March 9, 2021 • 25 mins
What do want to be when you grow up? It's a question we ask kids all the time, but for many of us, we might have several different jobs or careers in our lifetime. In this episode, April Hattori from Yes2Next joins me to talk about her career transition which took her from New York to Las Vegas and from the field of communications into personal training and fitness. In this interview we discuss:
- What guides you in making a career transition?
- How can you begin the process of changing careers without making it an all or nothing approach?
- How can people take calculated risks when they shift careers?
If you want to know more about Yes2Next, you can follow April and her mom on Youtube, Instagram, or through yes2next.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Colleen Stanevich (00:00):
Welcome to my intermission, a podcast
(00:02):
conversation about thetransitions and changes we face
in life, and the strategies andapproaches that support us in
taking the next step in ourjourney. I'm your host Colleen
Stanevich. Today I'm joined byApril hitori. She's the founder
of yes to next, a wellnesswebsite designed for seniors.
After a 30 year full time careerin journalism and
(00:22):
communications, she made a breakin 2019 to pursue her passion as
a certified personal trainer tohelp seniors find fitness and
joy in life. When the pandemichead, she shifted gears and
lunch yes to next, to helpseniors stay active at home. her
YouTube channel currently hasmore than 35,000 subscribers
with over 2 million views on herfitness videos. April, thanks so
(00:46):
much for joining me on the Myintermission podcast.
April Hattori (00:49):
I'm glad to be here. Thanks, Colleen.
Colleen Stanevich (00:52):
So let's kick it off by talking about some of
the big changes in your lifethat brought you to where you
are today.
April Hattori (00:58):
Yeah, well, mywhole life, I think, is a
series of transitions for sure.
And, you know, one of the recentones was me just transitioning
from, you know, careercommunications, sort of your
career in communications, and,you know, going into personal
training. So that that all comeswith a personal story to you
know, my mom was married 30years, my stepdad, he passed
(01:20):
away, and I had to make a, youknow, a tough decision, you
know, to, to leave New York andbe with her. And when I thought
about life, and what'simportant, you know, that was a
really important thing for me todo. And so I left New York, and
came here and really didn't knowwhat I was going to do in the
(01:42):
Las Vegas area. But you know,it's an opportunity for me to
think about my passions. Andalthough I love communications,
I've also wanted to follow thispassion to help people and help
improve their fitness. And sowhen I was in New York, I got my
certification and personaltraining. And I was training
people online and family membersand stuff like that. But by
(02:05):
moving here, I was like, Well,I'm just going to try this and
see what happens. So I apply fora job at a local gym, and I came
a personal trainer, and Ispecialize in senior fitness.
And it's just been an awesomeride.
Colleen Stanevich (02:20):
That's amazing. So I your transition
story, encapsulate a lot ofdifferent changes and
transitions. So there's ageographic transition that
happened, right, New York to LasVegas, that's not nothing. And
then that idea of reallyshifting gears and something you
said is really interesting to methat you said it's an
opportunity to think aboutpassions. And I think sometimes,
when people think about bigchanges that are happening to
(02:41):
them, they they focus a lot onthe grief and what they're
leaving behind, but that thatfocus on the opportunity
instead. And that new beginning,why did you choose to take that
perspective? Or where does thatcome from? Because I don't think
everyone steps into transitionthat way. Well, you know, what,
it's?
April Hattori (02:58):
That's a really good question. I, I honestly, I
think it goes back to just, youknow, how I've approached life
and how I was raised, you know,I mean, I can get into this
whole swirl, I'll just get intoI have to tell you, you know, my
mom single was single parent,divorced, when I was one years
old, had was raised raise threekids on her own, and, you know,
(03:19):
throughout life, you know, shealways just encouraged us to, to
see the positive and, and to gofor opportunities to better
ourselves and have a betterlife. You know, so, I, that
mindset has always been in me,you know. So I think that that's
something that's just part ofmy, my mindset. I'm an optimist
(03:42):
by nature. So, you know, Ialways try to see, you know,
the, the good things are goodpeople and good and
opportunities, even if you know,something bad happens, it opens
another door. And, you know, inmy life, you know, particularly
career wise, you know, whensomething one door closes,
another one opened up, and ithas led me to even better
(04:02):
places,
Colleen Stanevich (04:05):
Well, the other thing about your story
that strikes me is because youare going through so many
transitions at once. There's alot there to juggle too. So what
were some of the greatestchallenges for you as you made
the leap both in yourprofessional life and in your
geographic location? And and injust your relationship? Like
you're moving in closer to yourmom to? Yeah, yeah.
April Hattori (04:26):
Oh, you know, what, that that's there was just
so much I mean, just that thethere was a whole year of
transition, just just movinggeographically, right? I mean,
so much of the town's dealingwith you know, obviously my
stepdad passed away too. Sodealing with that, you know, my
mom being being supportive andall that so,
(04:49):
I think it was just kind of dayby day, you know, taking it as
it comes piece by piece. Youknow, being there for my mom
listening to my mom Um, and justtrying to keep it all in
perspective and, you know,taking it slow every day. like
(05:09):
not being too stressed outabout, you know, oh my god, you
know, what am I gonna do? Youknow, it's just like, okay,
let's kind of take it as itcomes, let it present itself,
move on.
Colleen Stanevich (05:21):
I think that's amazing in and of itself
too, because I do think whenthere's a lot of transition,
sometimes people have themindset of just get through
this, like, I'm just gonnabarrel ahead and push hard and
get through and I will endure.
But the first thing you said wasslow down, take it as it comes,
see what happens. And I thinkthat for some folks that can
feel very counterintuitive tosay, like, I'm going to slow
(05:42):
down so that I can be present toall of this, instead of just
pushing through and persevering.
April Hattori (05:49):
Yeah, no, Ithink that's, I think, yeah, I think
that's true. And, and in yourfirst, you, it's, it's easy to
be very reactive to something,right. It's just like, Oh, my
God happened to me, I gotta, Igotta do something. And, you
know, it's worked for me tojust, you know, just take a step
back, breathe, and just take itas it comes. It's okay, it's
(06:13):
okay, not to beat yourself upabout it, either. You know, and,
you know, and it's important toset deadlines and things like
that. But, you know, in times ofstress, like this, and
particularly now, you know, it'slike, you know, you have to give
your mind you have to giveyourself a break, you know, and,
you know, we're going throughthis, everyone's going through
transition now. But you know,during that time, yeah, I was
(06:33):
going through transition, Ididn't know what I was going to
do, but, but I've been throughthat kind of thing before where
I'm changing jobs or whatever.
And I was like, you know, what,it's okay, I'm gonna breathe
here, take a take a beat, andjust just kind of gravitate
toward those things that areimportant. And in, you know,
bring me some joy.
Colleen Stanevich (06:56):
So with that, let's let's talk about your
choice to step into joy as youmade your professional
transition. On the podcast,we've been talking a lot about
when roles shift. And so foryou, there was a big
professional shifts that arecoming from your background and
communications and going intopersonal fitness and becoming a
personal trainer with a with afocus on senior fitness, too. So
(07:19):
give us a little bit more aboutyour back background and
communications. And then whatled you to pursue personal
fitness.
April Hattori (07:26):
Yeah, so, um, I think just all my life, I've
always wanted to help people,you know, that's kind of been
my, my mindset. And, you know,my career has is, has just
meandered, you know, I was Istarted out, you know, thinking
I was going to be in the medicalprofession. And, and that didn't
(07:46):
pan out, we can talk about that.
And, you know, it led me tocommunications and in education,
right. So I was like, Oh, thisis great, I can use my skills in
writing communications to, youknow, help people and kids and,
and that's great. But I wasalways searching for this,
searching for what was intangible things, like helping
people one on one, and, youknow, being one face to face
(08:07):
with people and, and in seeing,you know, impact, positive
impact making positive impact inyour life. And so that I will
and I've always been in, youknow, interested in my own
health and fitness. And so Ithought about, like, wow, what
can I do to, you know, thatincorporate that joy and love
for fitness and health, withsomething that I really want to
(08:28):
do in life. And so that kind ofput the personal training bug in
my ear. And so when I was in NewYork, and I had gotten my
certification, personaltraining, and I was just doing
kind of, like, the side gigthing. Um, and, you know, it
was, um, you know,communications, is a has always
been something that I've been,like I said, a good writer, have
(08:55):
had that skill. And so, youknow, being able to incorporate
just being able to communicatewith people, and helping people
was just kind of a nice fit forme with personal training. And
I've always just loved helpingseniors, like, my grandmother
was like, a second mother to me.
So I just have this affinity tohelp seniors because, you know,
(09:17):
I think even in the fitnessworld, sometimes they're
forgotten, you know, see lots ofvideos and things like that,
that are just titled for youngerfolks. And I was like, no, it
should be, it should be more forolder folks. So it just was a
natural, natural thing for me togravitate to. And so too, you
know, with with the different,you know, being able to just
(09:38):
transition.
I don't know, I just,
Unknown (09:41):
I just did it. I just,
April Hattori (09:42):
I don't know how to explain it. I I knew that
that that door withcommunications was you know, was
not close, but I kind of leftthat behind and I'm like, well,
I've just got to beat thepavement and, you know, I just
started talking to people hereand and applying for jobs and
talking to anyone that thatcould Give me information about
how to get into this businesshere. So that was fun. And
(10:05):
someone Someone gave me a break,you know, just like that. And it
just being, you know, justpersevering and is staying with
it. So I felt very fortunate tobe able to get a job and doing
that.
Colleen Stanevich (10:17):
Well, and I think you and I have talked
before about your your story.
And when you got your break, andbecame a personal trainer out
there in Las Vegas, it happened.
I mean, you weren't you weren'tthere very long before COVID hit
and everything shut down. And soyou were faced with with a
choice once again, like you justmade a transition, and then you
(10:37):
had a choice of so what's thenext transition or pivot? So
help us understand what's upwith yes to next?
April Hattori (10:45):
Yes. So yeah, so yeah. So to your point, yes,
March 2020 gyms closed down,right. And I was like, Well, I
know, I'm not going to be goingback to the gym because my mom's
80 years old. And I can't riskgetting exposed and exposing her
to that. And so then it waslike, a great now now what I do,
I was working as a personaltrainer, loving it for like five
(11:06):
or six months and getting greatexperience. And now that kind of
shut down. And I was just like,oh, now what do I do? So then I
thought like, Wow, well, youknow, everyone's at home. For
two seniors now they're like,locked up in their homes, how
can I help them? And so I waslike, Wow, well, why don't we
start just why don't I startdoing exercise videos to help
(11:28):
seniors? You know, I can,starting off with, you know,
I've think about even my, youknow, folks that I knew that
needed help. And then I waslike, looking at my mom's like,
my mom's 80 years old. I'm like,well, she needs to stay fit,
too. I'm like, Mom, would youwant to make these videos with
me? And she's like, she didn'tknow what she was getting into.
But she said, Okay, and so westarted making these videos
(11:49):
under the yes to next banner.
And that was in May 2020. Andyes to next is, you know, it is
a name that I came up with tosay yes, to your next steps to
get healthier to you have abetter life to experience
fitness enjoying your life. Sosay yes to next to that everyone
(12:11):
should say yes to next at anyage. And so that that's how we
started. And you know, we've gotlike, 40 4040 videos so far and
over 34,000 subscribers, 2million views on a video. So
it's been just such a joy to, tosee it grow. And, you know, I
(12:31):
mean, my goal with this wholething was just to help one
person, you know, I just like ifI could help one person through
this awesome, and you know, nowlike, work with my mom, we're
helping 1000s of people. Andthat's all just icing on the
cake. Right? Right?
Colleen Stanevich (12:47):
And how's it been working with your mom,
like, I love that you just, youknow, you knew you needed, you
wanted to reach seniors, and youlooked over and realized, Hey,
Mom, you need to stay activetoo. But what is that then like
to step into this new businessventure with your mom to?
April Hattori (13:01):
Oh, it's just been awesome. You know, my mom
has been an inspiration my wholelife, you know, she is the, he
sets an example for me for youknow, strength and perseverance,
and living life with humor. Youknow, my mom is a very kind, you
know, positive person. And, youknow, her view is really funny,
too. So, it's been just such agreat ride to, you know, to, to
(13:24):
do these with her. And, and to,you know, to see the reaction
from from folks to her is justwonderful. You know, people of
all ages actually are like, Wow,my, if your mom at 80 can do it,
and I can do it. You know, forseniors, it's like, Wow, she can
do it. I can do and then there'slike younger people, they're
like, wait a minute, she's 80,then I should be able to do
this. So she's been justamazing, great inspiration.
Colleen Stanevich (13:49):
Maybe you should interview your mom too,
about being a social mediainfluencer? Because that's what
it sounds like, right?
April Hattori (13:56):
She is she's a he is. She's a rock star. I have to
say. He's amazing.
Colleen Stanevich (14:02):
So April, you describe a lot of change that
you have faced and kind of yourattitude and approach to dealing
with transitions in your life.
How do you use that in yourinspiration and support of
others who are trying to makephysical changes and say yes to
next in their life? Do you help?
Do you bring some of yourbackground and an experiencing
transition and change to whatyou do today?
April Hattori (14:24):
Yeah, um, yeah, thanks for that question. You
know, when I started at the gym,it was very interesting for me
to start working with seniorsand a lot of them couldn't, you
know, lift a, you know, evenlike a two pound dumbbell do a
bicep curl dumbbell, right? Andso, you know, I had to really
(14:45):
like scale down the training,you know, for them, you know, to
work without weights and thenmaybe work with some bands, you
know, to gradually scale scaleup their strength to be able to
lift that five pound dumbbellAll right. And so, you know, the
idea of going slow, you know,this idea we just talked about,
(15:08):
you know, taking things as theycome not to beat yourself up, if
you can't, you know, this thefive pound dumbbell, that's
okay, the important thing isthat you are starting somewhere,
in that you are making acommitment, you want to get
healthier, it doesn't matterwhere you are, in this whole
journey, it's important to justsay, I'm going to do it, and I'm
going to start somewhere. And sothat has been my approach with,
(15:32):
with all of my training withwith volks and Miss how we
approach it in our videos,because, you know, our videos
are tailored for people thatare, hey, just just where do I
begin? I've never exercised,whether you're, you know, a
younger person or older person,how can we help you just get
(15:52):
excited about moving? In justtaking it slow? It's okay. In
fact, that's the healthiest wayto to get healthier is to go
slow and build strengthgradually.
Unknown (16:03):
Mm hmm.
Colleen Stanevich (16:04):
What are your hopes for your next steps? And
what are you saying yes, to nextto now. You know, I
April Hattori (16:11):
am excited about this, this journey that my mom
and I are on with, with yes toNext, you know, it's it's
starting with these videos, andwe're so honored and pleased to
help so many people. But, youknow, it's kind of seeing where
this takes us, you know, growingit, you know, what could it
mean? Could it I don't know, Iyou know, it's videos right now,
(16:34):
I mean, I would love to do morewriting stories, you know,
talking to people, we startedby, we did a video of a woman
who is like, over 90, who wasjust was an inspiration to me,
and I shared that story. But,but, you know, focusing on on
stories and, and informationthat can help inspire people,
(16:57):
you know, to live healthier,high quality lives, and to do
that with with joy, you know,so, so I, I'm, I'm so happy to
be in a place that where I foundmy passion, you know, where,
where I wake up thinking aboutthis, and, and, you know, I know
that this is the right thing,you know, because it's, it's
(17:19):
just part of my being, you know,and I can't tell you how happy
that makes me feel. It's just,it's a very fulfilling, and
comforting feeling to know that,that I found something that I'm
passionate about, and that ishelping people and that I'm
doing something with my mom, nowthat's making her life better as
(17:42):
well.
Colleen Stanevich (17:46):
Is there any advice or strategies, you would
offer people to try and get intouch with where their passion
is, or, or awaken themselves towhat's going to fulfill them?
Because I, I think we we, ashumans can spend a lot of time,
you know, hearing our innercritic about, oh, you can't do
this, or just having trepidationabout taking the big, big leap
(18:06):
into something new. So anyadvice or guidance you would
get? Yeah, I
April Hattori (18:11):
would say, um, you know,
um, you know, just follow, youknow,
I have, a lot of my things arekind of cliche, but I live it,
you know, it's like, you know,follow to follow your gut, you
know, to really listen, youknow, to, to how you're feeling
and how you're thinking ofsomething doesn't feel right,
you know, it's not right foryou, you know, till fall, follow
your gut. And, and I've been insituations where I didn't follow
(18:33):
my gut, and I'm like, and thenlater, I forgot, I should have
followed my gut. I should havefollowed what my inner voice was
telling me. And so that's onething. The other thing is, you
know, fine, you know, go intothe direction of things that you
love, you know, your joy, youknow, that will always lead you
to a good place. And it willalways enable you to put energy
(18:55):
into it, because you love it,you know, so if you love it,
you're going to do it. And it'sgoing to you're, I would say I
would say that you probably besuccessful, because you're
putting so much energy into it.
And, you know, and not to thinkabout so much the end goal, like
I've always had, like big goals.
And if I'm aiming for a biggoal, it always leaves me
somewhere. So maybe I don'treach the big goal when I'm bled
(19:18):
me someplace that is just beenjust as awesome or even better.
So those are just a few things.
Okay, so
Colleen Stanevich (19:24):
you talked a lot about the way you ground
yourself and make that decisionto take the leap following your
gut and really thinking aboutwhat what brings you
fulfillment? What about thepractical side of things and
taking the leap? So if I have asteady job, that's getting me a
regular income, what advicewould you give people before
taking the leap where there is alittle more unknown in terms of
(19:45):
their financial security?
April Hattori (19:46):
Wow, oh, great question. I mean, we all have to
make a living, right? Yeah. putfood on the table and feed our
families. Absolutely. I totallyget it. And you know, I mean, I
I'm in that same same boat, youknow, so you know, going back to
it New York, right? You know, Imean, I had a full time job and
communications, but I knew whatmy passion was. And it was in
(20:07):
personal training. So, you know,I, I took that took the time, on
my own time, you know, to study,get my certification, do that,
you know, on on the side. Soyeah, so, you know, it takes
some work, you know, if youreally want to follow your
passion, but it can be done, andyou have to make the, you know,
the investment in time, but alsoin your mind, you know, the
(20:30):
commitment to do that. So, it ispossible, and even, even when I
got here to the Las Vegas area,you know, I mean, I still had to
make a living and so, um, youknow, and today, right now, even
I'm doing, you know,communications on the side, you
know, bringing in some incomewhile I do yes to next and in
(20:51):
personal training. So, you know,that's all part of the
transition, right? You know,we're all kind of on this
journey, where, you know, youknow, maybe one day, you know,
I'll be able to do you know,yesterday, next, you know, full
time, but for now, it's fine.
And I'm actually enjoying havingthe two things going on at one
time, because it's not such anabrupt cut. Yeah,
Colleen Stanevich (21:15):
well, and I think that's important, because
I think people can look at abig, a big shift in their
professional role as an eitheror that I have to do one of
these things. Yeah. And, and,you know, there are a lot of
different approaches, whetherit's, you know, on your own
time, step into new passions,and explore and get new
certifications, or even for somepeople, they can scale back a
(21:36):
little bit, and maybe, you know,step down to 75% of their job,
and then that affords them sometime for the what's next for
them. So I think it's anopportunity to be creative as
well, of how I use my time.
Right, I
April Hattori (21:49):
totally, totally get it. And, you know, I'll be
honest, you know, I'm 56, youknow, and I've been thinking
about, you know, hey, you know,what I want to be doing in the
next 510 years, right. And so,you know, this transition for
me, it's been good. I mean, I'vetransitioned from full time, you
know, PR to part time, PR, it'sgreat. And, you know, doing
(22:09):
this, you know, doing the yes tonext part time, too, so, and my
whole goal is to be able to findsomething that I would enjoy
into my, my, you know, I 67 orsomething, you know, right. And
so, for me at this stage inlife, it really works
Colleen Stanevich (22:27):
well. And the other day, somebody asked my
daughter what she wants to bewhen she grows up. And I thought
that's a question we get to askourselves over and over and over
again, like I I'm still figuringout what I want to be when I
grow up. I think that's, that'sone of the opportunities to step
into transition and just feellike what's what's right for me
in this stage of my life, justlike you said, so April's, we
wrap up here, do you have anyquotes that inspire you and
(22:50):
drive you to do the work you doin the world? Yeah, I
April Hattori (22:53):
have a simple one. I live by it. Some I don't
know who said it. But it's,it's, it's do something your
future self will thank you forHmm, you know, so it's, it's
being good to yourself, youknow, it's follow your passion.
You know, if you're good toyourself, the world will
benefit. So, do something yourfuture self will thank you for
(23:16):
loving.
Colleen Stanevich (23:17):
April. Is there anything else that you
want to share with us about yourwork right now? Or lessons that
you've learned?
April Hattori (23:23):
Yeah, thanks for that good question. I would say,
in life, just just to take arisk, you know, in my life, some
of the most wonderful thingsthat have happened to me have
happened when I've, I've taken abig risk and taking that leap.
You know, it's, it's, it's easyto be fearful. And I've
experienced this myself, my mysheer fear in life, especially
(23:47):
as relates to my career. And,you know, I just just taking
that risk in jumping has servedme well. So I would just say,
yeah, take a risk.
Colleen Stanevich (24:00):
That's great.
And if folks want to learn more,or follow you and yes to next,
how can they learn about yourwork?
April Hattori (24:06):
Yeah, you can find us at yes to next calm.
We're on all social mediachannels under sought me out
yesterday, next. So Facebook,Twitter, and also obviously,
YouTube, our videos are there aswell. So Instagram, as well. So
feel free to
Unknown (24:23):
look us up.
Colleen Stanevich (24:25):
And I will link to all those in the show
notes as well, so people canfind you easily.
Unknown (24:29):
Awesome.
Colleen Stanevich (24:30):
April, thanks so much for taking the time. I
just appreciate talking to you.
And thanks so much for the greatwork you do in the world. Oh,
well. Thank you so much,Colleen. It was really fun.
Thanks for listening to the MyInnermission podcast. And I know
we've covered a lot of groundthis season from transitions
around divorce to transitions inparenting our parents to
(24:51):
transitions and careers. Andhopefully not all of these
transitions are occurring foryou at once. But please feel
free to share and invite othersto listen to my intermission If
they are facing some of theseother life's changes. Until next
time, thanks for listening to MyInnermission.
Welcome to my intermission, a podcast
(00:02):
conversation about thetransitions and changes we face
in life, and the strategies andapproaches that support us in
taking the next step in ourjourney. I'm your host Colleen
Stanevich. Today I'm joined byApril hitori. She's the founder
of yes to next, a wellnesswebsite designed for seniors.
After a 30 year full time careerin journalism and
(00:22):
communications, she made a breakin 2019 to pursue her passion as
a certified personal trainer tohelp seniors find fitness and
joy in life. When the pandemichead, she shifted gears and
lunch yes to next, to helpseniors stay active at home. her
YouTube channel currently hasmore than 35,000 subscribers
with over 2 million views on herfitness videos. April, thanks so
(00:46):
much for joining me on the Myintermission podcast.
April Hattori (00:49):
I'm glad to be here. Thanks, Colleen.
Colleen Stanevich (00:52):
So let's kick it off by talking about some of
the big changes in your lifethat brought you to where you
are today.
April Hattori (00:58):
Yeah, well, mywhole life, I think, is a
series of transitions for sure.
And, you know, one of the recentones was me just transitioning
from, you know, careercommunications, sort of your
career in communications, and,you know, going into personal
training. So that that all comeswith a personal story to you
know, my mom was married 30years, my stepdad, he passed
(01:20):
away, and I had to make a, youknow, a tough decision, you
know, to, to leave New York andbe with her. And when I thought
about life, and what'simportant, you know, that was a
really important thing for me todo. And so I left New York, and
came here and really didn't knowwhat I was going to do in the
(01:42):
Las Vegas area. But you know,it's an opportunity for me to
think about my passions. Andalthough I love communications,
I've also wanted to follow thispassion to help people and help
improve their fitness. And sowhen I was in New York, I got my
certification and personaltraining. And I was training
people online and family membersand stuff like that. But by
(02:05):
moving here, I was like, Well,I'm just going to try this and
see what happens. So I apply fora job at a local gym, and I came
a personal trainer, and Ispecialize in senior fitness.
And it's just been an awesomeride.
Colleen Stanevich (02:20):
That's amazing. So I your transition
story, encapsulate a lot ofdifferent changes and
transitions. So there's ageographic transition that
happened, right, New York to LasVegas, that's not nothing. And
then that idea of reallyshifting gears and something you
said is really interesting to methat you said it's an
opportunity to think aboutpassions. And I think sometimes,
when people think about bigchanges that are happening to
(02:41):
them, they they focus a lot onthe grief and what they're
leaving behind, but that thatfocus on the opportunity
instead. And that new beginning,why did you choose to take that
perspective? Or where does thatcome from? Because I don't think
everyone steps into transitionthat way. Well, you know, what,
it's?
April Hattori (02:58):
That's a really good question. I, I honestly, I
think it goes back to just, youknow, how I've approached life
and how I was raised, you know,I mean, I can get into this
whole swirl, I'll just get intoI have to tell you, you know, my
mom single was single parent,divorced, when I was one years
old, had was raised raise threekids on her own, and, you know,
(03:19):
throughout life, you know, shealways just encouraged us to, to
see the positive and, and to gofor opportunities to better
ourselves and have a betterlife. You know, so, I, that
mindset has always been in me,you know. So I think that that's
something that's just part ofmy, my mindset. I'm an optimist
(03:42):
by nature. So, you know, Ialways try to see, you know,
the, the good things are goodpeople and good and
opportunities, even if you know,something bad happens, it opens
another door. And, you know, inmy life, you know, particularly
career wise, you know, whensomething one door closes,
another one opened up, and ithas led me to even better
(04:02):
places,
Colleen Stanevich (04:05):
Well, the other thing about your story
that strikes me is because youare going through so many
transitions at once. There's alot there to juggle too. So what
were some of the greatestchallenges for you as you made
the leap both in yourprofessional life and in your
geographic location? And and injust your relationship? Like
you're moving in closer to yourmom to? Yeah, yeah.
April Hattori (04:26):
Oh, you know, what, that that's there was just
so much I mean, just that thethere was a whole year of
transition, just just movinggeographically, right? I mean,
so much of the town's dealingwith you know, obviously my
stepdad passed away too. Sodealing with that, you know, my
mom being being supportive andall that so,
(04:49):
I think it was just kind of dayby day, you know, taking it as
it comes piece by piece. Youknow, being there for my mom
listening to my mom Um, and justtrying to keep it all in
perspective and, you know,taking it slow every day. like
(05:09):
not being too stressed outabout, you know, oh my god, you
know, what am I gonna do? Youknow, it's just like, okay,
let's kind of take it as itcomes, let it present itself,
move on.
Colleen Stanevich (05:21):
I think that's amazing in and of itself
too, because I do think whenthere's a lot of transition,
sometimes people have themindset of just get through
this, like, I'm just gonnabarrel ahead and push hard and
get through and I will endure.
But the first thing you said wasslow down, take it as it comes,
see what happens. And I thinkthat for some folks that can
feel very counterintuitive tosay, like, I'm going to slow
(05:42):
down so that I can be present toall of this, instead of just
pushing through and persevering.
April Hattori (05:49):
Yeah, no, Ithink that's, I think, yeah, I think
that's true. And, and in yourfirst, you, it's, it's easy to
be very reactive to something,right. It's just like, Oh, my
God happened to me, I gotta, Igotta do something. And, you
know, it's worked for me tojust, you know, just take a step
back, breathe, and just take itas it comes. It's okay, it's
(06:13):
okay, not to beat yourself upabout it, either. You know, and,
you know, and it's important toset deadlines and things like
that. But, you know, in times ofstress, like this, and
particularly now, you know, it'slike, you know, you have to give
your mind you have to giveyourself a break, you know, and,
you know, we're going throughthis, everyone's going through
transition now. But you know,during that time, yeah, I was
(06:33):
going through transition, Ididn't know what I was going to
do, but, but I've been throughthat kind of thing before where
I'm changing jobs or whatever.
And I was like, you know, what,it's okay, I'm gonna breathe
here, take a take a beat, andjust just kind of gravitate
toward those things that areimportant. And in, you know,
bring me some joy.
Colleen Stanevich (06:56):
So with that, let's let's talk about your
choice to step into joy as youmade your professional
transition. On the podcast,we've been talking a lot about
when roles shift. And so foryou, there was a big
professional shifts that arecoming from your background and
communications and going intopersonal fitness and becoming a
personal trainer with a with afocus on senior fitness, too. So
(07:19):
give us a little bit more aboutyour back background and
communications. And then whatled you to pursue personal
fitness.
April Hattori (07:26):
Yeah, so, um, I think just all my life, I've
always wanted to help people,you know, that's kind of been
my, my mindset. And, you know,my career has is, has just
meandered, you know, I was Istarted out, you know, thinking
I was going to be in the medicalprofession. And, and that didn't
(07:46):
pan out, we can talk about that.
And, you know, it led me tocommunications and in education,
right. So I was like, Oh, thisis great, I can use my skills in
writing communications to, youknow, help people and kids and,
and that's great. But I wasalways searching for this,
searching for what was intangible things, like helping
people one on one, and, youknow, being one face to face
(08:07):
with people and, and in seeing,you know, impact, positive
impact making positive impact inyour life. And so that I will
and I've always been in, youknow, interested in my own
health and fitness. And so Ithought about, like, wow, what
can I do to, you know, thatincorporate that joy and love
for fitness and health, withsomething that I really want to
(08:28):
do in life. And so that kind ofput the personal training bug in
my ear. And so when I was in NewYork, and I had gotten my
certification, personaltraining, and I was just doing
kind of, like, the side gigthing. Um, and, you know, it
was, um, you know,communications, is a has always
been something that I've been,like I said, a good writer, have
(08:55):
had that skill. And so, youknow, being able to incorporate
just being able to communicatewith people, and helping people
was just kind of a nice fit forme with personal training. And
I've always just loved helpingseniors, like, my grandmother
was like, a second mother to me.
So I just have this affinity tohelp seniors because, you know,
(09:17):
I think even in the fitnessworld, sometimes they're
forgotten, you know, see lots ofvideos and things like that,
that are just titled for youngerfolks. And I was like, no, it
should be, it should be more forolder folks. So it just was a
natural, natural thing for me togravitate to. And so too, you
know, with with the different,you know, being able to just
(09:38):
transition.
I don't know, I just,
Unknown (09:41):
I just did it. I just,
April Hattori (09:42):
I don't know how to explain it. I I knew that
that that door withcommunications was you know, was
not close, but I kind of leftthat behind and I'm like, well,
I've just got to beat thepavement and, you know, I just
started talking to people hereand and applying for jobs and
talking to anyone that thatcould Give me information about
how to get into this businesshere. So that was fun. And
(10:05):
someone Someone gave me a break,you know, just like that. And it
just being, you know, justpersevering and is staying with
it. So I felt very fortunate tobe able to get a job and doing
that.
Colleen Stanevich (10:17):
Well, and I think you and I have talked
before about your your story.
And when you got your break, andbecame a personal trainer out
there in Las Vegas, it happened.
I mean, you weren't you weren'tthere very long before COVID hit
and everything shut down. And soyou were faced with with a
choice once again, like you justmade a transition, and then you
(10:37):
had a choice of so what's thenext transition or pivot? So
help us understand what's upwith yes to next?
April Hattori (10:45):
Yes. So yeah, so yeah. So to your point, yes,
March 2020 gyms closed down,right. And I was like, Well, I
know, I'm not going to be goingback to the gym because my mom's
80 years old. And I can't riskgetting exposed and exposing her
to that. And so then it waslike, a great now now what I do,
I was working as a personaltrainer, loving it for like five
(11:06):
or six months and getting greatexperience. And now that kind of
shut down. And I was just like,oh, now what do I do? So then I
thought like, Wow, well, youknow, everyone's at home. For
two seniors now they're like,locked up in their homes, how
can I help them? And so I waslike, Wow, well, why don't we
start just why don't I startdoing exercise videos to help
(11:28):
seniors? You know, I can,starting off with, you know,
I've think about even my, youknow, folks that I knew that
needed help. And then I waslike, looking at my mom's like,
my mom's 80 years old. I'm like,well, she needs to stay fit,
too. I'm like, Mom, would youwant to make these videos with
me? And she's like, she didn'tknow what she was getting into.
But she said, Okay, and so westarted making these videos
(11:49):
under the yes to next banner.
And that was in May 2020. Andyes to next is, you know, it is
a name that I came up with tosay yes, to your next steps to
get healthier to you have abetter life to experience
fitness enjoying your life. Sosay yes to next to that everyone
(12:11):
should say yes to next at anyage. And so that that's how we
started. And you know, we've gotlike, 40 4040 videos so far and
over 34,000 subscribers, 2million views on a video. So
it's been just such a joy to, tosee it grow. And, you know, I
(12:31):
mean, my goal with this wholething was just to help one
person, you know, I just like ifI could help one person through
this awesome, and you know, nowlike, work with my mom, we're
helping 1000s of people. Andthat's all just icing on the
cake. Right? Right?
Colleen Stanevich (12:47):
And how's it been working with your mom,
like, I love that you just, youknow, you knew you needed, you
wanted to reach seniors, and youlooked over and realized, Hey,
Mom, you need to stay activetoo. But what is that then like
to step into this new businessventure with your mom to?
April Hattori (13:01):
Oh, it's just been awesome. You know, my mom
has been an inspiration my wholelife, you know, she is the, he
sets an example for me for youknow, strength and perseverance,
and living life with humor. Youknow, my mom is a very kind, you
know, positive person. And, youknow, her view is really funny,
too. So, it's been just such agreat ride to, you know, to, to
(13:24):
do these with her. And, and to,you know, to see the reaction
from from folks to her is justwonderful. You know, people of
all ages actually are like, Wow,my, if your mom at 80 can do it,
and I can do it. You know, forseniors, it's like, Wow, she can
do it. I can do and then there'slike younger people, they're
like, wait a minute, she's 80,then I should be able to do
this. So she's been justamazing, great inspiration.
Colleen Stanevich (13:49):
Maybe you should interview your mom too,
about being a social mediainfluencer? Because that's what
it sounds like, right?
April Hattori (13:56):
She is she's a he is. She's a rock star. I have to
say. He's amazing.
Colleen Stanevich (14:02):
So April, you describe a lot of change that
you have faced and kind of yourattitude and approach to dealing
with transitions in your life.
How do you use that in yourinspiration and support of
others who are trying to makephysical changes and say yes to
next in their life? Do you help?
Do you bring some of yourbackground and an experiencing
transition and change to whatyou do today?
April Hattori (14:24):
Yeah, um, yeah, thanks for that question. You
know, when I started at the gym,it was very interesting for me
to start working with seniorsand a lot of them couldn't, you
know, lift a, you know, evenlike a two pound dumbbell do a
bicep curl dumbbell, right? Andso, you know, I had to really
(14:45):
like scale down the training,you know, for them, you know, to
work without weights and thenmaybe work with some bands, you
know, to gradually scale scaleup their strength to be able to
lift that five pound dumbbellAll right. And so, you know, the
idea of going slow, you know,this idea we just talked about,
(15:08):
you know, taking things as theycome not to beat yourself up, if
you can't, you know, this thefive pound dumbbell, that's
okay, the important thing isthat you are starting somewhere,
in that you are making acommitment, you want to get
healthier, it doesn't matterwhere you are, in this whole
journey, it's important to justsay, I'm going to do it, and I'm
going to start somewhere. And sothat has been my approach with,
(15:32):
with all of my training withwith volks and Miss how we
approach it in our videos,because, you know, our videos
are tailored for people thatare, hey, just just where do I
begin? I've never exercised,whether you're, you know, a
younger person or older person,how can we help you just get
(15:52):
excited about moving? In justtaking it slow? It's okay. In
fact, that's the healthiest wayto to get healthier is to go
slow and build strengthgradually.
Unknown (16:03):
Mm hmm.
Colleen Stanevich (16:04):
What are your hopes for your next steps? And
what are you saying yes, to nextto now. You know, I
April Hattori (16:11):
am excited about this, this journey that my mom
and I are on with, with yes toNext, you know, it's it's
starting with these videos, andwe're so honored and pleased to
help so many people. But, youknow, it's kind of seeing where
this takes us, you know, growingit, you know, what could it
mean? Could it I don't know, Iyou know, it's videos right now,
(16:34):
I mean, I would love to do morewriting stories, you know,
talking to people, we startedby, we did a video of a woman
who is like, over 90, who wasjust was an inspiration to me,
and I shared that story. But,but, you know, focusing on on
stories and, and informationthat can help inspire people,
(16:57):
you know, to live healthier,high quality lives, and to do
that with with joy, you know,so, so I, I'm, I'm so happy to
be in a place that where I foundmy passion, you know, where,
where I wake up thinking aboutthis, and, and, you know, I know
that this is the right thing,you know, because it's, it's
(17:19):
just part of my being, you know,and I can't tell you how happy
that makes me feel. It's just,it's a very fulfilling, and
comforting feeling to know that,that I found something that I'm
passionate about, and that ishelping people and that I'm
doing something with my mom, nowthat's making her life better as
(17:42):
well.
Colleen Stanevich (17:46):
Is there any advice or strategies, you would
offer people to try and get intouch with where their passion
is, or, or awaken themselves towhat's going to fulfill them?
Because I, I think we we, ashumans can spend a lot of time,
you know, hearing our innercritic about, oh, you can't do
this, or just having trepidationabout taking the big, big leap
(18:06):
into something new. So anyadvice or guidance you would
get? Yeah, I
April Hattori (18:11):
would say, um, you know,
um, you know, just follow, youknow,
I have, a lot of my things arekind of cliche, but I live it,
you know, it's like, you know,follow to follow your gut, you
know, to really listen, youknow, to, to how you're feeling
and how you're thinking ofsomething doesn't feel right,
you know, it's not right foryou, you know, till fall, follow
your gut. And, and I've been insituations where I didn't follow
(18:33):
my gut, and I'm like, and thenlater, I forgot, I should have
followed my gut. I should havefollowed what my inner voice was
telling me. And so that's onething. The other thing is, you
know, fine, you know, go intothe direction of things that you
love, you know, your joy, youknow, that will always lead you
to a good place. And it willalways enable you to put energy
(18:55):
into it, because you love it,you know, so if you love it,
you're going to do it. And it'sgoing to you're, I would say I
would say that you probably besuccessful, because you're
putting so much energy into it.
And, you know, and not to thinkabout so much the end goal, like
I've always had, like big goals.
And if I'm aiming for a biggoal, it always leaves me
somewhere. So maybe I don'treach the big goal when I'm bled
(19:18):
me someplace that is just beenjust as awesome or even better.
So those are just a few things.
Okay, so
Colleen Stanevich (19:24):
you talked a lot about the way you ground
yourself and make that decisionto take the leap following your
gut and really thinking aboutwhat what brings you
fulfillment? What about thepractical side of things and
taking the leap? So if I have asteady job, that's getting me a
regular income, what advicewould you give people before
taking the leap where there is alittle more unknown in terms of
(19:45):
their financial security?
April Hattori (19:46):
Wow, oh, great question. I mean, we all have to
make a living, right? Yeah. putfood on the table and feed our
families. Absolutely. I totallyget it. And you know, I mean, I
I'm in that same same boat, youknow, so you know, going back to
it New York, right? You know, Imean, I had a full time job and
communications, but I knew whatmy passion was. And it was in
(20:07):
personal training. So, you know,I, I took that took the time, on
my own time, you know, to study,get my certification, do that,
you know, on on the side. Soyeah, so, you know, it takes
some work, you know, if youreally want to follow your
passion, but it can be done, andyou have to make the, you know,
the investment in time, but alsoin your mind, you know, the
(20:30):
commitment to do that. So, it ispossible, and even, even when I
got here to the Las Vegas area,you know, I mean, I still had to
make a living and so, um, youknow, and today, right now, even
I'm doing, you know,communications on the side, you
know, bringing in some incomewhile I do yes to next and in
(20:51):
personal training. So, you know,that's all part of the
transition, right? You know,we're all kind of on this
journey, where, you know, youknow, maybe one day, you know,
I'll be able to do you know,yesterday, next, you know, full
time, but for now, it's fine.
And I'm actually enjoying havingthe two things going on at one
time, because it's not such anabrupt cut. Yeah,
Colleen Stanevich (21:15):
well, and I think that's important, because
I think people can look at abig, a big shift in their
professional role as an eitheror that I have to do one of
these things. Yeah. And, and,you know, there are a lot of
different approaches, whetherit's, you know, on your own
time, step into new passions,and explore and get new
certifications, or even for somepeople, they can scale back a
(21:36):
little bit, and maybe, you know,step down to 75% of their job,
and then that affords them sometime for the what's next for
them. So I think it's anopportunity to be creative as
well, of how I use my time.
Right, I
April Hattori (21:49):
totally, totally get it. And, you know, I'll be
honest, you know, I'm 56, youknow, and I've been thinking
about, you know, hey, you know,what I want to be doing in the
next 510 years, right. And so,you know, this transition for
me, it's been good. I mean, I'vetransitioned from full time, you
know, PR to part time, PR, it'sgreat. And, you know, doing
(22:09):
this, you know, doing the yes tonext part time, too, so, and my
whole goal is to be able to findsomething that I would enjoy
into my, my, you know, I 67 orsomething, you know, right. And
so, for me at this stage inlife, it really works
Colleen Stanevich (22:27):
well. And the other day, somebody asked my
daughter what she wants to bewhen she grows up. And I thought
that's a question we get to askourselves over and over and over
again, like I I'm still figuringout what I want to be when I
grow up. I think that's, that'sone of the opportunities to step
into transition and just feellike what's what's right for me
in this stage of my life, justlike you said, so April's, we
wrap up here, do you have anyquotes that inspire you and
(22:50):
drive you to do the work you doin the world? Yeah, I
April Hattori (22:53):
have a simple one. I live by it. Some I don't
know who said it. But it's,it's, it's do something your
future self will thank you forHmm, you know, so it's, it's
being good to yourself, youknow, it's follow your passion.
You know, if you're good toyourself, the world will
benefit. So, do something yourfuture self will thank you for
(23:16):
loving.
Colleen Stanevich (23:17):
April. Is there anything else that you
want to share with us about yourwork right now? Or lessons that
you've learned?
April Hattori (23:23):
Yeah, thanks for that good question. I would say,
in life, just just to take arisk, you know, in my life, some
of the most wonderful thingsthat have happened to me have
happened when I've, I've taken abig risk and taking that leap.
You know, it's, it's, it's easyto be fearful. And I've
experienced this myself, my mysheer fear in life, especially
(23:47):
as relates to my career. And,you know, I just just taking
that risk in jumping has servedme well. So I would just say,
yeah, take a risk.
Colleen Stanevich (24:00):
That's great.
And if folks want to learn more,or follow you and yes to next,
how can they learn about yourwork?
April Hattori (24:06):
Yeah, you can find us at yes to next calm.
We're on all social mediachannels under sought me out
yesterday, next. So Facebook,Twitter, and also obviously,
YouTube, our videos are there aswell. So Instagram, as well. So
feel free to
Unknown (24:23):
look us up.
Colleen Stanevich (24:25):
And I will link to all those in the show
notes as well, so people canfind you easily.
Unknown (24:29):
Awesome.
Colleen Stanevich (24:30):
April, thanks so much for taking the time. I
just appreciate talking to you.
And thanks so much for the greatwork you do in the world. Oh,
well. Thank you so much,Colleen. It was really fun.
Thanks for listening to the MyInnermission podcast. And I know
we've covered a lot of groundthis season from transitions
around divorce to transitions inparenting our parents to
(24:51):
transitions and careers. Andhopefully not all of these
transitions are occurring foryou at once. But please feel
free to share and invite othersto listen to my intermission If
they are facing some of theseother life's changes. Until next
time, thanks for listening to MyInnermission.
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