Hey guys! I made a new video on my YouTube Channel to help you eat healthier in 2021! Here’s the deal, to be a true boss babe you’ve got to be strong and healthy. Here’s how I plan my meals for the week to ensure I’m getting adequate nutrition to lead my business and take care of my family. Hope you enjoy the video and be sure to subscribe to my channel. xo, Brit
Recipes for my meals for the week (3 meals prepped)
Hey Friends! Happy 2021. I just posted a new video on my YouTube Channel that’s all about goal setting for fulfillment. Click above to watch. And if you’re serious about making 2021 your happiest and healthiest year yet, sign up below for my 21 day Goal Setting Challenge! It’s complete with a 1 hour goal setting workshop, printable workout plan AND 30 on-demand workout videos led by me and other GRIT instructors that you can do from the comfort of your home.
Happy New Year friends! Thanks so much for reading my blog. I believe that what we appreciate, appreciates! So I’m keeping up my long-standing tradition of expressing gratitude for the top 10 moments I experienced this year. Obviously, 2020 presented unique challenges, but we made it through! And we didn’t come this far, just to come this far. So let’s keep pushing forward with hope, knowing the best is yet to come. Happy 2020! xo, Brit
1. Honeymoon and New Year’s in Aruba
Zach and I were fortunate to travel out of the country one last time before COVID-19 hit.Little did we know, we’d be quarantining together at home for the rest of the year. We even got matching “BZ” tattoos while we were there! So grateful for fun in sun for a week after our wedding and fireworks on the beach New Years Eve.
2. Celebrating 5 years of business
This video captures it all. Being an entrepreneur is an exciting, lonely, fun, challenging experience and I would’t change it for the world. So grateful to do this work, full-time for the past 5 years!
3. Launching GRIT Fitness Virtual Studio
A few years ago I launched a mobile app with the hope of creating a virtual fitness studio experience…that project wasn’t profitable and didn’t take off very well.While COVID-19 shut down my brick and mortar businesses, it propelled the development of our new virtual studio. Now we have the ability to truly connect and workout with women all over the world via your livestream and on-demand fitness classes. Learn more about GRIT Fitness Virtual Studio HERE
GRIT goes global – let’s claim it!
4. Harvard Business School Case Study Published
💥PUBLISHED💥 @harvardhbs WOW. Navigating COVID-19 as a small business owner has been quite the journey the past 2 months, BUT seeing a Harvard Business School case published this week with ME as the protagonist is something to be celebrated! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that MBA students all over the world would study the company I founded 5 yrs ago (and still maintain 100% ownership) to learn about effective entrepreneurship. For 15 months I had pleasure of working with most brilliant case writers and professors at Harvard as they traveled from Boston to Dallas and followed me around all day, interviewed my instructors and staff, performed detailed research about the boutique fitness industry and so perfectly captured my start up story @gritbybritand critical decision points and highs and lows I’ve experienced along the way.
This case is all about the big decision I had to make to grow GRIT beyond our start up phase…we wrapped it up in late 2019…and now it looks like we’ll need to start working on the sequel, “How to pivot your business and thrive in a global pandemic! 🤔” I’m so grateful for all that I learned through this process and more importantly to be role model for young, black, female founders all over the world and be one of the very few black women protagonist in a Harvard Business School case. If this girl from Mesquite, TX who went to public school can go to Harvard and start her own thriving business, you can do ANYTHING!
5. Being on Master’s of Scale Podcast and partnering with Capital OneBusiness
Massive shout out to Capital One Business for selecting my company GRIT Fitness to highlight as one of the courageous small businesses who have pivoted our business model during COVID-19. I had the pleasure of sharing our story on the Masters of Scale podcast, in a 3 part feature (starting at minute 4:15, then 22:44 and last at 45:25). Here’s the link to listen to the full podcast (which is really good btw) – I hope it inspires and encourages you.
6. Buying our first home!
I finally gave up the Dallas Uptown hi-rise life for a proper house.This was my first time going through the home buying process.My lil bro just got his real estate license, so he was our realtor. Zach and are about 6 months into home ownership as husband and wife and we couldn’t be more grateful.
7. Reopening my fitness studios after shutting down due to the global pandemic
To God be the glory for keep my business afloat. The support and loyalty of our amazing members (I LOVE YOU #GRITFAM) and staff (I LOVE YOU #DREAMTEAM) allowed us to weather the COVID-19 storm and keep the doors of all 3 GRIT Fitness studio locations open. In environment where so many small business are shutting down, each day I’m just grateful, as a small business owner, just to be here.
8. Opening GRIT KO Boxing Studio
3 years ago I had the vision for GRIT KO – a safe, judgment-free place for women to learn proper boxing technique, let out aggression and get a killer workout with their girlfriends! It took us a year to find a space for the studio. Another year for our team to do the market research and create the format. Finally at the end of 2019 we signed a lease for a 2,500 sqft space, spent lots of 💵💰on equipment and finish out while investing tons of time training with a professional fighter (thank u @m.o.v.e.hq) The team and I were ready and eager to share this awesome experience with the GRITFAM in March 2020, but then… RONA 🦠
We put all plans on hold and instead of opening GRIT KO, we converted our brand new boxing studio to a 2nd spin studio so we could safely serve more women while allowing for social distancing. BUT, after 3 years of hustling and adjusting, we finally opened the doors to our KO Boxing studio on November 8, 2020 and classes have been AMAZING so far!
9. Rettig Family vacation to Panama City Beach
We drove 12 hours from Dallas to to the Gulf Coast, with my hubby and my lil pup, Pearl.It was Pearl’s first time travel and she did so good – I was so proud of her!Honestly, this was the best trip I have experienced in a really long time.There’s no time like family time…especially when I have a special someone to share it with now too.
10. Celebrating 1 year of marriage
Zach and I celebrated the ano! We enjoyed a chill relaxing week, 100% off of work. I spent the day looking at our beautiful wedding photos and we took the top layer of our wedding cake out the freezer and ate it for good luck. But we don’t need luck. If God is for us, who can be against us? I’m so blessed to do life with my amazing husband, Zach.
YAY for 1 year as Mr. and Mrs. Wold #ToHaveAndToWold
2019 was a year of transition…I went from being sick to being well, single to married and from small business owner to CEO of a company with over 90 team members. All my life I’ve prayed for the these milestone transitions, but they have each come with huge sacrifices and challenges. Last year I learned that I have to say “no” to GOOD to say “yes” to GREAT — good and great are mutually exclusive; it’s impossible to have both — those changes are uncomfortable and scary. At the end of the day, I know for sure that we can create the lives of our dreams as long at we have the GRIT to stay positive, the tenacity to fight like hell (even when we don’t feel like it), a heart to serve others, and, most importantly, we trust and believe that God is for us and His plans to prosper us will always prevail if we keep our faith. 2019 was the best the year of my life so far, not because everything went according to plan (it didn’t) nor because I made no mistakes (I made several) but it’s the year that I’ve truly learned to just enjoy the journey — the good, the bad, the ugly. I’m grateful for all of it. Learning to love the “messy” stuff is powerful. Why? Because I’m not afraid of failure. Challenges don’t paralyze me. And critics don’t make me doubt myself. I’m here, in this position, for such a time as this, on divine assignment and NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL PROSPER – in the name of Jesus! (Isaiah 54:17) Thank you 2019 for all of the challenges and beautiful transitions.
Here are my most memorable moments from my “transition year” of 2019…
1. Girls Winter Trip to Denver in February
Zach and I had been dating for about 2 months and I knew I wanted to handle this relationship differently than my past relationships. I wanted to love without losing myself. The old me, would have cancelled all of my personal plans to make myself available for my new man, but I’m proud that I stayed committed to my friends and my personal passions. We had the best time eating drinking, talking and site seeing. There’s nothing like girlfriends.
2. When Zach told me he loved me
March 22, 2019…1 year ago today, Zach and I hung out at Katy Trail Ice House for 11 hours straight watching March Madness basketball (yes 10am to 9pm). We’d been dating for 3 months after meeting on Hinge…and at the end of that really looooong date, he told me he loved me 😍 now, you might think that was just the summer beer talking, but 3 months later we got engaged and the rest is history! I love sharing my love story especially during times of crisis, because I felt so hopeless about ever finding love before I met Zach. I was 34, single, worked over 80 hours per week, super stressed out and overwhelmed running a small business, slowly recovering from Bell’s palsy / Ramsey Hunt syndrome, had been on non-stop online dates but had yet to meet the right person. I honestly wanted to give up hope finding a life partner and even spent a huge sum of money to freeze my eggs so I could preserve my fertility in case I had to go through motherhood alone. But it’s in THOSE moments when you’ve given you’re ALL and you truly have NOTHING LEFT, that you create space for a MIRACLE to happen. No matter what you’re going through, don’t lose hope. Miracles happen every day.
3. Wedding planning as the Bride to Be!
We got engaged in June our set our wedding date for December, only 6 months yikes!From engagement parties, wedding shower, 2 bachelorette parties and wedding dress shopping, guest listing and endless text messaging with my fabulous wedding planner – planning my dream wedding was an experience I’ll cherish forever, I love love love hosting events and to get plan one on this scale (we had nearly 400 people at our wedding) was so much fun! The best parts were the joy that it brought my parents AND that Zach loved being involved in the process. Can we do it all over again? JK
4. Visiting 6 countries in 6 months with my fiancé
Zach and I traveled to Italy, Croatia, England, Ireland, Costa Rica and Aruba! We are so blessed to enjoy the privilege of travel and our experience was a great way to get to know each other better and rack up some memories in our short, 6 month engagement. This was truly the experience of a lifetime.
5. Signing our 5th commercial lease to open a GRIT KO Boxing Studio
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED 🖊 I’d love to say that the commitment gets easier over the years, but I gotta be honest….we started @gritbybrit 5 years ago, this is the 5th commercial lease I’ve signed and I still get the butterflies of excitement (and fear) exactly as I did opening our first studio. It’s doesn’t get easier. But, I’m COMMITTED – emotionally, physically and financially!
God is so good. When we started this community, our only goal was to SURVIVE! AKA “not go out of business” – but the vision we have for ourselves in so much smaller than what God has planned for us. God wants us to THRIVE, not just survive! Never did I ever imagine that we would open 5 studios in 5 years. And let me tell you what, our success is not a result of sheer talent, skill or money. On the contrary, it’s the result of 2 things:
The passion, enthusiasm and commitment of the GRITFAM & DREAMTEAM 💕
The grace of God 🙌🏾 GRIT FITNESS is so much more than a boutique fitness concept, we are a MINISTRY, on a mission to empower women to accept themselves for who they are, fight like hell to become all that they have been called to be, and be a light in the world of compassion and community.
Whatever you are going through, know that the best is always yet to come. And if you feel fear…DO IT ANYWAY! You got this and you’re more than a conqueror
6. Being Selected as an Outdoor Voices Brand Ambassador
BIG NEWZ: I’m a part of the OV Family🤩 Thank you @oudoorvoices for naming me an official “Doer” I’m so honored and excited to represent the OV brand along with the #GRITFAM@gritbybritand help women all over the world get stronger, more confident and in greater community! I had a blast leading community events and being a role model for a fun, active, healthy lifestyle.
7. Getting accepted into the Leadership Dallas Class of 2020
It such an honor for the Dallas Reginal Chamber to select me into the Leadership Dallas class of 2020! During the orientation retreat, I spent 2 days tucked away with the smartest, kindest, most thoughtful business and civic leaders in Dallas to strategize, plan service projects and push ourselves to expand our leadership capacity. This was only the beginning of our year-long journey and I’m excited about the friendships, challenges and opportunities that I developed! The learning curve never ends and I’m ready to do whatever it takes to be the best leader for the #GRITFAM@gritbybrit and for the Dallas community!
8. Bachelorette Party in Napa in October
I was on cloud “wine” after the most amazing bachelorette weekend in Napa 🍷 🍇💕 Grateful for girlfriends who flew in from around the country to spend some quality time with me before my big day 😇 So blessed and grateful
9. Hosting 3 fitness and wellness retreats, including our first retreat to Costa Rica
In 2019 we traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Lake Texoma and Costa Rica for retreats. I’m so grateful for the PRIVILEGE to do this work. A wise mentor one told me, “the only way to be a successful entrepreneur is to truly enjoy the grind” and now understand what she meant. Words can’t express the experience of getting to pour sweat, heart and tears into 19 strong women on our 5th fitness/yoga retreat and most importantly, getting to play a small role in helping these ladies become all that God has called them to be
10. Wedding of My Dreams
MARRIED ❤️ 12.28.19 “Two are better than one…If either of them falls down, one can help the other up” – Ecclesiastics 4:9-10. This video captures it all 🙂 Thanks to our awesome videographer, Heacox Creative Co and photographer Pharris Photos
Keeping the 5 year tradition alive! So happy to share the highs and lows of 2018 – I’m grateful for all of it. If you want to go back in time, here are my year end reviews for 2013, 2014, (think I missed 2015), 2016 & 2017…enjoy and be blessed! xo, Brit
1. Giving a TEDx Talk
This was hands down the most exhilarating experience of my year. It challenged me and took my back to my old high school speech and debate days (nerd alert). Not only did it challenge my public speaking skills it forced me to be super introspective as a leader and really dissect my leadership style and be vulnerable about sharing my passion for people and building a strong, sustainable community of women that I lead at GRIT Fitness. You can watch my TED talk at the link below (I’m the very last speaker and go on at 04:02:00): https://livestream.com/tedx/events/8155001
2. Hosting 2 Wellness Retreats (Cabo + Lake Texoma)
Now these were just fun! I like to call them the “fitness bachelorette parties” instead of retreats, lol. My friend/teammate Kaleigh Walker approached me with the idea of hosting a retreat, something I’d never done before, and we did it! It took lots of planning (itineraries, collecting payments, logistics, communications, creating workouts, etc) but it was an awesome experience. Hosting these retreats totally gave one of those “OMG I can’t believe this is my job” moments. I remain so grateful for my work. It’s so hard to believe that only 4 years ago I wrote this blog post “10 questions to ask yourself before you quit your job”, just when I decided to quit my long term management consulting career… so glad I took the leap!
3. NYC reunion with my business school friends
Rooftop chilling at The Jane Hotel NYC with my best friends from Harvard Business School
Work hard play hard! Over the summer I had the good fortune of taking a trip to NYC, during which I took a TON of fitness classes and spent lots of quality time with my best friends from business school. I bonded with the ladies almost 10 years ago as we were in the same section (Section B Class of 2010) at Harvard and spent every single day together for 1 year. While we all have very different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds and even live in different countries and work in very different industries, what bonds us it our commitment to personal growth, excellence and genuine love and respect for each other. That said, every year we make a point to see each other face to face (no matter where we have to fly in from) and encourage each other, talk about our business ventures and have some good ole’ girlfriend fun!
4. Battling Ramsay Hunt Syndrome
This one hit me like a ton of bricks…I pride myself on my “grit” and “perseverance” and ability to push through anything. But I learned the hard way this year that self-care is not weak, it’s necessary. I had a lot on my mind this year: opening a new studio, turning 34 and freaking about not having a family yet like all of the other Dallas girls (comparison is so stupid), managing over 80 staff/employees, my business growing so fast I felt like I couldn’t keep up – anxiety overload! Then one day I literally hit the ground and couldn’t do anything. I went to the emergency room and was quickly CareFlighted to the hospital. After tons of CT scans, IVs and blood test the doctors confirmed that I had a shingles outbreak in my ear which caused lots of inflammation in my cranial nerve and paralyzed the left side of my face. Crazy thing…the entire illness is 100% stress induced WTF?! I freaked out even more at this point because the doctors said that there was 50% chance my face may not recover and go back to normal…This was the wake up call I needed to truly “let go and let God.” SURRENDER has been my word for 2018. I had to rely my on my faith, my friends and my family and quit trying to be superwoman and do everything on my own. The biggest lesson I learned from all of this is to be vulnerable and ask for help. That doesn’t mean I’m weak, it actually means I’m strong.
5. Hiring a Full Time Studio Management Team
Anna (left) and Jenny (right) are my life lines!
After almost 4 years of business, I’m so grateful to have a full-time management team to operate our 3 DFW locations! Sad part is, if I hadn’t gotten Ramsay Hunt syndrome, I don’t think I would have hired another manager. Maybe everything happens for a reason…Now our team consists of 2 general managers, 1 social media manger, over 45 fitness instructors and over 40 front desk staff. Can’t believe it!
6. Freezing My Eggs
This was the biggest decision I made this year (and a huge financial investment). Okay real talk ladies: I felt so guilty because I was 34 and I felt like I should be settling down and having kids, but the reality is that I don’t want to do that right now. I’m having a blast growing my business and empowering women. I feel a strong conviction that what we are doing a GRIT is so much more than fitness, it’s a ministry to speak life and hope to women all over the world and if I don’t put my whole heart and soul and time into this right now, I’ll regret it forever. That said, I do value family and I want to have one of my own some day. BUT the reality is that female fertility drastically declines at age 35….so I bit the bullet, invested a ton of money, gave myself 3 shots in the belly every day for over a week and froze my eggs. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! Now, I can chill out a little bit more and not worry so much about my ability to have kids in the future because I have stash of 34 year old eggs in the freezer that I can grab later on. Thank God for technology and more options for women!
This was such a blessing and a a huge team victory! Watch the video tour above and see inside our newest, dreamiest GRIT Fitness location!
8. My 2nd Fibroid Removal Surgery
This year I had to go back under the knife and get more fibroids removed. I wasn’t really having symptoms (like the last time – you can read more here) but during the retrieval of my eggs, my doc noticed more fibroids and highly encouraged me to get them removed. I’m super picky about my surgeons, so I flew back to Boston to Brigham and Women’s hospital so the best laparoscopic surgeon could do my operation. I’m grateful that the surgery was a success and I’m healthy and blessed to have a body that can carry children! Ladies, it’s so important to be proactive about your fertility – ask lots of questions and always get 2nd and 3rd opinions from OBGYNs.
9. Spring Fun in Los Angeles: Girlboss Rally & GRIT by Brit Pop Up Tour
Girlboss Rally Hosted by Sophia Amaroso. My 2nd time attending and loved it just as must as the first time! Checkout my blog post from last year here
Hanging with my fab Aunt who lives in Baldwin Hills
Hosting my 1st Pop Up class at the The Playground in West Hollywood
Dinner with fellow Girlboss, Marty McDonald Founder/CEO of Boss Women Media
It’s always been so important to me to focus on the mind/body connection when it comes to fitness. That’s why I named this blog “GRIT by Brit” and my company “GRIT Fitness” – this year I created a program of daily positive affirmations and a law of attraction workshop that went along with the workout program. I’m super proud of it and plan to keep improving it and eventually offer it virtually to women all over the world!
Since I started this blog 5 years ago (wow!) I’ve kept the tradition of writing a year-end post to recap my Top 10 most memorable moments. I’m not proud of my blogging frequency this year (will do better in 2018, fingers crossed)…but I am proud to end the year with one final post! So here we go, in order of occurrence (not importance), here are my Top 10 moments of 2017…
1. Getting a dog, Pearl
Let me start by saying that I’m a not a “dog person” and never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined getting a dog. Doing so, however, was hands down the best decision I made last year. I love Pearl SO MUCH, more than I ever thought possible. Having a dog has made me more patient and helped me be more balanced and get my mind off of my company every once in a while. Although, my company inspired Pearl’s name, “No Grit No Pearl!” (Yes, she transformed from a little brown puppy to a big white fluff in 12 months…IDK
2. Hosting My First Conference, WHAT SHE SAID
This was a really big team accomplishment. All of my boss babe friends and I put our heads together and hosted Dallas’ first young women’s empowerment conference. The conference took place at the W Dallas hotel with a welcome reception at GRIT Fitness. We enjoyed over 25 amazing speakers, tons of vendors, a dance club cardio happy hour, tons of swag from Tory Sport, mimosas to kick-start the day and cocktail reception to finish the festivities. I was also the keynote speaker (you can watch my full speech above). I was very honored to share the entire GRIT Fitness start-up story and important lessons I’ve learned from taking the company from a small side hustles back in 2012 to a successful small business in 2017.
3. Attending the Inaugural Girl Boss Rally in LA
Yay for 2 conferences in 1 year! After hosting my conference in Dallas, I then traveled to LA to attend the Girl Boss Rally hosted by Sophia Amaroso, author of the book GirlBoss and Founder of Nasty Gal. She had a SICK line up of speakers including two of my ultimate girl crushes, Ty Haney (Founder of Outdoor Voices) and Emily Weiss (Founder of Glossier). This conference inspired me because it made my BIG dreams seem more attainable. Just listening to so many young ladies who were about my age lead and grow multi-mullion dollar brands made me feel very confident that I can do the same.
4. Closing my original business location in East Dallas
I shed so many tears on this day. This was hands down one of the toughest moments of my year. I have so many amazing (and difficult) memories at the original GRIT Fitness East Dallas location. This is where my idea came to fruition – we opened this studio in Jan 2015, just 3 months after I quit my consulting career at Deloitte. My OG team members and I hosted a big “grand closing” party and each of the original instructors taught together – it was super fun and nostalgic. Someday I plan to buy real estate back in East Dallas and open young women’s co-working space with a fitness studio in the back – a tribute to where GRIT began!
5. Opening a New Business Location at SMU Blvd, Dallas, TX
When one door closes another door opens. Soon after we moved out of the East Dallas studio, we celebrated the grand opening of our SMU location. This studio is much bigger with better amenities and a cycling studio! It was a very proud moment for me and my team. This transition reassured me that the best is always yet to come.
6. Summer Fun in California
California LOVE! I took the best summer vacay to the west coast – it went like this: A bunch of fitness classes in LA > baller wedding in Newport Beach with my family > hangout with a bestie from biz school in Palo Alto > hang out with a bestie from undergrad in Oakland > another amazing wedding in Sonoma (where I caught the bouquet – hey!) along with wine tasting and quality time with my sister.
What more can I say?
7. Launching the GRIT by Brit app
So proud fo this! Launching my home workout app was a big item on my 2017 goals and it’s launched! I invested a lot of time, money and energy into this project, because strategically I know that having a tech service offering, in addition to brick and mortar studios, is critical for the long-term viability of my company. Now I can workout with ladies all over the world! I’m still working on some live stream functionality and very cool timer plug-in that leads my workouts with sound effects so you can just press “start “and start sweating! If you haven’t already, DOWNLOAD MY APP
8. Hiking Camelback Mountain
I went to a wedding in Scottdale for one of my high school friends. The day before the ceremony, I hiked (the hard side) of Camelback Mountain with two awesome ladies from Houston who were also friends of the bride. It was freaking HARD! I’m talking rocks on rocks on rocks. But, I did it. And I felt really good about myself. I even shed a tear at the top because I truly believe I can feel God’s presence when I’m alone with nature.
9. Being Awarded “Best Fitness Program” by D Magazine
Could. Not. Believe. This. So grateful for this huge honor. To me, this award means that GRIT is officially on the map in Dallas. Now the pressure is on like donkey kong to continuously improve our services, meet the needs of the growing #GRITFAM and continue creating the strongest women in Dallas!
10. Euro Trip 2017
I traveled a ton back in day when I was a consultant, but since I founded GRIT 3 years ago, I haven’t had the opportunity to travel as much. I got a serious itch to get back to Europe this holidays season and I’m so grateful that I finally reached a point where I had the financial stability and free time to make it happen. I visited Manchester > London > Amsterdam > Paris = 1 heck of a way to end the year!
Happy New Year Friends! As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been on a blogging hiatus since Thanksgiving 2016 (the longest stretch of no-posting in gritbybrit history – yikes!). I’m not proud of this as blogging has been my most inspiring creative outlet over the past 4 years. In fact, starting this blog is what pushed to me pursue my ultimate dream – starting my own fitness/wellness company. It would be such a shame to neglect the one thing that gives me so much energy and motivation!
So, I’ve made a resolution to post weekly in 2017 and I commit to myself and to you that I will stick to it. You can expect at least one post per week from me for the entire year – yes that’s 52 posts from yours truly. Since my life has changed so much the past 2 years with the inception of my company, GRIT Fitness, I’ve decided I’m going to shift the focus of this blog to share more behind the scenes coverage of what it’s like running a start-up, innovating new fitness formats, building a brand and leading a team all while trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I also plan to share business insights and frameworks that I’ve created to help with time management, goal setting, growing your business and building your brand. Hopefully you’ll enjoy these posts! Please comment and lemme know what you think long the way.
But before I go full speed ahead with my 2017 blogging approach, I first what to take some to time to express gratitude and reflect on the awesome moments I was blessed to experience in 2016. Last year was definitely a period of growth, learning and FUN! Here are the top 10 moments I will cherish forever (in no particular order)…
1. Celebrating 1 year of business at GRIT Fitness
Wow. When I started GRIT Fitness in January of 2015, my only goal was stay alive. But not only are we surviving, we have a growing, vibrant , thriving community of over 2,000 awesome young ladies! Most of the ladies who were my very first members now serve as instructors, community leaders and front desk staff. We kicked off 2016 with a super fun Vino & Vinyasa 1-yr anniversary celebration. It was a blast!
2. Being on TV, twice!
Look mom, I’m on TV! This was so freaking cool and so totally unexpected. Fortunately, 2 members of the GRIT community happened work for Fox 4 and pitched a segment to cover my journey of creating GRIT Fitness. That led to a me sharing my story on Fox 4 “In The Now.” Then a producer at WFAA, Good Morning Texas reached out to us to demo some Dance Club Cardio moves on the show and talk about our fitness community. 2 terrific TV surprises in 2016!
3. Winning the Neiman Marcus Faces of Beauty Contest
This experience was totally surreal. I felt like a beauty queen! 5 women out of 1,000 nominated were selected for this amazing honor based on the impact they’re making on women’s empowerment. Neiman Marcus gave me a styling session, killer new clothes, a box of the most luxurious beauty products, a makeover and photo shoot, an intimate dinner with the company’s executives and a night’s stay a luxury hotel. Simply amazing.
4. Building and opening the GRIT Fitness Flagship Studio (2nd location)
What a journey! After getting rejected by two SBA lenders and from several other landlords (because I hadn’t been in business long enough), I almost gave up hope on expanding GRIT Fitness. But with the support of our community we raised $10K in a crowd funding campaign and I found an awesome small business lender in Austin, TX. After a few months of planning and strategizing, we were blessed to open our 5,000 square foot flagship studio, just 6 months after celebrating our 1 year anniversary.
5. Growing and developing my team at GRIT Fitness to 48 team members!
I started GRIT Fitness with help of 10 fabulous young ladies. 1 was my sister, 3 I met on Craig’s List, 3 were students in my Turbo Kick classes at 24 Hour Fitness and the others were just friends who wanted to support me. Now we are 4 times the size, but the closeness of our relationships remains. What I love about my team is that each girl serves at GRIT because she genuinely LOVES helping people and wants to be her best. And that’s why I feel like we are truly the #DREAMTEAM
6. Sweating and smiling in LA and NYC
I’m such a sweat junkie! This year I traveled to both LA and NYC just to explore the fitness scenes. I called it my “market research” trip as I took 13 classes in 3 days in NYC and 9 classes 3 days in LA. While I was in LA, I also attended the IDEA WORLD Fitness convention for the 3rd consecutive year. I LOVED IT! The learning curve never ends. I also treated myself to a nice hotel and great meals. I definitely like my vacations sweaty!
7. Quality time with my best friends in Seattle, Canada & Dallas
Being a small business owner, it can be challenging to allocate time to just chill and hang out with friends. Especially when most of your best fiends don’t live in your city. Fortunately, my friend Jenn got married in Quebec City so I got to reunite with most of my business school friends during that trip. And then my bestie from business school, Yassi pictured above, traveled to Dallas from South Africa for a work trip and we got to spend the entire weekend catching up, attending holiday parties and sipping mimosas. Last, one of my best friends from undergrad also got married and I got to catch up with all of my Cornell friends at his wedding in Seattle, WA. Quality time with great friends is simply priceless.
8. Finding a new church home at Shoreline Dallas
Before moving back to Dallas, I lived in NYC and I was member of Hillsong church which I absolutely loved (especially the awesome praise and worship music and relaxed culture)! After moving back home to start GRIT Fitness I struggled all year to find a church home that I really connected with. Fortunately my cousin invited to Shoreline’s SHINE Women’s conference and I love the diverse community, high energy and enthusiasm for strengthening our faith.
9. Spending the holidays with my amazing family
I am so grateful for my family. The older I get, the more I appreciate simply spending time with them. The 2016 holiday season was super special because we spent Thanksgiving in Florida hanging out at the beach and watching my bother, Austin, play in his holiday basketball tournament. Then for Christmas we just hung out at my parents’ house, went out to eat for Mexican food, and lazily hung around the house for 2 days. It’s the little things that matter most.
10. Hosting ‘Start Up Yoga’ for Techweek in Dallas
Can we say “GRIT concert”? This was hands down the most extravagant fitness experience I’ve ever been a part of – massive stage, flashing lights, live DJ, amazing venue full of Dallasite’s sweating and smiling. I’m so grateful that my team and I were presented with the opportunity to work with Techweek, one of the largest technology/entrepreneurship conferences in the world!
While I’ve classified these 10 moments as the “most memorable” there were several other “less flashy” moments that were equally meaningful to me. Like hanging out with my sister as “friends” despite our 8 year age gap, finally earning enough profit to write myself my first paycheck, holding hands with all members of my family and praying over the future of GRIT Fitness and my ability to be a good leader. 2016 was such a joy, but I know that the best is yet to come! Here’s to 2017, the greatest year yet. xoxo, Brit
We kicked off the business birthday celebration with a Friday night VINO + VINYASA (wine + yoga) party at my studio. Over 50 members of our GRIT Family came out to celebrate! The party was complete with wine, cupcakes and my favorite birthday jamz (e.g. Rhianna Birthday Cake).
We’ve kept the party going all week with themed classes. (See above our full list of themed classes – I’m pretty proud of our creativity here). Today was our final round of themed classes, “Crunk Party HIIT’s” = High Intensity Interval Training classes set to our favorite party songs. Lots of sweat and lot of smiles guaranteed!
Some of my rockstar instructors and advisory board members at the Vino & Vinyasa party. From left to right: Emily H. Emily T., Annabel, Ariana & Tarra
As I reflect on the past year I pinch myself because I can’t believe this is really happening! Just over a year ago I was a traveling management consultant, disengaged with my career and pouring myself into this blog as a way to escape my “real life”. But now this is my life. We really did it! We built a business and a community out of a simple idea and lot of hard work. The accomplishments and experiences (good and bad) from this past year give me so much confidence and hope that the best really is yet to come…
Me and Jenny, our VERY 1st member at GRIT in January 2015 – thanks for the loyalty Jenny!
Me and Megan, GRIT Front Desk Team Lead
In only 1 year we’ve grown to over 2,500 active members, 15 instructors, 35 classes per week and 7 original class formats – WOW! As I said in the last post, “teamwork makes the dream work.” But the best part of the journey are the personal relationships I’ve made with the #GRITFAM and they’ve made with each other. Nothing is more important than family – #GRITFAM included!
Sophie (Maria’s Daughter), Me, Maria & Jenny smiling after the sweating Flexin’ Flow class at the Vino & Vinyasa party
Stay tuned my friends…this is only the beginning of the GRIT Fitness revolution. I have some exciting news to share in the coming weeks and I want you to be the first to know!
THANKS SO MUCH for following my journey to and through healthy living and entrepreneurship. xoxo, Brit
Hey Friends! Last week my mom and I made road trip down to San Antonio, TX where I competed in the InnovateHER Women’s Business Pitch Competition sponsored by the SBA (Small Business Administration). It was a bittersweet experience as I practiced all week, picked out the perfect outfit and thought through all of the questions the judges may ask. Alas, I didn’t win 🙁
However, I felt really great about my pitch delivery. Unlike the competition I recently won at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC), this was a true “pitch” competition meaning I only got 2 minutes to speak and could only have 1 slide on the screen. That said I had to prioritize the most critical aspects of my business plan and immediately excite the judges. This experience definitely pushed me past my comfort zone and elevated me to a new level of public speaking and handling high-pressure situations. Also, I got to the meet the founders of these 4 awesome, female-owned start up companies – I highly suggest you check them out and show them some love!
The 5 Finalists – Me and the fierce female entreprenuers who presented our businesses to the judges – I was so inspired by their awesome ideas, passion & energy!
In the spirit of “keeping it real” I was super bummed about the outcome (I even shed a few tears when I was alone in the lady’s room). Honestly after watching the video of my pitch, there wasn’t anything I thought I could have significantly improved. Fortunately, my competitive nature is getting the best of me and now I’m even more motivated to spread the positive vibes of GRIT Fitness and impact women all over the world! #CantStopWontStop
Before I went to bed that night, I came across this post that gave me so much peace, hope and purpose.
“I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time. Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”
― Brené Brown, Rising Strong
I remember being in my corporate career with my steady paycheck and awesome expense account and thinking to myself, “I want more than this. I want to take a risk with my life and pursue my dream.” Now I’m living boldly and there are several ups and downs, but boy is it exciting! I hope this quote positively impacts you as much as it did me.
Keep up the good work ladies and shout out to all of the #GIRLBOSS chicks out there! xoxo, Brit
Me and my Mama Kay enjoying margaritas and Mexican food on the San Antonio River Walk after the competition – you can find a silver lining in EVERY experience if you just look for it!
TGIF Friends! This has been such an amazing week. Before I headed to San Antonio to compete in the SBA (Small Business Administration) InnovateHER Pitch competition (more details on that coming in a later post) I got a surprise visit from one of my dearest blog buddies, Chelle! Chelle writes a blog called EveryDay Polish and we connected when I hosted a GRIT Tank top giveaway last year. I asked my readers, “What does GRIT mean to you?” and Chelle won by providing this answer…
Keep in mind that Chelle lives in Connecticut and we’ve never met in person but we keep in touch online and have followed each other’s blogs of over a year. I was overjoyed when she made trip to Texas and a surprise visit at my noon HIIT class on Monday!
Moments like these give me so much purpose and motivation. I’m not going to lie, blogging and running small business can be exhausting and overwhelming. However, knowing that I’m able to positively impact the lives of others by simply being myself and sharing my life-story, is so amazing!
1. Honeymoon and New Year’s in Aruba
9. Rettig Family vacation to Panama City Beach
