not punish. I love that the workout itself focuses on the mom. We offer all kinds of options to move the stroller and keep the baby happy (if your baby is stroller age), but no matter what, the workout is for the mom. We spend every hour of the day focused on everyone around us. This was one hour for me.

So I never gave up. I approached every mom I could in the park, I attended every local community event that was available, I joined a networking group, and I stayed consistent on social media. Our group has grown again and we are continuing to grow! I’m so grateful for the continued impact iStroll makes on my life and others in the community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.istroll.co/brandon
• Instagram: @istrollbrandon
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/istrollbrandon
• Other: Tik Tok: @iStrollBrandon

Image Credits
Amanda Aufiero