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October 1, 2024 14 mins

Ready to break free from fitness myths and discover a healthier, more empowering lifestyle? Join us as we sit down with Samantha and Erin, the dynamic duo behind Ohana Fitness and Wellness, a women’s only fitness studio in Shelby Township. Celebrating nine incredible years, they share their passion for creating a supportive space where women can focus on fitness, mindset, and nutrition. You'll learn about their inspiring journey and how they've transformed the traditional gym experience into a welcoming community haven.

Discover the truth behind common fitness misconceptions as Samantha and Erin debunk diet fads and extreme exercise regimes. They advocate for a return to simplicity—moving your body daily and nourishing it with wholesome foods. This episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips designed to help you embrace a healthier lifestyle with confidence and ease. Get ready to be inspired and motivated to take the first step towards a more balanced and fulfilling fitness journey!

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hi everyone and welcome to episode number 116 of
the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have with us goodneighbors Samantha and Aaron,
and they're with Ohana Fitnessand Wellness.
Good morning ladies.
How are you?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Morning.
Thank you so much for being aguest today.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Thank you for the chance.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
So let's start off by telling our listeners about
your business.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Awesome, so we are super excited to be here.
First and foremost, so thankyou for having us on.
We are a women's only fitnessstudio, located in Shelby
Township at 23, just north of 23Mile on Shainer, and we are
celebrating nine years inbusiness this year and we offer
all kinds of classes groupfitness classes, we do personal

(01:03):
training, training, nutrition,we even have an on-staff
physical therapist and basicallyanything under the realm of
women's health we have you takencare of.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
That is amazing.
So tell us about your journey.
How and why did you get intothis?

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Well, it initially started I mean her and I
together and transitioning intoespecially this new space we
always had passion for healthand fitness and we knew that
there was something missing.
There was something you know inthe fitness world that we knew
we needed to bring thingstogether.

(01:43):
So mindset, fitness andnutrition were like the trifecta
for us to really make an impactin our clients, and so we
started working on projectstogether and then, you know,
became business partners atOhana and it's just kind of
transformed into this beautifulfacility that we call our happy

(02:06):
place, that we invite peopleinto to work on their fitness.
But truly it's so much morethan just that and we do so many
different things to help womenand empower them and inspire
them to live a healthierlifestyle.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
Yeah, it was definitely something a passion
of ours to be able to help womenfeel more comfortable in the
fitness world too, Because whenwe started this back nine, 10
years ago, it looked a lotdifferent.
Right, there weren't a lot ofplaces for women to go except
like curves, which I don't evenknow if that exists anymore.
And, and you know, it wasreally tough because you'd go to
the gym and you'd have to getlooks from people and not know

(02:45):
what the heck you were doing,and it kind of just became this
thing where it was like, OK,maybe one day I'll work out.
Well, we wanted that one day tobe now, and so we wanted to
teach women you know, that itdoesn't have to be so scary and
give them a safe place to cometo to like just work on
themselves and refocus onthemselves.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
And I think you guys have done a very good job of
doing that and branding yourself.
Thank you, thank you.
So can you tell our listenersabout any myths or
misconceptions that you hearabout in your industry?

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Yeah, we were actually just talking about this
.
There are so many myths andmisconceptions out in the
fitness world, especiallyrelated to diet and exercise.
Right Every other day on thenews you hear something about
the newest way to lose weight ortake this and drop 20 pounds,
and it's hard as a consumer toknow what is actually true and

(03:42):
what you should do, especiallywith, like, constant evolving
science and so what we reallywant to just like.
We can give you one tip todayit's that the number one thing
that has always worked foreverand that will not go away is to
like consume in moderation andto get active each day, move

(04:03):
your body more and just breakingit back down to the basics,
like not obsessing so much aboutyou know, if you had too many
carbs that day or if yourworkout is intense enough or not
intense enough.
Like if we just go back to thebasics and we really realize,
like, move your body more andnourish yourself with good foods
.
That's the basis of it all.

(04:24):
That's that's what's going toget you feeling good, and any of
these fad diets that come andgo a lot of times we're not
really, they're not stemmed froma place of feeling good.
It's about getting results andthat's why they don't stick.
That's why those results don'tstick and you tend to have that
rebound waking because I mean,if I told you, lisa, to never
eat a single piece of pizza, orwhat's your favorite food?

(04:47):
Pizza, pizza's good.
Yes, yeah.
I told you for the rest of yourlife you could never have
another slice of pizza.
Like that's just not my jam,you know.
And same thing with Aaron Likehe loves tacos.
Like if I ever told her shedoesn't, she could never have
another taco again.
Like that would not be great.
And so it's really.
We try to just like teach womenthat it comes from a basis of
like okay, yes, we want to getresults, but we also want to

(05:10):
feel good doing it and we wantit to last.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
That is good to hear Because, like you said, the
health and wellness industry isa billion dollar industry and
there's always don't eat carbs,or eat good carbs.
Don't eat vegetables, eat thesevegetables.
Don't have this fruit, onlyhave this fruit, and you don't
know and as a consumer, you getvery confused.
So very good advice there,samantha, thank you.

(05:36):
So tell us, when your ladiesaren't working, what do you guys
like to do for fun?

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, I'm a mom of three, so my life is pretty much
consumed there, so being withthem.
I just picked up a new, a newold hobby of rollerblading, so I
do enjoy that and, honestly,like as as weird as it is my
true, like happy thing thatbrings me joy is working out and

(06:07):
moving.
So any style of fitness classesor anytime I can get away and
do something active, I do enjoythat.
Or I'm just on the couchdecompressing and spending time
with my kids.

Speaker 4 (06:21):
Erin, you missed one thing going to Target.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
That's it.
I'm trying to slow down myTarget trips, guys, so I wasn't
going to put that in there.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
When in doubt.
If you don't know where Erin'sat, she's at Target.
You can always find her there.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
Either doing a drive-up pickup something I
forgot at the grocery store orI'm wandering the store for my
next house project.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
There you go my next house project For me, I am a
soon to be mom.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
So I am 21 weeks pregnant and with my first Thank
you.
Yes, it's, it's so exciting forus.
So actually a lot of my timehas been consumed by getting the
house ready and building aregistry and all of that stuff.
But when I'm not doing that, meand my husband love going to
concerts.
That's like a big thing of ours, so we're constantly either at
a concert venue or looking forthe next one to go to.
I love being outside in natureand just doing anything outdoors

(07:19):
.
I've been trying to convinceAaron to go to a pool with me,
so if anyone's got their poolset up for us, yeah, truly, just
uh, spending more time outsideand enjoying, you know, live
music that is amazing too.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
And then I know I just watched on the news this
morning that somebody did a um atrip to england to go to the
taylor swift concert and it wasless expensive than buying
tickets to go to her nextconcert in Indiana.

Speaker 4 (07:52):
I have my gosh, and they got a little guest
appearance by Travis Kelsey.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
So right, Right oh my goodness.
So, ladies this is nextquestion is a little bit, I
guess, a little bit tougher here, but can you describe for us
one hardship or life challengethat you rose above and can now
say because of that challengethat you're better for it and
are stronger?

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Well, the first thing that comes to mind is
definitely COVID, especially fortalking to other business
owners that might be, you know,listening to this podcast, I
think that it was definitelysomething unexpected.
We could have never been, youknow, prepared for that.
And so in the fitness industry,if you didn't know, we actually

(08:40):
were mandated to close ourdoors for over six months, so we
couldn't run business as usuallike some other businesses
around us.
So we had to get super creativeas to how we could still
continue to serve our clients,because rent was still due,
credit card payments were stilldue, we still had staff that we

(09:01):
were hoping would continue toteach for us in these new ways
that we were creating, like athome workouts, and so we still
had payroll to to cover so these.
That was probably the hardestand still one of the things that
I think we're still movingthrough today because of, you
know, that time period.

(09:22):
It really slowed us down.
Number one and number two, wehad to find and create new ways
to make money and, obviously,serve our community.
That was, you know, needed us.
One of the best things I thinkwe learned from that was we can
get through hardships like that,especially those unexpected

(09:45):
things and we know we'reresourceful, we're creative and
we will find a way.
It's never easy to go throughsomething like that, but what it
definitely made our communitystronger and made us stronger
and more willing to thinkoutside the box.

(10:05):
Sam and I have always been, youknow, super creative beings and
we do love what we do, so we'reconstantly buzzing with ideas
and things we want to implementand all of that.
But normal day to day lifetends to get in the way.
So with COVID happening, itreally ignited us to like move
into a direction where we knewwe wanted to go.

(10:26):
We didn't know how to do it, sowe were kind of hesitant, but
like we didn't have anotheroption.
So specifically moving to likea virtual platform and now,
since COVID, we perfected it andso you can actually take
classes from home, even if youdon't live in the area or maybe
are hesitant to come to thestudio, that sort of thing we do

(10:49):
have that option as an onlinemember.
You can take classes while weare teaching, live and be with
us essentially in the studio,but from home that is great,
especially if you travel.
Yes, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
So what is one thing that you wish our listeners knew
about your business?

Speaker 4 (11:14):
So something that's really been on our mind lately
is that even as Aaron and I goand try out different fitness
classes and and go, you know, doour own types of workouts, it's
even hard for us to step footinto somebody else's studio
because it's nerve wracking,like it's scary to go and try

(11:34):
something out.
You don't know what to expect,you've never been there.
Are you going to, are you goingto be able to keep up?
Like all of these fears kind ofcreep in your head, and so many
women are scared to try out ourstudio because they feel that
same way.
And so we wanted to just remindevery woman that is like
contemplating, coming and tryingout or going and is streaming a

(11:56):
class live from home thateveryone starts off as a
beginner.
Everyone, no matter whatfitness level you're at or
anything, it all starts withyour first class.
And so, no matter how manytimes you've taken a fitness
class or where you've worked outat, like, you share that with
the other women in the room.
And every single time somebodywalks into the room at Ohana and

(12:19):
it's their first class, likethey're like wow, I didn't like,
it's welcoming, it's warming.
It's like you're walking intothis space where it's like oh
okay, people see me and theyunderstand me and it's okay to
be nervous and it's okay to behesitant.
But at the end of the day,that's why our instructors are
so great is they're able to helpwomen feel comfortable, no

(12:39):
matter what stage they're in.
So you don't need to be anexpert in fitness, you don't
need to be a certain age or acertain body type.
You will be able to keep up.
We provide modifications forevery single move we do.
We're very, very stern aboutthat to all of our instructors.
Like they are very educated andknow like, okay, if somebody
can't do something, you justoffer them a different

(13:01):
suggestion, because really, atthe end of the day, it's just
about moving our bodies more andgetting healthy together,
without any judgment around youknow, without people looking
down on you, because you can'tdo a push-up or something like
that.
Like it's not like that atOhana at all.
But you won't know thatdifference until you actually
step foot in the studio.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Makes total sense.
So our listeners are nowintrigued.
How can they learn more?
How can they contact you?
Where are you located?

Speaker 3 (13:32):
So, as she said, we're at north of 23 Mile on
Shainer and we're in a plazawith Russ's I think it's called
auto.
It just changed, ittransitioned out, and then the
Underground Dance Studio is onthe corner as well, and we you
can find us on our website atOhana fitness and wellnesscom.

(13:55):
We do have an Instagram.
It's at Ohana fitness andwellness, and then Facebook as
well.
We're very active on socialmedia, and then you can find us
personally too, if you have anyquestions.
I'm at Erin Saba with anunderscore on Instagram, and she
is at Samantha Dawson with anunderscore.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
Okay, perfect.
Well, thank you, ladies, forbeing a guest today on our Good
Neighbor podcast.

Speaker 3 (14:24):
Yes, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast,
Rochester.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast, Rochester
.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPRochestercom.
That's GNPRochestercom, or call248-988-9640.

(14:54):
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