36: Moms Who Inspire - Meet Doris Thews!

In this game-changing episode of Group X Appeal, Kimberly and Terry sit down with fitness industry legend Doris Thews - a mompreneur who's been breaking barriers since before it was trendy. Discover how she built an impeccable fitness brand while raising a family, overcame societal judgment, and created the support systems that made it all possible. If you're ready to go bigger and bolder in your career while being the parent you want to be, this conversation will revolutionize your approach to work-life integration.

What You'll Learn:

• ✅ How to blaze your own trail in fitness and entrepreneurship, even when facing judgment
• ✅ Why combining passion with financial sense is the secret to sustainable success
• ✅ Strategies to overcome mom guilt and make self-care non-negotiable
• ✅ The power of community and how to build your essential support system
• ✅ How to be fully present with family while pursuing ambitious career goals
• ✅ Why strategic planning is your secret weapon for professional and personal success
• ✅ How to focus on your own path and silence the opinions of others

Whether you're a parent who’s a fitness professional or aspiring entrepreneur, Doris's no-nonsense wisdom and proven strategies will empower you to create the fulfilling life you deserve—on your own terms.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube - @groupxappeal.

Questions or topic ideas? Email us @ groupxappeal@gmail.com

Get your FREE Guide To Holistic Well-Being here: https://gxaguide.com/

Stay Connected with Kimberly:
- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

Stay Connected with Terry:
- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

Our celebration of moms who inspire in fitness continues with our next guest who honestly needs no introduction in the world of fitness, but we're going to give her one anyway. Doris Thews is an international presenter, a fitness consultant, a mompreneur, and yes, a working mother who continues to blaze trails in this industry. Yes, from leading packed convention stages to shaping strategy behind the scenes.

Doris really brings next level energy to everything she does. So get ready for a conversation full of passion, purpose and truth.

Kimberly/terry (01:13)
Hey, welcome to Group X Appeal. Kimberly Spring-Gleick here with Terry Shorter. And we have a fabulous guest with us today who's one of the moms who inspire that we are highlighting in this month of May, Ms. Doris Thews Thank you, Doris, for being here with us. We so appreciate it.

Doris Thews (01:28)
It's great to be here with your audience, but I'm sure this audience already knows that you are the two most positive people on the planet. So how could you go wrong going on a podcast with you two?

Kimberly/terry (01:35)
Aww.

Aw. Too sweet. So for those who do not know, ⁓ Mama Dee and I, we go back about like 26 years, 1999 is when we first met. ⁓ wow. She's like one of the first instructors, group exercise instructors that I was inspired by at 24 Like you took Doris's class? Yes. Yes. What was the class?

Well, hello kick turbo kick was one of them we did a video together round three. Is that right? It wasn't

Doris Thews (02:08)
He was my backup babe in 1999. Him and Anna Rita Sloss, know, slackers.

Kimberly/terry (02:10)
Yeah. Love it. We like to party like it's. Yeah. Oh

my gosh. Yeah. Slackers. Boy. Peeled them off the street. Didn't you? Yeah. So since then, yeah, she's continued to inspire. Um, I, I refer to it as mama D she's consulted in our business for ripped as well and helped it, you know, grow. And so, uh, we've got, we've got some history and I know you do too.

Yeah, we go back a couple years as well. Now we started crossing paths, but primarily in the education circuit, know, the conferences and such. And then once I finally got my tush over here to California, we thought we'd see each other a heck of a lot more often. And the next thing you know, we only see each other in like Chicago or Dallas or whenever we're out, like at a conference, we're like, how is it we live so close and we don't get together more often, but. But we're glad to do it now. We're here today.

Doris Thews (03:03)
I was.

Kimberly/terry (03:10)
I'll take it. Absolutely. And so we thank you so much, so much for joining us today. ⁓ As a listener, you're going to get so much value. I know from this conversation with Doris during this mama's month, mom's inspired month. And so we had just a few questions that we wanted to ask you if that's okay, mama D.

Doris Thews (03:32)
Bring it on, I'd be happy to share.

Kimberly/terry (03:34)
Awesome. Okay, so the first question I have for you, I mean, we live in a world where it's not uncommon at all for, you know, women to become mothers, but also to work outside the family and others who, like yourself, take more of kind of an entrepreneurial approach to it. So what inspired you to take that route to kind of work for yourself, to be more entrepreneurial, but at the same time, raise a family and take on that juggle?

Doris Thews (04:01)
Well, it's such a loaded question and it kind of goes back to when people always say, I want to do what you do. And I'm like, no, you don't. You want to do it different. You want to do it better. And yes, what I've done has already been done. You got to blaze your own trail. So I started in fitness behind the front desk in 1984. The front, the, the 6 a.m. instructor didn't show up. I was in high school. I was so happy. I jumped over, leaped over the counter, pulled up my leg warmers, rocked my tongue on the outside. I did my shielding.

Kimberly/terry (04:28)
Yes.

Doris Thews (04:29)
like album, that's right. Once they got that routine down, because I was a cheerleader, I took them outside, we did sprints, they threw up. I was the number one instructor, no CPR, no idea, no ACE, no Africa, because it didn't exist. And I was so popular, then I went off into college and I just knew there was something magical about movement. So I really thought, well, gosh, I wish I could come out and figure this out in my life, but I was off to college. And the fitness industry in 1984 was like Jane Fonda, like that's awesome.

Kimberly/terry (04:41)
Didn't exist yet. Yeah.

Yep.

Doris Thews (04:58)
but that's really all it was in a few pop-up studios here and there. I went through college and I started teaching free membership, cute boys, awesome. And when I graduated from college, I really wanted to be in the industry, but there was no professional jobs. So I was an insurance agent, if you can even believe that. I was the head of household. Yeah, I was the head of household. I was bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan. And I had a baby, but I taught on the side or I taught at lunch or I taught in the morning. And then finally I got in a position where

Kimberly/terry (05:15)
Tardably.

Boo!

Doris Thews (05:27)
I sold my book of business and said, I want to do fitness full time. So I went from this to this in terms of income. And it was a risk that I, I didn't even ask, Hey, do think we should do this? I'm like, I have to do this. I have to, this is my passion. Cause I knew teaching would touch people. Being a manager would touch instructors. Then I realized, Whoa, if I was a presenter, I could touch teachers and managers.

Kimberly/terry (05:33)
Mm-hmm.

Doris Thews (05:53)
If I could program design, I could do this. If I could lead, if I could be a senior vice president, if I could do this, I could travel internationally. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's always been about how I could touch. And there was no like, should I? It's when I, when I. And a lot of it was financial restriction and a lot of risk and a lot of guts and hustling, hustling. No one in the fitness industry really has one job. I mean, for real, if you have one job, you're not in okay? So I went.

Kimberly/terry (06:07)
Nice.

It's true. She's not lying.

Doris Thews (06:21)
Yeah, so I went ⁓ from having a real job and teaching and then when I say real job, like like made a lot of money job. ⁓ But I left that to be a coordinator, then a divisional director, then a master trainer, then to seeing, you know what, ⁓ corporations are holding me back. I want to go global. I want to go bigger. I want to be with, I don't want to be the smartest person in the room. I want to know more.

I've had some great mentors like Jay Blahnik, Jules Arnie, some major players behind me. And I was able to do that. And as I found out that when you leave your family on weekends for conventions or for trainings, you should make a lot of money. If you're gonna give that up, you should make something for it. So while I was there, I'm like, hey, while you're here, can I do this workshop or this presentation or that presentation? And then you meet people and you do something a lot of time. You start seeing the world, you start seeing health fitness operates, you start becoming a consultant.

And I just had so many contacts and so much, you people open the door, but you got to step through it and do a really good job. And my reputation was one who was, it wasn't sexy, which was really disappointing. My reputation as I was consistent, I would consistently perform. Like I was consistent and you could bank on me. And because of that, I had a lot of opportunities. And long story short, I've been like in the circle, the full circle of fitness in life and every job I've done everything, but ⁓ babysitting. So, ⁓

Kimberly/terry (07:49)
No.

Doris Thews (07:50)
And so because of that, just recognize as I grew up, a long story short is if I wanted to make money and live the life on my terms for my family, for my future and for my careers, then I had to make it happen. And so that took hustling, doing maybe a corporate job with a side, a hustle on the side, plus a gig, and just always working towards that next goal. It was very clear to me where I wanted to be. I want to be a because I want to see the United States, but I can't see the world because my son's still in school.

Kimberly/terry (08:20)
Mm-hmm.

Doris Thews (08:20)
Okay, my son's

going to college. ⁓ I gotta pay for that college. So now I need to see the world and hustle more. I got to get, so with every decision I made with passion, I also put money behind it. I always put money behind it. Okay, I'm gonna hustle. Okay, now my son graduated. Woo hoo! Biggest pay raise in my life. And then I was like, hold on a second. If I take on this VP role, I can retire earlier. wait, I could pay off this. Wait, I could do that. So.

Kimberly/terry (08:32)
Hmm.

Doris Thews (08:48)
I led with my passion, but I always had that financial sense behind it. If I'm gonna leave my family and I'm gonna hustle, just because you're in fitness doesn't mean you get to give it away for free or we get paid a fraction of the price, which I think is a big problem in our industry. I went in and said, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna hustle. I'm gonna make things to to do my passion, but hit my milestones so I could set my terms.

Kimberly/terry (09:10)
Good for you. Love it, love it, love it. And ⁓ speaking of your son going through school and you making the necessary professional and entrepreneurial decisions to help finance that, ⁓ Mama Dee was the one who inspired us to take a look at Orange County School of the Arts where her son graduated from, where Austin graduated from, to have our daughter Tawny take a look at.

lo and behold, we took a look. She loved it and she graduated out of OCSA out of the musical theater conservatory and has been thriving ever since because she put that bug in our ear. ⁓ that's so cool.

Doris Thews (09:50)
I think that's about setting your own rules. Like every kid is different, every kid is different and her dreams, her talent and her dreams were so clear and you're such supportive parents. It was obvious. Not every parent would take that risk. I lived across the street from high school. I went to that high school. It would have been very easy to say, no, follow tradition. No, you gotta lead with what you need to lead with. And you just gotta like blaze your own path.

Kimberly/terry (09:54)
Mm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, love that advice. Still live by that advice, and we appreciate you sharing that with us way back when. So that kind of leads us to what's been one of the biggest challenges that you've ever faced as a working mom in the fitness industry, and how would you say you best overcame it?

Doris Thews (10:38)
Well, judgment. I think a lot of people make judgments of you. So I have had situations where I've walked into a room as a brand new vice president, senior vice president of a company. I'm the first female to do it. I'm the first female in the room. And they say, well, what does your husband think of this? And I'm like, I don't know.

Kimberly/terry (10:43)
Mmm.

oooo

Doris Thews (10:59)
I've had those comments. I've also had the comments of like, be careful. He's gonna grow up so fast. And that's true. That's true. But when I was hustling and when I was on tour with you guys, I was traveling 48 out of 52 weekends a year. If Jesus Christ wasn't on the day, mama was traveling. So I would hustle on the weekend, but during the week I was home. I was the one who picked him up at three o'clock.

Kimberly/terry (10:59)
Wow.

present.

Doris Thews (11:24)
shut down, was fully invested. And leaving my son to be home with my husband on the weekends was probably one of the best things I could have done, because I'm an alpha female and I run the house, I do the schedules. And when I left, it was party, party, party, and they figured it out, and they got really close. I would come home, there'd be like pizza in the house, was soda in, who has soda in the refrigerator? They were all in super trouble.

Kimberly/terry (11:32)
Bonnie time.

Doris Thews (11:49)
My favorite is I was at SCW Philly and I was on my way home in Chicago and I'm looking at YouTube. My son was a YouTuber early on and it said crazy car crash and there's my husband talking to the CHP officer on the 5 freeway with my son's car flipped over. So I called him and I said, hey what's going on? nothing, how's the weekend? It's good. Really? Because I'm watching YouTube of you talking to CHP and he's like awesome, dude wait till your mom gets home.

Kimberly/terry (12:05)
no.

Doris Thews (12:19)
What I did is I sometimes as moms, we need to step back and let those relationships flourish. so I made the most of it. And listen, the lot of the, it wasn't, the judgment didn't come from a bad place, but it came from where they were and what they were doing. But I heard like, ⁓ you can always do this later, be careful. I heard a lot of that. And I,

Kimberly/terry (12:37)
Sure. ⁓

Doris Thews (12:46)
You have to blaze your own trail with your own boundaries, with your own balance. And so was I gone a lot? Yeah. Did I miss some social events? You bet I did. But I made up for it during the week and I just got off a seven day cruise with my 30 year old ⁓ on the icon of the seas and had a fricking blast. We have a great relationships. We're super tight. But I am a little mad that he calls his dad first before he calls me. And I don't think that would have happened. And by the way, it's,

Kimberly/terry (13:07)
aww

Doris Thews (13:15)
it wouldn't happen if I didn't give them that space. So it's a matter of people make judgment of how you're living your life, but they don't know and what and their intentions probably good, but you have to blaze your own path. And I think being a female in the fitness industry is really tough. I think you're you're paid differently. You look differently. You're ⁓ just a lot of different. Yeah. Yeah. My favorite is like, it's OK, you know, if we COVID if she furloughs, she has a husband to take care of her. Well, hello.

Kimberly/terry (13:22)
Right.

Preach, sister.

gee.

Doris Thews (13:45)
You know, that is like those situations have happened and I'm like, did you just really say that to me? Cause I think that's illegal. Yeah. That that, that I've heard and, I'm not being bitter in any way. Cause I was just like, I've worked around it I've always pushed that ceiling up and held it up for everybody, regardless of your sex, just based on your ability. But I think as a mom, the hard part is you'll kind of judging you for, you know, in your best life, but they don't realize what you do behind the scenes and you know, it's none of their business.

Kimberly/terry (14:14)
Right. That's right. I love the fact that you just, you let them see your tail lights and you don't even have time to, to consider that judgment. Absolutely. Good for you. It's, mean, you said it perfectly. The way you live your life, the way your family functions is none of their business. Their opinion of you is none of your business. Right. So I love that. I actually got that from Wayne Dyer. He's like, other people's opinions of me are none of my business. I'm like, yeah.

Doris Thews (14:24)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kimberly/terry (14:44)
So you had mentioned, obviously, your husband and your son being able to form a relationship that maybe wouldn't have formed in a different scenario. So you had your husband as a support system. So in a broader stance, like a broader circumstance, what does your support system look like outside of that? And how important is community to you in both business and in the motherhood piece?

Doris Thews (15:09)
Well, I think it's interesting because I look at different phases of my life and my closest friends actually don't live in Orange County and my closest friends Kimberly will test to this are the ones we've seen on the road when we were traveling and we were getting together and we were all in the same boat doing the same thing marriage kids careers balance and the fitness industry is Relatively young so it's not it's not like it's it's it's a traditional course It's always different and you're hustling to do different things So I would say what got me what made my

Kimberly/terry (15:12)
you

Doris Thews (15:39)
life so good was being on the road, those really strong quality relationships. Like what most of you don't know at conferences is we usually are so excited just to get together and like have room service or go have a glass of wine and you know have a salad and a pizza and just connect with each other. that's you know seriously that is that so that mom squad that that community was huge for me. ⁓ That's when I was traveling a ton. When I was ⁓ teaching primarily my classes, the community that I created, you know being a part of ⁓

PCRF, was a head coach for that with Lululemon and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for pediatric cancer. know, being behind all that and working in clubs. You COVID was really hard. It was really hard because I went from being a senior vice president for multiple locations in multiple states and now all of a sudden I'm at home with my cat. Like, what? And I remember doing keynotes for CampFit Pro and you know, it's two, 300 people and you shut down your laptop and you're like.

Kimberly/terry (16:28)
Mm-hmm.

Doris Thews (16:36)
My cat walks by, I hope they liked it. So lonely, like so lonely. So what I found with that is ⁓ family has always been super duper important to me. But I think with COVID, the lack of work, even though we still tried to connect, I really, really just gravitated closer to my family. And I made intentions of saying, once a month I'm having a family member over for dinner. We're just gonna.

have a good old fashioned meal and just chat, because I didn't have time to make those good old fashioned meals. And ⁓ I would say right now, what's most important is my family. And I mean, I know a lot of people, but I really just have a very tight group of friends, very tight group of friends. And they're their friends, like you, Kimberly. I could see you 10 years from now, and it would be like I saw you yesterday. Low maintenance, low maintenance, love you, what's up.

Kimberly/terry (17:06)
Hehehehe

Yep. Pick up where we left off every time.

Doris Thews (17:27)
you know, and thank God for social media in, cause we can kind of keep in touch with people. So community to me are, are the people that, ⁓ that are in your boat and we're all rowing together. And sometimes people fall in and you grab them. And then sometimes people leave the way that I would say my closest, my closest friends are my mom, preneurs and my dad, preneurs and people who really value family outside of that. just not interested.

Kimberly/terry (17:32)
Mm-hmm.

same direction. Yes, it's true.

Love it. Good. Good, good. so many of our listeners, Mama D, they struggle with like mom guilt or burnout, right? What advice would you give to women trying to prioritize their health and their dreams while caring for their families?

Doris Thews (18:14)
So that's, you know, that I just talked to someone today about burnout. I mean, I could just feel it. I could hear it. And it's like, when's the last time you had day off? Like, what are you doing? ⁓ I think when we look at our priorities, you know, I have four major priorities in my life and my health is always a part of that. But I think you need to schedule time for yourself. It's just absolutely non-negotiable, you know. ⁓

Kimberly/terry (18:34)
questionable.

Doris Thews (18:36)
then it's not, I'll get to it, or it's on my list, because you'll never get to it. So it's divine scheduled. And I think, you know, there's spiritual wellness, there's physical wellness, there's like the social wellness, and there's times just being alone. I like to be alone. I like to be alone and regroup my energy and refocus. But the hardest part for moms is the guilt of missing out on things. And I think...

We need to understand, as I mentioned, the blessing of missing out on some of those social events, the blessing of not being home created opportunity for my son to flourish with his dad to flourish, to do other things, to be independent. My son went to college. I was crying my eyes out. He was like, peace. Like he was, and I was like, You know, where, you know, there's no way he's coming back home. Cause he's like, bye, you know? And so I just think like,

Kimberly/terry (19:11)
Mm-hmm.

No!

Doris Thews (19:28)
You're just developing them as human beings. So mom guilt. I would just say don't listen to the people I don't think anyone has a bad intention, but ⁓ When you start to feel bad think about what you're doing right and what you're doing right and how that's gonna develop your child or your family ⁓ And I think the big thing is you really do need to schedule time for yourself and for me the biggest thing is devotional time and Being alone and having my own workout my own my own run

my own walk, my own swim, my own lip, nobody else, nobody else, nobody else. So alone time doing what you love, dancing, writing, reading, singing, whatever it is, and just don't listen to other people who are trying to make you feel bad, and for the love of God, ⁓ parenting is the hardest job you'll ever have, you'll never do it right, you'll always look back and go, would I, could I, should I, and just know that everything on social media isn't right.

Kimberly/terry (19:57)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

⁓ Nope. Amen to that. Well, I've got a question for you. If you could go back to a younger Doris, maybe when you were just starting out, maybe when you were shifting from being like an insurance agent into full-time fitness in that moment, what kind of direction would you give yourself to help on the journey?

Doris Thews (20:51)
Go bigger, go harder, go faster, believe in yourself.

not going to come to you. Like, like you're never going to be ready. You're never going to be perfect. I think what really helped me and even in probably like the biggest part of my career, you would have thought I was on fire and I would have been if I would have been at a photo shoot, I'd like, oh, no, no, you go first. No, no, no. Like I was like, no, they're younger. They're cuter. It's a different look. Like I was I was I did a lot of work for a lot of people and I don't regret it because you got to pay your dues. But I left a lot of money on the table, a lot of money on the table. And one day I think

they say when you turn 50, that's when you make the most money. That's the most, you will make the most money in your 50s. I have a client who's like very wealthy and he's like Doris, your age, once you turn 50, you'll make the most money. And I took that very seriously. And all of a sudden I started getting these opportunities out of him like, like why not? And I remember signing a contract and then having another contract come in and it was even more money and it was just ridiculous terms. And I looked at my husband and I said,

you know, I can't even spell and they know it too. And I signed it and we laughed our asses off. Oops, sorry. We laughed our buns off. know, just fake it to make it and just go for it. I wish that I, like everything I know, I'm glad I invested in people. I'm glad I learned from people. Cause you gotta pay your dues. Like new folks, you're not just gonna get there. You gotta pay your dues, serve and learn. But I left a lot of money on the table and a lot of opportunity on the table. Cause I just didn't think I was just quite ready.

just with and it's very comfortable supporting somebody else. It's very comfortable to be on the A team and not really be a starter. Like, it's very comfortable and I like it. But if you really want to reach your full potential or figure out your full potential, you got to be, hey, put me in coach. I'm ready to pitch. I'm ready to be the quarterback. I'm ready to be your CEO. Let's go. Whether you are ready or not.

Kimberly/terry (22:44)
Love that. Wow. Whether you're ready or not. There you go. Put me in coach. Love it. So right now, Mama D what are you focusing on now from a professional standpoint? What new projects? What new, ⁓ you know, just opportunities are you excited about most right now? So we can kind of share with the listener.

Doris Thews (23:07)
Can I circle back on that one as a mom, what I would tell myself as a mom? I would tell yourself that this is the hardest job you'll ever have.

Kimberly/terry (23:11)
Yeah!

Doris Thews (23:16)
the one you'll care the most about, you'll lose the most sleep over, you'll second guess yourself. But the end of the day is your kids are resilient. If they're not resilient, that's not good parenting. You need, every kid has a story. My son was bullied, that's why he went to OSHA. Every kid has a story. Every kid has a struggle. You know, I went through a divorce. There's these stories that you just, go through and I think it's never gonna be right. And at the end of the day, they're gonna get through it. And when they're adults, they'll figure it out and you'll figure it out.

Kimberly/terry (23:26)
Hmm.

Doris Thews (23:46)
and you tell them, did my best and I hope you do your best too, but give them that grace. I would say as a parent, do your best and give yourself grace. Don't beat yourself up.

Kimberly/terry (23:58)
Beautiful. Love it.

Doris Thews (24:00)
What am I up to?

So I'm consulting right now. really, I'm blessed. I'm in a part of my career where I did this by design that when COVID hit, I stepped away from a big corporate job and I just started consulting. So I worked with Mayweather Boxing and Fitness. Terry was on my app. I developed the app. ⁓ It was so easy. She made me like good, Thank you. ⁓ So I worked on that. And then I worked with other big companies. put together like hit and boxing programs for.

Kimberly/terry (24:15)
Yeah, yeah. Thank you for the opportunity.

Doris Thews (24:28)
big chains and then I also stepped in in a VP role and helped with Mayweather Boxing and Fitness along the way consulting with Core Health and Fitness, speaking engagements and I kind of like that gig, know, project, project, project because I sat down I said where am I most effective, where am I most happy and along the way my mom was aging so my mom is

Kimberly/terry (24:48)
Hmm.

Doris Thews (24:49)
six and I knew she started to need some assistance and some help and I actually left a big position, a big consulting, six-figure consulting gig because they really needed me on Wednesdays. said well if I have to decide between my mom and you it's pretty easy. Peace. So I purposely have consulting projects that are very loose to the hours that I request. So right now I'm working on a great contract as a vice president to bring

Kimberly/terry (25:04)
Yeah.

Doris Thews (25:17)
CoverMe, which is an app into the United States. And it's a dual-sided fitness app. And what that means is for instructors, you have an app. Think about the Uber of fitness. So when you call an Uber, you don't like, or call a taxi, you don't get on a phone and ringy dingy and get a taxi. You go on your phone, boom. Think about if you were an instructor, you could have a phone and in the app had your resume, all your information, and ping, you could pick up a class to sub. Yes or no, go. Yes or no, go.

And what we have found, this is big in the UK, that instructors are making about $800 more a month. So for me, I always wanted to make the fitness industry help people make money. I lecture on negotiations all the time. I lecture on business development. And I mentor a lot of people, especially on contract negotiations. But it's an opportunity for instructors to pick up classes and to have more visibility. And they can name their rates. What? Then for the venue, for the clubs,

Kimberly/terry (25:51)
Wow.

Doris Thews (26:13)
They have the ability to have access to instructors who are well vetted, well certified, well qualified, easy interaction. I I don't know. I teach at three different locations and there's so many different Facebook groups and email chains. And then someone says, happy birthday. I had a dog. And then you're like, what are you talking about? Like so lost. So for venues, it's a really great opportunity to communicate and to interact. It's super high tech. I think it's going to change the game of fitness because

Kimberly/terry (26:31)
You

Doris Thews (26:41)
I'm speaking idea, this is a gig economy. People are doing gigs, they're working when they wanna work, how they wanna work. Next generation doesn't talk on the phone, they don't do emails, they might text. Just app, app, app, quick and out, control your own schedule, be flexible. So I'm working with them. Core Health and Fitness, they still present for Core Health and Fitness and I also do special projects for them, which is lovely. Innovation stuff for them and marketing shoots. And then a couple NDA projects I can't speak to, but I just do a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

keeps me out of trouble and I have my mama on Wednesdays and I'm able to take care of family members. And on Thursdays, my favorite day, I actually work at the food bank with my husband in Laguna Beach. So I love being here meeting people. What a blessing to do that. So I've worked my career to get to this point and I'm very grateful.

Kimberly/terry (27:13)
Nice.

Aww, yay.

You're thriving. I love it. And how did she get to the point where she's thriving? She spent decades helping other people thrive. Serving. I love that. That's cool. Was there anything else that you would like to share just from your life experience as? From your heart. Yeah, from your heart, from your soul. As a mompreneur, what other wisdom when you want to impart?

Doris Thews (27:56)
Well, I think you have to have strategy. I think ⁓ you really need to be focused and you have to have strategy. Like, I knew I wanted to be a presenter, but I knew my son was in junior high, which was a critical time.

So I knew I could do this if I only stay in the Western United States. Okay, he's in high school. I can do this. And now I could do all the United States. he's going to college? Mama has made money. Let's go international. Like I knew all the steps I had to take. So the way I plan, the way I structure things, it's like running a marathon, which I've ran a ton. You say, here's the race, and you start working backwards. If I want to have this business so I can call it quits at three o'clock when my son comes home, in the next 10 years,

need to do this, this, this, this, and this. You can't just say, want to teach because it's fun. I want to be a presenter because that looks glamorous. It's not. You I want to do programming. No one's going to follow it. You you need to figure out why you're doing what you're doing. You got to find that passion and why you do it.

Kimberly/terry (28:48)
No ⁓

purpose.

Doris Thews (28:59)
and how

it works. So here's an example with CoverMe 20 hours a week. What am I working on? I'm working on something that's going to lift the fitness instructor up. It's going to help venues cut down their time and have perfect certifications and those, God bless those managers. They don't have to make phone calls anymore. They actually work on the business and develop their staff. But I get to do this. Why? Because my mom needs me and I need to have that 20 hours of flexibility. So it's this and this and it's

Kimberly/terry (29:16)
you

Doris Thews (29:28)
Every time I make a decision, it the right thing? Is it the right time? Is it the right move? If you don't hit those three, peace out Girl Scout. I also have four priorities that are always, always my faith, my family, my fitness and my fellowship. They have to hit those priorities. I also have a word for the year that I'm really focused on and I have scripture as well, but you got to be really intentional because time flies. Like the fact that, know, Tawny's out of school, Kimberly, your son's almost in high school.

Kimberly/terry (29:58)
Just stop it, Doris. He's 12, but if you look at him, you would think he's He's like 17. Seriously.

Doris Thews (30:00)
Yeah, because that's...

looks like he's 22.

Yeah, but he was just in a baby carriage at Empower like, days ago. So, the point is this is you need to be present and that doesn't mean that you're home 724. It means when you're home, you're home. And when your kids say, mom, like you shut everything down. You be fully present. Even if it's this much, that's better than kind of being around.

Kimberly/terry (30:08)
I know.

Yeah, intention.

You're brilliant, no doubt about it.

Beautiful. Great policy to live by. And we appreciate that you live by it. This is living proof. Right? Yeah. I think we surround ourselves with good people in general. Doris, we can't tell you how much we appreciate you being here. You always keep it real. Remind us that power and grace coexist. You are the shining example of that. ⁓

have absolutely redefined what's possible for women in the fitness industry. So thank you so much for sharing your insights today. No doubt they will ripple out to our listeners and hopefully beyond. So listeners out there, or if you're watching on YouTube, if this inspired you and you know it will inspire others, please do share this episode. Let other people get some benefit from it for sure. Yes. And we're so grateful for your leadership, your light. ⁓

just the energy that you consistently have brought since the day that I met you. And I'm sure well before that, but you've stayed consistent like the day. And so we love that. We love you. And so with that, please share this episode with anybody and everybody that you feel can be inspired. I'm sure everybody can. ⁓ Easily. And make sure to leave.

comments, make sure to leave reviews. We love hearing those as well. And in the comments, be sure to let us know what you got most out of today's episode with Doris Thews, aka Mama D. So that wraps up episode number 36. I'm Terry Shorter. Kimberly Springwick. And we're thank you so much. And we always as always, we encourage you to make it a great day. And why? Because it is a great day to have. Yes, it is. Take care. Peace out.