Meet special guest Robin Hackney, a fitness expert and the woman behind the engaging podcast series, Spandex and Wine. Her journey from the corporate world to the world of fitness is nothing short of inspiring, and she is here to share it all, from initiating her unique podcasting venture to her passion for guiding others in their fitness journey.
She has a knack for fostering connections and building a community, a talent she has honed over two decades in her fitness studio. Discover how she creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere for her clients. As we explore her unique strategies and the role of group activities and retreats in fostering positivity and connectivity, you'll learn about the transformative power of stepping out of your comfort zone.
You can find all things related to Robin at www.spandexandwine.com
Check it out!
**The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this podcast may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This podcast contains links to other third party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser.
Meet special guest Robin Hackney, a fitness expert and the woman behind the engaging podcast series, Spandex and Wine. Her journey from the corporate world to the world of fitness is nothing short of inspiring, and she is here to share it all, from initiating her unique podcasting venture to her passion for guiding others in their fitness journey.
She has a knack for fostering connections and building a community, a talent she has honed over two decades in her fitness studio. Discover how she creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere for her clients. As we explore her unique strategies and the role of group activities and retreats in fostering positivity and connectivity, you'll learn about the transformative power of stepping out of your comfort zone.
You can find all things related to Robin at www.spandexandwine.com
Check it out!
**The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this podcast may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This podcast contains links to other third party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser.
So are you looking for more inspiration and possibility in midlife and beyond? Join me, Leslie Maloney, proud wife, mom, author, teacher and podcast host, as I talk with people finding meaning in moxie in their life after 50. Interviews that will energize you and give you some ideas to implement in your own life. I so appreciate you being here. Now let's get started. Hi everybody, welcome to meaning in moxie after 50. We have a very special guest with us today this Robin Hackney, and she lives in Kansas City. We're going to learn a whole lot more about her today and she has a really cool web podcast called spandex and wine that we're going to learn a little bit about, and it's actually how I got to know her. She's got a fitness background, a corporate background and just has some really interesting things to say about all of that. So, Robin, you want to start us off and just give us a little background. How did you come up with the name spandex and wine for your podcast?
Speaker 2:Okay, well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. Spandex and wine. Okay, I bought that domain name years and years ago because I would always tell people when they asked what I did. I would tell them that I had a fitness business and explain a little bit about that. But I also do in home wine tastings, and so I would just end the conversation with so my life is spandex and wine and, you know, everyone kind of get a little chuckle out of it, and I would too and I thought, okay, I'm going to buy that domain name because I'm going to do something with it.
Speaker 2:That had to have been four or five years ago, and this past May let's see, it's October now, about seven months ago I just started listening to podcasts. I had had friends try and get me to listen before. I listened to that and I just I didn't have the instant span or something for it. And I started listening and I fell into this workshop the same workshop that you have been taking, leslie and I decided, oh my gosh, I'm just going to go for it. And wow, that's what spandex and wine was for, that's what I was holding out for.
Speaker 1:Okay, very cool, isn't it interesting, the different synchronicities that life brings to us and how we know that, okay, this means something. I'm not sure what it means, but for that right, maybe right now, but there's something here, so you were never Right absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know just different times in your life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so so you weren't really you weren't didn't really listen to podcasts and things like that up to this this last six months, you said okay.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, I mean, I seriously just decided and I was taking the workshop just to gain a little more knowledge, not necessarily about podcasting, but I thought, okay, this will have to help my business. Somehow I can take some kind of nugget out of this. When I took the just the week long boot camp, and then, you know, I was in it with another friend and we're both like well, I don't know what do you think? What do you think? We both decided just to jump in and we were starting podcasts, so cool yeah.
Speaker 1:Very cool. So who's your target audience? You said you're in the fitness business. So who do you? What do you do? Who do you work with that sort of thing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, most of my clients are women between, I would say, 55 and 75. I have a couple that are younger, a couple that are older but that's kind of my spot and most of them are retired already. I have a lot of retired teachers. So it's very interesting that. Well, I guess it's not too interesting, because I did teach a lot of classes in the school district here in the area and they followed along with me. But you know, we've built this community. That is so amazing. It's not your, your gym, that you would just come and take a class and, yeah, when you're in you're part of the family. So I've had clients that have been with me for over 20 years.
Speaker 1:So Wow, that well, that's. That says a lot about who you are and how you make people feel.
Speaker 2:You know that's nice that you would say that I always tell them. It's them, they're the glue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you? So? You teach fitness classes or do you work individually with clients?
Speaker 2:I do both A little bit of both Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I was in the corporate world for almost a decade and I was working for a real estate consulting firm doing lease audits, and, oh my gosh, that just was not for me. You know, sitting behind a desk was just terrible, and I was working out with some friends as I was trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do, what the next step was, and I was doing most of the planning of the workouts. There was another lady that was helping as well and I thought, oh my gosh, this is it. I can totally do this. I can make a living doing this, why not? It's just a great thing. And so I just jumped right in.
Speaker 2:We had had three deaths in the family within a year, so both of my husband's grandparents and then my grandmother had passed away, and so I just felt right that it was a time where, by God, I needed to be happy, I needed to be passionate and enjoy what I did. So I jumped all in and I just, yeah, I taught everywhere. I was all over town, I managed a health club at a country club here in town, and so finally I got tired of all of that running around and opened my own studio. So, yes, I do fitness classes, I'm a personal trainer. I'm yoga certified, matt Pilates certified, water aerobics all kinds of fun things.
Speaker 1:Right. So are you doing besides yoga and Pilates? Are you doing things like you know what we would call like a typical aerobic class? It's a little bit Zumba, it's a little bit of everything going on in your studio.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we don't do a lot of aerobics. No, my 6am class is mostly strength training and then my 8am class, yeah, so we do some circuit training, interval training, joint stabilization and then yoga in that one, and then I also have a virtual program that I do. I also do challenges. I'm getting ready to do a healthy body challenge this fall, starting in about a week and a half, and I do retreats as well.
Speaker 1:Wonderful, Wonderful. So what would you say is your secret sauce? Why do you? Why, when people, when they walk into your studio and they start to show up there, what makes them stay? Because that doesn't happen, you know all the time. So what's the secret sauce?
Speaker 2:So I would have to say that the right people are in the class too, because everyone's very welcoming, but we're not the group. We're not going to attract the person that has all the right things on the, the matching outfits, and they walk in with their latte and all of that. That's not our crowd. We're the group that someone at least once a week has their pants on inside out or their shirt backwards and we're very comfortable just rolling out of bed and coming to class. So they're very accepting people and I try to create an environment that it's. It's fun. We're always doing something different and it just is. It's motivating to them.
Speaker 1:That you know that is so important. Well, you've created community there. It sounds like community and connection. Yeah, there's. There's a lot of acceptance and that goes huge. That goes a long way. That's huge for people, I think, especially women, who maybe, you know, don't know how to, you know, don't don't know how to access fitness necessarily by walking into a gym, you know that kind of thing, and so that the for a lot of women, that acceptance and just come as I am kind of thing is, is really huge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know it's hard for people to take that first step and walk into that class. It can be very intimidating, so I hope once they hit that door and they meet us, they are put at ease. So that that would be something that I would aim for. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, really, now you're, you're translating that over into your podcast, you're creating a community there and bringing some of that secret sauce over into your podcasts.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So I have a Facebook group around my podcast. That it's just phenomenal people and I try and highlight positives. Like the first month that I started it, every Monday I would ask them what are you most looking forward to this week? And then, at the end of the week, what was the best thing that happened to you? So people can get trained into seeing the positive things from the very beginning of the day and the week to the end of the day and the end of the week. Sure, Sure.
Speaker 1:So, when you're working with these women and that particular age group that you described, what are some of the common challenges that you see? What are some of the things?
Speaker 2:Well, let's just, let's just say that for starters, okay, okay, I can tell you that everyone has some type of limitation, so it might be someone's thumbs or their knee, or their hip, or their back or their toes, and you and I know that that can change from day to day. You might wake up and be like, oh, what's going to hurt today?
Speaker 2:So I mean that is something that happens, so I like to give just a little bit of room for people to have modifications and to take care of themselves. In fact, I'm always saying they're probably tired of hearing me say this but listen to your body and only move in a way that feels good to you.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, yeah, Absolutely. I know that was something I say all the time in yoga too. Yeah, this is about your body and how you feel in your body and just getting people connected to their body. Let's talk about that Do you see? Do you see people that just aren't, they're not, they're not grounded in their body, they're not connected in their body in terms of even there and then their feelings? Right, then, the other part of that is the connection of the body to the feelings.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you know it is. I wish I could do it for them. I keep saying that to them Like I wish I could get in and I could do all of this for you, especially when it's an exercise that you're really focused on intention, intention and. But you know that that's something that I can talk through and get different cues. But you do see those people that they don't have that connection or, on the flip side, watching someone find that connection and that light bulb going off, oh my gosh, that's the best.
Speaker 1:Oh, that is super, super rewarding.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, who would be like, without naming names, when you think of Special stories like that, or just somebody who stands out for you In some kind, you know, some kind of win for them? What? What pops in your mind?
Speaker 2:Okay. So I would have to say that that's almost on a daily basis, because if I'm, let's just say, we're doing squats and I see someone stopping and they are going to calf raises, well, they're listening to their body. And that didn't work for them. So they decided, instead of trying to push through the pain, I do not believe in no pain, no gain. That is just. I don't know who said that first, but that's terrible. But yeah, I mean, I say it in yoga too. But if I'm looking out there and there are 10 different things going on, that is wonderful. That makes me happy. Some people are like oh, I'm so sorry, I can't do that. I have to do this. Great, do it, please do that. And I always tell them I don't have to live with your knees, I don't have to live with your back. So, and I also tell them I don't want to be a pain in your neck, but I'm okay with being a pain in your butt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so just giving that, giving that motivation, kind of pushing people along and motivating them, yeah yeah, and, like you know, they encourage each other so much too.
Speaker 2:They make my job easy.
Speaker 1:So it sounds like it's a social thing too for them. You know they can, they can come and share, get some exercise in and then come and share with their friends and just Like, like we said earlier, be part of a community.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's true, and I wish I had the numbers in front of me. I didn't think about like posting them somewhere, but at our last holiday party we were talking about the life changes that we've all been through together, so we counted up all of the marriages that have happened, divorces that are happening, kids that have gotten married, grandchildren that were born, and the numbers were all just like, oh gosh, wow, we have been through a lot together.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. So do you get into anything besides your classes and strength training and the? You know one-on-one or the or you know what you offer in the studio. Do you get into diet at all or you kind of? That's not really a road you go down? Yeah, no, we do, and that's usually when.
Speaker 2:I do my challenges. You know we'll talk about things every now and then, but not, you know, for the most part I do a bikini boot camp challenge in the spring time and I'm getting ready to do my healthy body challenge here and I usually run that from Halloween to New Year's and this will be our 10th year of doing that, because we decided 10 years ago we're like, okay, you guys, let's just not gain weight. Okay, let's just hold it, but each other's going to be on the same page. Okay, let's just hold it, but each other accountable, and not gain weight, because the average person gains between seven and eight pounds during that time. Oh, my gosh, that number is just awful.
Speaker 2:But what happened to us? People lost weight but, more importantly, they picked up healthy habits and so we just build week by week, super easy, like we start focusing on water first and vegetables, and then, you know, talk about the importance of macronutrients and needing all of them, and not, you know, you don't have to have a restrictive diet. I don't. I don't believe in restrictive diets. I don't believe in any one way for any body.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure, yeah, once again going back and listening to what's right for your body.
Speaker 2:that sort of thing.
Speaker 1:Do you all do anything? What do you think about juicing and some of that, for you know short periods for detoxing. Do you guys talk about any of that, or would that be a little bit too hardcore? Or for your community, what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:Sure, well, in the past we have done a few things, but more recently again, I feel like it's what is right for them and I can't tell them you know, yes, you need to juice and this will happen, and this will happen. If they want to explore it, then I will totally support them. I might even go along with it with them, just to give that support. I don't know if they want to explore it or not, but no, I mean we don't as a group, do any type of detoxing or cleanses or anything like that.
Speaker 1:Just curious, just curious. So when you, when you do retreats, what are what? Where do you all go and what are some of the activities that you do? What movement involves?
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah, this past one definitely was like spandex and wine themed, because we went to Texas Hill Country and we the first day we went on a wine tour, so we had someone drive us to you know area wineries and had a great time doing that. But of course, in the morning we woke up and we had our fitness class and then the next day all the meals were surrounded and they didn't know this until the end but around liver detox and foods that are important for cleansing your liver. And you know, it's just fun. Group activities too, like we kicked it off with conversation cards and you had to go around and ask these questions to different people.
Speaker 2:My very first, my very first retreat. I got a little bit of kickback on this, but it was fabulous. When they first got there, I gave them index cards. There were 21 people there and I said do you have to write something positive or a quality that you would admire about everyone in the group? And then the last day we all read them and the person we went one by one so like, say you would be first Leslie, all 20 other people had to read their card and the only thing you could say was thank you. You couldn't say oh, but, oh, but oh. You don't know, you don't know, thank you, and it was so powerful.
Speaker 1:That's fabulous.
Speaker 2:It was so powerful.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we do things like that. Sometimes little kumbaya ish. We've been on hiking retreats. I have some fun wins that I'm planning. I need to get them out there, but yeah.
Speaker 1:That's just so powerful. I mean, it just gives me goosebumps. You know that, that and just I think you know the point you made about. All they could say was thank you and just take that in, allow that loud, those words to wash over them. So, often we discount, right, we discount when somebody gives us a compliment. And to have that continued around a circle, would you say 25 different?
Speaker 2:there were 21 total.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, 21, that, wow, I'll bet people still bring that up. Do they do?
Speaker 2:they do that and people kept their cards so then they could go back and look at those if they needed that. But you know, just the receiving end is very powerful, but it's also a tool to look for the good and others go that person and find something a good quality about that person.
Speaker 1:Good, really good point. Really good point on both. Yeah, right, so being the receiver and the giver and then looking for yeah, because a lot of times we get stuck on something we don't let you know a pet peeve that that person or some little trigger that that person Makes go, you know well, we're allowing it to go off in ourselves, right? They're not doing anything and it yeah. So so turning that around as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I will tell you that I found that. The magic number, though, is three nights. That's it, no more, no more.
Speaker 1:Why is?
Speaker 2:that I just feel like I usually arrive on Wednesday and so it's Wednesday evening and then all day Thursday, all day Friday, and then they leave Saturday and I feel like that amount of time for that many women to be together is just right. I think a little more and it could not be good.
Speaker 1:So I haven't had a bad experience I, but luckily Well, it's probably the good, you know, leave them wanting more that kind of thing too. And so you're probably you're sensing, you're sensing the energy is just about right like okay, yeah, yeah, time to move on. And do you all stay in a, do you run an Airbnb or a few of them? How do you, how do you work that?
Speaker 2:So far, everyone that I've done, we've all stayed in the same house, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I can imagine doing one really large, although I'm thinking about doing one here in the Kansas City area, and so then I would do it more at a conference center, and then they could choose to stay overnight or they could just, you know, do an all a cart and come to different classes or do an all day pass. So that's something that I'm working on right now.
Speaker 1:And I'm sure that experience you know I've been on some different women's retreats before and so I remember the first one. I went on just going away with a big group like that, a lot who I did not know was a huge step for me to just, you know, show up, really show up and and so empowering. I mean I felt, you know, and I think most people did, leaving, but it's yeah, it can be can be a little scary in the beginning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. But I mean, it's just like anything If you just put yourself out there, if you just show up, just let things happen. Just have the courage to just show up.
Speaker 1:That applies to so many things in life, doesn't it? I mean you just yeah, just show up, and trust, trust that whatever's gonna unfold there is is the right thing.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I agree yeah.
Speaker 1:So what else? So this sounds like this keeps you pretty busy. Now we can see behind you that you've got a ball exercise ball. This is some of the equipment, so you're in your studio.
Speaker 2:This is actually my home studio, so I do some classes at home as well. Yes, during 2020 we decided we were gonna move out, get a little bit of land, so now we have five acres and so we built this little studio for me. So I teach a couple of days a week here, but in the mornings like in town. So if you're from the Kansas City area, it's South Overland Park really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so I've recently. You know I was never this would be interesting to get your viewpoint on. I've never been a bit. I've always been a very active person, but not a big weight lifter type person. You know there were times off and on. My husband would try, you know he'd be slinging the weights around and he, you know I did some little here and there.
Speaker 1:But since about this last year and particularly I really amped it up this summer, I went to a personal trainer. I was actually visiting my daughter and son a while in Montana and a long story about how I got there. But you know I thought let me do a couple of sessions with the personal trainer and got a couple of programs that I do now back home. And so we go a few times a week and you know, just straight strength training, you know like I'm doing dead lifts and things like that and and I'm Great, it just it feels really good and I see it enhancing once again the other things that I do in my life and we're, you know, in terms of movement and strength, my tennis game is improved and faster, what would you say? Because it's not something that I think a lot of women necessarily gravitate to or stay with. You know, they may play with it a little bit, like me and then, but they maybe don't stay with it. What would you say about that?
Speaker 1:to women, especially women over 50?.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, okay. So first of all, I would say you have to find something that you enjoy, because if you don't enjoy it, you're not going to do it. I do think that lifting weights can be so empowering I mean I saw you smile when you started talking about that so it can be very empowering, but again, make sure that your body's ready for it. So I wouldn't just jump right in. Hiring a trainer is a great idea, or just starting with lighter weights and then gradually increasing and maybe even increasing the length.
Speaker 2:But yeah, we lose three to 6% of our muscle mass every year after the age of 30. I mean, forget 50. At 30, we're starting to lose it. I mean it's so important. I mean, just think about it structurally If we don't have those muscles, then we're not going to have the functional movement every day that we need and, like you said earlier, just want to feel good, you want to be able to move well. So, yeah, I would just say that if you're out there and you're considering it, try it, just try it. Just start incorporating one day a week of weights and then gradually add to it.
Speaker 1:And you would recommend probably it's not a bad idea to get with somebody a personal trainer or somebody who knows just for form, for making sure that you're using the right form, because that goes a long way. If you're not using the right form, you're not getting the full benefit of what you're doing too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I don't think you have to have a trainer. I think it's a great idea. It's going to expedite everything, but there's so many good online programs out there too, so you don't have to spend an arm and a leg. It can work in your budget.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just paying attention. Yeah, there is so much online now so, and there's so many blocks and things like that. That you can access and building that up.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So what else should we know about Ms Robin Hackney that we haven't covered here?
Speaker 2:Well, we covered a lot of the fitness. The wine tastings that are due are so much fun too, because that's a wonderful way of connecting, Again, mostly women. I do have some couples I haven't done an all-male one, but it's just a great way for ladies just to kick back and take a step away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just sit and have a conversation with each other. I mean, we just do one to two ounce pours. It's not a lot of wine, but it's just enough to get people to relax. And I try and take the stuffiness out of a wine tasting and just give them some education and some entertainment, so edutating.
Speaker 1:Edutating. I like that. I like that. Yeah, so you go, so the women show up and then you've got little food, little cheese in there and things like that to clear the palate, and they get to try some different wines and yeah, it sounds like a nice relaxed situation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's fun, and I do it via Zoom too, so in the dark, covid, I had to shift everything online so I can do anything anywhere around the country. In fact, I made an excuse to drive to North Carolina a couple of weeks ago too, so I could go hiking in the Smoky Mountains from Kansas to North Carolina. It was about 14 hours, but it was a fun wine tasting and I got a vacation out of it. So Really.
Speaker 1:So you travel and you do it on Zoom. You can do it on Zoom.
Speaker 2:I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, that's really cool. That's really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you would just have the wine shipped to the different individuals, and then we would all hop on Zoom and do our tasting together.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, uh-huh. So now, what is that called? Is that spandex and wine too? Or that has a different name?
Speaker 2:So with spandexandwinecom, you can find everything. There you can find a link to my fitness, you can find a link to my wine, you can find the podcast. But my company is called Traveling Vineyard. My website is sipandporecom. But again, if you went to spandexandwinecom you're going to find everything.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, so listeners pay attention. Spandexandwinecom. Robin's got a lot of really cool stuff going on here between the podcast and the wine tastings and the fitness business. She is one dynamo.
Speaker 2:Any final thoughts?
Speaker 1:that you want to leave with us today as far as people seeking meaning and moxie in their life.
Speaker 2:Oh, people seeking meaning and moxie. Well, you know, like you and I have discussed before, don't be afraid, just try it. There's no failing. The failure would be in not trying. So you're never too old just to either. Whether it be moving, learning something new, sharing something that you can teach someone else, just get out there and show up.
Speaker 1:Love it, love it so much. It's a great way to end today. We really appreciate your time and your wisdom. Thank you, and we wish you the best of luck on your new ventures in terms of the podcasting. Thank you, and to you as well, leslie. All right, you take care.
Speaker 2:You too.
Speaker 1:Bye everybody. In a world full of lots of distractions, I so appreciate you taking the time to listen in. Until next time, be well and take care.