Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Chaloux-lacerte. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Diana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
It’s been nearly 20 years since I had the defining moment that completely changed my career and life trajectory! It was July 5, 2005 and I fondly refer to that day as my “Independence Day”.
The reason I am so passionate about helping others experience transformation through Hitch Fit and our SoulFIT Retreats faith and fitness experiences, and why I get so much joy from guiding them through that process is because I went through it myself!
I started as a personal trainer in 2002. But even though I could take clients through workouts, I didn’t understand all the other essential pieces of the puzzle to transform, including nutrition habits, mindset habits, and the impacts of past trauma or toxic stress that need to be addressed to move out of unhealthy behavior cycles and step towards a healthy and productive future.
I was working out, and put on a front that I was a healthy individual, but on the inside I felt like a fraud. I was engaging in compulsive overeating behaviors every single night, this had become a coping and soothing mechanism for me that was damaging my health and inhibiting my ability to move forward towards my dreams and goals. I was drinking too much, and was struggling with feelings of depression.
I had dreamed of being a fitness competitor. I looked at women in fitness magazines such as “Oxygen Women’s Fitness” and I saw them as strong and beautiful, I wanted to be like them, but I knew that my behaviors and mindsets were holding me back from stepping into that reality.
That all changed on my Independence Day, after years of being in a sabotage cycle, that scared me because I felt trapped in it, and after years of making excuses and clinging to the old patterns that felt safe to me, I finally had the moment that changed my mind. A colleague at the gym I was working at, came up to me and said, “Hey Diana, I read in your bio that you wanted to compete in a fitness show. What are you waiting for?”
There they were, five little words that in that moment, my mind was ready to receive, and that changed my world for every.
What are you waiting for? I didn’t have a good answer. I knew it was time for change!
I started making changes that day. I hired two coaches to help me and hold me accountable. I hired people who had gone down the path I wanted to go, because I knew they would be able to show me how to get to the destination!
I signed up for a competition. Though that’s not going to be everyone’s goal, for me it was a big dream that I had in my heart.
I changed my nutrition, ended my drinking habit, changed my daily routine, stepped away from people who were not supportive of my goals, and I started to do the work.
And it took time, and lots of discipline and repetition, but I built my consistency and persistence muscles (and my other muscles too!). I lost 50 pounds, and I have never gone back to the old lifestyle. So much changed in me, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually too!
I went on to become a 2x World Champion fitness athlete. I was featured in Oxygen magazine as well as many others, and got to be the one inspiring the other young women out there! I met my husband Micah through the industry, we started Hitch Fit online personal training and Hitch Fit Gym in Kansas City, and have helped clients in 82 countries shed over 750,000 pounds of fat. And we now run SoulFIT Retreats, helping people dig even deeper into past wounds and hurts, and discover healing in a beautiful community that continues to grow. We can’t wait to see where God takes this!
It all started with that one little defining moment, the moment that truly changed my life!
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?
My name is Diana Chaloux – LaCerte and I am the co-CEO of Hitch Fit online personal training, Hitch Fit Gyms in Kansas City and SoulFIT Retreats. I run all of these businesses with my husband Micah. We both thrive on helping others transform their bodies, their lives and mindsets. It is the greatest work I could possibly ask to do!
Hitch Fit was one of the very first online personal training systems, and over the years, though much in the industry has changed, we have remained faithful to the vision and the core of our mission, which is to make the world a more healthy place, one person at a time.
What sets Hitch Fit apart is how personal it still is after all of these years! Micah and I still personally work with every single online training client, they communicate directly with us, and we still create their plans for them personally. Though much of the industry has moved to automated systems and AI, we believe that the success of our clients is highly due to the direct connection they have with us.
Combined we have over 50 years of experience in this industry, and have the chance to help clients in 82 countries shed over 750,000 pounds of fat! We also have a gym in Parkville, Missouri and have an incredible team of transformation trainers there, who have made an incredible impact on our city and helped thousands of people in the 16 years we’ve been in business.
I’m an author of multiple books including “Rethinking Fat Loss: 7 Must Know Mental Secrets to Success” and “Business of Your Body: The Burnt Out, Stressed Out, Non-stop busy business professionals guide to being CEO of your health and fitness.”
These and my other books can all be found on Amazon.
In addition to being a certified trainer in both fitness and nutrition, as well as a 2x World Champion fitness athlete, I’m also a Trauma and Resilience life coach. Being a trauma-informed fitness coach is unique in that I understand that there will be deeper work to be done with many clients. For some people who have a trauma or toxic stress history, it is not as simple as “eat-this” or “do this workout”. I’m equipped to help them understand what is happening in their bodies, and am able to teach them skills and give them tools to learn how to self-regulate, so they can move forward with the goal-seeking behaviors they desire. It’s incredible to be able to help people on that deeper level!
I work mostly with women in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s and most of them are going through menopausal transitions, so I’m versed in helping them navigate those times from both a physical as well as mental and emotional standpoint.
That leads to our SoulFIT Retreats! These are places where “Love Thrives and Wounds are Healed.” That’s the best way I can describe it! These are Faith and Fitness infused experiences. We take groups of people, both singles and couples, and anywhere from the 20’s to the 70’s, and all different fitness levels, on incredible trips. We have a Mexico or beach retreat each year, where we do our signature “SoulFIT Transformation Celebration” celebrating transformations of all kinds! We also do Adventure Retreats in incredible locations. This is an incredible community of people, and every event is truly life-transforming.
Some people come for the fitness, some use the trips as a goal to improve their fitness, and some come looking for the motivation to get on that journey. Some come because they want to be a part of an empowering community and people who will see them and lift them up. Some come to build greater connections for networking and business building, too!
Whether it is Hitch Fit or SoulFit Retreats, everything that Micah and I do is done from a place of love, from a desire to do to the best of our ability the work that God has called us to, and to truly leave a positive impact on the lives we are blessed enough to come in contact with.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Oh I love this question so much! My business partner Micah, is also my husband, the love of my life, my best friend and my greatest supporter. We have the unique opportunity of sharing our lives and building our careers. At the root of everything we do is our faith in Jesus, He is our firm foundation that we have had the chance to build our marriage and our businesses on over the past 16 years!
Micah and I met through the fitness industry. We connected as friends in the Myspace days (for those of you who remember Myspace!). We communicated back and forth a bit as we were both very driven by helping other people. I was living in Texas and he was in Kansas City at the time. We were both doing a lot with the fitness magazines and I was involved in fitness competing, so we decided to meet in person and say hello and take a picture at the Mr. Olympia event in Las Vegas.
Back then, if you wanted to build a career in fitness, you had to show up at the events and network and meet people. We met up at the expo, and it was an instant connection, we felt like we had been friends forever!
What was supposed to be a quick photo turned into spending the entire weekend together, deciding that we were committed to one another—when you know, you know! In less than two months, I had packed up my entire life in Texas and moved to Kansas City. Neither of us had much money, but one of Micah’s friends had a house with an attic that we were able to live in.
Micah had the concept of Hitch Fit, and the timing was perfect when I came along and could be the female face of the brand.
We launched Hitch Fit online personal training in February 2009. For a long time, we had to explain what online personal training was to people. But as soon as we had success stories willing to share, Hitch Fit took off like a rocketship! When people discovered that we could guide them without having to be with them in person, it opened the doors to a much greater possibility of our impact.
We opened our first Hitch Fit Gym in July of that year, and wow, what a journey it has been! We discovered early on that our love language is Time, so we love spending as much time as we do together. Not every married couple could work together and be together as much as we are, but it truly is what works for us and allows us to thrive!
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
The reason Hitch Fit is still around after 16 years, and why we have evolved into offering SoulFIT Retreats now too, is because Micah and I understood from the beginning that this industry is not just about knowing muscle groups and exercises and being able to take people through workouts. What has made us so successful for so long is knowing that this is about seeing people and being able to help them navigate the challenges that come up in life and the mindsets that have held them back. We’ve had the chance to hold their stories, to empower and encourage them, to see their capabilities and resilience and value, and help them move through responses from trauma or toxic stress that have held them back.
Seeing people, really seeing them, and believing them, when they may not have experienced that anywhere else in their lives, I believe is the greatest key to success.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.HitchFit.com , www.SoulFITRetreats.com
- Instagram: @dianachaloux @fitover40women @soulFITRetreats @HitchFit
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianaChaloux/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianachaloux/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/dianachaloux
Image Credits
Brandi Wisdom
Dan Galic