We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samantha Welch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Samantha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
My parents were far from perfect, but they really loved me and my brothers. Growing up, I didn’t realize the power of words and how children absorb whatever we say about them and turn it into action and belief. The things my parents said about me out frustration with my boldness as a child actually helped me believe that I could do anything I set my mind to.
As a young, spirited and fierce child, my parents would often grow frustrated with me and feel defeated. My mom, who was home with all of us kids day in and day out would say to my dad, “I just don’t know what to do with her” and my Dad would respond, “One day she will be the CEO of her own company.” They would laugh in agreement and though I didn’t quite understand what they meant, I heard those words and they became an internal affirmation.
My life now as a mother has peeled back so many layers I didn’t understand about how I was raised. Sometimes we have a vision and plan for our kids and they derail the entire thing with their independence, passions, talents and tenacity. I believe my parents allowed me to take risks, cautiously, but never denied me the opportunities I fought for.
When I wanted to go to an expensive trade school for design, they were skeptical, but did everything in their power to help me get there once they saw how meaningful it was to me.
When I wanted to buy FIT4MOM, they supported me leaving my career because of the excitement and dedication I had for the new venture.
What my parents did right, was turn their frustration with a strong willed kid into their kids confidence. Not saying no to opportunities, but offering a voice of reason and allowing me to curate my own decisions for my life. Life was never handed to me on a silver platter, everything worth having was sought after and earned with the love and support of my parents.
Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Motherhood is the reason for this season of my life and this business adventure I’ve taken. For the past 6 years I have been the owner of FIT4MOM Santa Clarita. Recently, I brought on two business partners, Jennifer Bleemers and Karlos Galvan to help me scale the business. FIT4MOM offers pre and postnatal health, wellness, and fitness programs for every stage of motherhood. All of our programs were created by moms for moms to provide Strength in Motherhood.
FIT4MOM empowers women to become leaders in their communities and start their own businesses while raising children. I purchased this franchise when my daughter was about 2 years old, after being a loyal and happy member since she was 5 weeks old. Postpartum was extremely hard for me and the feeling of not knowing myself and being lost in my new role was overwhelming. The fitness and wellness programs at fIT4MOM help make moms strong in body, mind, and spirit. Over time, new found friendships with women who were in the same phase of life as myself helped me find my new normal and embrace Mom life, for that I will be eternally grateful.
By providing moms with the support, community, and self-care she needs during pregnancy, postpartum, and throughout every stage of their motherhood journey, we believe these moms will raise healthy, strong families. FIT4MOM is more than a fitness franchise; we believe in building communities by connecting with local families, businesses, entrepreneurs, and neighborhoods. We are on a mission to reach ALL the moms in Santa Clarita, to offer support, exercise and a safe space.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met Jennifer, my business partner, when she was an avid runner in our run club sessions. She fell in love with our program and the community of women. Similarly to the stories of a lot of our members, she sought mom friends and a village for her and her kiddos. I remember Jen as a very loyal and consistent person. She became the Run Club instructor shortly after starting as a member and about a year later was expressing interest in helping to run the company. As Jen’s husband would say, she drank the cool-aid. Anyone who has felt the impact of this community, it’s workouts and the love can say the same. After about 2 years of working with Jennifer, I decided I needed to bring on a partner and the decision was made pretty quickly that we would run FIT4MOM Santa Clarita together and grow it to reach all the moms in our valley.
How did you build your audience on social media?
When it comes to social media, it’s not always about the most followers. What we are targeting are followers who will convert into sales, for us that means a hyper focus on local women who are moms between the ages of 20 and 45 years old. We have a very steady growth in followers from our community and most of our leads come from social media or google searches. We don’t pay for ads on Instagram, but instead go on the knowledge that consistency if key. Literally, consistency will make or break a businesses algorithm. Post daily to keep yourself in the for front of peoples minds, and always on their feed. Think of this, when is the last time you bought something on Instagram the first time you see it? From personal experience, I tend to buy items on social media about 2 weeks to a month or seeing it consistency in my feed.
Don’t be afraid to keep posting about the same deal or package over and over again, because the person who wants to buy it, forgot about it and needs to see it again and again and again. TRUST ME! Be creative with your reels, organic and fun. Don’t overthink it too much, just get it done. Here’s the final most important part, engage with everyone! reply to comments, reply to messages. Offer a call to action at the bottom of all your posts such as, “comment MOM and we will send you a free class” That provides an easy way for clients to request information. Social Media can and will be a powerful tool, make it a daily non negotiable in your business and growth will come!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://santaclaritavalley.fit4mom.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fit4momsantaclarita/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StrollerStridesSantaClaritaValley/
- Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=FIT4MOM+Santa+Clarita+Valley,+CA&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAA_-NgU1I1qLAwSDYyT7NMS7IwNk42trS0MqgwS0wzt0w1MEpMSU5MMktLWsSq4OYZYuLr76sQnJhXkqjgnJNYlAmkwxJzclIrdRScHQEL-rPHTAAAAA&hl=en&mat=CXamtCHpnyerElcBqiIDwjfakzm4c8TlT-GKMfFBjMDhfmCRTpTdkYTTJ-uTo6g8tIUgPREcOr3Cj2uZe2WRtmQmhTxCjHqze20qh1ZnqG5Ztp5jfnnMzq2vBM7g1oU65Cg&authuser=1#cobssid=s
Image Credits
https://seanacastanedaphotography.com/