We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Frances Young. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Frances below.
Frances, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My parents encouraged me to do what I WANTED to do. I have capitalized the ‘wanted’ to emphasize the fact that they did not push me to do things that they ‘thought’ I might like or that they personally wanted me to try to succeed at.
My Mom is a ski instructor. I did quite a bit of downhill and cross-country skiing as a child and teenager. However, when it came time to get even more specialized in my pursuit of becoming a professional dancer, I choose to no longer ski. My mother could have projected disappointment towards the fact that I did not choose the sport she loves, but instead she encouraged me to do what I WANTED to do.
My Dad was an Ontario champion swimmer in his late teens. I learnt how to swim as a child, but did NOT like the pool, especially the chlorine. I can float, swim from point A to point B and keep my head above water, but by no means do I feel like a fish. My father never pushed me to get into swimming or his physical hobbies as he could see that I wanted to dance. Again, just like my mother, he encouraged me to do what I WANTED to do.
This is something that I feel my parents got ‘right’ with me. When they saw my interest in dance grow from a like to a LOVE at a young age, they took me dance competitions every weekend in the summer (for Highland dancing). They let me go to week and month long dance intensives, they did what they needed to financially to send me to a professional ballet school; if I kept showing an interest, they kept encouraging me to pursue MY dreams.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
In my own words, this is a snapshot of my story and official biography to date ~
All I wanted, was to be a ballerina.
I’ve been a dancer since the age of seven, competing in Scottish Highland dancing and traveling to the UK as a child to dance in front of the late Queen Elizabeth II. I went to The Quinte Ballet School of Canada, followed by The School of Contemporary Dancers to pursue the love of moving my body as an expression of art. All I wanted was to be paid to dance! But, as time passed, my soul longed for more. It wasn’t just about doing what I loved, it became about wanting to help people.
It wasn’t until 2011 at 19, I learned the fundamentals of Crossfit, that the idea of fitness as a living occurred to me. A few years later, I started working as a personal trainer with people from all backgrounds, body types, and personalities. I loved it. I was living a healthy, proactive and productive life, however something was missing. A nagging feeling of un-fulfillment followed me as I worked to burnt-out and tried everything to find an answer as to ‘why’.
By 2019, I’d had enough. I called my mom in tears, overwhelmed and confused. I had the business, partner, home and all the other fixings that should have equaled happiness. So I left Canada in search of more and only returned due to COIVD19.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t return home with some life-changing awakening. It wasn’t until I was back in Canada and re-established that I was presented with my true direction. I found Human Design. Human Design gave me a greater sense of self. It gave me the permission to listen to myself without fear. The Fearless Project Ltd, my own business, is where I combine Fitness and Human Design. My promise isn’t just a lofty statement to become the happiest, healthiest you (though that’s part of the plan!). It’s about understanding yourself at a deeper level, like I did, so you can connect to your body, mind and the people in your life more authentically.
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I am a multi-passionate creator and facilitator of health and wellness. Working as a 1:1 personal trainer and group fitness instructor since 2015, I specialize in olympic weightlifting, strength and conditioning training, am a Crossfit LV2 coach, a women and LGBTQ+ advocate, an FST LV 2 manual therapist and spiritual healer. Co-founding a boutique gym, Stay Gold in Toronto, ON, Canada, in 2018 and owner of multiple small businesses, at the ripe age of 31, almost 32, I am only becoming more excited with what this world and life has to offer.
As a Level 3 Human Design reader and the Human Design Resident for The Narrative Astrology Lab, I help individuals fear themselves less. The Fearless Project Ltd is my company in which I desire is to share my YES for life by empowering individuals to embrace their natural born gifts & strengths. By focusing on our fearless given talents, I can shed light on your life’s purpose by helping you see that it is already within you. By teaching an individual about their specific energy type through the Human Design system, I believe, ‘If we live by our own rules, and a clear consciousness, we’ll never get it wrong.’ The Human Design system has changed my life forever. It is imperative to me to create meaningful relationships and cherish everyday encounters because a smile or raised ear to listen could change the course of a person’s life forever. I choose to expect the unexpected and embrace the guidance that lives within us all.
If you are looking for a stronger connection to your physical body, to become stronger, to change the consistent pain you feel throughout your system or to feel more fearless when making your day-to-day life decisions, I can become your personal cheerleader. Whether that is in the gym working towards your fitness goals, stretching you weekly to improve your movement quality or understanding how your energy wants to be seen and heard in your line of work and/or in your relationships, I am your one-stop shop for living fearlessly.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Whether it is an event in the dance or health and fitness community, showing up to support other artists and wellness professionals is a way in which I have built my reputation in my networks/market.
If anyone says you should always be paid to support other professionals in your industry, they are pulling your leg.
Leading community workout events, fundraisers, ushering for dance shows, bartending, just attending shows or taking a friend’s fitness/dance class is the way you build connection. Sometimes that effort is not paid in physical cash but the energy and enthusiasm you bring to creating that help and relationship is what matters. It is the way you show up, who you are in someone else’s world or in the face of potential clients that creates a foundation for your presence in your industry.
If I counted on my hands how many times I have chosen to show up as opposed to stay home, even to a friends potluck that I knew there would be potential people interested in my line of work, then I would not have the reputation that I have.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?
My journey in health and fitness took a beautiful turn towards the end of 2017. I became a part of a larger team that opened a boutique fitness facility in Toronto, Ontario called STAY GOLD. The initial capitol was raised between 11 individuals, all inputting a certain amount of funds to give ourselves shares/ownership in the greater whole of the cooperation. I was personally funded to join the project and at the time was one of two women on the board of directors and the only personal trainer. It takes a team to run a fitness facility and without the other representatives we would not have been able to keep the gym afloat, both financially and curating/running the physical space. It was a journey and experience I will never forget.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thefearlessprojectltd.com
- Instagram: @thefearlessprojectltd
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frances.young.1213/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-young-0586272ab/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefearlessprojectltd
- Other: Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/765ya0cVhJTrvkwTacCovI?si=49b0d747716f4f71
Image Credits
Darius Bashar
Michelle Argentieri