(upbeat music) - Recently, together with my colleague, Mary Gamba, we had a conversation with Stephanie Rodgers.

She's the co-founder of Hardbodyz Fitness and co-founder of Rebel Core Pilates, talking about fitness, talking about wellness, talking about being an entrepreneur.

Stephanie started Hardbodyz 15 years ago.

It's an interesting journey.

It's an interesting story about a woman who got into the field of fitness as an entrepreneur, and frankly, is helping people change their lives for the better.

Let's check out that conversation.

- Stephanie, how you doing today?

- I'm great, thank you, Steve.

Thank you for having me, how you doing?

- I'm great, listen, I need to disclose a couple things.

You are my trainer, and so, in spite of that, people should still respect your work (Stephanie and Steve laughing) 'cause I'm falling apart.

And also, more importantly, my wife, Jen, has been going to you for years.

Stephanie, real quick, your journey into not just fitness, but being the entrepreneur that you are, describe that.

- Yes, so actually, about 15 years ago, my brother and I, we decided we wanted to do something as a family.

We were both in different jobs that we weren't really happy in, and fitness was always a forefront for our family, a very important thing for us.

And so, we found ourselves, our dad was in real estate, he found the property.

He said, "Listen, I think we've got something great here.

Let's do something."

So we put together what we thought was gonna be our small family gym, and thank God, 15 years later, we've grown to 10,000 square feet, and we have, you know, we've met people from all walks of life.

It's been quite a journey, but an amazing one.

- Mary, I know you do walk.

(Mary laughing) You walk.

- Well, it's so funny.

I strategically- - You walk at five o'clock every day, I know that, 'cause you tell me not to call you, so go ahead.

- Yeah, no.

I walk every day, - But I do have a question tied to that, and I do believe that it's leadership related.

I believe that there is a grit resilience involved in exercising, and you get into that habit, and you get into that mindset, but for those of us like me, that is, like, sometimes I get away from it, what advice do you have for people that are just getting back onto the horse, if you will, back onto the Peloton, back into the gym, to really just getting over that hump?

I know, for me, that's a really tough obstacle.

- Absolutely, it's something that honestly I face every day.

We as humans, we try to be perfect with everything that we do.

We always strive for perfection, right?

So people think a little bit here and there is just not enough, and that's not the case.

Any little bit is better than nothing at all.

More steps, more movement.

Five minute of a walk is better than nothing at all, and same thing, one 10-minute workout a week is better than none at all.

So I tell everybody, any little bit that you can do, just start, because it creates momentum, right?

And that 5, 10 minutes will then turn into 15 or 20, or an extra day, so every little bit counts, and our bodies are made to move.

The more that we move, the more that they wanna move.

The more sedentary that we are, the more they wanna stay sedentary, so I just think any little bit is key.

Just do what you can every single day, and those habits will build, they stack just like all the good things in our lives do.

- So, you know, Stephanie, Mary actually coined the phrase, not in the entire world, but the first time I heard someone use the word, being more intentional, it was Mary.

And so, starting in 2024, in my leadership and communication coaching, I said, "We need to be more intentional about the decisions we make, more intentional about how we manage our time, more intentional about the terrible meetings.

why are even having that meeting?

Be intentional about it."

Connect intentionality, being more intentional about wellness/fitness, making it intentional, part of your life.

It's not easy, but it's not gonna happen automatically just because you say, "Yeah, I wanna get fit."

- You're right, it takes one step, and literally one physical step, one foot in front of the other.

It's a very intentional thing, just like we make a choice every single day.

Am I going to eat A or B?

Getting up off the couch or getting out of bed 10 minutes earlier to get that walk in is a very intentional step, but it's necessary, and most people find that it's not as hard as it feels initially.

- I have a quick follow up to that.

The connection between Steve and I have been really leaning into wellness and leadership.

- Yep.

- We teach it, we coach it, and you hear a lot about, obviously, the connection between exercise and wellness, but like me, again, not to make this about me, but I will, I get more stressed and anxious about getting back on the Peloton or adding more exercise.

So where do you find that balance to get to that point where exercise does become a good-way crutch to get to your positive frame of mind and overall wellness?

What's that connection?

- I think a couple things.

I think number one is, again, we're hard on ourselves as humans.

I think that we need to take some pressure off.

We need to take some pressure off and remind ourselves that we get to do these things every day, that we get to wake up and go to this class, or go for this walk.

Some people don't have those luxuries.

Some people don't have that available to them, or don't have the time, or- - Or they're physically, excuse me, or they're physically not able to, so, I'm sorry.

- Exactly.

- Pick up your point, Stephanie.

- Yeah, it's an excellent point.

Some people physically aren't able to, and, you know, we have this great reminder every single day at the gym at Hardbodyz.

We have this wonderful member who is, he's actually in a wheelchair, and he's, - Oh yeah.

- And I believe you've seen him, right?

- He's amazing.

- He's amazing.

He walks through those doors, and no matter what kind of day I'm having, it's instantly just look at this guy.

(Steve chuckling) He's coming through these doors, 'cause he can and he wants to, and he's getting himself here, and you know what?

There's no other excuse in the world that's gonna stop him.

So I think number one, taking some pressure off of ourselves to be able to do what we wanna do when, and- - Go ahead, Stephanie, finish your point, because I was gonna also say, a lot of times, when you are pushing me, and I see you push other people, I'd rather not be there.

I'd rather be hanging out and drinking a cup of coffee and chilling, but there's also, I'm sorry I'm taking you off track there, because it is a blessing, and it is an opportunity to do that, but sometimes the truth is you have to fight through the laziness that we feel to, like, say, "I'm gonna cancel with Stephanie today."

That's real.

- Absolutely it is.

It is, and- - What's the payoff for fighting through that urge to just plop, which has its place at times?

Go ahead.

- It does, and sometimes, you know, to your point, sometimes we definitely do need to listen to our bodies.

If something is going on, and we really need a rest day, prioritizing rest sometimes is just as important as prioritizing movement, but if you are at the point where you're like, "Ugh, I really should do this, and I don't really feel like it," I've never met a person who has regretted doing that workout or getting that walk in, right?

You always feel better after, so I try to tell everybody, think about it in the opposite.

Think about it from the end goal.

How good are you gonna feel doing that little bit as opposed to now not doing it and being like, "I really should have done that."

You're gonna come down on yourself for not doing it, so those little things will amount to more, is my point.

- The biggest leadership lesson you've learned as an entrepreneur is?

- Honestly, the community.

The community means everything.

The community that we've built, as far as the team that we have in place, I couldn't do what I do every day without my team to support and work together, and I just think that kindness matters.

Kindness is everything.

Being kind to people and being there for people to support them on days that they need it, to give them the push that they need on the days that they need it.

Community is everything.

That's the biggest thing that I've learned on this journey is finding your community is a beautiful thing.

- Stephanie, thank you, not just for joining us, but for having, as I said, in all seriousness, a positive attitude, and doing the work you're doing every day that tries to help other people be healthier.

Stephanie Rodgers, co-founder of Hardbodyz Fitness and co-founder of Rebel Core Modern Pilates.

Stephanie, great seeing you.

Take care, see you soon.

- Bye, Steve, thank you so much.

- You got it, stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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