38: Moms Who Inspire: Meet Sara Kooperman!

In this powerful episode of Group X Appeal, Kimberly Spreen-Glick and Terry Shorter welcome health and fitness industry trailblazer Sara Kooperman for an honest conversation about the real challenges of working motherhood. Sara shares her revolutionary approach to being a mompreneur, revealing how she built a fitness empire while raising 4 independent, self-sufficient children. If you're tired of the perfect mom narrative and ready for real talk about balancing ambition with family life, this episode is your roadmap to thriving.

What You'll Learn:

• ✅ Why "guilt management" matters more than time management for working parents
• ✅ How to raise independent children who thrive while you pursue your career goals
• ✅ The art of helping your kids understand your purpose
• ✅ The importance of quality time over quantity time 
• ✅ How to embrace failure as an essential part of entrepreneurial success

Perfect for entrepreneurial parents, fitness professionals, and anyone seeking permission to pursue their dreams while raising amazing humans. Sara's no-nonsense wisdom proves that you don't have to choose between being a great parent and building the career you love.

Check out Sara's amazing book, Fit For Business: An unapologetic look at the life of a witty fitness entrepreneur - Find it HERE on Amazon.

Learn more about SCW Fitness continuing education and certifications @ www.scwfit.com and learn more about Sara at https://sarakooperman.com/.

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

Today on Group X Appeal, we are honored to continue our Mother's Day month celebration inspired by mothers by welcoming a true legend and trailblazer in the fitness industry, my friend, our friend, Sara Kooperman. Sarah is the founder and CEO of SCW Fitness Education, a creator of the Mania Fitness Conventions, a sought after keynote speaker, and a fierce advocate for fitness professionals like us worldwide. Her events and certifications have educated over 300,000 pros.

and shape the careers of some of the industry's most recognized names. I don't know how recognized I am, but I'm certainly one of those names. Behind her powerhouse resume is something even more inspiring. Yeah, Sara is a dedicated mother of four sons, proving that every single day that you can raise a family and build an empire. Her energy is contagious. Her insight is next level and her heart for this industry is undeniable. So whether you're a working mom, a fit

or just someone looking for a dose of wisdom and motivation, this episode is for you. Let's dive in.

Kimberly/terry (01:40)
Hey, welcome back to Group X Appeal. Kimberly Spreen-Glick here with Terry Shorter. We're so glad you joined us today because we have a very, very special conversation we're having with a very special human being. Yes, indeed. Thank you for joining us, Ms. Sarah Kooperman. How are you doing today? Yeah, so glad you're here. I love it. I love it.

Sara Kooperman (01:55)
Great to be here. Right when we record, the dog

goes crazy.

Kimberly/terry (02:04)
That's the world we live in now. That's the backup. You have to have some backup. Yeah. Now if you could just have a cat walk across your desk, it'd be perfect. Maybe we should do that on our end. So for those of you who have not... Oh, yay! See, this is about family. This episode's about family. So perfect timing. We pride ourselves on being raw and authentic. And there I love it.

Sara Kooperman (02:18)
Here he

Yeah.

Kimberly/terry (02:32)
So those of you who may not have crossed paths with Sarah Cooperman, she is, as we mentioned in the intro, just an icon, a trailblazer in the health and fitness industry through not only programming, education, and then little side note, Sarah is the one who gave me my first opportunity to be an educator in the industry at a fitness conference, San Francisco, about 117 years ago. I think was, I it was like 22, 23 years ago.

And I'll never forget, I lived in Columbus, Ohio, and I was going to California for the first time ever. And so I packed a suitcase filled with shorts and tank tops for March in San Francisco. I packed one sweatshirt because I thought, you know, they might have some air conditioning on in the hotel, gets, you know, hot out there. And I got there, it was freezing. It was colder in San Francisco than it was in Columbus, Ohio. I wore that sweatshirt from the time I got off the plane till...

at the end, the sweatshirt could have walked on the plane by itself, I'm pretty sure. But it was one of the best weekends of my life. And it opened up the door for me to do something that I have loved beyond words, and that is educating in our industry. So thank you for that. Yes, yes. We really appreciate you. And now we get to sit here and have a conversation about the fact that you are not only a legend in our industry, who we love, adore and respect, but you're also a mom.

Sara Kooperman (03:31)
you

Kimberly/terry (03:57)
And not just like a mom to a child like a mom to a you know, brood of men Basically a soccer team Right So we've got a handful of questions for you. I'm gonna throw the first one So now we live in a world today where it's it's not uncommon at all Of course for women to become mothers work outside the family and others like yourself Sarah even have chosen to take more of an entrepreneurial route

Sara Kooperman (04:04)
An infield. I'm the mother to an infield.

Kimberly/terry (04:25)
So the question is, what inspired you to start your own business while at the same time raising a family?

Sara Kooperman (04:31)
Well, I feel like in some respects, I never had a choice. It's kind of who I am, how I was raised. I was very close with my dad. My dad was an entrepreneur and used to distribute, manufacture and distribute and actually design men's trousers. So I grew up in a household that you...

you worked and you could be an entrepreneur and it could be part of your family, because he worked with his father. So it was something pretty easy for me to fall into and also was something I really liked. Like I know it sounds stupid, but I had a lemonade stand and I did really well with my lemonade stand. Just the other day I was walking the dog.

Kimberly/terry (05:12)
Nice.

I bet you did.

Sara Kooperman (05:24)
And I saw this little girl who had a lemonade stand. And I looked at her and she said, you want the lemonade? It's a dollar. And I was like, I don't carry any money. People don't carry any money. Go talk to your mom and open a Venmo. And I realized I am giving advice to an eight year old. Okay, like what are you doing, Sarah? But it's like, I don't know.

Kimberly/terry (05:42)
Yeah.

That's great advice.

Sara Kooperman (05:49)
But you think about it. mean, what are you gonna do? I can't tell her to create a QR code. That was the first thing that popped up. But yeah, I like, I just think about things. I think about how to do it differently, how to do it better. How can we improve? It's just kind of ingrained.

Kimberly/terry (05:51)
Yeah.

Right. Right. So it's in your blood.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

It's interesting that you say it the way you just said it, because in all of the years I've experienced, you know, teaching with SCW fitness, one of the things you hear all the time from the attendees, from the staff members, even the nomads, the ones that have been around for a long time and go city to city is how organized and efficient everything is and compared to other conferences, no offense to the other conferences. We love them too, but it just stays on the cutting edge.

know, SCW has always stayed on the cutting edge and been the most efficient as far as people feeling like things are run smoothly, organized now. know Brian doesn't always feel that way in the background. I know.

Sara Kooperman (06:47)
Well, the funny thing was we started using QR codes before the pandemic, before they were in restaurants, before. We started doing, because we love to, and maybe it's all me, but we love to try something new. Like the first time ⁓ that I had seen Zoom, I had a friend's son come and visit and he had 24 hours or less.

Kimberly/terry (06:53)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Sure.

Sara Kooperman (07:16)
22 hours in the Chicago area. I don't know if anybody knows this, but if you make a stop on an airline less than 24 hours, it's not considered a holdover, a second flight. It's within that flight. So this guy was really cool about this stuff. My friends, he came to visit. We went down to the Bean and they had this special exhibit on Zoom. And I was like.

Kimberly/terry (07:33)
Working it.

Hmm.

Sara Kooperman (07:43)
we're gonna do that with our certification. We're gonna zoom our certification. And this was 2019 and my staff said, let's just wait until 2020. Let's see if we can get this all perfected and let's get this. And the one thing I learned, I also think you've gotta try it before it's perfect because you know you're gonna change it and you're gonna improve it and make mistakes. So just make the mistakes and just get the heck over it.

Kimberly/terry (07:55)
you

Sure, it'll evolve. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (08:12)
say you're sorry and move on. And luckily

it worked. The first time we did it was October in 2019. And then we did it again in November and then we did it in February and then the pandemic hit. So we were like, ⁓ that was Zoom. But you got it, know, QR codes. That was another thing. It's like, then that was a nightmare trying to teach people how to use the QR code. Everybody's taking a picture on their phone. You know, take a picture.

Kimberly/terry (08:24)
You're warmed up. You're ready. Yeah. Nice.

Right, right. So

cute. I remember that. So with with staying cutting edge, Sarah, you know, I've had the chance to experience, ⁓ you know, the way that you stayed ahead of the curve through our program called RIPT that you embraced at one of the other conventions. And you invited us to be a part of your tour, which we are so thankful for.

You know, we had a chance to experience it firsthand, you know, how you, like Kimberly was saying, how your team was very organized, the communication was second to none. ⁓ The way that you, you know, your entire team worked with not just the participants, ⁓ not just the presenters, but the vendors as well, the sponsors as well. ⁓ You treat, you you treated everybody extremely well. We felt very well taken care of, you know, and I got to through that process and through that experience.

Not only got to see the efficiencies again on the front end. I know in the back and it may not have felt that way Right, but What would you say were some of the biggest challenges that you faced? You know as a working mom in the fitness industry and how did you what was some of the best ways that you overcame them?

Sara Kooperman (09:41)
you

I, you know, everybody talks about multitask, multitask. when your mom, it's not even a word, it's a lifestyle. You know, you just, you just have to do it. So I actually would bring my kids to the conference because yeah, you just have to do it. They have to see what you do. I want them to understand that mommy is not just having a phone call in the car and like giving them the, if you don't shut up now.

Kimberly/terry (10:00)
Mm-hmm.

Sure.

Sounds familiar.

Right.

Sara Kooperman (10:28)
you know, that or

the grip on the thigh. It's really, it's very professional and endearing. You know, I'm sure my kids are going to a therapist right now. But when, if you bring them to the show, they see what you do. And I'll never forget Sammy, my oldest, who's now 34, just met his girlfriend this morning. Very excited. Yeah, on FaceTime. Yeah, she's adorable. And

Kimberly/terry (10:33)
Yes.

Huh.

we'll catch up on that later.

Sara Kooperman (10:55)
But so with Sammy, I brought him to the show and he's walking around. It was actually, I can't, it was one of the East Coast shows. And he's walking around and he goes, mom, do all these people work for you? And I looked at him and said, honey, I work for all these people. ⁓ But it was that, that helps for them to actually see what you do and be involved. And actually now my youngest Max, who's

Kimberly/terry (11:12)
That's right.

Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (11:23)
28 years old is working with me. And he came to the last show and it's really good. I'm like, buddy, you unload the truck, you load the truck. I want you to inventory all the AV stuff. It's work and it's kind of fun. mean, it's just kind of fun because they see what you do and it also...

Kimberly/terry (11:28)
Really?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, when you can make it.

Sara Kooperman (11:52)
It teaches them a work ethic. All my kids have it. And it's nice to see, and I think Kimberly, I'm sharing this with you, because I kind of live vicariously seeing your son grow up. It's kind of But they do follow you and they see what you do. And our goal as parents, and this is what I always tell women and men who are raising,

Kimberly/terry (11:54)
⁓ Definitely.

Sara Kooperman (12:22)
children is your goal as parents is to create independent, self-sufficient, confident adults. That's your goal. Like today, I was in the grocery store and I said, how, I looked at a little girl and I said, how old are you? And the mother answers. And I was like, no, I'm not talking to you. This is not about you. know, put the Louis Vuitton purse away.

Kimberly/terry (12:31)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

No.

Mmm.

Sara Kooperman (12:51)
I want

to talk to your daughter. You know what I mean? Having them be independent. I think it's really key. I remember dropping, I think it was Max off. I was running from hockey rink to hockey rink to hockey rink. It's my own fault I was a skater growing up. Not like a twirly skater, but just I skated all winter. It was a way to frankly probably get away from my mother.

Kimberly/terry (12:54)
Absolutely.

Hmm

huh.

No.

Sara Kooperman (13:19)
But

I skated, so my kids all, skated. Chicago, what else are you gonna do with them in the winter? God, get out of my house. But they all skated and I remember bringing them to the rink and I'm running from rink to rink and I literally dropped off Max. He was the last one, the youngest. The other three were all in wherever northern suburb they were supposed to be in at the rink.

Kimberly/terry (13:24)
Good point.

Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (13:48)
Drop Max off and one of the other mothers is walking in with her child and she begins tying his skates. And I'm like, I don't do that. I have to drop him off and go. You have to learn to tie your own skates. So I bent down because I wanna be a good mom. I bent down to tie the skates. Max looked at me like I was out of my freaking mind.

Kimberly/terry (14:08)
Mm.

I got this mom. I got this.

Sara Kooperman (14:17)
Hacker, you know, what are you doing? I can do it myself in this little voice, right? I can do it myself. And he could because he had to, you know? And the other boy looked at his mother and said, I can do it by myself. And he didn't really know how to do it. So he's looking at Max and trying to get his skates. And I'm just looking at her like, Mike, tie some skates. But at the beginning, I felt like a loser.

Kimberly/terry (14:21)
Mmm. Mmm.

You empowered him.

⁓ wow.

hahahaha

Sara Kooperman (14:46)
You know, like I didn't pay enough attention to my kids or I didn't sacrifice enough or put them ahead of everything, you know.

Kimberly/terry (14:46)
Uh-uh. Hmm.

Interesting.

Sure. And yet by doing it exactly as you did, you have in fact raised very independent, competent, adults. Empowered of it. Yeah, adults. Yeah.

Sara Kooperman (15:06)
Yeah, and articulate. They

had to learn how to talk to adults and be respectful and feel confident in front of strangers and introducing themselves and putting their hand out and shaking hands and that stuff's important.

Kimberly/terry (15:12)
Sure.

Gentlemen, gentlemen. Yeah. Good for you. Yeah.

Sara Kooperman (15:26)
Yeah,

if you don't see him in my backyard. my God. One year we were out in town and the nanny has him in the backyard. And I hear this story about how they had BB guns and were trying to shoot the squirrels. And I'm like, I will strangle you. Like, ugh.

Kimberly/terry (15:32)
It's a different story.

no. That's that's a boy thing. Yeah. my.

Yeah, that's a boy thing. I'm one of three boys. So it's a very familiar story. I had four brothers and I don't remember the squirrels being at risk. It was they had BB guns, but they they were at risk from each other. yeah. I remember that. There's that. So you and I do remember you bringing the boys to the events. And of course, they had their, you know, athletics and such. But outside of that.

What has your support system looked like? Like how important has the community both in business and in motherhood been to help you manage some form of alignment there?

Sara Kooperman (16:24)
Well, I'm sure you and Terry feel the same way. When you go to a convention, you're with like-minded individuals. They become your family because they understand that you're just weird. We're just weird. We are. And it's like the willingness to leave your household, the desire to really give.

Kimberly/terry (16:32)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

We're our own special breed.

Hmm.

Sara Kooperman (16:53)
I went, and we all feel this way, we do a workshop and I get more out of the workshop giving it, even if I'd given it 10 times before. I learned something new. I think about something new. It helps you grow. So I think a lot of my support system are just my sisters and brothers that are fellow presenters.

Kimberly/terry (17:19)
Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (17:22)
And you find those people where actually I just had a phone call this morning with Ann Gilbert and we just like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, talking about what new things are going on in the industry. What was the convention like? what new programming, what new equipment, you know? Yeah, it's, I really do feel like they're kind of my savers. And the other person, of course I lucked out. had.

Kimberly/terry (17:27)
Aww. I love it.

That's awesome.

Mm.

Sara Kooperman (17:51)
a great dad who was ⁓ very much of a mentor who not so much like the work ethic on how to do things, but teaching me to be able to stand up and talk for myself. I remember going to a college interview and I wanted to go to this small school in Minnesota, McAllister College. I wanted to go there so bad because they had a great study abroad program that I wanted to do. And I'm there in the interview.

Kimberly/terry (17:53)
Hmm.

Sara Kooperman (18:20)
And they're asking me questions and they're like looking at my dad and my dad looks at me goes SJ because that's my nickname. real name is Sarah Jane. ⁓ SJ you have to answer this. You have to tell them why they need to have you at this school or they're never going to have you. mean in the interviewers right there. And my dad told me and I said, you know you need to have me. I was the choreographer, the student show. I work hard. I got straight A's.

Kimberly/terry (18:38)
Wow.

Sara Kooperman (18:50)
taught me to talk for myself. And then luckily when I fell in love with my law school boyfriend, who is now my husband of what, 38 years? Yeah, we've been together, if my husband says too long, 43 years. But you find somebody that really supports you and makes you the best you. And that's my husband.

Kimberly/terry (18:53)
Yeah.

Wow. Shout out to Al.

That's huge.

Sara Kooperman (19:20)
you know, quandary, what do I do? Because business is hard. It's not, there's not always, there's not a black and white. It's not like here's the decision 99 % of the way you're thinking is correct and 1 % is wrong. If you're the, I always call it the 51 % solution. Like you could kind of go either way and you, and

Kimberly/terry (19:29)
Hmm.

⁓ wow.

Sara Kooperman (19:50)
If the 99 and the 1%, your whole staff can figure that stuff out, right? They can figure it out. That's easy. They come to you when it's either you're going to completely lose your shirt and go bankrupt, or you're going to knock it out of the park, you know? You've to figure out that 1 % thing. And I can rely on looking at my husband, and he asks me the right questions. And I make...

Kimberly/terry (19:54)
Easy.

Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (20:18)
the best decision I can at the time. So those, yeah, yeah.

Kimberly/terry (20:21)
That's great. You're rock. Yeah, and

of course I was been at the events as well. Mm-hmm Great support system

Sara Kooperman (20:26)
Yeah. Yeah. I'm like,

yeah, I went and asked him, we used to co-present on legal issues. And we literally would start going like disagreeing with each other. No, you can't, he says, just put up a sign and tell those people they cannot swing the hand weights in that group class. And I would look at him and say, these students, you know, they're not going to listen to you.

Kimberly/terry (20:36)
yeah, yeah.

my goodness.

Sara Kooperman (20:56)
So how are we gonna handle this? no, they'll have to listen. I'm like, no, they're not second graders, they're adults and they don't listen anyway and la la la and I realized, ⁓ God, it's like a comedy show, like a bad.

Kimberly/terry (21:14)
Well, yeah your support system sounds amazing all the way going back to your father Mmm, just give you a really strong foundation. So I get it. I get it now Sarah It all comes together it all makes sense Well, you know many of our listeners they struggle perhaps with some mom guilt or some burnout, especially those who are

Sara Kooperman (21:28)
you

Kimberly/terry (21:37)
going to conventions, going to conferences, burning the midnight oil, answering emails late at night or early in the morning on their phones, answering text messages, right? What advice would you give to women trying to prioritize their health and their dreams while caring for their families?

Sara Kooperman (21:48)
Ha

I to, I actually for 12 years, I sold fitness equipment on QVC. Yeah, bought us a station wagon at one point, bought us a minivan at another point. Never got to the SUV, I quit before. ⁓ But I always used to feel so guilty because I get like these last minute calls, you're on air.

Kimberly/terry (22:06)
That's right.

Hahaha!

Yeah.

Sara Kooperman (22:26)
They started every six weeks and then it went to every four weeks. And then it was like every other week they wanted me to go and be on air and sell a total gym and a glider and a ad machine and la la la, all these different things. And I used to feel so guilty. And then the worst thing is you come back from being on air and I would still be wearing like the makeup, you know? And so you look like this hooker hockey muck, you know?

Kimberly/terry (22:49)
Mm-hmm.

Hooker

hockey mom. Can we make that a tag? That should be a t-shirt. Hooker hockey mom. T-shirts, yes, t-shirts.

Sara Kooperman (22:56)
Show it up at the hockey rink and you got your.

Thank you, I'm glad I said that out loud. All right, so I got my wheelie bag, I show up and I realized these women like hate me because they're wearing sweater sets and I'm like running around and doing stuff. I have always believed it's not time management, it's guilt management.

Kimberly/terry (23:12)
⁓ no.

Mm-hmm.

Mmm, wow.

Sara Kooperman (23:27)
And

I remember one time specifically, Sammy was little and Al had him for the whole weekend. It was really, you know, here I am working and ⁓ I call him and it's like Saturday morning. I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, we're doing the usual. I'm like, this kid is two years old. What is the usual? And they go out for breakfast and Sammy got the, you know, like the funny papers, the cartoons, cause that's.

we read papers, wasn't an iPad with a movie on it, you lucky moms. It was like you actually had to give a coloring book or anyway, he was tearing up. He was tearing up the cartoons. That's what he did. He would tear the paper. That's what they would do. But I came back on Sunday and we were supposed to go to dinner at a friend's house. And so we went to dinner at their house.

Kimberly/terry (23:58)
Right?

Great.

The usual.

Sara Kooperman (24:24)
and Sam tripped and fell and banged his head and came running over to Al instead of running over to me. Usually they run to mom. It's just, mean, Terry, you know, it's just kinda, it kinda is what happens. He ran to Al because he'd been with Al the past couple of days. And the lady looks, she goes, you must feel horrible. And of course I felt horrible. You rage.

Kimberly/terry (24:35)
Mama, yeah.

And thanks for bringing it

up.

Sara Kooperman (24:54)
You know,

of course I felt bad. Sorry.

Kimberly/terry (24:59)
Why

would she draw attention to that? That's mean. ⁓

Sara Kooperman (25:01)
because they're mean and I

was in better shape than she was, because she was whatever. I can talk about that because I'm not catty. All right, anyway, so she's like, you must feel so bad. And I looked, I said, no, I'm very proud that my husband has such a great relationship with his dog. And now of course we left the house and in the car ride home, I'm crying because I'm a terrible mother and I feel

Kimberly/terry (25:06)
That's what it was.

Yeah. ⁓

Hmm

Sara Kooperman (25:30)
horribly guilty and my husband's like, no, it's fine. He's fine. I'm fine. We're fine. You know, but you have those moments and you do feel guilty and people look at you like, they'll, women will say to you, I don't know if they still do it as much now. They'll say, don't you feel bad? Don't you miss your family? And you just have to take that deep breath.

Kimberly/terry (25:39)
Aww.

Sure, sure.

They do, they still do.

Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (26:01)
you know, and you have to say, no, my child is independent, self-sufficient, and I'm doing my job as a parent. And I'm going to tell for the ladies listening to this, at least. I've had friends that were full-time moms, you know, stay home, always there. And my kids are happier, more successful in relationships.

Kimberly/terry (26:11)
Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (26:31)
It's not bad. It's they will be fine. They will grow up to be strong and independent. And the time I spent with them was very focused. yeah, yeah, yeah. Paying attention. Yeah. The best thing was I was the only mom that would go and pick them up after hockey practice. after, you know, boys, when they hit like

Kimberly/terry (26:33)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yes, I think that's huge. That is huge. Intentional, being intentional.

Sara Kooperman (27:00)
I'm gonna say 11 to 13 years old, they just, they grunt. That's all they do. They don't like talk. It's not like girls that never shut up. Well, you may get, yeah, maybe you will, maybe you won't, but they, you know, I always say they turn to the dark side and it's, and they grunt and they don't talk a lot. But if girls come over, the girls tell you everything. thank goodness.

Kimberly/terry (27:08)
Okay, we haven't gotten there yet. It's almost that Tyler's turning 13 this year. It's coming.

Sara Kooperman (27:30)
But dealing with that grunting is quite a challenge. But the only time they chatter is when they're coming home from hockey practice. I swear, they think you're, I was gonna say a taxi driver, it would be Uber driver right now. They pay no attention to you and they're talking and joking between themselves. And it's like, when they get older, that age, you're picking them up at 9.30.

Kimberly/terry (27:47)
Right.

⁓ yeah.

Sara Kooperman (27:59)
10, 10.30 at night after that, you they're the last group on the ice. So I could, I could hear, you know, what they were doing, what was going on because I think all the moms were asleep and I was probably struggling to do emails in the car, you know, waiting for them. For me, it was on a yeah, only a Blackberry. Well, you know, you wait outside the rink for them, so.

Kimberly/terry (28:00)
nighttime.

Mm-hmm.

Nice.

Only at red lights.

I remember my blackberry. I loved my blackberry. So good. I do. It was a phenomenal piece of technology. That's awesome. All right. So I have another question for you, Sarah. If you could go back to your younger self as a working mom, what, what direction or advice would you give you to help on the journey?

Sara Kooperman (28:30)
I miss it still.

Yeah, really well.

I would try to counsel myself not to cry in the car on the way home from the friend's house. ⁓ That, you know, to feel a little more anchored and a little more secure that working is okay. I did have an experience with one of my sons where he actually said to me, you know, I've had to deal with the fact that you weren't home and there every day after school.

Kimberly/terry (29:06)
Yeah.

Sara Kooperman (29:20)
And I looked at him and I was like, oh, poor you. You went to summer camp. You got to play hockey, which is not the most inexpensive sport in the world. Thank you very much. We went on ski vacations. If I wasn't at every student show, I would go to the rehearsals. So they...

Kimberly/terry (29:34)
No.

Sara Kooperman (29:49)
I would just, again, I would say they turn out okay. Try to control the guilt because you will survive and they will survive. ⁓

Kimberly/terry (30:01)
And

perhaps even be better for it. Thrive, yeah. Stronger.

Sara Kooperman (30:04)
Yeah, yeah,

I think so. ⁓ I'm trying to think of some other things that ⁓ I would do differently. ⁓

Kimberly/terry (30:08)
Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (30:23)
I actually might try not to work so late into the night and then have to wake up so early. Like I know now that those, and I got to say it, eight hours of sleep makes you a different person. Like you think you can squeak by with these things and the squeaking doesn't always pay off. And when you...

Kimberly/terry (30:45)
Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (30:50)
get so tired that you're like reading the same sentence three times. ⁓ You gotta put it down and you've gotta walk away from it. Yeah, yeah. And the only thing I didn't do that I wish I had done as a mom, I'm probably kinda like, you know, really evaluating this. A lot of my friends and my cousin does this as well. They will take one child at a time.

Kimberly/terry (31:03)
Get the rest. Get the rest, yeah.

Sara Kooperman (31:20)
on a vacation and spend that one child at a time on a vacation. Like you said, Kimberly, you're going to take your son to Paris. Because you're working full time. It's not like I can, I've got four. What am I going to do? I'll be gone a month. It's like, yeah, I can't take four weeks off. This is not Australia. Okay. I couldn't do it. So it was always this, this

Kimberly/terry (31:21)
⁓

Mm-hmm. Yep.

It's one a quarter.

Right.

Sara Kooperman (31:50)
you know, taking all these kids on a group vacation, but they were fun. We were always that family. We were always walking on an airplane and people are like, God, I hope they don't sit on us. And I had like, I had ⁓ stair steps. So when I went shopping, I would buy like six pairs of khaki pants, four that would fit.

Kimberly/terry (31:56)
Sure.

Sara Kooperman (32:19)
and two that were bigger. Or if I saw like little blue blazers were on sale, it was like four that would fit, they were on sale. So two that were bigger, you know? And I would dress them all the same when I was traveling. And it could be search and destroy. I could find which, you know, cause they all looked alike. I'd buy them these stupid little Hawaiian shirts that they would.

Kimberly/terry (32:21)
Awesome.

I love it. Planning, planning ahead.

No!

Like

a team. Yes, exactly. That was their uniform. Team uniform. I love it.

Sara Kooperman (32:50)
It was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but yeah, going

back. Try not to sweat sweat this small stuff. Don't feel guilty that you're not around 100 % of the time. It's not emotionally damaging them and frankly get over it. Your kids are going to be emotionally damaged anyway from some.

Kimberly/terry (33:10)
From something or some other person. Probably.

Sara Kooperman (33:13)
Yeah, yeah, just kind of

get over it. ⁓

Kimberly/terry (33:17)
Well, I love the term guilt management. That should be a hash hashtag. Guilt management. I've never heard it before, but it makes perfect sense. And it's another t-shirt. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. So Sarah, what are, well, first of all, is there anything else you'd love to share with our audience? And then in that as well, how can people kind of keep up with you and the great work that you do through SCW?

Sara Kooperman (33:28)
you

I did write a book. It's, don't know, do I have a copy hanging around here?

Kimberly/terry (33:51)
I didn't bring mine.

Sara Kooperman (33:52)
⁓ wait, I'll be back.

Kimberly/terry (33:55)
Okay.

Take your time. Take your time.

Sara Kooperman (33:58)
Here it is. It's business. Yeah. And it's, it's got a whole bunch of fun stories. It really is. It's kind of fun. And you, you have lessons in here. I haven't promoted it enough. I need to promote it more because it's also got like at the end, it's got like, like summary stuff. And then it's got questions that it's kind of like, I ask you like, what are some things?

Kimberly/terry (33:59)
That was fast. Fit for business. It's really good.

Yeah. It's very funny.

Mm-hmm.

Sara Kooperman (34:29)
And one of the things I want to share is you've got to fail nine times out of 10. You are going to fail nine times out of 10. And I think sometimes, I'm going to say this to women, sorry, Terry, but we don't get over it. You know, we fail once, oh, well, I'm never doing that again. No, you need to do it again. You need to do it again. You need to do it again. Buster, here.

Kimberly/terry (34:36)
Yeah.

Sara Kooperman (34:57)
And yeah, I know, I know. It's it's just stressing. There was a deer walking across the lawn and as a golden retriever is a real hunter. Yeah. The deer and the mailman. That's like, that's him. But being able to deal with failure is very important.

Kimberly/terry (35:01)
Eye buster.

Yeah. Yep.

Yeah, it's funny, I heard not too long ago that failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success. ⁓

Sara Kooperman (35:30)
That's interesting, that's great. Okay,

there is another t-shirt.

Kimberly/terry (35:34)
We're gonna have whole line. I mean, awesome.

Sara Kooperman (35:36)
Yeah, and that's

important because, you know, when we're in fitness, we work towards failure, right? That's the goal, that you're just exhausted and you got to...

Kimberly/terry (35:49)
Yeah, because we know

on the other side of it, we're going to be what stronger, stronger.

Sara Kooperman (35:53)
Right, right. ⁓ And people can find us at SCW, like Sarah's City Workout, scwfit.com. And I do have a website sarahcooperman.com. That's, yeah.

Kimberly/terry (36:10)
So we'll have all that in the show notes then as

well. you'll be able to find it below if you're listening or watching. Yes. And her book, by the way, as you're listening, Fit for Business, an unapologetic look at the life of a witty fitness entrepreneur can be found everywhere. You can get it on Amazon and get it in the next 24 hours if you order it today. Order it now. Order now. And we'll provide these bonuses. There'll be t-shirts, labels.

Sara Kooperman (36:34)
Noooo

Kimberly/terry (36:37)
It really is a great book. I remember when you first announced it and I ordered it on Amazon. It's really funny. You're hilarious actually. I already knew that about you. So many people see you as this entrepreneur, this business woman who's a leader and you're hilarious. And so I'm so glad that that comes through in the book and people are able to see that side of you. It's really awesome. For sure.

Sara Kooperman (37:01)
Well, that's very sweet. It's very, I like what I do. I like, yeah.

Kimberly/terry (37:05)
Yeah. And it shows. Especially.

Yeah, it shows. And, you know, we really appreciate you taking time today, Sarah. You as always, you brought the fire. You brought the truth, wisdom along the way. I can't wait to read your book. That's why I'm going to get it. So soon as we get off, you can't borrow mine. You got to get your. Yeah, I'll get my own. But really appreciate the real talk today, you know, in this conversation.

You you truly are a living example of what it means to to lead with courage to build with vision and to love with everything you've got. You know, I've seen it. I can still feel it today, even though we haven't seen it, seen one another for several years. But ⁓ love that you haven't changed that at all. Yeah, I just love that you as you share your story, it reminds us that being a mother isn't a detour on the path of success. It's a foundation.

And it just inspires us all to think bigger, to act bolder and to never forget our why. And as you said, you manage the guilt, guilt management. I'm with you. That really, that hit me when you said it. ⁓ So I just so appreciate those nuggets. We're always looking for as we're talking amongst ourselves or talking with a guest, we're looking for those nuggets and there's some pretty amazing nuggets in this conversation. So thank you for that. For sure. Nuggets, golden nuggets. nuggets.

Sara Kooperman (38:28)
Nuggets. I was

Kimberly/terry (38:32)
Not like chicken nuggets, right? It's like golden nuggets of wisdom.

Sara Kooperman (38:34)
thinking of those little brown nuggets that were boys. my gosh. Yeah.

Kimberly/terry (38:39)
Not those ones. Not those. ⁓

I love it. Well, we're so grateful to have had you with us today, Sarah. We know that our listeners are absolutely walking away with not only informed, but feeling informed, but definitely empowered and inspired. So thank you for all you do.

Sara Kooperman (38:45)
it's so funny.

Well, you guys,

putting this together and doing this are amazing. you've been in this industry so long and I just, I'm impressed with the two of you doing this and what you've done.

Kimberly/terry (39:02)
Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate

that. We're having fun. We said we're going to keep doing it as long as we're having fun. And now we're 37 episodes later. Yeah. We're still having fun. Absolutely. And you helped us have fun today. So thank you. Would not have, would not have been able to have a series like this without including you. Like I've looked up to you and you've, I've, I've called you a friend for many, years, but beyond that, just you.

Sara Kooperman (39:21)
around.

Thank you for, I'm honored that you included me. Thank you.

Kimberly/terry (39:40)
You've inspired me in ways that you don't know. so we can talk about that another time. But, but, ⁓

Sara Kooperman (39:46)
We will, we will catch up. I remember I

was so burned out. I can't remember. We were chatting and then I went into the bathroom and I was like, I am so burned out. I'm like too old for this. I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. And then this lady cornered me in the bathroom, took a selfie with me, started crying, said I changed her life and she loves these conferences. lives in, and you, you know how you leave, it's like that.

Kimberly/terry (40:02)
and

Hmm.

Mm.

Sara Kooperman (40:15)
Bathroom visit was made my whole conference. Who has somebody take a selfie with them in the bathroom? It's not your best look. ⁓ I know, you do that to me, Kimberly. We went to dinner and Terry, I'd love to have you back at the conference. Love it.

Kimberly/terry (40:26)
Only, only at SCW.

Thank you, you're sweet, you're

sweet. Making my comeback. We should go do something together. Let's do something. be fun. I'm in, I'm in. I love it. Well, fantastic. Well, thank you again, Sarah, for joining us. This is episode 38 and she crushed it as we expected and we hope you enjoyed it as a listener. We hope that you share this. Leave comments down below. Feel free to leave any reviews as well for Group X Appeal.

Sara Kooperman (40:42)
Yeah, baby. Yeah.

Kimberly/terry (41:03)
And of course, make sure that you get fit for business today on Amazon, written by Sarah Cooper, men, and you can visit her at sarahcooperman.com as well. ⁓ definitely SCW fit. So for any of you listening, if you are fitness professionals, you're looking for your consumer education or additional certification, SCW fit does conferences all across the U S and those of you who are enthusiasts, we know we have a lot of enthusiasts that are with us. ever thought about getting certified and joining?

Sara Kooperman (41:12)
you

Kimberly/terry (41:31)
Joining the realm of us fitness pros that love what we get to do. As crazy as crazy as weird people. ⁓ One of a kind. Then S.A.W. fit is a phenomenal pathway to get going. Fantastic. So that is it. Yeah. I'm Terry Shorter. I'm Kimberly Spreen-Glick and that's Sarah Cooper man. And we thank you so much. We encourage you to make it a great day. Because why? Because it's a great day to have. It is much love. Peace.