We were lucky to catch up with Zerina Hutchinson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zerina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I was an art major in college and always thought I’d be in some sort of industry that I could be creative. Once I had my first kiddo I decided to open a home bakery and create custom cakes. I did this for close to six years because I had the opportunity to stay home with my kids while doing something I was good at. I got burnt out and decided to close down and stop taking orders. What was once a passion turned into such a chore and I stopped loving being creative with baking. I knew there had to be something else. Immediately after I made this decision, the former owner of Fit4Mom Lake County announced that she was selling the franchise and looking for the next mama to take over. I was a member at the time and absolutely loved the community. I just felt that I needed to take over. It was the something else I was needing and I am so grateful I listened to my gut. Making such a huge career move with two toddler and absolutely no fitness background was such a huge risk. But here we are!

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

My name is Zerina! I have three kids, Sofia who is six, Aydin 3 and Ella 7 months. They are the reason I get to do what I do! I’m a franchise owner in Northeast Ohio with Fit4Mom. Fit4Mom is the nations leading pre and postnatal health, wellness and fitness program. I originally started with Fit4Mom as a member when my first daughter, Sofia was about 18 months old. I didn’t have many mom friends and was desperately looking for a village. Fast forward two years and I decided to buy Fit4Mom Lake County and it has been such a dream. I get to go to work every single day and encourage and love on other moms all while promoting a healthy lifestyle through fitness and community. We offer child friendly stroller classes as well as mom only group fitness and group training classes. It is so important to love on the moms in our community. Every mom truly needs a village and I think that’s what sets us apart from other gyms/fitness groups. We not only provide fitness classes, but we plan weekly activities and play dates for the kids, bring in various speakers, plan monthly moms night out, and have an amazing list of other local businesses that could be of help to our members from pelvic floor therapists and maternal mental health specialists to healthy restaurant options and lactation services. We try to support our members as much as possible as they go through the different stages of motherhood. It is honestly so much more than a workout.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I love this question. Maintaining high morale means happy employees and an increase in productivity! But the answer is so simple. GRATITUDE. My team gets messages from me weekly about how appreciated they are and how important they are to this business. I truly couldn’t run this machine on my own, so creating a fun and positive work experience is important to me. I try to put together fun outings, dinners, and just simple coffee dates once in a while to show them that I’m thinking about them and that their work matters to me as well as our members. We also have several tiers of commission programs in place on top of their regular pay which gets them more motivated and bring out a little fun competition.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Social media has been a big help in this! We have a private Facebook group, a virtual village if you will, where our members can have a safe space to ask questions, interact and get updates on upcoming events. But I think taking it back to basics and checking in with them in person or via phone is still my preferred way of communication. I love that my members have an open and honest relationship with me and if something needs to be brought up, they feel like they can do that without hesitation or feeling like they’ll hurt my feelings. That communication is so important between a business owner and client, and I got very lucky in that aspect. I have the best clients and they have all become family.

Contact Info:

• Website: lakecounty.fit4mom.com
• Instagram: fit4mom_lakecounty
• Facebook: Fit4Mom Lake County

Image Credits
Julia from Enthusiasm Lab