We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Friggel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

My last name is Friggel, which I think is pretty unique. I honestly haven’t found any other Hannah Friggels on the planet. I wanted my brand to stand out and thought what better way than to use my last name. I originally had the name Friggelly Fit, but I ran into a whole slew of problems with that name. How do you spell it? How many g’s, L’s? How do you pronounce it? I coudn’t have that.

So I asked my clients if they had any ideas. A few of them threw out Friggin’ Fit. Ultimately FrigNFit was born – it starts with my unique last name, the N stands for nutrition, and the fit stands for all the fitness options I offer. The play on the word ‘friggin’ shows the fun, adult nature of my style and my classes.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I used to be a landscape designer back in the day. I received a degree for it and even was in the industry in Austin for six years. I found that I was inside, behind a computer for most hours of the day and not interacting with people very much. I’m an outdoor-loving extrovert. So in short, I was miserable.

I began thriving in another area of my life: fitness. I trained myself to run half marathons, full marathons, triathlons, etc. I started going to bootcamp classes and completing home workouts.

I studied to become a certified personal trainer and started my own bootcamp through Camp Gladiator in early 2018. Starting my own business was NOT what I expected and I really had to learn how to hustle to get even ONE person to start coming out to my classes!! I learned SO much – how to dive into my community, how to start cold conversations, how to run a really fun and effective class to keep people coming back for more. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard in my life as I did to get my business off the ground.

I ultimately decided to leave CG last year and completely go into business for myself. I now had to start being customer service, come up with new marketing strategies, a logo, a brand… and I didn’t have a team to do it with me anymore! But the amazing thing is – it is mine. My values, my product, my blood sweat and tears. I wanted to create a place for people who needed more out of their life than their work. Just like I needed when I was a landscape designer. So I have created a community who thrives on the therapy of the great outdoors, community, encouragement, nourishment, and movement.

My passion is to make exercise for everybody – and I especially like working with people who need it most. Expecting/new moms (I became one in 2019), people exercising for the first time and don’t know where to start, who are intimidated by the gym, or with super hectic work schedules. I want as many people as possible to experience the mental health benefits, as well as the longevity and strength gains of exercising and eating well. It enriches your life like nothing else.

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

Oh man, when Covid hit in 2020, I was not prepared. To be fair, no one was!

I had to take my outdoor in-person business online in 2020 – and FAST. I had to learn how to use zoom quickly. I had to learn camera angles, music incorporation, and sound in just a few days. I had to learn screen sharing. I had to make sure all my clients were able to utilize it as well. The world was FREAKING OUT and so was I !!

I ended up turning this dump of a shed in my backyard into my filming studio. I cleaned it out and made a backdrop. I invested in bluetooth headphones/microphone and had to learn how to make a bootcamp style workout become something you could complete on your own at home. Sometimes in tiny spaces. And I needed them to stay fun and interactive!

Ultimately, I ended up pretty successful with it – earning top trainer qualifications within Camp Gladiator and leading hundreds of people through live workouts regularly. But if I didn’t learn fast, I know my business would have failed. I’m glad I took on the challenge!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

At first, I really had to get out in the community and talk to people. Whether that was by standing at a booth at a farmer’s market or similar event, or setting up a wellness chat at a local business/school/office. The more people I could get in front of, the more likely I could get people to come see what I had to offer. My first workouts had only a couple people attending and I had to fight for every single one of them. I had to get over my fear of phone calls and follow ups. I had to really listen and build connection and trust.

Now that I have more of a client base, most of my clients are word of mouth!! I really take pride in getting to know my clients, learning about their personal lives, hearing about their WHY behind working on their fitness/nutrition, and I take the time to build them the BEST system to serve their goals. And by giving them a great experience, I am HONORED when they share me with friends and family. Its been the coolest way to grow because now we’re a big network of friends and family!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.frignfit.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/frignfit
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/frignfit
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-friggel-6a197853

Image Credits
Grant Pittman Ashley Thomas