Business entrepreneur, global fitness icon, and mom of 2, Andrea Rogers [link her site] is one of the most inspiring women I know! She joined me on “A Better You”, my Instagram Live series for conversations with powerhouse women from whom we all can learn how to live life louder and fuller.
Based in New York City, Andrea launched her pilates dance business Xtend Barre (unofficially) in 2008. From studio classes to a global takeover with a license model and a franchise model, Xtend Barre marries Andrea’s two greatest passions: dance and pilates. This past December, she introduced her newest product: an in-home workout barre, making pilates accessible to everyone. Which is especially significant during a global pandemic during which in-studio workouts have been mostly postponed.
But her success wasn’t overnight. And that’s one of the main reasons why I wanted Andrea to be my first guest. She, in every stretch of the word, epitomizes perseverance and positivity.
Andrea said, “I naturally have a positive outlook on life. There’s always good to be found. But I will say, it’s not like I wake up every day like, ‘Let’s go! Workout! Eat healthy! Woo woo!’ So it takes consistent effort. You have to be consistent in your efforts to get results. And once you get results, you start to get addicted to that feeling. If you do just a little bit and you made progress, you’re like, ‘Ooo that felt good, I’m getting somewhere.’ And then that feeling is addictive. You have to really dig into that motivation and that creates more motivation. It’s mind over body, it’s mind over motivation. Just press play. Don’t sit back and put your finger over the pause button and wait for shit to happen. You have to take action. And the second you press play on all those things in your life, those small, little actions add up to results. And those results create an additive cycle, and then you want to keep doing it, and you want to be doing more and doing more and doing more. At least for me!”
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Every day, Andrea motivates women from all over the world to take action and create healthier habits. Her online membership program, Open Fit, hosts webinars; her Facebook groups invite conversations. “I answer their questions, and we empower one another. We motivate one another… This is why I love my gig!”
Her daily motivation to create and continue building her business starts with her morning ritual: stretching while reviewing the day’s to-do lists as a sort of mental inventory. “People get overwhelmed with the opportunities,” Andrea pointed out. “I always say get hyper focused on the local. What do you have to do for that task to get it done? If you’re a stay-at-home mom wanting to start a jewelry line, and you start thinking about all the things you have to do–the website and the business plan and the tax ID and then you think about all your competitors and how far they’ve come–you start shrinking and get so small. We are such creatures of comparison, and that blocks us. It’s about taking those small steps every single day. It’s so cliche, but those small steps add up to big moves over time.”
I can’t thank Andrea enough for spreading her joy and passion to all of us on that IG live chat.
What small steps can you take today to get closer to accomplishing your bigger goal?