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

Jason , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

I taught fitness in NYC for 10 years before making the transition into digital content. I took my first fitness class at SoulCycle a few years after moving to NYC and I knew – between having breaths, trying to keep up – that there was a better career path that wasnt chained to a desk. I auditioned without any teaching experience – didnt get it – but decided to start on my fitness journey though a yoga certification. For me, I studied music and performance in college, but being in front of people like this was an entirely new experience. I remember how it felt to have the power to change peoples lives. I taught all around NYC, sometimes up to 30 classes per week, for a decade. During that time I had taken instructor training and development (corporate) roles. It was when the pandemic it that I seriously considered a transition into a corporate role in fitness. This led me to Echelon Fitness, a connected fitness company (similar to Peloton). I would say this was my first real corporate role. The recruiting process was very unique. The role had not been on my radar until my friend Katy mentioned it to me and referred me to the hiring manager for the job. I interviewed over about 2 weeks with 2 super casual calls with the Chief Content Officer. I dont think we talked at all about the job, but more about our shared study of music. This was one of the first times where I experienced a connection through a shared understanding of the rigors of studying music.

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 background and experience is unique and multi faceted. I studied bassoon performance in college and grad school. It was in between my first and second year of graduate school that I realized I was spending more time studying how to help musicians with chronic musculoskeletal pain from over playing. I knew that my path would shift then and it influenced my entire career.

After grad school i moved to NYC and worked a few jobs before shifting into fitness for a decade. I’ve always had a drive to create something of my own. During my time in NYC while teaching fitness I started a supper club with the premise that people would want to combine fitness and health with great food. This was around 2018 during the peak of boutique fitness and wellness retreats.

When the pandemic hit, I shifted to digital. This didnt happen right away, I was so uncomfortable on camera at first (still am). It took a lot of practice and commitment to get me to start JM fitness with my partner michael. We taught about 12 classes per week on zoom and recorded digital classes for numerous fitness brands that popped up during the pandemic.

For the past few years I have worked in digital fitness content directing and producing. I started a small side hustle called The Fitpro Playbook which is a coaching service that helps fitness instructors develop their individual brand voice and USP. Through this I wrote a book called Fitpro Playbook which is a workbook to developing your own brand.

Most recently, i started a blog called Love the Brunch with my friend Lindsay. Now in our later 30’s we often found ourselves looking back on our younger days and the fun we had in our 20’s at brunch. Joking how we can keep up with our old selves nowadays. The blog offers reviews of restaurants and fitness – for us those two are the ultimate combination of activities for millennials. We want people to be able to visit this site to find happiness and a joyful connection with their past self. We’re expanding soon to include a card game that helps players get out and do unique activities on the weekends, as well as more digital and print content (did someone say coffee table book about the best bathrooms from our clubbing days?)

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

One of the best pieces of advice was given to me from one of my instructors at Echelon who said “Clarity is Kindness”

In the past I was taught that if 1 person was doing something wrong, then it should be addressed to the entire group as a reminder with the understanding that the 1 person who had the issue would know who they were and fix it.

What i learned was that that approach causes everyone to question what they are doing. Sometimes the wrong people end up changing things that never needed to be changed. Overall that approach caused more confusion.

I learned that addressing issues directly with the people that needed it was the best approach to avoid confusion.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I studied music performance throughout college. And while there is a lot of musical technique and theory/analysis taught, there is very little education in data and how to use data to make decisions. I would hightly suggest that people seek out education in how to read, interpret, and present data so they are equipped to use data to support the things they want to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: lovethebrunch.com and www.fitpro-playbook.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonostrander__/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ostranderjason/