business – A. Wright Fit

As I started A. Wright Fit and stepped into this “Fit & Faith-based” company, I was met with many challenges—one of which was I really didn’t know what I was doing. (Disclaimer: To a very large degree, I still don’t!). But one of the smartest things I invested in during this start-up process was a business and mentorship coach and group of women to help me along the way. This gem of a woman, Maryalice Goldsmith, because my online mentor. She is just one of my coaches, along with Jill Coleman who started the Best of You Coaching program for online coaching professional women!

can be a bit tricky, but Maryalice has such warmth and compassion, that it actually translated very profoundly through your writing and assistance. As I started to know her better and looked through some of the awesome programming she was offering in her own online space, I was in awe. Read on about what Maryalice has to say to some of the deep Faith and Fitness related questions I asked her. You can also read the entire article on my blog post here:

InsideoutWellness, GoGetters Online Mentorship

Me: Tell us a little bit about what you do and how you started your business?

Maryalice: I started my business back in 2008 as a “hobby”. I put my 3^rd and final son on the bus and thought, “What the heck am I going to do now?” After being a stay-at-home for 14-years I knew I wanted to tap into more areas of my brain. I loved being a stay-at-home Mom, but I got to that point where I knew I wanted to challenge myself and do something outside of that.
I decided to get certified in personal training and I started my “hobby” in the basement of my home. Whilst I’m still currently operating from my basement, it’s better than nothing. Eventually, the business will get to a level where I can move to a different space. For now though, I’m stuck in the basement. When I get clients, I do feel a little bit unprofessional telling them that I’m in the basement of my home. When I told my friend this, she suggested that I could always visit yourvirtualofficelondon.co.uk to look at getting an office address in London. That would make my business seem a lot more professional, so I might look into that at some point. It would also save me from giving my home address out.

In less than 18-months I had over 36 one on one sessions and 6-different varieties of bootcamps; boxing, TRX, sports conditioning and traditional style bootcamps.

I was in for about 50+ hours per week.

This was so not the goal. So I decided to check myself before I wrecked myself.

I made the decision to go online so that I can reach more people, get more time back in my life, and that work life balance we all desire. If it wasn’t for numerous guides to get me online such as this how to park a domain article, I would have had to fork out a lot of money trying to gain an online presence.

Running an online fitness empire is empowering, but it does have its technical challenges, especially where managing a website is concerned. For example, it is so important to use a reliable server such as Hostiserver to ensure that visitors to your website enjoy a smooth experience and are therefore more likely to engage with your brand.

It has been the best, most challenging, most incredible experience of my life.

I hired a business coach back in 2013 and in 2014, she hired me to help her coach her clients. How cool is that?

2015 has been one of the best years in my business, I am so incredibly grateful.

My goal for 2016 is to continue to impact women in a positive way.

I run maryalicegoldsmith.com and I have two signature programs; Go Getters Online Mentorship and InsideOut Wellness.

I literally get to coach women everyday how to live happy, healthy, and successfully from the inside out.

It is truly a dream come true!

Me:How has your Faith impacted your Fitness and your Fitness impacted your Faith?

My faith means everything to me. It was a gift given to me by my parents – the very best gift they have ever bestowed upon me.

My faith impacts my fitness because I believe in order to honor God and the body He gave me I need to treat it with care, pride, and love – the way He would.

My fitness impacts my faith because when I respect my workout regiment I am the best version of Maryalice I can be. I am happier, more energized, and I shine my light (it’s a pretty bright light!!!). When I am not taking care of me, well that light is not so bright.

I don’t have that pep in my step… it all comes down to taking care of myself and giving myself what I need to be the very best version of me. Fitness helps me accomplish that.

Me: What is the biggest struggle you see women facing today? How do you think Faith and/or Fitness can help them in finding a solution?

Busy-ness! We are so busy with work, the kids, family & friends, and life in general.

I believe this busy-ness has distanced many women from their faith. In that, they are distant from their soul.

They have lost their connection with their spirit. They no longer know what they want, need, or desire out this life. They are on autopilot and as a result, they have become more and more numb to their goals.

The power of faith is enormous. There is NOTHING in this world you cannot face without faith.

It grounds us in understanding what truly matters.

It motivates us to make decisions that honor who we are and believe that no matter what, if we are staying true to ourself, everything will work out.

Having faith allows us to understand that this moment is simply that, a moment in time. NO matter your struggle, your burden, and or your fear… this too shall pass.

With faith you are armored with a strength… it is the strongest muscle that supports your soul!

Me: Do you have anything coming up that we could join in?

I am super excited about my upcoming Go Getters Online Mentorship that will kick off on January 11^th. I have put a great deal into this program and I’m super proud of it.

My Father, who passed on May 23^rd of this year, was my greatest motivator. I could remember being as young as 8-years old and my Dad telling me, “Maryalice, you can be anything you set your mind to, ANYTHING. I don’t care if you want to be the first President of The United States – you can do it. You have to work hard, be the best you can be, and be a go getter!”

So, in honor of my Dad I want to help women be Go Getters Online. To go after their dreams and create the lifestyle they desire by building a thriving online business.

If you want to start your own business, then you can do it. Just don’t forget that it is a lot of hard work, and you need to be determined to succeed.

Make sure you know what you need to do, make a detailed list if you need to. For example, it’s important that you register your business as soon as you can (check out Your Company Formations Limited for more information on this), make sure you have a solid business plan etc.

Don’t panic though you’ve got this. And if you are worried then I’m here to help.

This is an 11-month hand holding mentorship, NO SHAME! You can access all the information here: http:www.maryalicegoldsmith.com/go_getters_online

The application process is open, and anyone who fills out an application will receive a link to hop on a call with me. I am only taking 20-serious online entrepreneurial women, so its important that we vibe.

I also believe in human to human contact and the online space often prevents that from happening, I am looking to change that.

To all you Go Getters reading this, I would love to connect!

You can also follow Maryalice on all things social media here:

www.maryalicegoldsmith.com
www.facebook.com/insideoutwellness08
www.twitter.com/MaryaliceHere
www.pinterest.com/insideoutwell
www.instagram.com/maryalice_goldsmith

An Epiphany….

We all see them and they make us cringe. They are the people that are so caught up in their own beliefs, whether whole-heartedly with an established religion or whole-heartedly against established religion, that they start pushing their beliefs on everyone they know and questioning anyone in their way.

With the advent of social media, we’ve seen this interaction on the rise. People have more courage to be a-holes when they are typing their responses instead of saying them. Plus, things get lost in the text and translation and it’s a slippery slope to a non-stop loop of slander and defense.

All of this has made a strong case for society now telling us “keep your Faith and your political beliefs to yourself!”

So, deciding to take courage to ignore said opinions and put my Faith into my business that is built for the online space is something that is pretty scary to do! I’ve opened up a few times regarding these fears that I’ve been able to overcome.

And yet, at the same time, writing about my Faith is also kind of a “safe” way to be open about it. I have the protection of my screen blocking me from any riffraff. I can choose to read comments and respond or hit delete and move on!

Alas, this past weekend when I had the opportunity to do some face-to-face interaction and opening up about my business and the Fit and Faith movement, I was nervous. I was among 80+ other health and fitness female entrepreneurs attending the Best of You Coaching Club fitness retreat all the way in Asheville, NC. I have been in this group all year, but as it is a virtual coaching club with the majority of our interaction via Facebook, I had met only very few of the women in attendance before that day.

As is customary, at the first session, everyone was asked to stand up, give their introduction about their business and tell what they’d like to learn over the weekend. I was nervous of course, because, well, #publicspeaking.

But I was also really nervous because I knew I was going to be “breaking society’s rules” and attempting to do it face-to-face. In fact, my mentor herself has written that she is not a Faith-based person at all, which I totally get! Not everyone is where I am. Talking about Faith among other believers can be awkward enough, but putting it all “out there” to people who don’t share your faith is HARD.

But I knew I needed to stand in my Truth. My Truth is that A. Wright Fit is not just a regular “I want to help women get healthy” kind of business. I know, that ultimately, I am in the life-changing business because I want to use Fitness as a way to help women grow into their Faith and a real relationship with God. Then I want to use their Faith to excel and balance their Fitness!

With married health power-houses, Jade Teta (Metabolic Effect) and Jill Coleman (Jillfit.com and my business mentor) — Me (center) with the married health power-houses, Jade Teta (Metabolic Effect) and Jill Coleman (Jillfit.com and my business mentor).

I stood up smiling and said my piece, “Hi, I’m Amanda Wright, I own A. Wright Fit that is a Fit and Faith based company that I hope to expand and lead a Fit and Faithful movement.” I sat down and my heart was beating audibly in my ears. “Whew, I did it!” I thought. As I listened to all the other women, I realized, we all had different ventures (which is awesome!) but I was the only one that had decided to be combine Faith and Fitness.

What happened was pretty remarkable. Later throughout the day, I had several women come up to me and talk about being Faith-based in this industry and give me such great praise for being the only one there that said anything about their Faith and business together.

One woman told me she was in awe that I was willing to just be bold and say it because she had a hard time admitting to her faith in her business out of fear of isolating some clients.

Another friend said the same thing, while she had one Faith-based component of her business, her main business aspect she wanted to pursue was outside of the Faith realm because she knew that so many people would be “turned off” by it and wouldn’t buy from her.

Another woman said that she was not religious at all (she had had a bad experience growing up) but she really respected the way I went about my Faith and wrote about it too. Such amazing encouragement!

Everyone had very valid points in their concerns! While I do not believe that it is necessary for everyone to make their “business” about their Faith like I feel I am called to do, all this does point the very real fear of breaking “Society’s Rules” that I mentioned before. This can go for ANY belief and stance in life, but specifically, I believe….

…as Christians, we fear the STIGMA that everyone thinks Christians are Self-Righteous A-Holes.

I have admitted on this blog a few times that one of my biggest fears in starting A. Wright Fit was not about standing up to the non-Christians, but about standing up to the CHRISTIANS.

To date, the only person that has ever “ruffled my feathers” over an article I wrote was in fact a Christian guy whom I agreed with on all of his points! But he still felt obligated to post some crazy offensive stories with some very defensive remarks that were pretty unwarranted.

So all this to say, there is some legitimacy to everyone’s claims. There are some of the overly religious, overtly rules-based, sin-pointing, shame-inducing, types that are frankly, 100% WRONG, in how they approach and speak to anyone that does not yet have a relationship with Jesus.

But you know what? Even though there are these extreme types, I want to make a stand and say it. NO! Not ALL Christians are Self-Righteous A-Holes!

In fact, NOT MANY are. I don’t have hardly any Faith-based friends and family that are self-righteous because frankly, why would I be hanging around a person like that?!

I realized that if I am hoping to start a Fit and Faithful MOVEMENT, which will highlight and celebrate everyone that is embracing their Faith in their Fitness, then we need to start the conversation about simply being BRAVE enough to admit to your Faith first!

The reason why so many of my fellow believers don’t admit it is because of the STIGMA that society has given “religious” people. But the STIGMA is NOT TRUE in MOST CASES. Fearing the stigma and shying away from the stigma does not make the stigma going away.

**We must SURREND’her to the STIGMA and stand up for the truth!**

Faith-Based DOES NOT Equal A-Hole.

Faith-Based means humble. Faith-based means kind. Faith-based means loving. Faith-based means passionate, strong, God-powered and centered. Faith-based means you know how screwed up you are, but you just serve a God that’s greater.

To be Faith-based simply means that we are attempting to grow and cultivate our character to be like that of Christ, albeit it quite imperfectly. In case you don’t know, Christ, in the 33-years He was on this Earth wasn’t an A-hole. I know that sentence is not exactly in the scriptures anywhere, but I can read between the lines and that’s what it comes down to. (;-))

If we can get over our FEAR of what everyone is going to think about us, than we can move on to freely do what we are set out and called to do, help those we love find God in their heart. To, as is my Mission Statement and Life Verse says, “Let our light shine before others, so they might see my good deeds and glorify my Father in heaven!” (Matt 5:16).

Matt 5-16

So, to prove my point, I’m going to a second-part of this series on the 5 Distinguishing Things I Did Last Weekend to Avoid Being a Faith-Based A Hole..

Be sure you check it out!

Maryalice Goldsmith

Me: Tell us a little bit about what you do and how you started your business?

Me:How has your Faith impacted your Fitness and your Fitness impacted your Faith?

Me: What is the biggest struggle you see women facing today? How do you think Faith and/or Fitness can help them in finding a solution?