Episode 91: Shannon Fable on The Business of Fitness
“Your Questions are My Feedback, Ask Questions, Ask Questions, Ask Questions”
About Today’s Guest
Shannon Fable, Executive Vice President of Learning & Product Development for the FIT4MOM® Franchise, is an experienced business and program developer in the health and wellness space. With over 20 years in the industry, Shannon has presented and educated in six continents on group fitness, personal training, management, business development, and time management. With a proven track record for assessing needs and developing programs, systems, and structure for a wide variety of businesses in the fitness industry, she has helped impressive brands such as Anytime Fitness, Schwinn®, Silver Sneakers, Power Systems, ACE and BOSU®.
Shannon, honored as the 2013 IDEA and 2006 ACE Instructor of the Year, is a certified Book Yourself Solid® Business Coach interested in helping fitness professionals navigate the industry and make more money. She is the owner of Sunshine Fitness Resources, sits on the Advisory Board for the Association of Fitness Studios and serves as Chair of the American Council on Exercise’s Board of Directors.
Shannon has presented at a number of industry shows such as ECA, IDEA World, IDEA PTI, Asia Fitness Conference, SCW, DCAC, IHRSA, Club Industry, Canfitpro, and AFPA. She is a frequent contributor to industry publications such as the IDEA Fitness Journal, Club Solutions Magazine, IHRSA, the Anytime Fitness Blog and more.
Most notably, along with her developer husband, she co-created and founded GroupEx Pro®, a revolutionary software designed to streamline and operationalize the management and marketing of group fitness programs for health clubs, which they recently sold to Daxko.
Shannon holds ACE Personal Training, Group Fitness, and Health Coach certifications, as well as AFAA National Certification.
Stay In Touch With Shannon
Mentioned In The Show
No Sweat by Michelle Segar, PH.D.
Show Notes
As always, I begin the show by asking my guest how they got into the industry of fitness. Shannon shares that “I traded an eating disorder for an exercise disorder and the rest is history.”
Shannon’s expertise of her past was as a former dancer and cheerleader, and as she liked the music and the movement found in the world of group glasses, that is where she put her focus at first. After joining a mentoring program, and after not much time in the program, Shannon was soon teaching on a regular basis.
She was part of the first group of fitness instructors to teach Body Pump in the United States and it was that experience that began her fast track forward within the industry.
We talk about what it takes to gain the courage to move forward and up and Shannon shares that at first, it was the fact that she was naïve and didn’t realize how hard it would be. Then she believes it is about asking yourself what is the worst that could happen, and then doing your best to swim to success. Shannon also shares an important point, that when people see something in us and give us an opportunity – believe them. They would not put you in a position to soar if they didn’t believe you would be able to meet the challenge ahead.
We talk about what it takes to become as fully prepared as possible and Shannon invites us to ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. Shannon reminds us that we do not need to know everything about everything. Find your love, find what you are passionate about and then do a deep dive into that area and then get help and reach out to others for their expertise when you need it.
She encourages us to experiment, experience and explore all the various options within the industry. Also, understand how what you do also fits into the bigger picture of the industry in general.
We both discuss how we have been sidelined by an illness or unexpected life event and the importance of cultivating a way to still keep income coming in, even in the event that you cannot show up physically. We share our thoughts on the gig economy and trading time for dollars, where many of us ask for more money and do more things, but haven’t fully thought out how do we make money without showing up?
It is a discussion about not putting all of our eggs into one basket, and if we are putting all our stock into our body then what happens if that body crashes?
We both agree on the importance of setting aside dedicated time, proactive time to look outside of our industry and learn about business in general. Shannon shares that her morning reading includes: Books on Productivity, Leadership and Sales & Marketing.
Shannon encourages to look at what other people have done, look at their map, study their map, be inspired by their map, And also trust that yours might be on a parallel track, but it’s going to diverge at some point if you’re going to make it and sustain it. Use others for motivation and inspiration but at the end of the day, you will need your own GPS to create your unique path to success.
Shannon invites us to reconsider our ideas about what fitness means. To drop our thoughts about what we think it has to be and embrace what people want to do and then help that plan work for them. She believes that it has got to become more individualized, more holistic, more about moving and being, versus exercise and doing. That fitness is truly a mosaic and that we have to embrace how a person weaves it together so it can fit into their life, and then create that experience for them.
We wrap up the show by revisiting the idea of experiencing and experimenting. Learn by reading, learn by watching others, learn by getting out into the world and doing many things. This will help you find your own GPS and navigate your road to success.
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