We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vickie Aigner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vickie below.

Vickie, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission the drives your brand?

I have been a health and fitness advocate for many years – like 45! From a young age, my passion has been to help others be healthy and happy, and to inspire and motivate them to live a life of adventure and possibility and to share that with others.

I began working with seniors in 2017, mostly in senior living communities, teaching fitness and dance. I fell in love with this age group and they quickly became my tribe. I was happy working and teaching my classes across Arizona, but it wasn’t enough!

I wanted more. I wanted to reach more people and share more inspiration but I also wanted to change the way people view and define aging and seniors.

Last year, it dawned on me that I too was a senior! I’m 68 and it honestly did not cross my mind that I was. I began to look around at what was offered to seniors and how we are marketed to and referred to by society in general, and I was not happy with what I found, so I began a movement to redefine what being a modern senior  means.

The modern senior is a new breed of seniors, living a life of gusto, exploration, and adventure. We empower modern seniors to live a life of wellness, adventure, and connection through virtual classes and events in a global community.

We now host over 60 live classes and events each month and also offer a rotating on-demand library that members can access at any time. Members meet new friends over classes based on their interests.
We work with a team of the best instructors and experts from around the globe to bring fun and diverse programming to our classes.

Vickie, 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 began working in the field of fitness and wellness when I was in my 20’s after I was diagnosed with a serious illness and healed myself with natural methods. I became passionate about helping people feel their best and live a healthy and happy life.

I became a stay-at-home mom raising my 6 children, but that vision never dimmed and I continued studying and researching how to stay healthy and happy.

Of course, all of life’s lessons along the way added volumes of valuable information and experience on how to live life vibrantly. When my husband died unexpectedly in 2001, I began my career in fitness and wellness full time to support my family.

In 2017, when I began working in the senior sector, I developed a specially designed program Energy Up, which works to regenerate every cell in the body, improve memory, enhance balance and coordination and relieve stress and anxiety. Many of our instructors, aside from being some of the industry’s top aging specialists, have also created their own specialized program for seniors.

All of the classes we offer at Alive, Fit & Free focus on what we call the 4 Pillars of Health: Mental, Emotional, Physical and Energetic. This means we not only help your body get strong and healthy, we boost your mood, improve your memory, and increase your energy as well.

We are not your cookie cutter, “sit here and move your arm” type of fitness classes. We are energetic, fun, unique, and adaptable to all levels, with variations for seated, supported, and standing. We make you laugh and enjoy what you are doing. We offer everything from Flamenco and Belly Dancing to Strength Training and Yoga and our signature Energy Up Fitness class.

To speak to senior’s interest outside of fitness, we also offer educational workshops, documentary watch parties, and virtual tours. Our virtual tours are with local tour guides around the world who take our members to explore their local places, culture, and food. We’ve been to Rome and explored ancient fashion, famous fountains, and the Sistine Chapel. We’ve traveled to Mongolia and experienced nomadic yurt life. We’ve been to Japan and learned about kimonos passed down for 3 generations.

We are much more than just another platform with senior fitness classes. Founded by myself, a senior, we are a community of people redefining what it means to be a senior, and living lives of wellness, adventure, and connection.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met Sophie, my business partner, in January 1991 – when I brought her into this world! Yes, that’s right, she’s my daughter – and has always been my biggest cheerleader. Sophie’s experience is in the social startup sector, particularly in creating products and services for niche markets, and in 2019, we decided to join forces to build Alive, Fit & Free into the leading virtual fitness community for seniors.

Funny story – we were recently at a networking event at a large conference. The next day, one of the contacts we met at the networking event came up to her and said, “I noticed there is a big age difference between you and your business partner – I’m dying to know the story behind how you met!” We have a lot of fun with the opportunity to work together.

It’s so much fun working with a team of all ages – from seniors to youngsters. We also work with an international team so have a very well-rounded perspective on life and a fresh world view that sets us apart from other companies within our space.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In fall of 2019, I was still providing solely in-person fitness classes for seniors at Alive, Fit & Free and it started to get very busy. I wanted to scale it, but wasn’t sure what the best direction was.

That’s the time that my daughter decided to join me, we created the Alive, Fit & Free virtual class model as it is today, and we began hiring instructors. We had a team of 5 instructors and our strategy was to continue scaling our onsite classes throughout the Phoenix area, and then switch those customers to virtual classes. Our end goal was to offer a 100% virtual service, but we knew we would need stepping stones to get the senior industry to that point.

Then, 2020 hit and all the rules went out the window.

For us, it was the perfect time to launch virtually. One week we were onsite and the next we moved all of our clients to the virtual platform. We immediately started bringing on more virtual clients and thus, our virtual strategy was implemented much before its scheduled time.

We researched until we came up with the best solutions for lighting and sound in our virtual classes and we set up a studio overnight. We quickly expanded our offerings and went from offering 5 live virtual fitness classes a week to over 60 monthly fitness and dance classes, live international tours, workshops, and interviews a month with a team of instructors from around the world.

Our daily live and on-demand  classes and events are all virtual and easily accessed through our website. All classes and events can be viewed on any smartphone, table, or laptop or accessed through our partners’ senior friendly tablets, and are catered to all abilities – whether seated, supported, or standing.

We cater to seniors anywhere, whether living at home or at a senior living community, but we don’t check ID’s! Our classes are for any age or ability and anyone is welcome to join us.

Our ability to pivot quickly and scale our virtual classes allowed us to become what we are today – a supportive, energetic community of modern seniors passionate about living better for longer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alivefitandfree.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alivefitandfree/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Alivefitandfree
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alive-fit-free
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_M-_ZY_RdacJwfX4aioDpw