We recently connected with Christine Parker and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Christine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
One of the biggest risks I have taken as a mompreneur was opening my brick and mortar fitness business in 2015. I had just turned 40 and had given birth to my 4th daughter a little over a year before. At this point I had been working in the fitness and wellness space for about 15 years. I started as a personal trainer and group fitness professional in Los Angeles where I would often train 40+ clients a week. In 2007 I returned to my hometown of Pittsburgh, gave birth to my 3rd daughter, Ashlynn, and started to rebuild my career as a fit pro. I was offered a job at a physical therapy facility operating their personal training and fitness programing while at the same time I Ibegan organically building a fitness community in my own zip code.
Through the next 5 years my “basement” fitness community kept growing and by 2013 I was sometimes seeing 50 plus people a day out of my home. When I gave birth to Brooklynn, my 4th daughter I knew that I had to make a shift. I decided to leave my job at the physical therapy facility in order to have more time navigating my new role as a mom of 4 and to also be able to continue serving the fitness community in my zip code. Early in 2014 a client and friend said that she knew of a space that was available that would be the perfect place for me to move my business. The thought was both exhilerating and terrifying! I was scared of how I would manage it all. What if I couldn’t handle running a business outside of my home in addition to my role as a mom? I had tendecies of being a workaholic so I was also fearful of being able to manage my time between being a business owner and a mom of 4. I knew the numbers that I would need to meet just to be able to cover the rent but I really had no idea of the other expenses, time and energy that running a business would entail. Then came the exhilerating part. I loved the idea of having a space to be able to serve, share and grow in a new way! I was certain that a brick and mortar space would also serve as a place where all my passions could unite to build something incredible. After a good bit of soul searching and the support of my family and my community I decided to follow my heart and my intuition and take the leap. One thing I have always felt strongly about is living my life with no regrets. I knew that this was the path that I needed to take in order to do so.
It was a little over a year later that FitHouse was born. We grew into a community of over 300 people. FitHouse became a space where people came to get stronger, to transform their health, to shift their energy, to let go, to connect, and to feel alive. For myself it was space where I was inspired to serve, to create, to give back, to learn and to grow.
But the blood, sweat and tears of operating a small business were real. The operating hours of a fitness studio spanned from 5AM to 9pm on most days. While passion flled my heart and soul many days exhaustiion filled my body. As my 5 year lease was coming to an end I learned that I would not be able to stay in my current space as the owner had other plans for it. My options were to move my business or close my business. The prior two years I had encountered several personal challenges with my health as well as balancing my role as a mom. Two of my top personal values are being all in for my family and making health and wellness a priority. These were things that I encouraged in everyone around me yet I realized I was not allowing myself to live by the same “rules”. No matter how or what I attempted to shift in my business and my life I was struggling to create this alignment.
Here comes the next risk which may be just as big or even bigger than the first. About 6 years after opening my brick and mortar fitness studio I made the decision to close it. This holds as one of the hardest decisions in my life. I had dedicated over two decades to growing myself as a fitness professional and over one decade in Pittsburgh as a business owner and entrepreneur. I had dedicated most of my days through the past two decades serving in my industry, growing a fitness community and working to transform lives. FitHouse was an amazing community and a successful six figure fitness business.
But in my role as a fitness business owner I struggled to find the space, time and energy to prioritize two of the things that deep in my heart were the most important to me, my family and my health. As a role model and advocate of health and wellness to other women, some of the most important being my 4 daughters, I knew that I needed to live the example of what true holistic wellness and health are. I needed to set my ego aside, practice true self love and have faith that giving up something great might lead to something even greater. Maybe for the first time in my life I took a risk on myself. I took a risk knowing that although I had no idea of what the outcome of letting go one of my greatest passions in life would be I was well equipped with all that I needed to be okay and persevere.
I knew the transition would not be an easy one and it has definitely been a roller coaster at times. In the past few years I have put my focus on building my toolbox and expanding my role in the health and fitness industry to be able to serve in a deeper and greater way. I am appreciating the new found opportunity to be present and fully available for my family and children as well as take some deep dives iinto my own health. I am grateful to continue to serve and share my passion of fitness, health and wellness with a smaller circle of clients and community back in my basement.
I expanded my education in corrective exercise and postural therapy through NASM and Egoscue Therapy. I became a certified life coach through IPEC, a certified Integrative Health and Wellness Coach through Integrative Nutrition and I am currently working toward taking the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching Certification as well as becoming an accredited Life Coach through the ICF. As I approach a new decade and continue to gain new knowledge about holistic health and wellness my wheels are spinning, my dream are in full force and I am preparing to take the next risk to stay true to myself and live a life with no regrets.
Christine, 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?
My name is Christine Parker. I first found my love for movement, muscle, strength, balance and alignment as a professional dancer. In honoring my own bodies needs I became heavily invested in the fitness industry. Through this journey I discovered my passion in helping others build strength, confidence and find transformation through fitness and wellness.
I am a mompreneur, a certified Life Coach through IPEC, a certified Health Coach through Integrative Nutrition and have been certified as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor since 2001. I am committed to inspiring and educating people to feel their best and to helping them create the lasting transformation that they aspire. Although the tools are often similar the path is bio individual to all of us. I am specialized in corrective exercise and have studied Egoscue Postural Therapy. I help people understand how to move their bodies so they can feel their best and achieve lasting results. Although I believe that movement is medicine and one of the most important pieces of our health, both body and mind, I believe fully in holistic health and in the importance of exploring all of the areas that contribute to our wellness.
It’s easy to take our health for granted and to adopt the mindset that we will take care of it tomorrow. I often start a coaching session asking a client what their health goals are 1 year from now, three years from now and 10 years from now. It often can help create clarity and put things into perspective. Our bodies, minds and spirits need to support the dreams, aspirations and goals that we have for the future so building a body for longevity starts today. It often doesn’t take arduous action steps and a huge agenda to make transformation. It takes awareness, a simple plan and consistent action and accountability on the little things.
Through my years in the fitness industry and as a coach I bring a unique fusion of science, art and adventure to my practice. I am passionate about helping women create clarity around what health and wellness looks like to them in their current season and about partnering with them to make a plan and create the change they desire. I pride myself in ongoing learning and growth to be able to meet my clients needs as they change and grow. I am most proud of my clients and their commitment to show up and give their best on the good days and the hard days. I am excited to create a community in the near future where women can shift energy, gain clarity, love themselves fully and take ownership of their health and wellness.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One big lesson I had to unlearn was the hustle and grind, no excuses mentality. I had adopted the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mantra for many years and pushed my body and mind further than what was best for me at times. I had a few mentors who often encouraged me to work harder and to keep grinding at times when I felt like I was ready to break. What I learned through the years is that I was often grinding and hustling harder than most and the message that probably would have served me better at times was “Rest Don’t Quit” or “A moment of Pause is a Moment of Power.”
There is definitely a time to grind and hustle. I would have not acheived what I have in life without it! But I have learned that above all I need to give myself grace when my body and mind are giving me signs that it needs it. The world won’t stop when you do in fact sometimes you will see t a little clearer.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
In the first year of buisness I had an employee delete 20-30 memberships from our system one month. I was hesitant to give the employee full access to the system but in my attempts to delegate and open leadership roles to others I did. They thought that they were just deleting one piece of information and they were actually permanantly deleting the entire membership from the system. While we were able to locate the memberships that had been deleted we had no account of their renewal dates for their monthly recurring payments. With 20-30 members at $150 a membership this equated to thousands of dollars. As a new business owner I did not feel comfortable reaching out to the members and asking them to send their payment dates etc. so we lost one to two months payments per membership. In hindsight I would definitely reach out to the clients now if it happened as we are all human and make mistakes. We took a loss that month and I learned a few lessons. I learned more details about operatng the system and how to avoid something like that in the future and also how to communicate with my employees the importance of paying attention to certain details when running the system.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: christineparkerfit
- Facebook: Christine Thomas Parker
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ christine-parker-525152130
