A dance to inspire teen fitness

My initial contact with fitness happened when I was about 10 years old. My late father who was a martial arts expert took me and my younger brother, Tim, with him to the gym and let us play on the bikes as he did his workout.

“After that, he made this a habit and I grew up conscious about fitness, taking a particular liking to dance as it was more fun compared to the traditional workouts.

“When time came for me to choose a career, I settled for marketing. At the time dance was not appreciated as a formal job and my high-spirited personality saw me easily take to marketing. I landed my first job soon after graduation in 2009 as a TV show host for a local television station. I lasted only six months before I quit because I found the hours too constricting leaving me no time to engage in dancing.

SHUTTING DANCE OUT

“Soon after, I had a nasty falling out with one of the institutions where I had given dancing lessons. This bitterness prompted me to shut out dance and I began selling clothes and concentrated all my energies on it. However, I could not shut out my passion for long.

“Most of my clients were women and I saw that many of them were hurting inside. The need to help them dull this pain re-ignited my passion for dance. In the past, I had used song and dance to help pass messages in church.

“Looking around, it suddenly occurred to me that that unlike my teenage days when we were outside all day long playing shake, ‘bladder’ and ‘daka-lenga’, today’s pre-adolescents idea of a pastime is a video game or television while indulging in junk food. Most of the children around me were too big for their age. The idea of making an even bigger impact on the future by getting today’s teens to love exercise through funfilled dance choreography was born.

“With my passion fully rekindled, I closed my clothes business. Using my mother’s living room as a dance studio, I took a few months to study dance online to add onto the skills that I had acquired over the years then simplified these moves to suit the growing teenage body. At the start of 2012, I used my savings to take care of the legal processes and began my company Fitness in Teenagers.

“For the whole of 2012, I moved from school to school, selling my idea to school heads and giving free demonstration classes. My biggest hurdle was the fact I was doing a solo show and most people expected a company or a group. I could tell that they were apprehensive. Two years selling clothes had, however, made me fearless and every time I got on stage and put on my show, I knew that I would win someone over.

CURVY BUT AGILE

“The standard mental image of a dance instructor is one who is rail thin but I am curvy and it took a demonstration to remove the doubts most people had about my ability. I landed my first big contract at the start of 2013 and I have not looked back since.

“One year in, Fitness in Teenagers is training hundreds of teenagers and pre-adolescents. Memorising the different dance routines increases memory and alertness. I also carefully select the music to make sure it is fun and at the same time uplifting to the soul.

Also, the relaxed atmosphere helps the teenagers socialise and forge friendships. Apart from the regular fitness clubs in schools guided by one of our dance instructors, we offer two-week holiday boot camps as well as personal training for teenagers who prefer private sessions with an instructor.

“Along the way and as I trained more teenagers it occurred to me that physical activity without a good diet is pointless; after a workout the children went home and indulged in unhealthy foods. So alongside dance, I now also give nutrition and healthy eating lessons.

“I was already a dancer when I met my husband, John, and he has been my greatest support. My mother who was uneasy at first at the idea of pursuing dance as a career came round and is also a big fan.

“I need to get down to the teenagers’ level to be able to effectively work with them. I am like a fun big sister and the girls, especially, have begun opening up to me about the emotional issues they struggle with. Parents seem to be so engrossed in looking for that elusive extra coin that they have left parenting of their girls to teachers and nannies.

“I see a gap where some vital needs of the girl child are not being met. I hope I can fill this gap in the future but for now, I am content using dance to pass on a fitness culture. Few things are as fulfilling as comfortably making a living doing something that you are passionate about and which gives you freedom to tap into your creativity.”

HOW SHE DID IT:

• She had the faith that if she gave her business her all, it would pay her back, and it did.
• By valuing what she was offering, others were able to see it as valuable too.
• She understood that her business would take some time to stabilise and she patiently went through a whole year of sales to clinch her first big client.