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

Shawna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

We are the first and only women’s specific CrossFit company. I started being a competitive athlete in 2017 and while I was very strong I was lacking in my gymnastics. In 2018 I began working with a Coach who programmed specifically for what I needed, and I realized that this was what 80% of women in CrossFit would benefit from.

Women have 1/3 of the upper body strength of men, but general CrossFit programming did not program enough upper body strength work for female athletes. Many women will be doing CrossFit for 4-5 years and still lack their strict pull-up. We as a company are on a mission to help change that.

We also educate our athletes on how their menstrual cycles affect their training, how to plan ahead and warm up given where they are in their cycles, and what to look out for in their different phases so they can always come in strong and ready to give their best efforts.

Shawna, 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?

I found my way into CrossFit in 2012 when I was looking for some “cross training” to help me be a stronger ultra marathoner. I quickly fell in love with the sport. I was a wild, rebellious child that liked to do things differently than everyone else. I’m a high school drop out, started doing drugs and drinking when I was 12 years old.

In my late 20’s I found running, and that helped me to start prioritizing my health. I quit smoking cigarettes, chilled on all the drugs, and started investing more time in being fit. This ultimately led to me doing half marathons, then marathons, then 50 mile ultras. I loved the high I got after a really long run, and it made me proud of myself. I walked into my first CrossFit gym just looking for some coach led strength training, but what I found was so far beyond that.

Here was a world where I wasn’t trying to be skinny (something I CONSTANTLY was striving for as a runner) and where I thrived because I was naturally strong when it came to the barbell work. I loved the challenge and I loved being able to train alongside others on the same path (distance running can be very lonely) – and then the rest is history.

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

I was late to graduate from college – it took me 15 years to pick what I wanted for my bachelors degree – I went from wanting to be a veterinarian to nurse to writer to lawyer to nurse to doctor and back to nurse. I committed to the nursing path and got accepted into a bachelor’s nursing program. After being accepted I realized that I didn’t want to be on the treatment side of things – I wanted to be on the prevention side of things.

In 2015 I applied and was accepted into a bachelor of Kinesiology program, I quit my job, took out student loans and went full steam ahead to finish the degree as quickly as possible. After completing an internship as part of the program, I fell in love with helping stroke survivors and people with neurodegenerative disorders move their bodies, and so my first business was born. The problem was I WAY underpriced myself (I was driving to clients homes) and I tried to grow the business too fast. In 2018 the business failed. At the time it was heartbreaking, but it was a gift in disguise – ultimately working in rehab was not my greatest passion. By having tried and failed with this, I then had the experience and confidence to start more business ventures, which led me to starting Competitive Female Training.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building our social media presence is a huge spot of pride for me. I was very fortunate that my first private CrossFit coach, Rodrick Lopez, is also an extraordinary social media wiz. I watched how he built his Youtube channel and his instagram platforms, I asked questions and I tried to learn from him.

One of the things he preaches over and over is to provide value on your social media. People don’t want to see the new thing you’re selling, they want to be given help, entertained, educated etc. So our social media platforms do just that. We provide nutrition and hormones content as well as ways to improve on their lifting, their gymnastics, and the things they struggle with in the gym. I also make content that’s funny and relatable. It helps that I’m a female CrossFitter so I know a lot of the struggles first hand.

One of the other things I learned from Rodrick is to “try” don’t be afraid of your ideas failing – instead send it and see what happens, if it doesn’t work out, that’s okay. But if it DOES work out – you might just end up with a massive success story.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.competitivefemaletraining.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/competitivefemaletraining/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/competitivefemaletraining
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSeooP0qefrVHJe61f_4AcQ

Image Credits
Justin Nunez Media