Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Gilbert.
Hi Ann, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Chapter 1: 1980
Enter the world of fitness as a young mom of three in diapers and with a husband who traveled weekly, leaving me as a single mom seeking out an avenue for weight loss and socialization. Stumbling into a women-only fitness center, offering no more than a few machines and several toning rollers was a very uncommon occurrence but allowed for time with women with like goals. As soon as my husband drove in the drive on Friday afternoon, I was out to the club. Soon I found that no one wanted to work at the club on the weekends, so I asked for the job. Soon a would gather a small group of the weekend warriors to join me in following Jane Fonda from the record player in the corner of the club. Our first aerobics class was formed.
Chapter 2: 1984
The world of women’s only fitness grew as we designed a program in which gals could pay-as-you-go for a high-impact aerobics class taught on a cement slab covered with an indoor-outdoor carpet. With only an elementary level of exercise education, certification would be the next step. With certification came the desire to understand how nutrition partnered with exercise to create new weight loss programs, and the first weight loss challenges were introduced at the location.
Chapter 3:
Leadership, which to date had only included managing the kids day in and out, was a pathway that arose out of necessity when it became time to grow teams and expand the business.
Chapter 4: 1994
The Friday that my husband came home with the news of a move to Tampa in a week or two put a damper on the goals set for the year to come. Walking into Tampa’s pink carpeted women’s only chain opened the door to the biggest opportunity I had ever seen in the years dedicated to fit women. One-to-one personal coaching. The implementation of small group training, marathon training, a hug walks off weight program, and the introduction of the kids get fit class kept me in the 24-7 game of fitness.
Chapter 5:
Shapes Total Fitness went out of business in October 2013 and reopened the same day as a franchise. I purchased the rights to three and jumped on the business owner’s bandwagon with little or no background in business. I soon realized that teaching and coaching were not how to run and business and that I would have to have a team of educated professionals.
Chapter 6: 2020
The day the club closed on what we called “Pandemic Day,” our team of pros recorded as many as 24 classes to be broadcasted over a new digital TV station. Member engagement was the goal. Land-based clients took to the streets, the garages, or the home studios but our aquatic clients were immediately lost without their pool environment. This is when I created S.E.A.T. Supported Exercise for Ageless Training, giving them an opportunity to maintain their fitness level and or even exceed that which they had achieved in the pool environment. Since that day, the program has grown. Certification has been designed to allow many to enter a new area of coaching and training. We now offer a monthly membership, update pre-choreographed releases quarterly, and continuing education for all who teach S.E.A.T.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Having to actually close our second club during the Pandemic, struggling through a settlement, and the stress related to such while battling breast cancer was and is the biggest. Today I have been given the opportunity to discuss early detection within my member base as well as throughout the community.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My specialty is women’s health and fitness, with a focus on the functional movement of the active ager. I am proud to have been named the American Council on Exercise Personal Trainer of the Year. I am the Master Trainer for SCW’s Water InMotion and the creator of S.E.A.T. I can be seen on Fox Tv weekly and have completed 26 walking marathons. I teach the Active Aging certification for SCW Fitness Education and present at the national fitness conferences each year.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Spending summers on the lake in Wisconsin
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shapesfitnessbrandon.com
- Instagram: Annfitt
- Facebook: Ann D. Gilbert
