Welcome to episode 32 of The Fitness Insider podcast! Today’s guest is Hensley Ellefritz, the founder of her own Hensley Ellefritz Fitness Consulting. Not only does she have a cool name, but she should legit consider writing a book about how fitness studios can optimize their brands and businesses. She’s extremely well spoken and has so much information and advice to give—and a decade of success in fitness sales, so she’s seen some things in her days. She helps gyms successfully launch, grow...

And we’re back with episode 31! I called it episode 32 in the actual episode—ignore that :)  Our guest today is Henry Richardson, the founder of DEFINE body & mind and Supermom CBD.  He’s one of those go-getter, infectious positive energy kind of entrepreneurs who is always creating something exciting and inspiring. Not only is he a super successful founder with 17 locations in his franchise, but he’s also an expert in positive psychology. I’m not sure about you, but I needed this pep...

In this episode, we talk about: her background and how Mada Leigh blog came about her tips on how to detoxify your house and move toward a more non-toxic home favorite clean beauty brands supplements she and her family takes her brand new virtual fitness platform how her fitness routine has been impacted by Covid meal planning tips what’s next for her & her family All about Mada: Mada Lavey is a personal trainer, mama, and lover of all things health and fitness....

Welcome to the final episode of 2020, Episode 29! Today is a solo episode where I (Natalie, your host) walk you through the wellness predictions for 2020 and comment on those as well as reveal Well + Good’s wellness predictions for 2021. I’ll save you all the reading time and you can just listen. I did a lot of research and took lots of notes to touch on the most important aspects of each prediction so you don’t have to. Hope you enjoy. Let’s get this party started! In this episode, we talk...

Welcome to Episode 28! Today’s guest is a fireball of a human, an entrepreneur from head to toe whom I’ve looked up to for over a decade. Her name is Brandi Marino and she’s the founder of a boutique fitness studio franchise called BEYOND Studios, which began here in Dallas. Brandi is the definition of a pioneer in the fitness industry especially in Dallas. She’s real, #unfiltered and has a lot to say. Don’t miss this one! In this episode, we talk about: how she started BEYOND Pilates and...

Episode 27 centers around one of my favorite topics: optimizing your health. Today’s guest, Taylor Dukes, is a functional medicine nurse practitioner based in Fort Worth, Texas. She owns a private practice where she meets with patients one on one, as well as a new wellness center called Restore + Revive where clients can meet with Taylor for anything and everything functional medicine, get nutrition counseling, IV therapy and shots, infrared sauna, massages, facial, fitness and more. Taylor...

It’s time for episode 26! Today’s guest is Weston Carls, an entrepreneur and photographer specializing in the fitness industry based in Austin, Texas. He gives us a fun look into the fitness photography world, gives some tips for aspiring “influencers”, how the pandemic has affected his business and some pretty entertaining stories he tells from some of the thousands of photoshoots he’s conducted in the past 13 years. Weston has a great eye for photography, he’s done shoots for some fun...

Welcome to episode 25! I know I say every episode is a fun one, but this one was especially entertaining to bring my sister, Maddy Blankenship, on the show to help me out with an Ask Me Anything. You submitted your questions on Instagram, and I answer them on this episode. Maddy throws in a few more questions, and we also catch up on everything from what’s stressing us out these days to what shows we’re watching, what workouts we’re doing and the best things we’ve purchased recently. In this...

Welcome to episode 24! This episode’s guest is Allison Ellsworth, the co-founder and chief brand officer of Poppi, my absolute favorite bright & happy sparkling gut-healthy drink. Allison is also a Dallas-based entrepreneur who runs her business with her husband, and their story starts in their kitchen experimenting with apple cider vinegar to now selling Poppi in major retailers around the country and expanding. You have to hear her story of how they went on Shark Tank, got an...

Episode 23 is an entertaining and inspiring one— Mark Shipman, a personal trainer and now sales specialist at Peloton has had quite the fitness career (and he’s not stopping now)! You’ll get to hear about all of the studios he’s been a part of in Dallas, Texas, how he got to travel the world to consult and help others open spin studios, how he met Jillian Michaels and began working with her and more. He’s now at Peloton (Northpark Center in Dallas), so we of course touch on our favorite...

Episode 22 is a story of an entrepreneur that started a Pilates studio from the ground up, was building momentum, and then boom. Coronavirus happened. Jaci Spagnolo, the founder of Feel Good Pilates in Austin, Texas walks us through what it was like leading up to the opening of her studio, how Covid impacted her business and ultimately, what she did to tackle the issue and stay afloat despite having to “close” her original brand. Don’t miss this inspiring story of being smart, scrappy &...

Episode 21 is one of those episodes you’ll walk away with several tid bits and things to think about throughout the week. This episode features guest Antoine Howard, master trainer and founder of a virtual fitness company called Lifted that mixes physical health with mental health. I met Antoine at a HIIT class he was teaching at a local boutique fitness studio, then asked him to be a part of a photoshoot for StudioHop to which he accepted. It doesn’t take long to realize what a fun,...

Episode 20 is here! In this episode, I sat down with Natalie Holloway, the co-founder and CEO of Bala. She’s a fellow Austinite, now living in Los Angeles where she and and her husband Max own and operate the company they started in 2018 together. Natalie and I connected for the purpose of this podcast, but we actually have quite a bit in common, so I am looking forward to getting to know her better. She has a fun story to share about how Bala came about, and how they got to appear on Shark...

In Episode 19, I interviewed Phillip White, the founder of a stylish, size-inclusive activewear brand called Phit Clothing.  I met Phillip several years ago at a boutique fitness studio in Dallas, and he quickly became a brand ambassador of my company, StudioHop. I got to hear his idea of Phit Clothing back in the day, and I’m so proud and impressed with what he’s done with the brand now. Phillip opens up about how he had the idea of his clothing company, how he got started and he even tells...

In Episode 18, I interview Alex Snodgrass, the blogger and NYT Bestselling author of the cookbook The Defined Dish. I’ve met Alex a few times in Dallas running in some of the same entrepreneurial networking circles, and she is so kind, honest and real. I’ve also been cooking recipes from her blog and now cookbook for years and love pretty much everything she’s created. Her specialty is making comfort foods a little healthier without sacrificing flavor (in fact, I think her food is more...

Episode 17 is an interview with Rachael Phillips, the founder and owner of GOGA & Yoga in Austin, Texas. She’s a California girl who moved to Austin blindly, became an Uber driver, then worked at Home Away, and then naturally opened a goat yoga business. I mean, who doesn’t!? She tells us quite a few crazy stories that you won’t want to miss hearing—the first one is all about her professional experience and how she entered the world of goat yoga. Scrappy and bold are two words I’d use to...

Get ready to be inspired and to start considering what’s going on inside your head! Episode 16 features guest Kami Blease, a fun, upbeat and uber positive vibin’ trainer and self-love coach residing in Santa Monica, California. Kami is the creator of the Worth More Than Your Weight program and she has a lot to say about those internal dialogues we’re all having about our outward appearances. She tells us how she works with women to make them feel better and have more confidence, dishing out...

Episode 15 is an interview with Mimi Blankenship, an inspiring, full of wisdom and plant-based goodness, mom of 4 adult children and wife to husband Matt, my mom. She’s a National Marketing Director for The Juice Plus company and a certified health coach through the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute. She talks about the power of fruits and veggies, what she does on a day-to-day basis with Juice Plus and how she continued learning even in her 60s— to become a health coach! Mimi dives into one of...

For episode 14, I check in with you and give you updates on how studios are reopening and how they’re looking different now. What changes are they making and what challenges are they facing? I also lay out my health and wellness routine for you—little tips and hacks that I’ve picked up and put into motion some well before covid craziness and some new habits too. I also go over survey results on what YOU (my listeners) what t hear more of and some topic ideas. I hope you find this to be...

Episode 13 is an interview with Erin O’Leary Stewart, the Houston-based co-creator of DEFINE body & mind and founder of DEFINE foods. Between hosting cooking classes and workshops, teaching fitness classes, working with DEFINE HQ and being a mom of two little ones, she’s a busy lady! You guys, she has the most fun background (she’s a trained chef and dancer), and she’s quite the entrepreneur— from her granola and cookie company to DEFINE foods and helping franchise the DEFINE body &...

Episode 12 is a solo podcast episode, just me, talking about how studios have been doing during this time, how my business StudioHop is faring & some brands I’ve discovered in quarantine that I love. ⠀ All about Natalie: Natalie is the CEO and founder of StudioHop. Born in Dallas, raised in Austin, she graduated from Southern Methodist University with degrees in journalism and Spanish. Natalie is in charge of everything from adding new studios to the platform to communicating with...

Episode 11 is a virtual interview with Whitney Stuart, a Dallas-based dietitian-nutritionist and certified diabetic educator. She’s very involved in the fitness scene and we happened to go to SMU together, so she was a natural choice to chat with about all things nutrition. Whitney covers several topics, but we hone in on what it’s actually like to sit down with a dietitian-nutritionist, what people come to her for and how she works with them as well as typical goals and outcomes. We also...

Episode 10 is a very inspiring one! I interview Sandy Diaz Haley, who happens to be someone I worked with during a college internship and we reconnected a few years ago. Sandy has always been one of those energetic, hilarious, full-of-life people. Someone who’s fun to be around. Sandy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2014. Her diagnosis came after years of ignoring strange symptoms that ultimately lead to struggling to walk on her wedding day. Although she has had some major...

“The hardest thing about growing is relinquishing control. Things are going to happen without you being the first line of defense, so you have to set up the team to be able to handle it. It's all about the systems.” -Brittany Grignon, founder & operating owner of Session Pilates In Episode 9, I sit down with Brittany Grignon, founder and operating owner of Session Pilates based in Dallas, Texas. We talk about how exactly she got Session Pilates opened,  how she optimizes revenue and...

Episode 8 is all about my journey through caffeine detox over the past 10+ weeks. This episode is not all about me and my high horse telling you all to give up your dearly beloved cup of joe, but rather, a fun look inside what my experience has been without caffeine. I walk you through my own coffee story, why the heck I would give up coffee/caffeine, the benefits of giving it up, what I replaced my coffee in the morning with and what actually happened to me as a result. I give you some tips...