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

Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?

Before I became a business owner and stay at home mom, I served in the military as an Army officer. That job taught me, among many other things, that leaders set the culture of an organization. During my time of service I had the opportunity to both watch this play out in the leaders I reported to, as well as be the one to set the tone and culture for the group of soldiers I was leading. Mutual respect and teamwork were two things I valued highly. I used these as the starting point for my personal actions and decision making as an army leader, which in turn helped set the expectation among the soldiers I worked with everyday for what our organization should be. In this season of life, it’s not soldiers I’m working with, but rather other moms. Though the demographic may seem like a complete shift, the principle remains the same: as the owner and leader of SLAM Cincinnati, I get to set the culture. It has been a joy and a privilege to create a welcoming, safe, and FUN space for moms to show up as themselves and grow in their health and fitness journeys.

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

I have had a love for athletics and fitness from a young age. I first found SLAM (Sweat Like A Mother) after I had my first baby. I was still serving on active duty at the time and on maternity leave I googled “places to workout with my baby”. SLAM was the first thing to pop up and I immediately registered for a class. The first day I came to class I fell in love with the concept right away: moms with kids in tow, meeting up at a beautiful park, doing an hour long workout led by a nationally certified instructor, then afterwards automatic play ground time for the kids and adult connection time for moms.

This concept solved many problems for me. The first being the childcare problem— I got to bring my daughter along, and we both benefited from time together and from what SLAM offered: workouts and community of other moms. Next was my need for variety— I quickly got bored of the same push up drills and runs that the military often used for physical training, and I craved something new. Even at the gym, using the same machines and weight lifting exercises had grown stale to me. At SLAM, every single class was different, and I loved it. Not only that, but the workouts were written specifically for women like me who had recently given birth.

SLAM is truly for all moms in any stage of motherhood. You can be pregnant, new to fitness, or a competitive athlete and reap all the benefits from this unique class. Not to mention exercising in the fresh air and sunshine along side other women who can relate to your phase of life. The community naturally happens, and it’s a really special and beautiful thing.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients have actually been my current ones who recommend to their friends to try SLAM with them. I learned that, if you have to choose between pouring energy into marketing to new leads and pouring energy into making a better experience for your current members, you can’t go wrong with making it better for your members. Everyone who comes to SLAM loves it and are happy to spread the word, and that has been my main course of growth.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I have tried to intentionally build relationships with other local fitness businesses in order to build the reputation that I don’t see others as competition but rather as partners in the same goal of helping our community at large become stronger, healthier people. We (all fitness businesses) have unique things to offer and there is a need out there for all of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.sweatlikeamother.com/cincinnati
• Instagram: @s.l.a.m.cincinnati
• Facebook: Slamcincinnati