Ep 464: There’s No Saying “If I Was Younger” When It Comes to Getting Adventure Fit With Kelly Howard

Dreaming of outdoor adventuring but not sure where to start?  Looking for workouts tailored to your goals?  Searching for like minded women to adventure with?  Making friends over 40 isn’t easy and finding a tribe that’s into outdoor adventures can be tricky.  Kelly Howard loved lifting weights as a young adult but never thought of herself as an outdoor person till at 40 years old she bought an online outdoor company and learned about all the fun things you can do outdoors. She realized her customers were looking for the same adventures she was learning about but were worried about their fitness and skill levels so Kelly created a program with adventures to inspire more women to get outdoors. In this episode of The Health Fix Podcast, Dr. Jannine Krause interviews Kelly Howard on how her adventure fit programs get clients ready for their own adventures or those with her tribe. 

Resources From The Show:

• Fit is Freedom Website
• Fit is Freedom Podcast
• Superfit for Summer
• Get Kelly’s book freebie HERE

Our Partners

Podcast Transcript

2:35 – Kelly’s backstory

11:05 – 30 days without sugar challenge

11:37 – Kelly’s first trip for her adventure business

12:35 – Costa Rica surfing trip

13:53 – What the training programs are like

15:31 – Some past trip highlights

18:03 – “If I was younger” story

20:23 – Smoky Mountains fall trip coming up

21:45 – Exercise is the “gateway to all the fun”

29:03 – It is ok to do things by yourself

31:14 – Staying consistent with fitness

32:14 – What it is like working with Kelly

34:11 – Kelly’s favorite success story from her community

37:47 – What it’s like to be part of Kelly’s community

42:20 – Kelly’s podcast “Fit is Freedom”

47:08 – How to connect with Kelly

49:26 – Ideal client for Kelly

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[Intro] Welcome to The Health Fix Podcast, where health junkies get their weekly

fix of tips, tools, and techniques to have limitless energy, sharp minds, and fit

physiques for life. On this episode of The Health Fix Podcast, I’m

in a ring Kelly Howard. She’s an over 60 adventure chick who trains clients to be

prepared for their own adventures or ones with her. Now, Kelly wouldn’t have even

called herself an outdoors person till she bought an online outdoor adventure

company at 40 years old. Now she had so much fun learning how to do all of the

outdoor activities her business offered that she knew she had to teach others

what she was doing and what it took to get started. So if you found yourself

thinking or saying if I was younger I would do fill in the blank and perhaps

you’re secretly wanting to try something outdoors or maybe it’s been here since

you went on an outdoor adventure and you want to get back in but you’re like man

I don’t want to be the slow one. I don’t want to have people waiting for me. Well, guess what?

This podcast is for you.

So before I introduce you to Kelly Howard, let me ask you this.

What have you always wanted to do? What kind of outdoor adventure have you always wanted to try?

Now ponder that during this podcast. Let’s introduce you to Kelly Howard.

JANNINE: Hey, health junkies. I’m Kelly Howard on today and we’re going to be talking about fitness.

We’re going to be talking about no excuses and we’re talking about having fitness be something

that’s actually fun for us. So Kelly, welcome to The Health Fix Podcast. 

KELLY: Thank you. Thank you for

everybody listening and thank you for having me here. 

JANNINE: Hey, it’s my pleasure when I saw your website

and what you’re up to. I’m like, she’s doing what I’ve always dreamed of doing at some points in my

practice. And so I’m like, this is great, great insight into what

is going on with helping folks really find their fitness and

find fitness fun.

KELLY: Yeah.

It’s important. 

JANNINE: So it is, it is because, you know, I’ll admit, and maybe this

happens to a lot of folks, I’ll admit that like going to the

gym, for me used to be really cool back in the day, like all my

friends were there, that’s where I’d meet people. But I say get

older, I’m like, I don’t want to go to the gym. I don’t want to

drive there. It’s not as much fun as it used to be. So it’s kind of like reinventing myself.

When it comes to fitness, I think a lot of people are in that boat too. So give us your backstory.

Have you always been into fitness? Did you come to it later in life? What’s the scoop?

KELLY: So yeah. As far as like weight, I was probably doing weights when I was 19. And so maybe the only

girl in the, that wasn’t in the, you know, the girl section. I don’t know if you remember

this. Like Jim Juice had the little pink room for the women and they’d have like the wiggle

things. It was just like really strange. So I did enjoy going to the gym. I didn’t, you know,

I’m self-taught. I was always self-taught. And, but I wasn’t like outdoorsy. I sailed.

I was a sailor and I skated. I was along this in skater. And that was kind of like, you know,

know what I did. Later, probably at about 40, I bought an outdoor company and realized

that I needed to get, I needed to figure out how to like do all these things that they

wanted to do. Because it wasn’t really my thing. And I just fell in love. I just fell

in love with all the fun stuff that we can do. And it’s all levels of fitness. Like that’s

That’s what I love about outdoor play.

You don’t have to be like some goddess going to the gym daily and throwing down 100 pounds

or something.

You can be anyone and still enjoy getting outside and having a good time.

JANNINE: Oh, absolutely.

Now this is cool.

So you purchased an outdoor business with like a brick and mortar or online or– 

KELLY:  It was

an online company.

So at the time I had two businesses that were both online.

And there was this other company in my city that I was always helping.

Like I just, every time I turn around, I’d be, you need to go, you need to go join this

company because this is the cool stuff.

Like this is the fun stuff I was doing.

Like at the time I was in the business of online dating.

Like that’s where I started.

And so I’d be like, yeah, yeah, you’ll meet people, but you’ll have a lot more fun over

there.

And I just kept promoting their company and he appreciated it.

but he could never quite get it off ground.

And then he met his wife through my company.

So it’s like this insidious little thing.

So we’re having coffee one day

’cause he had called me and he said,

“I wanna talk to you.”

So, ’cause he knows how passionate I am about his company.

This online outdoor company.

And we meet and he says,

“You know, I’m gonna get married,

“I met my wife through your company.

“I’m like, cool, that’s awesome.”

And I’m shutting this other one down.

I just wanted to let you know face to face

’cause I know you think it’s so cool.

And without even thinking, I just went,

“Oh, I’ll buy it.

Don’t shut it down.

I’ll buy it.

Like don’t even ask a price.

Don’t even know what’s involved.

Just know that you can’t let this thing get away because it was like

getting people to go outside and go hiking and biking and kayaking.

And and it was, you know, as a membership club.

So you would have an online calendar and then you’d go do the things.

So he said, okay.

And I was like, cool.

Now what am I going to do?

And I just had to figure it out.

So that’s how I really got into like the outdoor space.

JANNINE: That’s neat.

That’s a neat way to do it.

Because you always think like, you know, someone has their passion with, you know, let’s go

with rock climbing, right?

KELLY: Right.

JANNINE: Someone’s got their passion there and they’ve got all the ropes.

They got all the things and they’re like, I’m just going to get a gear shop going.

And then it expands, right?

From there.

And this is this is the totally different way of getting into it.

KELLY: It was like, I mean, I have so many stories of like, you know, like being totally, like

I don’t know what you want to call it, like not the smartest

crayon in the box.

One time, okay, I have to tell you the story,

just because it’s so silly.

For anybody listening who’s a cyclist,

and is a real cyclist, you know that you want to be seen

when you’re on the road.

bright colors and bright helmet.

Well, I wasn’t even that much of a cyclist.

I mean, I wasn’t a cyclist.

I bought a bike because I knew I had to buy a bike.

So did I get asked to be part of this,

this educational video on cycling.

And I’m like, I’m so excited.

Like I’m super excited.

And that day when I wake up, it’s cold.

So I put on my black, long, black pants.

I put on my long black jacket.

I’ve got this gray helmet.

They literally used me as the example

of what not to do on a bike.

(laughs)

JANNINE: Oh no.

KELLY: Took me a while.

– I figured it all out.

JANNINE: Oh man.

Well, and you know, I think this is good to hear because I think sometimes when we,

we think of folks who are in fitness or we think of folks who are cyclists or, or into certain

sports that they had it all figured out like day one, like, you know, we, we had didn’t have that

newbie beginning. And so I’m noticing like that, that seems to be a theme in the different folks

I’m interviewing is that yeah, there’s like, we didn’t have it all figured out when we tried it.

We just jumped in. 

KELLY: Yeah, if there’s like one thing I could tell people, don’t think that you have to

be good at it or know how to do it or you know not hold people back all of those things

What you really need is just like to be excited and find someone who’s going to give you a little bit of a hand

And that’s it because it’s so important and it’s something I see a lot is that people don’t want to go outside and play

I’ll put it that way because they’re you know

the intimidation factor and

Yes, being in shape is helpful, you know, and yes knowing what to do is helpful

But there’s always a place everybody starts everybody

JANNINE: Yes, yes, we all have to start somewhere and that was something that you know caught my eye in looking at your website

Prior to the podcast I had noticed that you had something like no one you’re not gonna be left behind on any of the adventures

Or anything and that I think for a lot of people it is a real deal fun and especially as you get older

I mean I even have been there where you know

I’m getting into my mid 40s and I’m not as fast as I used to be hiking up hills and I get mountains for that matter and like, oh, I don’t want to leave my thing.

You know, I don’t want people waiting on me.

KELLY: Right. I don’t want to– Exactly. I don’t want to wait for me. We all have it.

Every one of us. I actually one day, this is a cycling event in my brain again, but I’m with a group.

They’re, they’re pretty good. Like, I’m thinking I’m okay, but they’re pretty good and they’re always faster than me.

So they would get to a rest stop and they would wait for me.

They would get to a rest stop, they would wait for me.

And I am like, humiliated, just like,

I’m back there doing everything I can to keep up.

And finally, my brain engages.

And it’s like, count how long they’re waiting for you.

‘Cause I can see them get to the rest stop, right?

And so I start counting like 15 seconds,

20 seconds for every, does it matter?

Right? It just doesn’t matter.

But in our heads, we’re like, oh no,

We’re holding people back, it’s baloney.

JANNINE: Yeah.

It’s funny how our brains can really tell us

a different story of what’s happening

compared to the reality.

KELLY: Right. 

JANNINE: Sure.

Oh man, I know I’ve been there for sure,

especially with mountain biking with my husband

who I would swear. 

KELLY: Oh gosh!

JANNINE: Like he’s been waiting for me half hour

and it was the same thing.

30 seconds, maybe a minute.

KELLY: Yeah, and they needed to catch their breath.

(laughs)

JANNINE: Right, right.

And then I get there and he’s like, okay, cool.

You know, I’m like, oh, you had to wait for me.

I mean, so many fights.

I’ve seen so many fights over that.

And even like, well, we won’t even get into like

the chairlift arguments I’ve heard when I was in Colorado.

Oh, oh, I think you wanna know what’s gonna happen

through relationship, go skiing together.

Oh, goodness.

So of course, you know, you’ve now,

I mean, do you still have the online fitness business?

Has it morphed into–?

KELLY: No, I actually sold it.

So I sold it maybe four or five years ago,

because I really wanted to focus on what I do now,

like a hundred percent,

because what I found myself doing was spending more time

in that online business, helping women mostly get in shape

so that they can go do the things they wanna do.

And I realized, you know what?

This is just my next gig in life.

So that company is actually still doing amazing.

I’m still leading events forum occasionally.

And now I’m just on to my new thing.

JANNINE: Is this how the events tie in that you have

on your website, the Fittest Region website?

Is that how things tie in? 

KELLY: A little bit.

What happened, I guess the way the event started was,

it was probably during COVID, maybe the first year of COVID.

We did what I do called sugar freedom.

It’s like this 30 day challenge or we go without sugar.

And it was really funny because everybody was–

it was tough.

It was tough for the crew.

And we were leaning on each other.

And everybody is in the accountability group.

And they’re talking each other off the fence.

And like, I want to eat all the cookies.

Don’t do it.

Don’t do it.

So the discomfort happens, where everybody’s just

really feeling close to each other.

We’re on a call.

And it doesn’t run in around in my head

that I’d like to take a group to the Smokies.

And so we’re on this call,

and everybody’s like cheering each other on, we did this.

And I went, “Hey, you wanna celebrate

“and do a hiking trip in the Smokies?”

Everybody’s like, “Shh, no, I wanna go.”

And then all of a sudden they’re like,

“Dear in the headlights, wait a second,

“what’s it gonna be like?”

(laughs)

“It’s gonna be fun, trust me, it’ll be fun.”

And that was the first one I did.

And after that, I just, I have a passion

for taking people and showing them places I’ve been.

So now we do it a few times a year.

JANNINE: Oh wow.

Wow, yeah, I noticed like Alaska’s coming up.

You’ve got Portugal coming up.

Are you guys surfing in Portugal?

KELLY: Portugal’s not surfing.

But I have done surfing in Costa Rica before

and that was a fun one.

And so yes, yeah.

JANNINE:  Now, okay, here’s an interesting question.

Have you ever been surfing before you took a group down

to Costa Rica?

KELLY: No, that first time I hadn’t.

I was in my head, right?

Like I had this picture of me getting on the board,

hanging ten, you know, like being one of those people.

I was, I was like what they call star fishing,

you know, when you fall off, you spread your arms out

so you don’t kill yourself.

Yeah, 24/7, but it was so much fun.

Now I still have this image in my head

of me being that kind of surfer.

Surfing is the worst thing I am.

Like if you say, what’s your worst sport surfing?

I spend most of my time in a splatting in the water.

But that first time I had never been surfing.

So we all learned at the same time

and everybody on that trip got up on their board by the end.

JANNINE: Nice.

KELLY: It was, I guess there were eight of us

that were there, eight women.

And we all got up on our boards

and we thought we were just like,

“It, look out Hawaii.”

(laughs)

JANNINE: Here you guys come.

Oh my goodness.

You know, I think you’re bringing up really good points.

You had never been on a surfboard

and you’re taking some folks down there

to come hang out with you.

And you’re training folks to do sports, right?

Like different, you know, activities as well.

So give us a scoop a little bit about like how your training

looks and what you guys are up to in your training programs.

KELLY: Sure.

So the training is two things.

One of them is just like the fitness training

and that’s separate, but I’ll just talk about

the adventure training first.

So the adventure training, when somebody comes

on a retreat with me, this came from realizing

that people wanted that training, right?

So I created this plan called adventure fit.

And with it, it’s about three months long.

People can stretch it in five or six months, doesn’t matter.

But it’s very, very simple.

With some mobility, some resistance that can be done,

doesn’t matter whether you’re using body weights or,

you know, bands or weights or doesn’t matter how you do it.

But some resistance

because people need certain strengths,

they don’t think they know, they need.

And then like a hiking program, you know, start off here.

add this to your pack. You’ll want to be able to, you know, do two hours, if you’re going on this

trip or, you know, two and a half, if you’re going on this trip, and you need to be at this

particular level. And, and the caveat for all of this is I always set the trips up so that if somebody

doesn’t feel like going out and going like crazy pants, we have a second guide and we do, you know,

other trails. So no one has to feel like, Oh my gosh, I can’t keep up with the group going up

the side of the mountain. Or those people are like, Hey, go do a fun, a fun one around the

around the volcano or whatever it is. So yeah. 

JANNINE: Nice. Nice. What’s been your most fun trip so far

that you guys have gone on? 

KELLY: Okay, that’s that’s like, that’s not a fair question. Okay, maybe like

like what’s your top three top three?

KELLY: Okay, fun.

I’ll give you a couple of highlights last year

on our Costa Rica trip.

I had the year before everybody was like,

yeah, that was pretty easy.

I was like, huh, okay.

Well, let’s up the anti ladies, you know,

throw down the gauntlet.

So I told my guide, I use a guide down there

and I told him, you know, the trip I wanted

and we did it.

The last day, cumulated in climbing a volcano,

We started at like 5,000.

We ended up at 12, 5, I think.

So it was a serious hike.

We went back down and we went to the company that owns the guide

service that I was using, walked in, the owner was there.

And he looked at me and he literally got down on his knees

and he did this bowing movement.

And he went, I have never seen a group do this hard a trip ever

before.

And like all the ladies are standing there

and they’re just all looking at him.

And he’s like, you guys are goddesses.

I cannot believe you did this.

And they were laughing

’cause they thought it was being serious.

And he’s like, I’m serious.

I have, or they thought he was kidding, actually.

And he said, I’ve never put a trip on this hard.

My guides were going, where are we going?

So that was fun.

And then the Smoky Mountains,

I take people there every year

because that is kind of like my heart center.

And I just love, love, love showing people the Smokies

because it’s just so amazing.

And then there’s like all the other fun things that we do.

We did dog sledding this year and, you know,

just crazy stuff.

Stuff you wouldn’t think about doing, right?

That’s what I like.

Is when you do things that people are like,

oh, wow, that would be so cool if I could.

But, you know, I can’t do that.

So I’m like, why not?

Let’s go do it.

Let’s do it.

JANNINE: That is what drew me to because, you know,

so many people will be like, I’m to old for that

Or, oh, I always wanted to do that,

but guess that ship sailed.

KELLY: Right?

I mean, it’s true.

Like people say that all the time.

Last year on my Smoky’s trip,

I had a lady who was 74, I think, something like that.

So, and she said to me, am I too old?

Am I getting too old?

Like I’m 63 now, getting ready to be 64.

So like, I mean, let’s not talk about old, okay kids.

And she was so strong.

Like she was so strong.

And she was just, and I’m like, of course you’re not too old.

It’s really interesting to me,

’cause we have these ideas.

I mean, if I can’t, I’ll tell you a quick story about an idea.

Going back to when I was 40.

So I just bought this new company,

and I’m reading this magazine about this trip

that these people had taken in Texas

down a river called the Devil’s River.

And there’s a Whitewater River, and it’s not even that big,

but it’s a Whitewater River.

And I read in the story and I just literally turned to my partner and I said,

wow, if I was younger, I would learn how to whitewater kayak.

And he looks at me because he’s like, that’s really weird for you.

He’s like, well, oh well, right?

So fast forward for eight years, eight years later, one of my people says,

Hey, you got to do this thing.

It’s really fun.

So I get, I end up taking everybody once again, had never done it.

to my son done it before took a group to an instructor,

did the whitewater class,

and it has become my favorite thing in the world.

Like I paddle all the time.

And that was, right, what?

That was a long time ago, that was 20 years ago.

I was thinking, if I was just younger, I’d try this.

So never ever, ever stop

because you don’t think you’re the right age.

JANNINE: Oh my gosh.

You know, I even catch myself and it’s not my mentality,

but I’ll catch myself in the back of my head.

I’ll be like, oh, I really wish I would have, you know,

done this or this sooner,

kayaking one of them, you know,

that kind of stuff you think yourself,

oh, you watch people go down those rivers and you’re like,

wow, I should have done that when I was younger.

KELLY: You’ve done that.

I wish I was younger.

JANNINE: Yeah.

KELLY: But, you know, I mean, and I’m not a great paddler, trust me.

I’m, I’ve swam every river that I’ve paddled, I think.

But at the same time, it doesn’t matter.

because you’re just doing something that you love to do.

You’re having fun, it’s exercise,

and I guess I should say this,

it leads me to work out harder

and become more in shape,

because when I have like, let’s say a whitewater trip

coming up, I know what I have to be able to do.

So, two, three months in advance,

I start training harder

because I wanna be strong and fit and ready for that trip.

So it gives us something to look forward to.

JANNINE: Absolutely, absolutely.

I think that’s kind of one of the places where,

a lot of women are like,

“Oh, I’m too busy for fitness.”

Or, “Oh, I can’t fit it in.”

Or, “Oh, I don’t know how to make it work.”

And you’ve got kind of the antidote there.

You’re like, “Well, we just get you an adventure

“that you wanna do.”

KELLY: That’s right.

JANNINE: Simple as that. 

KELLY: That’s it.

[Advertisement] Are you dreaming of outdoor adventures

but looking for a little training guidance

and an all woman crew to go with,

Kelly Howard offers adventures throughout the year.

And right now she has some spots open

for her Smoky Mountains fall colors hiking trip.

That’s the end of October this year.

So if you’re interested in going with Kelly

and getting the training it takes

to be able to crush those trails

out in the Smoky Mountains, Kelly’s got you covered.

So head over to https://fitisfreedom.com/event/smokey-mountains-fall-colors-hiking/

Now, if you’re driving can’t write that down.

Don’t worry.

Head over to doctorjkrausend.com to the show notes for episode 464 and you’ll be able to get that link there as well plus the link to Kelly’s website for other adventures from.

Alaska to the San Juan Islands and even Costa Rica.

Gosh, stuff I want to do.

So you might even catch me there.

All right, let’s get back on with the podcast.

KELLY: If you’ve got, so it’s unfortunate,

but a lot of times, call it fitness or exercise or workout.

It’s a it’s a gotta do.

It’s not a fun, it’s not exciting.

It’s just something that we feel like we have to do

and we have to fit it in.

So when we turn the mindset on that, and it’s kind of like,

there’s a whole lot of like to it, like a, if you’ve ever hurt anything,

then when you’re able to start doing it again, and then you break an arm and

then you can use your arm again, you’re like, thank goodness, I’ve got this

great arm. Now I can do this stuff, right? So that’s one piece of it.

But the other piece of it is, is instead of thinking of it as a chore,

think of it as something that leads to something better.

It’s, it’s, it’s to me, it’s the gateway to all the fun.

JANNINE: I, I like that thought.

I like that thought and that concept because, you know, for me, it’s, it’s one of

those things people are always saying, well, you’ve always been doing fitness.

You’ve always been doing sports.

You don’t, you like, you know, doing this on the E.A.

But like lifting weights, sure, I like it.

I enjoy it, but I love going for a bike ride, right?

Or I love, you know, paddleboarding.

So it’s like finding that thing, finding that thing.

Now, do you find that a lot of women who come to you,

do you find that they tend to be wanting to find something

or that they’re searching for something

or do they come with like, I want to do this?

What does it seem like the kind of ones that come your way?

KELLY: Maybe, I would say maybe 10% come to me saying,

“I wanna do this.”

And show me how to get ready for it.

Everybody else comes in there like,

And nobody wants to tell the dream, right?

Nobody wants to say the dream out loud

because it seems like, it’s like me with, you know,

if I was younger, I could do that.

And when I ask enough times the right way,

I get the answer, well, I’ve always thought

it would be really cool too.

And when you know that, then you know you’ve got that dream.

And then you just play on it

because so much of it is that we,

well, I mean, people put off their dreams,

especially, and I know you don’t have just a women’s audience,

but I will say a lot of women put their dreams off quite a bit

because they wanna take care of everyone else.

I had a client that came to me and she just said,

“I just wanna lose weight.”

I’m like, okay, that’s not too much fun, but okay.

We can do that.

And so we start talking and it turns out

that every year, she’s got three sons and a husband.

Every year, she does all the dehydration for their food,

for their backpacking trip to have a Sioux Falls.

Every year, she takes them there, she drops them off,

she picks them up at the end.

And I’m like, how do you feel about that?

She’s like, well, you know, if, you know,

it would be really fun if I could go, but I can’t go

’cause, you know, I couldn’t keep up

and I don’t know how to do that.

And, you know, so and so forth.

I’m like, I’m sorry, you’re going next year.

(laughing)

JANNINE: Nice.

KELLY: And she did, she did.

Yes.

JANNINE: Wow.

And has she gone since?

So did she love it?

What’s the story?

KELLY: You know, she’s done other things.

She said that she’s done other things with female friends.

She said, yep, that was good.

But I wanna do something a little different

than having the boys and my husband along.

You know, I think there’s something about that.

I think there’s something about that having other women

because there’s just like, you know, camaraderie,

but there’s also, I think, you know,

guys are, it can be stronger, right?

They can be faster, they’ve got their guy things.

Let’s put it that way.

It is different.

It is different.

It is nice to be surrounded by community.

And I know that you have quite a community.

KELLY: Yes.

I think community is so important

because women have, doesn’t matter what,

like I’m kind of that, I’m a little bit of a,

I don’t know if Alpha’s the right word, but you know, kind of a little pushy, but at the

same time, I know how much I appreciate having women in my quarter cheering me on when I want

to finish something and how important it is to cheer other women on.

And I see that in the community too, because we get the whole mix.

You know, we get other women that are a little bit like me and we get people who are like,

oh, I can’t do that.

everybody cheers each other on, they help each other along.

And in the end, I mean, I can still remember that first trip.

We’re all standing on the top of this mountain high-fiving each other,

and we’re sweaty, we’re disgustingly dirty.

And I had one lady say, I’ve never been this dirty in my life.

Welcome [Inaudible].

And it was just so much fun, and we didn’t care.

We just had a good time.

And that camaraderie is, I think, slightly hard to come by.

If, and it’s a little different

when you’re in a mixed gender group.

JANNINE: Yeah, yeah.

I feel like there is.

There definitely is.

When we’re by ourselves, as ladies,

we can definitely, I don’t know.

There’s just some cohesiveness, I think, that happens.

Some bonds that just–

KELLY: I think so too.

JANNINE: You don’t find anywhere else.

And that’s why I love seeing groups like yours,

groups like Women Who Explore,

and things of that nature,

because it just makes me think, okay, now we can bond

and over-fitness, right?

KELLY: Exactly.

JANNINE: Now, do you get a lot of women who are single

or who have either lost partners or just never been married

things of that nature in your groups too?

‘Cause I’m kinda leaning back towards the dating business

that you had back in the day.

KELLY: So, okay, yeah, that’s funny, right?

The dating business, I don’t, I couldn’t even tell you

how I got into that, quite frankly.

I don’t even remember.

I think, oh yes, I do.

I bought a magazine that I had dating in it.

And then I was like, and this goes back to a very long time

ago, so we had like, I was like, well,

we should do this online, right?

Before even match started.

So–

JANNINE: Oh my gosh.

KELLY: That, yes.

But we also have– I would say that we’re probably 80%

of the people who join, the women who join, are single.

And then 20% of them are married

and they either have husbands who just don’t wanna go do things, right?

Or can’t do things.

I mean, you’ve got both sides of it.

Like the guys that,

I can think of one client right off top of my head.

Like she tried to get him to eat well for his entire life

and now he’s got some serious health issues

and he can’t go play.

And she’s like, well, I love him

and I’m gonna go play with you guys.

(laughs)

It’s okay.

JANNINE: That’s huge because I have a lot of patience too.

They’re like, “Well, I really wish I could get my husband to do this with me.”

It’s like, “But you can do it by yourself.”

KELLY: Yeah.

Yeah.

And it is.

There are a lot of things that we can do by ourselves.

It’s just learning that it’s okay.

One of them, like maybe let’s just say hiking.

A lot of times the first question I’ll get is, well, is that safe going alone?

In my world, now I live in Houston, Texas, so in big city, right?

I’m thinking it’s a whole lot more unsafe on the roads than it is in the trails.

But I would never suggest that somebody go do something that they’re not comfortable

with.

JANNINE: Sure.

KELLY: But I’ve also found that if I give them a little bit of knowledge, like how to read

a trail, right? You know, what you need to take with you. How long to be gone? You know,

just like basic stuff, all of a sudden it’s not as big a deal. And then one day, you know,

somebody goes out on a trail, this, one of my best friends? This is how I met her. I’m out on a

trail hiking around in the woods. I meet this other girl out there hiking around in the woods.

We start talking, we start walking together. Next thing you know, that was 20 years ago,

we’re still great friends. So, you know, you meet people too.

JANNINE: Yeah, I mean, I think that’s, you know, looking into the future and talking with a lot of my

patients and, you know, I am lucky my husband is very active. He likes to do things like that.

But I look at it too though, is that we need our separate crew, right? Like we were saying before,

men, you know, they get their thing and then ladies, we get our crew. And I’ve always looked at

different athletic groups, you know, whether it’s a running club, whether it’s a hiking club

or what not to to find my friends and and find folks that will help lift me up and keep me going

in terms of the fitness side of things. Have you found that in your journey with with inspiring

folks to to keep up on their fitness to be consistent since since you are the master of consistency I

hear? Have you found that it’s it’s more about the tribe the crew and and finding friends or is it

more about mindset and working on that side of things

that keeps folks consistent?

KELLY: Oh, that’s a really good question.

So I think that the finding the tribe helps the mindset.

Like in the end, even though we do a ton of accountability,

like that’s one of the things that I do with people,

in the end I’m always telling people

you really have to be 100% accountable to yourself.

Like that’s where you’re heading.

You just, that’s where we’re all heading.

And the community helps that,

but the community is building the mindset.

– Yeah. – Yeah.

JANNINE: And tell us a little bit, more, cause

now you’ve got different offerings

in terms of ways folks can work with you.

You’ve got your book too.

You’ve got a podcast, all the things.

I would love to hear a little bit about

what’s a journey like for someone that comes in

and does work with you with the accountability,

with the community, with the whole group,

how does it play out so folks can kind of get a sense

of what it’s like?

KELLY: Oh yeah, no, that’s a good question.

I would say it’s 50/50.

About 50% of the people find my book, read it,

go to the book bonuses,

go through the whole process, find the book bonuses,

do the book bonuses, then they’re like,

well, maybe I should get on a call with Kelly

and see how to create a plan.

‘Cause that’s one of the pieces that I love the most

is that all of us are different.

We’re all different and we need different plans.

Like maybe someone needs to deal with the injuries

or the pain and the inflammation

before they start doing the weightlifting

or whatever it is.

So that’s one path.

Another path is that like a person

that just joined the group today.

She found out about one of the trips that we’re leading.

I’m not even sure how she found out about it.

Now I didn’t be sure how she got on the trip, right?

Like this is like every so often,

somebody just shows up in my inbox.

I’m like, I wonder who that is.

Well, I should reach out to her and make sure that, you know,

she’s prepared for this trip.

So, and then so she just joined the group.

And then sometimes people are like,

okay, I’ve been listening to you.

And what I want is I want hand-holding.

I’m like, cool.

So I do like this six month program where it’s one on one.

And then they stay.

So they start with the hand holding

and then they stay for the community.

That’s really what happens.

JANNINE: And that’s how I envision things, you know,

going in terms of, you know, the perfect situation.

Folks work with you, then they become part of the community.

And now you’ve got folks who are becoming friends,

hiking together, finding each other in close communities

and things of that nature.

What’s, you know, I think a lot of folks love hearing stories

about success stories or like what’s one of your favorite stories about one of your clients

or even someone who’s currently still in the community?

KELLY: Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Actually, I have a favorite story.

So I’ve got a lot of them, but I’ll tell you this one.

So this person came to work with me and she said, I mean, she said, I don’t need to lose

weight.

I look great in my clothes, but I’ve lost all my muscle.

I don’t wear skirts anymore because, you know,

my legs look like chickens.

And I’m not and, and I probably can’t work with you

for very long because I think I’m gonna have

to have shoulder surgery because this shoulder hurts

all the time.

So I’m like, okay, well, let’s just see what we can do.

And then, you know, if you need to have surgery,

you’ll be better prepared for it and then we’ll start again.

Fine.

So we worked together and she had always done,

she was Southern, she was my Southern Belle, okay?

So she had walked for fitness, but she didn’t like to sweat.

So she would do some walking and that was about it.

I’m like, okay, cool, all these things are cool,

but not gonna get to where you wanna go.

So she trusted me.

I think is what happened is she trusted me.

And we put together a plan that together that she would do,

did a little hand holding, did all the things,

But what happened along the way, so it was probably,

I’m gonna make this up,

she probably joined in January.

So she decides to come with me to the Smokies in June.

And I said to her, I said,

what would your goal be in life?

Like, if you could have the most perfect outcome this year,

what would it be?

She’s like, oh, I know what it be.

She said, I would go with you on that trip.

And I would know that I could do everything you wanted to do.

and I could get on the plane.

I would get on the plane and I’d be wearing my hiking boots

and I’d be wearing my hiking boots with a short skirt.

And I would be carrying my backpack on my back

and I would put that backpack up above

in the luggage compartment by myself

and everybody would know that I didn’t need any help,

that I was that kind of woman.

I’m like, we got this, we got this.

So we go through everything, do all the stuff,

get to the airport.

She shows up in her hiking boots in her short skirt.

And she looks good.

She looks super good.

And she gets on the airplane.

She gets me this little smile

and she walks down the aisle, kind of a little sache.

Looks the thing, throws her luggage up above, sits down.

She’s like, “Yep, that’s the woman I am.”

And I’m like, “It couldn’t get any better than that.”

JANNINE: Wow.

Wow.

KELLY: Yeah.

JANNINE: Ah, I like that story a lot.

It just tells you how someone can visualize what they want,

crush it, and then now we’ve got strength on top of it.

Now has she done more programs with you,

or did that and she was on her own?

KELLY: Well, I mean, a lot of times,

I mean, it’s not that they have to continue,

but everybody stays for the community

and the trips and stuff like that,

but she’s doing really well.

She’s doing really well.

JANNINE: Nice.

Oh, that’s good to hear.

That’s good to hear.

So, you know, I think we’ve mentioned community over and over again.

And I think a lot of folks are like, okay, well, what does that entail?

Is this a Facebook group?

Is it, you know, what, what is it?

So tell us a little bit about your community, how, how often folks interact,

how often you interact, what, what’s it like for someone to, if they were to jump

into your experience, could you give them an experience of what it’s like to be

part of the community?

KELLY: That’s, that’s a good question.

because we’re all over the world, the community, right?

Mostly in United States and Canada,

but we have people from everywhere else.

So we meet online, we meet virtually, the good old Zoom.

I do group programs or group coaching twice a month on Zoom

and then we usually have what I call a Q&A

where I’m just there and everybody comes in

does what, you know, ask questions, catches up with each other, does break out sessions,

whatever they’d like.

In addition to that, we do accountability through WhatsApp.

So we’ve got one WhatsApp that’s just kind of like the free for all.

You never know what somebody’s going to put in there.

Someone put a picture in there this morning of, I took it well, of a very, very, very

elderly lady, rafting down a river with a broken arm.

And they’re like, this is Kelly at 90.

I’m like, yeah, you guys rock.

Go on.

But then outside of that, we also do our accountability

on WhatsApp.

And then we do things where we get together.

I mean, we get together for the retreats.

But we also have like the first of this year,

we’ve got something coming up called the resolution retreat

where it’s going to be a much bigger group.

People will be coming in from all over.

So you know people because you’ve been kind of interacting

with them virtually. And then all of a sudden boom. And the other thing I see is people,

I have a group, I have two, three people, three people who just left this morning, they met

at Houston airport and they’re going and doing their own trip this week. So that happens

a lot. Like they’ll catch up on the group, they’ll be like, Hey, anybody want to go hike

with me x, y, c? And they’re like, share, I’m going. And so they go. And it’s hard to find.

It is hard to find like, I mean, that is why I was so passionate about that company I was

talking about early on is it was the only group I had ever seen where people could get

together and do outdoor activities and it was like really sustainable.

It’s hard to find that.

So when you find that group of women in my case and we just, they just go play.

That’s so, it’s so cool.

And it’s really kind of what in my mind I had envisioned for, you know, having a lot

having something like that myself,

but I’m really like, forget it, you got it covered.

I’m just gonna put more people over your way.

KELLY: Oh no, no, no, no.

You gotta do it too, because you know,

everybody brings something different.

JANNINE: Sure.

KELLY: Right?

Like I’ve got, you know, kind of my,

I don’t know what vibe I’ve got going,

like, you know, watch me do something stupid vibe.

And you’d be like, hey, you know what?

We’re gonna get healthy and go do these fun things.

And, you know, it’s just, I think it’s so important

for all of us to have that connection,

especially like the last few years.

It’s been a disconnected world.

And we don’t have, you know, that connection,

especially if somebody decided to quit working

these last few years or whatever else,

all of a sudden they’re afloat.

JANNINE: Yeah, yeah.

I have so many patients that are looking for their tribe,

right?

They’re looking, they want to be fit.

They want to find folks who are interested in fitness,

who are interested in health.

and searching high and low for folks in their local communities

and not finding it.

But I’m wondering if a bigger community might help them

to find folks in the little communities.

KELLY: Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

In fact, Chicago, for some random reason,

I have four clients in the Chicago area.

And I don’t know why, but I also have my long-term

virtual assistant is there too.

and she’s quitting me to start a cat cafe,

which I think is the coolest thing ever, right?

So I’m flying up there,

and all of my clients in Chicago are there,

and we’re gonna all go to the cat cafe together.

And, you know, I mean, why not?

JANNINE: Right, creating connection, you know,

this is something that I love connecting with people.

Obviously it’s part of the podcast,

is my favorite part to get to know people,

but making connections with other folks so huge.

So of course, since I have a podcast and you have a podcast,

we got to talk about your podcast for a little bit here.

Now, what kind of, is it connected back into the community?

How does it fit into your whole,

give us a scoop how it fits into the whole scheme of things?

KELLY: About once a year, I’ll do a piece,

in fact, I’m right this minute, it’s airing

where I just talk about different people in the community

and where they started and where they are now.

Like, you know, what difference does three months take?

make what difference is six months, a year, three years,

whatever.

Other than that, it is–

I do tend to do a lot of what I would call health and wellness.

So whether it’s talking about my take on supplements,

not someone else’s, because I am not like you are a naturopath,

I’m not–

I have no letters behind my name.

So I’ll give people my take on it.

I give suggestions on how to get better sleep.

I give suggestions on how to create your own workout.

Like, you know, the general fitness stuff.

And then I also give suggestions on how to go out

and have some good fun adventures.

So.

JANNINE: Oh, the adventures are what I’m gravitating towards.

And I think for sure, you know,

for a lot of folks hearing those stories

and just really knowing like what might be close to them.

That’s like a gem that they don’t know about.

And like you mentioned Houston.

And of course, I think the same as you big city.

What’s the gem hidden in Houston?

Give us a scoop.

(laughing)

KELLY: I’m not sure.

No, no, I’m kidding, I’m kidding.

Houston.

So Houston is a very, very flat city

with a beach down the road that has roughs,

the poor surf.

So what’s good in Houston is that you can

get into them very middle of the city and there’s a big park, big park, almost as big as Central Park.

It’s 5,000 acres and you can go play there and people train. Like if somebody’s in Houston,

along with me, we train there for doing Glacier National Park. I mean, there’s always a way to

train, right? We use parking garages for training in Houston because, right, I mean, we’ve got them.

So, and then up in that, Houston’s also known as the Bayou City.

So the Bayou’s, if you don’t know what a Bayou is, it’s a body of water that’s not moving, but it’s like a stream.

So I’ve got one behind my house. They’re all over there everywhere.

And we’ll go out on the Bayou’s and do a little paddling.

We don’t do stand up paddleboarding on the Bayou’s because we have gators in the Bayou’s.

JANNINE: That’s what I was thinking. I’m like– 

KELLY: Nope, no stand up by paddling.

on the bayou, but I will go down to the beach and paddleboard or else we have a few

likes where the Gators haven’t decided to join us, so I’ll paddle there too.

JANNINE: Oh my goodness.

You have to think about these things, you know, and then that’s probably one of like

the barriers someone might come up with in terms of like, oh, I have no idea about going

if there’s Gators.

But now you’re mentioning something that I didn’t really think about is like city fit.

this was when I lived in Seattle, we would do the stairs of the different

like hotels and the different places we could get into and go up and down

stairs. So it sounds like when you’re working with someone and they’re like,

oh, I live in X, Y, or Z place, you come up with creative ways to, to get them– 

KELLY: You have to

Right. You just have to. And, and because otherwise, like if somebody said,

oh, I’m going to, I’m going to hike in Houston to train for Glacier.

Um, they’d be kind of off.

I mean, 99.9% of our trials are flat, but if you find that one piece that you

look, you know, how to use this, you know, one little section to do the up and

down city fit.

I love city fit because you’re right.

And then there’s, you know, people that go, you want me to go where?

And I’ll be like, you know, the up and down side of bridges.

I know now I can open down side bridges.

It’s a great place to train.

You just have to figure it out.

JANNINE: Yes.

Oh, I love it. I love it. It’s creativity, right?

And I think that for a lot of people, once they realize like how fun it kind of is to, you know, you always see those stairs like on bridges or you’ll see like the stairwells on a in a like parking garage and like nobody’s ever in them and you’re like, it’s gonna be kind of fun.

So creativity, creativity. 

KELLY: Yeah, absolutely.

JANNINE: Oh my goodness, such fun stuff. I love what you’re doing. I love what you’re doing.

and I’m really excited for folks to hear all about your offerings and things of that nature.

So let’s tell folks about, well, I even tell about the book, we have to talk about your

book, The Fit is Freedom, well, that’s the podcast, but the book, let’s talk about book

and let’s talk about your website and all the different ways folks can interact with you.

KELLY: Okay.

So just to find me, easiest way to find me is just to go to the website fitisfreedom.com.

I’m not one of those cool kids who has, you know, the exact same handle on all the social.

So I just send people to the, you know, website.

The book is called Fit Active and Ageless for Life.

You would like to give your listeners a copy.

They are more than welcome to pick up an electronic copy for free.

Like as a thank you to everybody listening in this thank you for you to you.

It is available on Amazon.

It was an Amazon bestseller.

JANNINE: Nice.

KELLY: So it’s, yeah, it’s been fun.

It was, it was one of those things that I went last, I think it was last year that I

wrote it.

I got to just do this.

And I did just just start outlining the next one because I was like, okay, it’s time to

do a new book.

JANNINE: Nice.

Nice.

Okay.

So stay tuned folks.

Yeah, we’ll definitely be able to put, you know, the link to getting the free book over

at doctorjkrausend.com for sure.

And of course, we’ll link to the podcast because that’s exciting.

Fit is Freedom.

Correct.

KELLY: Correct.

JANNINE: Just like the website.

And then if folks want to work with you, they’re interested in figuring out, you know,

Is this going to be a good fit?

What can they do then?

KELLY: Two choices.

Go to the website and click the work with me button.

And there’s actually a link to the Fit is Freedom Program.

There is also a program that, depending upon when we drop, that’s coming out called Superfit

and Superfit for Summer.

So that’s a really condensed, a little different than what I normally do.

I’m like, I’m all about like slow fitness and it doesn’t sound sexy and it doesn’t sound fun,

but it keeps people from getting injured, which is my number one rule. If I break somebody,

that’s on me. So I want people to not get injured. Superfit is a little bit more of a,

hey, let’s just jump in with all four feet and go wild. And that’s coming up too.

JANNINE: Nice. That sounds awesome. That sounds awesome. And to, you know, knowing all that, I think one

of the things I love to kind of round out podcast with is going, what is, what’s your ideal client?

If anyone was looking at stuff here and you’re like, I love working with these kind of folks,

give us, give us the scoop.

KELLY: Oh, I like that. I like that question. So, well, we’ll just say

female or starters, nothing against the guys, just, yeah, it’s a, it’s a female community.

I generally between 48 and 78, which is a pretty broad number, but what ties everybody together

is a desire to, to enjoy life, to live life fuller, to maybe try adventure. And adventure

doesn’t have to be all the stuff you and I talked about today. Like sometimes people are saying,

They’ll say to me, “You know, Kelly, my idea of an adventure is just getting in the pool

and throwing the grandkids around or throwing the kids around.”  I’m like, “Great, that’s adventure.”

It’s whatever works for you. It does not have to be, you know, hiking Kilimanjaro.

So, but somebody that’s just is looking for a way to make their life more exciting and more fun.

JANNINE: Love it. Love it. So what about for you? What’s on your bucket list of adventures? What’s on

on your bucket list of hikes, bikes, rafts, kayaks.

What’s, what, what are you thinking?

KELLY: So.  

JANNINE: What’s next?

KELLY: Well, so this year I have a lot of

Fit is Freedom retreats that I’m leading.

So I’m not doing as many of my own personal adventures,

but I am taking a group to Glacier, Glacier National Park.

That’s a hiking trip.

I’m taking a group to the Smoky Mountains,

which is a hiking and river trip.

And then at the end of that, I’m staying for a week in paddling rivers with friends out there.

So that’s kind of like always my like win for, you know, finishing up.

And then I’ll be taking a group to Costa Rica.

And in that one, I will probably go a little early and paddle some rivers down there.

So those are, that’s what I’ve got going on right now.

In the back of my head, I’ve got this little thing of, well, why don’t you go, you know,

somewhere and do, you know, your terrible surfing for a few days?

So I might do that too.

So if you see somebody out there flailing around on a surfboard, probably me.

JANNINE: Oh my goodness.

Being able to laugh at yourself so huge, so huge and not taking this stuff so seriously,

I think is so important, especially for our egos, because I think for a lot of us, we do feel like

if I can’t do it perfectly, I better not do it.

KELLY: It is true.

And you know, that is such an important point because I know that sometimes

when I first do something really like, we’ll call it just dumb, when I’m with a group.

I know everybody looks at me for just a second and it’s kind of like,

did she mean to fall down on her face? But the truth is, is it just doesn’t matter.

What we’re here, we’re here to have fun. We’re here to, you know, pick ourselves up, dust off and go,

So, huh, well, yeah, avoid that whole next time or whatever it is and just, and just

not worry about it.

It really doesn’t matter how we’re, how we’re perceived by others, I guess matters is if

you’re enjoying what you’re doing and you’re making a big, big life out of it.

JANNINE: Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well said, Kelly, my goodness.

I think that’s the mic drop for you on that one.

That’s a good, good point for folks.

Just, we just got to have fun.

That’s all it is.

KELLY: Yes.

JANNINE: Thank you for coming on.

I really appreciate it.

KELLY: Oh, thank you.

And thank you everybody who listened.

I really, really appreciate it.

And I love, love, love your podcast.

Thank you.

JANNINE: Mm-hmm. Thank you so much.

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