It’s Been a Year
This month marks the one year anniversary since I launched the blog. It started with just athleisure, expanded into creating a fitness community, and grew into something that supported local, small businesses. Fitness Finds on the Main Line (and Beyond) is now a complete healthy lifestyle blog. It’s not just for the fitness enthusiasts. It’s for anyone looking to get some inspiration to get moving or live a healthier life, whatever that looks like for you! I decided to celebrate by taking a look back on the past year.
I started the week with a little Q&A on IG to help give new followers some background and to highlight some of the “fitness finds” that I explored over the past year.
What was my first blog article about? The first article I wrote was about a new line of sunglasses from Eco Eyewear called Eco Ocean. These glasses are light enough for performance but cute enough for everyday wear. My favorite part about this new line of glasses is that they are made from plastics found in the ocean. This article was a great first blog post because it accomplished so many of my goals for the blog: It covered stylish apparel that is fit for activity. It supported a local business, Sorella Optique & Eyewear in Paoli, which is where I discovered the brand. And it highlighted a company with an important social purpose. Eco Eyewear does so much for our planet with their various lines of eyeglasses that I am honored to get to share their products.
These are part of the Eco Ocean line. Hard to believe that the frames are made entirely from plastics pulled from the ocean.
Since that first post, the blog now has 70 articles. I try to publish one article a week, but sometimes I end up publishing more. There is just so much to write about, so much to do, and so many places to visit! Sometimes I feel like I can’t quite keep up. I mean, how blessed are we that we live in an area that has so much to offer in terms of living an active and healthy lifestyle?!
Before the blog, what was I doing in the fitness space? Before the blog, I was selling Savvi Fit clothes to help launch this new activewear and athleisure brand. I still sell the clothes occasionally, but I really wanted to expand beyond promoting just one brand. There are so many incredible, high quality, performance pieces out there.
My girlfriends helped me out with this shoot for Savvi.
I also started to create a fitness community by hosting free virtual workouts during the pandemic. I never taught the classes. I just organized and facilitated them. It was pretty well received at a time when people were stuck at home and craving a community… and movement. So from there, I got the idea to write about everything and anything having to do with fitness on the Main Line (and BEYOND, since the world opened up with virtual connections made in 2020).
True or False, I am a fitness professional. FALSE, I am just a regular person. I love to workout and fitness has always been a part of my life but I am not a fitness professional. With the blog, I wanted to show people what a normal chick looks like working out. I’m not super athletic, and I’m actually pretty uncoordinated. But I am consistent and willing to try anything. I wanted to give my readers and viewers a relatable and honest perspective from someone IN a class, not teaching it. Hopefully you see me doing a workout or learn about a studio here and realize that it’s something you can do, too!
I love to try new things, like SUP yoga.
What is the first local brand that I worked with? Club & Court! I love how my relationship with Club & Court formed so organically, and I absolutely adore their tennis clothes- so it was meant to be! Club & Court launched their first line of stylish but functional tennis clothes about a month before I started my blog. With tennis season approaching, I was on the hunt for some new, cute tennis clothes. I was searching the internet for something fresh that people hadn’t seen before. And that’s when I came across Club & Court. When I reached out to inquire about sizing, I found a Bryn Mawr address on the website. I was shocked and thrilled to learn that the two founders, Lara Evans and Kristin Nevins, lived right here on the Main Line. After working with Club & Court, I really began to focus on brands that are home grown in the Philadelphia area! There is so much talent in our neighborhood that it’s been easy to find and love local brands.
I mean, how cute is this dress! It’s called the Ashby Dress and its on MAJOR sale right now.
True or False, your husband and kids take your photos. FALSE. I tried to hand them my phone camera at first but it was just way too challenging, and would have led to more problems than it was worth. Of course, my husband wouldn’t take anything seriously and my kids… well… I don’t need to say more! Thank God for my friend, Alison Cornell! She is a real pro and I feel blessed to be able to work with her. She has tons of experience working with influencers so she really helped me with locations and poses when I started doing this (I had no clue). Alison understands how important it is to be timely, efficient and available. Plus, because she is a friend, I feel comfortable working with her and know she always has my best interest at heart.
One of my favorites that Alison took for the blog. This one was for my holiday kids gift guide.
True or False, you only post about products you use and love. TRUE. TRUE. TRUE. I really use the products that I post about. I do not just post about brands that pay me. A lot of established and well-known influencers use that business model and they have been super successful with it. But being authentic is of utmost importance to me. Yes, I hope to partner with all of the brands that I post about one day, but it will always start with my love. My LiketoKnowit page is where I can make a little money. Every time you shop a product that I post there, I get a small commission. This doesn’t change anything for you as a consumer. If you click on the product in the LTK app, you are then directed to the brand’s website, and you shop as you normally would. It’s that simple. But I make some money from the brand for sharing the product with you. I put a lot of work into curating these posts, so I really appreciate it when people shop this way. And guess what, I have no clue who my followers are on LTK. I also don’t know who buys what or who returns what. It’s all anonymous. So there is zero pressure. Supporting your creators keeps us going, so thank you for shopping this way. And if you don’t already shop using LTK, you should! Just download the app and follow @FitnessFinds to see my boutique.
The Upside is a brand to watch this year!
What is your favorite blog post? Obviously, this is a hard one for me. The blog is just an extension of my life, so I get to live out all of the awesome experiences that I post about. I can’t even tell you how much I have learned over the past year living my best life with Fitness Finds on the Main Line! Getting to participate in the workouts, meeting the instructors, supporting local businesses, and helping to make movement more accessible for this community has truly enhanced my life! So yeah, it’s hard to pick a favorite.
Swinging in the silks at Pure Energy’s aerial yoga studio.
I pour a lot into each post so each article holds a little place in my heart. But I’d have to say that my overall favorite blog post and what really propelled the blog forward was the 30 Studios in 30 Days that I did back in June. For this post, I decided to visit a different studio every day in the month. I was amazed to learn just how many gyms and boutique fitness studios we had on the Main Line- it was really easy to visit thirty (and there were some I couldn’t even get to). June 2021 was a time where the world was just getting back to working out outside of the home, so this was sort of a welcome back homage to our fitness community.
This was my PT’s first class teaching at Cycle Bar in Exton and one of the first days of my tour. The enthusiasm in that room was incredible.
Sure, scheduling the month was more exhausting than actually performing the workouts, but it was so worth it. It was during these 30 days that I got to visit so many of our local studios from Philadelphia to Exton. I got to do all sorts of workouts and discover some new favorites from bungee to stretch, stand up paddle board yoga to cardio party. My favorite part of this little adventure was getting to meet so many talented instructors that I now call my friends. I also got to meet our community, the people in the classes.
Going to Cardio Party for the first time may have been one of the most nerve wracking parts of June, but now it is one of my very favorite workouts and its creator is one of my very favorite people!
Visiting thirty studios in thirty days was a fast and effective way to share about thirty workouts in our area. And no doubt that I am going to do it again. In fact, I hope to do it every year! I’m already coming up with new places to visit and favorite workouts to do again. I hope to post my calendar in advance so that you all can join me for a few workouts. I always find its better to have friendly faces in the room with you, especially when you are trying something new!
I could go on and on about the past year, but I have more articles to write, more workouts to try, and more content to create. You guys keep me very busy! To all the people that subscribe to the blog, follow me on IG, shop with me on LTK, get me stronger in their classes, join me for a workout or cheer me on along the way, I thank you! I can’t wait to see what’s in store next!