We recently connected with Sarah Whipple and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

As a personal trainer, I not only help people get a stronger physical appearance, but I also help them each mentally by becoming a better version of themselves. The kind of legacy I want to build as a trainer, is someone who helped each person, on an individual level, become healthier. Whether that was through working out, eating better, cooking more, having time to oneself to process life, building stronger relationships with friends/family, having a deeper religious connection and being content with themselves with whatever life throws at them.

As weird as this is to say- when I’m gone, I hope to be remembered for someone who helped build that person up. To have humility, to treat people all the same (no matter what their past is) and to encourage, motivate and love one another.

Sarah, 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?

My name is Sarah Whipple and I grew up here in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was an athlete at a very young age – loved sports, being active and seeing how I can become better. During my freshman year of high school, I got into running (just to stay in shape for soccer). It wasn’t my favorite… until I decided to commit most of my time to running. I got a scholarship to run Track and Cross Country at the University of Oregon and ran/competed for the Ducks for 5 years. I learned a lot about hard work, humility, trained with the best-of-the-best and created one of my best memories there. I left college being apart of 3 NCAA National Championships and was a 4x All American.

After I graduated, I got married in Oregon and my husband and I moved back to Arizona. When we got back, I knew I wanted to stay in the fitness industry somehow. I started working at a H.I.I.T. gym in Scottsdale. I learned a lot doing that for 5 years and then decided to commit my work load to my own business, where I opened up “SW Training” officially in May of 2020.

SW Training is in my gym that is detached from our house. I train clients, either one-on-one or in a small group up to 4 people. I focus on strength training, as well as, sprints, mobility, speed work and plyometrics. I hone in the FORM because that is what is missing in a big gym environment. All of my clients have been from word of mouth.

Each year, my business has grown and so has my family! So many blessings. I have 3 children – Beckham (5), Peyton (3) and Emma (4 months). As a business owner, wife and mom of 3, I have a lot to juggle. After this 3rd baby, I realized I needed to evaluate my work load a little bit now that we have another family member. I pivoted a little and increased my time more on social media, while decreasing my in person client sessions by a bit. I currently have amazing partnerships with a few companies – Xendurance LLC, FP Movement and Hoka to name a few. I am always open to more!

People have complimented me how I can train any level and I don’t treat them differentky. Meaning… if you’re a world class athlete or someone. I’ve also trained all age levels – ages 5-92 years old! Each person with different goals, yet they all want to move their bodies and be a better version of themselves. That’s where I come in.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There are SO many stories in my collegiate athlete experience where I gained resilience, humility, hard work, etc. Here is one story that comes to mind:

I was injured on and off throughout my 5 years of collegiate athletics. I took 5 years because I redshirted a year. During my 4th year, our 2012 Women’s Cross Country team had a very talented group of women. It was a season I was very healthy (physically and mentally) and I had a really close relationship with my Dad (still do) and I would update him on how I was doing, how workouts were going etc.

I remember calling him multiple times of how hard injuries are (for many reasons). He kept telling me, “your time will come, Sarah. Keep having faith the God will give you a chance to shine on His own timing”. I tried to have that mindset all during the 2012 Cross Country season. Well… in November, our team made it to Nationals. I made it to the start line thinking that I’m so grateful I was here… after all the injuries, confusion on why it happened etc.

The race was very hard, just like they all are.

When I crossed the finish line, the first person I saw at the end was my Dad. He gave me a huge hug and said how proud he was of me… how much resilience I showed during the last few years in this sport. I had tears down my face because I was so proud of myself because I learned so much during the hard times.

Minutes later, we had found out that our team had WON. We were NCAA National Champions. It was a dream come true. God had a plan the whole time. Yes, it’s amazing to be a winner, but most importantly I enjoyed the process of learning to be resilient, training with my teammates even on the toughest days in the Oregon rain and creating these memories that I will never forget.

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

Word of mouth. I am happy to say that I haven’t put any time/money into marketing… who knows, maybe that will come in the future. But for now, I am happy to say that I have great relationships with my clients and I am very thankful that they think of me when they refer me to their friends and family for training.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sarahwhipple.com
• Instagram: @sarah.j.whipple
• Facebook: Sarah Whipple
• Linkedin: Sarah Whipple
• Twitter: @SarahPenney5

Image Credits
The picture of me in the gym: @thisphotogirl Desert photo shoot of the family: @nikkimurphy.photography