Birth of a Business
Exercising outdoors during the pandemic
The conception of Fitness Choices happened after a hallway conversation at Vernon Memorial Hospital, where I was working as a fitness instructor at the Heart Center. I was spitting mad, and Janet, who worked in the marketing department, was listening. I’d given the job everything I had: I’d helped install a better tracking system, overseen the development of their racquetball court and its use, implemented and led new fitness classes, helped get and promote much-needed equipment, and reworked new members' orientation process to include three initial training sessions. My rant was about my recent performance review in which I’d excelled, only to get a lousy nickel raise. I was furious and also broke.
As I drove home, still fuming, I decided to start my own business. I would offer exercise classes at schools, churches, and community centers. My goal would be to make the benefits of participating in a regular exercise class accessible to more people.
The actual birth of Fitness Choices was more challenging. Living off the grid meant no telephone or computer, so I rented a post office box in Westby and advertised in the Broadcaster. There wasn’t any other way to communicate, short of driving my beater car around and shouting out the window. I placed the ads and waited.
Eventually, my friend Pat Martin and I fixed up a room above the Embroidery & More shop in Westby. We dragged over a desk her husband, Roger, made for me out of an old door, along with a ton of fitness books and a horde of fitness paraphernalia I’d been storing in a rental locker. Once I got a phone installed I was able to add the number to the business card–sized ads in the paper. Then we hooked up an answering machine to capture messages from anyone interested.
The first classes were held in the dance studio in that same building. The stairs leading up to it were not only steep but in poor shape. My biggest worry was that someone would fall before they even made it to the class.
Finally, during the teen years of Fitness Choices, word of mouth helped and I held classes in a dozen places: the libraries at the Kickapoo and Viroqua high schools, on the stage at the La Farge school and also at the town’s community center, in the hallway of Brookwood High School in Ontario and later in their old community center, in a church basement in Genoa, in the backroom of the Gay Mills Co-op and later in their large new community building, in Organic Valley’s cafeteria, at the Viroqua Athletic Club, in the “vanilla church” in Westby, in the Viola Village Hall, and at the Church of Christ in Viroqua.
For years I also taught water aerobics at Super 8 and in the pool at Kickapoo High School. Both of those classes were my favorites since I was still living off the grid. Taking a shower after teaching was a bonus! But driving around several counties in all kinds of weather, in undependable cars, dragging my equipment from place to place, was stressful.
When COVID came I thought it would be the end of Fitness Choices, but soon I was leading classes at the outdoor pavilion at the VFW Post. Being outside was great until we had to start wearing hats and mittens. Besides, by then we were being told to stay at home.
Once again, I found myself fretting and fuming and talking to Janet, this time from my home (no longer off-grid), not hiding in a hallway. I was bellyaching to her about clients wanting me to teach online. I’d never heard of such a thing and I wasn’t too keen on it. Janet loved the idea and, as usual, encouraged me to try.
I went through some growing pains learning how to use Zoom. My screeching birds, Benny and Joon, were a noisy distraction; the dogs took up what little space I had to teach in; and the cats were ever present, either climbing on my back, chasing each other on the stairs, fighting, or even, one time, coughing up a hairball.
Today, it’s been 22 years. Fitness Choices has come of age, and we reach more people than ever. Janet attends classes with her husband, Mark, whether they’re in their rural La Farge home or vacationing in Mexico. My neighbor Pat, who had stopped coming because of the time it took to drive back and forth to Viroqua, now attends year-round, even when she’s wintering in Arizona. Her friend Linda, who lives in New Berlin, joins in. One longtime participant, who'll be spending two months in Spain, reported that she’ll be Zooming in!
After class, some of us go to work, others get together for a walk, and some go for coffee with a friend or participate in local events. We understand and value the importance of socializing, and we often chat before or after class, but we take our morning exercise seriously, no differently than brushing our teeth or eating breakfast.
Lillie, whom I met while leading classes at the Heart Center, now joins us from her Oklahoma home. She moved there to be closer to her family as she ages. At age 98, Lillie still participates in classes twice weekly and has become a role model for all of us.
The goal of reaching more people came about unexpectedly. And maybe the lesson was going with the flow, or not giving up, or maybe it was listening to Janet. But whatever the case, Fitness Choices: For the Health of It looks forward to another 22 years!
Water aerobics at Kickapoo High School