The Fitness Business School – BONUS – Virtual Community with Holly Rigsby

Full Transcript

PAT: In this episode of the podcast, I’ve got my lovely wife, Holly Rigsby on talking about how you can create community connection and culture when you’re training somebody virtually. So let’s get to this episode.

Welcome to the fitness business school with Pat Rigsby, the podcast for fitness entrepreneurs who want to make more income, have greater impact, and enjoy more freedom in their ideal business. If you’d like an accelerated route to these goals, email me at [email protected] and put BGA in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details about our business growth accelerator program.

Okay, I’m here with my wife, Holly Rigsby. And for those of you who don’t know Holly’s professional backstory, she was a trainer and nutrition coaching program in our offline business way back in 2004 05 and 06 and transitioned into owning and operating an online business, serving moms originally with an ebook. And then she followed up with a membership site. She’s done everything from DVDs of the month, she’s done over 25 different products, um, print newsletters, hosted live events. She’s seen a little bit of everything when it comes to serving her clientele in a virtual setting. And you know, clearly I’m biased, but I think that she has been able to create and facilitate it. One of the more amazing cultures that I’ve seen in my entire time working in the fitness industry. Women that feel deeply connected to her and to the community that they’re a part of.

All of this done virtually considering the times that we’re facing now and considering the, the shift that almost all fitness businesses have had to make in serving their clientele virtually. I wanted to bring Holly on and give you guys some insight and some ideas into how you can be more than just hosting workouts because let’s face it, so many of the big brands, whether they’re the Peloton or the, the Planet Fitnesses or the Beach Bodies, they, they have a solution. If somebody’s just looking for workouts or on demand workouts, um, people can go to YouTube. People can essentially find workouts, um, with, with very little problem and very little costs for you to be able to retain your clients and even potentially build a stronger relationship with your clients. You’ve got to be able to do more. So with that in mind, welcome Holly.

HOLLY: Hi. Thanks so much for having me here today.

PAT: Well, Holly, so, so let’s get into this a little bit. Um, you know, you started by essentially just giving people a workout nutrition program and an ebook. So talk a little bit about some of the things that you really began introducing to create a better, stronger connection with the women you serve.

HOLLY: Yeah, thanks. Um, it started back when, yes, back in 2007, uh, Fit Yummy Mummy was only a downloadable PDF. So this was before there was even any videos. And I remember thinking to myself, I just can’t sell this ebook to all of these moms and leave it up to them to figure it out. Um, I know it was getting a lot of emails, lots of questions. I was like, the best thing I can do is create some type of online platform where we can be supporting one another. Figuring this out. And that was back then when there was Google groups different than what is known for today. And uh, we spent 21 days going through the program. I created like a 21 day VIP challenge. And, uh, the comradery that developed just within those first 21 days was amazing because we all enjoyed sharing that experience together.

This was not, you know, people isolated doing these things on their own. The fun came in knowing that this is, these are the workouts we’re sharing together. We’re earning, you know, our, we’re earning our sweat together, the OSG and uh, and we have, and we’re doing it with our, with our leader, with Holly. We get to share this with Holly. So after that 21 day experience, it ended up, cause I, I launched in November, uh, the holidays came around and we were coming to an end and people were like, what are we going to do? We want to keep getting together. So I decided to seek out another more compatible place for us to be able to come together. And back then I think it was ning.com, uh, we found a new home and the, the ladies just, they truly enjoyed having daily connection, not just with me but also with fellow members. And that has really, that was really the springboard that really made such a big difference. It was less about what workout are we gonna do today and more about, Hey, what are we sharing in this journey together? And knowing that no matter what questions we have, what challenges we face, we’re going to be able to get through this because I’m not alone in this.

PAT: So I mean, you touched on something that, uh, you know, probably didn’t have a whole lot of context. You talked about OSG and that, that sort of thing. So I want to get a little bit further into this. So yes, people are going to share, um, you know, whether or not they did their workout. And so there’s some, some accountability and being part of a group. And I think that’s big. Um, can you like, let’s talk about how you’ve provided some accountability, one of the components of you creating a virtual community with a great deal of success?

HOLLY: Well, it started off with transformation challenges. Um, back in the day. I remember Craig Ballantyne was really a big about that and I was like, he’s like, you know, you could do this too. So I kind of modeled the basic format of people submitting before and after pictures and we had a start date and an end, a deadline. And there were, in fact, back in those days it was daily emails. Um, and being able to come into a forum, like a BB forum, BB press forum, is that the right word? And uh, just having some type of guidance and follow up to make sure that they were staying on track and following through with the workouts and in turn making changes to their lifestyle and losing weight. So by the end of the challenge, I had some of the most amazing before and after transformation pictures and to date these pictures are still being circulated around on spam sites. I get, I get messages a lot about, Oh, this is a fit yummy mummy. So, um, it ended up that these women were getting amazing results, but that wasn’t what kept them coming back. What kept them coming back was that sense of comradery and being able to navigate every day life challenges and obstacles together specifically as a mom. So they really felt that connection of no matter what they were facing, they would be able to turn to someone to get the encouragement and support to see it through.

PAT: So you’ve held transformation challenges, you referenced, uh, I’m just going to talk about the accountability piece for a minute and then we’ll talk about the camaraderie in a minute. Um, so talk about other things that you’d done for accountability, like the OSG thing.

HOLLY: Well, yeah, that’s kind of good. It goes to us having like our own language and communication that identifies us as our group. So originally my community was called club FYM. So Club Fit Yummy Mummy and ladies would know I belong to the club. I am a Fit Yummy Yummy. Every time I do a workout, I am earning my OSG, which stands for One Sweaty Girl. So it was kind of like that was our thing. That’s what we could identify with, that this is unique to us and our experience and allowed us to really kind of take ownership in that as well.

PAT: So how would they share that? How would they express that? Because this is something that, um, the, the fitness business owners that we’re talking with now are going to have to do. Like how can I get my person to, um, share their sense of accomplishment? How can I get them to share, um, you know, something that they can have a little bit of pride about in, you know, a moment of, uh, challenge or, or whatever would like to call what works?

HOLLY: They would simply post a selfie right after their workout. Um, I would show them how to do this during our live workouts. I’d take a screenshot of my own sweatiness and I’m like, make sure you take a picture of you posted in the post, in the community post. I earned my OSG or whatever you want to call it. And Holly will come in and say way to earn it. Um, so moms also took this as an opportunity to show images of how they are working out at home with their children. So they took pride in that as well to say, it doesn’t matter where I am, there’s no excuse. I can get this workout in and look, now my kiddos are joining in or my kiddos crawling all over me. So it was through the pictures that we were taking that we were sharing together and supporting one another as well.

PAT: So hopefully you guys are getting a little bit of a feel for ways that you can, um, like facilitate more engagement and more accountability with your clients because let’s face it, um, if they’re going to continue to pay in a time of some uncertainty and certainly for something that wasn’t exactly what the original arrangement was, when you, when you connected with these clients, we need to make sure that they are really using what you provide and they’re engaging with what you provide. So having a sense of accountability is a big piece of the puzzle. Um, now have you had them, have you had your ladies post anything beyond pictures of them working out of there? Has there been things like nutrition, pictures, anything like that?

HOLLY: Yes. Anything that has to do with their everyday lifestyle. So if I, cause that’s, and that was also kind of like the draw there. Like Holly, Holly tricked us. She got us in here by these amazing before and after pictures promising us results. And here she is actually changing our life, changing our life for the better. So they ate up things that were transformative for actually everyday habits and their lifestyle habits. So if they ever had any evidence or proof of, you know, every morning I’m waking up, this is, I have my supplements lined up, I’ve got my glass of water, or I’ve got a journal out and I’m practicing gratitude. They would take images of this or prep the night before we talk about making it easy to get right into their five minute feel good flow first thing in the morning. So moms would take pictures of, look, I have my yoga mat out, I have my reminder of what moves to do already printed out.

So they would show proof of the fact that they’re either prepping or the fact that they’re in the process of making it happen or they have the post. This is what I did and here’s what I learned from it. And I gotta say that throughout all of this, it was not me saying, Hey, go do this. It was me suggesting it then showing them that I’m doing it. So they wanted to do, because I was the, I was leading them into this, so I wasn’t standing over here, you know, dictating, telling them this is what you need to do. I was in it with them and that encourage them even more because, and plus they felt that much more bound, bonded to me because of like, Oh, Holly’s doing this too. Holly has these struggles to look at what Holly is doing and then turn. The more that the women started to share, they realized that they could glean so much that could glean so many ideas, so much hope, so, so much inspiration from each other, not just one person over here telling them what to do.

PAT: So that’s a great kind of overview of accountability and accountability is more than you just did your workout. Um, it’s basically that accountability is evidence that you’ve engaged in what we’re doing together. Um, you know, I know you also use coach catalyst, uh, if you use that as an accountability tool along the way,

HOLLY: That was a total game changer for me and my community simply because, um, it really streamlined the whole process of we’re transformation challenge. Um, many of the obstacles that my ladies faced is that when you’re in a forum based community and a variety of different threads are being posted, information gets lost, especially from a coach. So coach catalyst allowed me to really streamline that and make it very clear about this is where you go, here’s what you click on. Um, and made it very simple for my ladies to know where I have to check in. And what I have to do. And at the same time I feel like I just talked to somebody about this. It provided me the ability, it provided options for ladies. Cause if you’re like, this is how you do it and it’s only where you have to do it, people are gonna find obstacles and excuses to not be able to do it.

So when I provide accountability, I’m like, you know what? You can at the very least check in on my coach every morning, I’m going to see that you’re checking in and I know that you’re showing up and doing the work. The next level to this would be that you open up the lesson, there’s a link in there that takes you to the community and you can choose to follow up and answer a question there. So it allowed me to actually give different progressions to the level of accountability that these ladies were able to engage in without feeling like I have 20 things to do in order to be successful. No, Holly’s provided me the options of what I can do to be successful. So that’s what it’s about. Being able to look at our client’s situation, where they are and how can we help support them to see that they can do this.

PAT: Okay. So let’s move beyond accountability. Let’s talk a little bit about some of the other things that you’ve done to stay connected with people. And you know, I know you’ve done your weekly win shares, you’ve done, um, challenges or programs that have gotten beyond just traditional fitness things like a Take Back Your Morning Challenge. Um, what are some of the other things that allow the women in your community to stay engaged with you and really feel more in all facets of their life, not just in that kind of one channel, that fitness thing?

HOLLY: Yeah, I was able to expand the concept of a transformation challenge since they just, they loved, they craved anything that had to do with habit or lifestyle. So I began to break it down to say, well, what do they need? So something like the take back your morning challenge, everybody needs to have a morning routine. So I found a very simple way to break this down and teach it to them. And then I was like, well, what’s next? What are different things? What are different arenas of their life that need improving? Um, out of this came a goal setting, a designer design your best year yet workshop obviously inspired by Michael Hyatt, but they needed something that was a workshop based focus that allowed them to walk step by step through what a goal setting process looks like and then in turn being able to put those goals into action. Uh, let’s see, I’ve done, what do I do over the summer?

PAT: That’s a great question, but I know you plan your summer like you’ve helped them plan their summers with their family.

HOLLY: Yeah. Hello. The Love Your Summer Challenge because during the summer moms are faced with the challenge of, Oh no, the kids are home. What am I going to do? What, how am I going to continue to take care of myself and my family? How can I create some enjoyable memories with my family? Uh, then after that, in the fall I would do a courage challenge because the falls back to school season and now moms are able to focus on themselves. So really it’s like a second opportunity to say, what goals did I set for myself that I really haven’t had the time to do? And now I have this opportunity to really focus in, tune in to me, and then I’ll do something over the holidays that’s light and fun. Like a burpee challenge. I call it Jump forJoy. But of course you don’t have to do burpees, but they like bringing it back to a very simple fitness-based thing that they can still be held accountable, stay focused on goals and feel like they have the support that they need. So it just, it ebbs and flows throughout the year based on the season, based on what they’re interested in, based on what’s going to help lift them up to become the best version of themselves.

PAT: So does that mean you’re going to have a Love Your Quarantine Challenge or something? Um, so, so talk about the wind shares and it’s not the same thing, but just, you know, that’s one way you keep connected with people. And then another thing that I’ve noticed that you do a lot over like your five minute feel good flows and just talk about those for a moment.

HOLLY: So the Friday win share was born out of our goal design workshop because we wanted to, once that workshop ended, we wanted to continue to make progress on the goals that we said that we’re going to work on. And it really kind of just naturally evolved into. But because just based on what I’ve learned worked for me to help me keep making forward progress. Um, and what you guys have learned through hanging out with Patrick is that we have to focus on the, the things that we’re doing that are moving us forward to what matters, what matters most, what’s important. So I shared that with my moms and they loved, they loved coming together at the end of the week to be able to reflect. They need somebody to remind them they need the accountability and the guidance. We got to take a look back and say, what’s working? What’s not working? What am I going to do about it? It was simple. It was to the point and our discussions were so rich because every single mom who came and showed up to those zooms, those wind shares had something different to share. Either they were saying, this is what I’m doing that’s working for me and they’re able to help someone else. Or someone came there and they’re struggling and they’re asking questions for help. It was like the reciprocity was just, it was magical and we found some of our best progress was made in these weekly meetups cause it helped us to stay focused instead of getting off track, spiraling back to square one. It didn’t matter if the, if the week was good or not, we weren’t losing control of staying focused of what matters most.

PAT: So if that’s the win shares and, and I think you expressed how somebody could do that and hopefully you guys are understanding how you can connect the dots here, right? Like you’re, you’re not doing a love your summer challenge right now, but you could certainly, um, come up with something where you’re facilitating engagement around common interests and common goals or, you know, just common circumstances. Um, with the wind shares there, there are so many things in people’s lives right now that they feel like maybe they’re not in complete control of, but there are things they are in control of. So you could probably come up with your own type of wind share that people would chime in and feel connected through. Now the beauty of this is, well, we’re geographically distance. This allows people to feel socially engaged and you can do that on zoom. You can, you can do that through whatever kind of chat platform you have available to you. Um, we use zoom for that sort of thing. But, um, let’s transition for a second and talk about your five minute feel good flow because that’s not part of, you know, the, the traditional workout that they’re purchasing from you. But that’s kind of a complimentary thing. Talk about that.

HOLLY: Well, that came out of when I was doing my take back your morning challenge. I have what I like to call creating a meaningful morning routine and you have this trifecta, these three things that you accomplish first thing in the morning and you win the morning. And one of those. So it’s movement, mindset, nourish and for movement. I just wanted something simple that was excused, proof that they could do to move their body first thing in the morning. So I was like, what can I do in five minutes or less? And I was like, you know, I love, I love yoga. I’m like, how can I put a sequence of yoga poses, um, into a way that you can just flow through this and it’s gonna make your body feel good. You’re going to check this off as a win. So it’s an accomplishment and it’s, you don’t need anything but a yoga mat.

So I created this and from that, my ladies loved it so much. I then progressed to something that I like to call joy flows. So I would take that and expand it. And now it’s part of my monthly workout package. Not only are they getting strength workouts, but now they’re getting a joy flow, which is a yoga based, um, or you’ll get inspired flow of movements. And they love those because it’s different. It’s more of like recovery-based or if I don’t feel I’m doing air quotes, I don’t feel like doing straight training, but I want to feel, I want to move and I just want to move in a way that makes my body feel good without this pressure that I’m not doing it correctly. And since I started doing those, I actually, uh, came up with different themes for what these joy flows have to cover.

Like if you want to rejuvenate or you need to relax or release, like, so thinking about when they’re going through this, I’m also giving them some prompts about how to, you know, relax your mind and let everything else go and just tune in and just truly be present in this flow of movements. And I let them know that I’m, I’m creating these based around what we’re talking about in the community and what I see, I see that they need, that makes them feel that much more connected as well. I’m not just throwing together a bunch of workouts and saying, go do this. No, I’m looking at what they need and knowing that I’m helping to fill that void that they might be feeling. And they see this as this personal act of me taking care of them.

PAT: So we’ve, we’ve covered a lot of different things, right? We’ve talked about accountability, we’ve talked about ways to provide value beyond just hosting workouts. Um, we’ve talked about, um, you know, you being in tune with their wants and their needs and how they’re feeling and coming back and developing things specific to them. And you know, I think that really the only other thing that I would touch on is how you’ve blended different types of workout offerings. I mean, you have the on demand stuff and then you do some live streaming stuff. So talk about what you provide somebody when they get on demand workouts from you. Yeah.

HOLLY: So my workout of the month club. Yup. So they get done for you follow along workouts. Uh, Paul comes and films them. I didn’t always have Paul. So there is a way I figured out before, uh, but this more polished version and I have uh, two different strength workouts that they can, um, use to follow along full fall along. And I have, Paul helped me break those up into different, into individualized segments for each move. So that’s the learning segment. So they can take, they have the opportunity to look at each exercise, be able to learn it. If they’re not seeing a modification that works for them, they’re instructed to reach out and ask, Hey, I tried these out, please help me out. So it gives them an to prepare before they actually jump into a full follow along workout. So while I give them an a B split type of workout upfront, I also offer, and I do these live stream as well, so they can, they can watch them on demand or I schedule times for us to get together and do these live. And I use Periscope if you need me to talk about that. I can. And then during right around the third week of the month, I will do a live workout. See and what I’m showing them is I took the best of workout a and workout B and I’m doing, I’m going to blend those two together and I’m going to do it in 10 minutes or less. I call them 10 minute quickies. So in turn, I’m also giving them an alternative to the the workout a workout, be giving them a short to workout solution and teaching them how, just because this says, you know, workout or workout B has a one, a two and these are the exercises only way you can do it to help them see that, to open their mind that they can be creative with the way that they move their body in a way that is enjoyable and it’s okay to mix things up so they feel more comfortable trying out different styles of workouts. And then from that too, I also weave in my joy flow. So they have like a really nice complete package of ways to move their body, um, and then deciding what they want to do with that, to schedule it in, to make it, to make it work for them.

PAT: So the only other thing that I want to touch on while we’re together in this episode is something you just alluded to is with Periscope. Like you, um, you know, you don’t necessarily have like this robust technology stack of stuff like you’re not using and there’s nothing against any of these applications. Um, but sometimes I think that when we think about online training, we bogged down in the technology. But you’re not using exercise.com. You’re not using PT distinction, you’re not using trainer eyes. They’re all fine solutions. Um, but how do you deliver the things that you deliver to your ladies?

HOLLY: You mean like the, like Vimeo?

PAT: Um, so you upload videos in Vimeo, which somebody could probably do the same thing, uploading something to YouTube and in many other sites.

HOLLY: Yes. So having a platform that allows me to, to upload and stream, um, I also use Periscope. Um, I don’t have a fancy microphone. I don’t typically use fancy lighting. I just jump on. And the thing about that with Periscope and not worrying about the technology is that they don’t, people care less about the lighting and the sound quality than to just be able to connect with you raw live in the moment. That’s really made a big difference for anything that’s more like outlined or rehearsed or constructed ahead of time has less of a intimate field and something that you’re just popping on. You’re spontaneously talking about something, especially when you see that there’s a need in the discussions that are taking place with your, with your people. I almost said ladies with your people and your you respond to it and that way they see they’re being heard and you’re stepping in to offer a solution even if it’s just some encouragement or support that makes them feel that much more bonded to you as well.

PAT: So you use Periscope, which you know Periscope had some popularity and then Facebook live and Facebook video kind of gained steam and Periscope kind of got lost in the shuffle. But I know you’ve continued to use Periscope because it just seemed very convenient and simple for people who did not necessarily want to be spending all their time on Facebook.

HOLLY: It’s so some, I like to call it, it’s like a distraction-free app because if you’re using Instagram, if you’re using Facebook, your people are also, their attention is being pulled in a million different directions at once. Whereas on Periscope is just you and when they want to go back to look at your broadcast is just you. Yeah, I know there’s other people on there, but they also get notified whereas they’re not going to get notified if you go live on Instagram or live on Facebook unless they’re on the app and as fitness professionals, we don’t want our people on apps all day long, so it allows me to be able to create some distancing from social media by letting them know if I spontaneously go live on Periscope, you’ll get the notification and get the whistle. You can watch it live or you can watch the replay.

Now, like before I said giving our people options if they don’t have Periscope app or if they can’t jump on live. I still save those videos. I edit them down and I, I use YouTube right now unlisted and I posted my community. So I’m giving them multiple ways to be able to connect with me virtually whether it’s live, whether it’s a replay and reinforcing that they watch the content that I am creating for them, giving them highlights saying, Hey, have you guys seen this? What do you think about it? Is there anything I’m missing? Do you have a suggestion for something I can do to help you?

PAT: Now you don’t use a Facebook group, you use buddy boss, which was by design. You wanted to pull people away from Facebook for um, for the reasons you just alluded to. But buddy boss is kind of something that needs to be installed and you know, really kind of built out which for people who are kind of on the fly here right now, I mean they could easily use a Facebook group and accomplish most of the same things, right?

HOLLY: Correct. Yeah. Right now, time is of the essence. Do what is available to you and should you find that this takes off for you and you want to look for something that is less reliant on social media, then that could be an option. But for right now, yeah, creating a Facebook group is the way to go. And then being able to leverage that, um, and making sure that you make yourself available as as much as possible.

PAT: And then you use zoom for the stuff that feels may be more like a, or a workshop, whether it be win shares or anything else where you’re connecting where people are going to show up with their camera on and making, you know, basically making the same multiple multi-person conversation. Right?

HOLLY: Yeah. And they, and this is, and that requires, I know there’s a lot of tech involved with this, but right now that’s what we’re forced to do. Everyone is forcing to go virtual if they want to continue to do, to provide the services they’re providing. So my advice with that is you’re going to have some clients who are going to be like, hmm, this is really hard and confusing. I don’t think so. And be like, Oh yeah, I know. Like, like validate the fact that yeah, it’s hard. I’m trying to figure this out too, but we’re going to figure this out together and because of that we’re going to be able to stay connected. This is what you’re going to get out of being able to be connected and being able to walk them through step by step how to set this up. And the first couple times that we go live, I, I’m nervous too and I might make some mistakes like call yourself out ahead of time.

So it helps to validate, normalize what they may be feeling. Because if you are used to staying in front of people and stand in front of a crowd, get in front of a, getting in front of a video and talking, we have to remember that our clients are not, and it is terrifying for a lot of them to be seen in that type of setting. So letting them know that they’re not alone in that. And then when you do have members who are courageous enough to be able to, to turn their video on and have a conversation with you, make sure you thank them and be gracious that or letting them know that that took a lot of courage for you to speak up and share. And I want you to know that because you did, you’re helping others around here. We need to just constantly reinforcing the fact that the more you show up and share, the better you’re going to feel. And the, the idea that you’re helping, you’re helping to inspire or give someone else hope. The more we share, the more we’re in this together and more we can help each other out.

PAT: Well, hopefully guys, you, you got a little bit of a feel for how Holly’s been able to, um, you know, really serve tens of thousands of women online. She’s had very, very, um, densely populated membership community. She’s, she’s done this with women for, gosh, I guess it’s been about 13 years now. She has some of the women that she served beginning 13 years ago that are still engaged with her. So if you’ve been kind of questioning whether or not you can deliver something of tremendous value in a virtual setting or if that matches up to um, what you were doing in person, I would say that this is not a lesser service. This is just a, a different service and you can build the same type of depth in a relationship. In some ways, you may be able to build an even stronger relationship right now when people, um, are, are really seeking connection then than you would in a traditional, um, gym setting. So hopefully you got some great takeaways. Uh, you, you learned some very practical steps and maybe it got your wheels turning too. So, um, Holly, thank you for sharing. It was awesome. Thank you. And if you guys have questions about anything, all you gotta do is ask. So guys, thanks again and you know, we’ll be continuing on with more episodes of the podcast with lots of timely tips and suggestions to help you, um, survive and thrive. Talk to you soon.

Thanks for listening. I’m giving away a bundle of my bestselling books, the ideal business formula, the fitness entrepreneur handbook in the path. All you have to do is go to patrigsby.com/podgift to get it. Also, make sure to subscribe to The Fitness Business School with Pat Rigsby so you don’t miss an episode and you get yourself on the fast track to creating your ideal business.