Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Fred DeVito. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Fred, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Lis and I started working in the boutique fitness space in 1980. We have been teaching group fitness classes for 43 years and a lot of our clients and children of these clients have been with us all this time.

We went from pre-pandemic “in person” classes to pandemic – post pandemic teaching “on line” without missing a beat.

Our transition to the virtual space filled a need to continue our mission of providing mindful fitness, breathing and stress reduction techniques to our clients and beyond.

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.

As an athlete in high school and college, I studied and majored in Health + Physical Education. I became a teacher of movement first to school age students in the public school system then teaching adults in the health club/boutique fitness class setting.

My wife, Elisabeth had a similar journey with her education and teaching path and she eventually settled at the Lotte Berk Method,(LBM) a boutique fitness studio specializing on the Barre Fitness technique.

We taught at LBM for 20 years then became founders of a new start up called Exhale Mind Body Spa. In our 20 years at Exhale, we hired and trained over 150 teachers for the company and led teacher training programs worldwide training hundreds more teachers for the community.

Our time at Exhale allowed us to produce 12 Fitness DVD’s and a book called Barre Fitness.

Currently, our on line company, CoreBarreFit®️has over 2,000 clients from at least 10 different countries around the world.

We are in the business of improving the lives of our clients through fitness, mindfulness, stress reduction and healthy lifestyle techniques.

We pride ourselves in our personal connection with our clients both during class and out of class.

We support our clients along their journey for health, wellness and mindful living.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the pandemic shut down our 25 nationwide studios at Exhale, my role as lead teacher and teacher training came to a halt. Along with my wife, co-founder and partner Elisabeth, we created an on line fitness option through zoom technology. We hired a marketing person to help us communicate with our community through social media and newsletters in order to share our message to our loyal followers. Fortunately, our years at LBM and Exhale allowed us a world wide following which made the online offering a perfect means of communication. We have been teaching primarily on line for the past 3 years.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In our years as an apprentice at the LBM, we each taught 26 classes a week for our 20 year career at that studio. In addition, we trained all of the teachers, ran the business books, did payroll, organized and oversaw construction projects for new buildouts, cleaning and maintenance.

The plethora of experiences gave us a well rounded skill set that became our cornerstone when we moved on to Exhale and beyond.

Contact Info:

• Website: corebarrefit.com
• Instagram: @corebarrefit @fdevito1 @elisabethhalfpapp
• Facebook: Fred DeVito
• Linkedin: Fred DeVito
• Youtube: CoreBarreFit

Image Credits
Luciana Pampalone