We recently connected with Farel Hruska and have shared our conversation below.

Farel, 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?

Through the last 20 or so years, there have been many small u-turns in the fitness industry. For me personally, the u-turn early on, was the focus from general population fitness to women and pre/postnatal fitness, specifically after I became a mom. The next most profound u-turn has been the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion within the fitness industry. Our industry has been predominantly exclusive and unfortunately, a bit more focused on surface efforts vs addressing the core and holistic needs of all. Making fitness accessible for all is the first step, we must then create a climate of inclusion that is felt. This climate is created through many endeavors: diverse programming, inclusive coaching and cueing, normalizing body sizes & body types, and creating a team which mirrors the world in all ways. Once these efforts are achieved, we must then be consistent in the practice of inclusivity, every day.

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 been in the fitness industry for roughly 20 years. My background is in personal training, group exercise, team building, team leadership development and as an international fitness educator & presenter. As a presenter, I have been lucky to have spoken at fitness conferences in Dubai, Egypt, China, India, Korea and the US over the years. These opportunities have allowed me to see a broad spectrum of cultures and build a lens for inclusive conversation. The biggest result is the understanding of our collective connections. We need each other and our world is much more united than we think.

My journey at Chuze Fitness started 4 years ago, after 16 years as a Global Fitness Director for a pre and postnatal fitness franchise. My work has expanded with Chuze through helping build leadership, inclusivity and connection in each of our departments; how we show up for each other, our members and in each of the communities we serve. I am most proud of the efforts and consistent focus this collective team has on knowing better and then doing better. These efforts paved the way for the creation of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Alliance made up of employees who represent underrepresented communities. We discuss opportunities to be better through education and awareness, which have led to impactful changes in view points, understandings and accountability measures.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The best piece of advice I have to managing a team and keeping high morale is to consistently connect each and everyone to the bigger mission or impact of their role. Don’t take for granted that since you may understand and see the bigger picture that everyone does as well. Connecting everyone to the overarching WHY of the organization is pivotal to tying passion and purpose to our day to day lives. The second piece important to morale is to create conversations with your team to understand their personal WHY and to share a vision together to accomplish that drive for them personally. We all want and need to know we are authentically seen and to know that we truly matter.

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 lesson was very early on in my personal training journey and that was to never assume. I was training postnatal women and one of my clients was a competitive bodybuilder. I trained her prior to her having children and then again after the birth of both of her boys. I jumped right back into training her as I always had, simply because she had the same strong physique that she had prior to becoming a mom. This was a huge error on my part as a woman’s body goes through massive changes that often cannot be seen. This assumption caused her a lot of grief and a toll on her self esteem. I didn’t take the time to ask her how she truly was and what she was experiencing…I just assumed. This mistake is one of the ways I try to do better with every interaction. The answer to a quick surface question quite often isn’t what lies beneath the surface. I now pause and allow a moment to know people better, on a deeper level. We all deserve that pause to be known better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chuzefitness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farelhruska/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farelbischoffhruska
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farelhruska/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/chuzefitness
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/chuzefitness/