2020 Year End Top 10

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 One Business 

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

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