March 27, 2025 • 37 mins
“I just have an idea. I’m motivated. I figure out how to do it, and away I go.”
I usually avoid experts who offer lifestyle advice since so many podcasts already cover that territory. However, I was at a loss for words when I learned more about Gina Livy's unique journey.
Gina’s story isn’t about lost pounds but about purpose reclaimed. From a university experience that saw her gain 100 pounds and a new perspective to becoming a fierce entrepreneur who leads with instinct, Gina didn’t just overcome the odds—she rewrote them.
What makes this conversation matter is what Gina stands for. She’s built a massive community not through perfection, but presence. She shows up—through grief, doubt, and real life—and gives others the courage to do the same. If you’ve ever questioned your path, purpose, or whether you belong in the room, or the dent you want to make in the universe, Gina’s story reminds you that the answer isn’t out there. It’s already in you.
To learn about the Livy Method: https://www.ginalivy.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
I've been doing chatter that matters since 2020, and I guess
I've earned enough of a reputation that on any given
week, I get pissed a dozen or more times by
book publishers, publicists, PR companies, and even guests themselves
to appear on the show. And as you know, I only do the show once
a week, so that's a lot of people I have to turn down and a
(00:23):
lot of tough decisions I have to make. And my guest
today, I almost dismissed immediately. But what made me give
her a second look is, first of all, the pitch came from Praxis, a PR
company that I admire. And I went beyond her business,
which is weight loss. After some reason, it just
created a stigma with me to really get behind the
(00:44):
individual. And what I learned through research is a story about a
extraordinary woman. And I've always been a very gut instinct
girl. I know what works. I know where I wanna go. I know
what I need to do to get there. Certainly self motivated,
didn't find any inspiration or motivation from her parents,
had personal context in terms of weight loss. In
(01:07):
each step in a longer journey, she continued to fill her knapsack with
essential tools and skills that led her to the point in her life where she
said, this is my time to make something of everything
I've learned. I felt like the odd man out in my childhood and
with relationships and friends, and I just felt like I never belonged. So I wanted
to create a space where everyone felt like they were welcomed and belonged. And she's
(01:29):
made an extraordinary success of herself. And what I enjoyed most
about this show, and I hope you do as well, is that instead of what
a lot of people aspire to be entrepreneurs by saying, I wish that was
me or I could do that. She went out
and carved and crafted her own path. I'm gonna
show you. I'm gonna get it done. And I think that kind of
(01:50):
resiliency has really helped, I guess, make me as
successful as I am today. She's articulate, hilarious,
self deprecating, really an individual
that I think in some ways no longer struggles with weight loss, but
maybe her success. Because with her success comes the
need to scale her organization and invite new people in,
(02:13):
decide who's got influence and authority, and really all the dilemmas that
happen when an entrepreneurial strain becomes a reality.
Hi. It's Tony Chapman. Thank you for listening to Chatter That Matters presented by
RBC. If you can, please subscribe to the podcast. And
ratings and reviews, well, they're always welcome, and they're always appreciated.
(02:38):
I'd like to welcome the one and only Gina Lizzie to Chatter That
Matters. Gina, welcome. Thanks for having me. I'm
glad I didn't listen to my instincts and instead did my homework.
So I wanted to begin by actually you're age 10.
And in one of the articles I read about you, you said, this is where
you first got the entrepreneurial bug. And we're gonna talk about your entrepreneurial
(03:00):
success later in the show. But tell me what a 10 year old does to
to sort of scratch that itch. When I was 10, I
decided to open up a gym, paint my parents'
basement, you know, old school basement,
white, and kind of reorganize whatever was down
there and make a flyer. And I did this with my best friend
(03:23):
at the time, Nicole, And we called it the GNFC, the Gina and
Nicole Fitness Center. And I had this idea that
I was going to help the kids in my class
lose weight. But at the time, now looking back, there wasn't a lot of
overweight kids in my class. And the one girl
in my class who was overweight signed up. I charged a
(03:45):
dollar and she came to my house and we did a
little workout. I knew nothing about working out.
I like, looking back, I'm like, what was I
thinking? Interestingly enough, my best friend
who, did that with me, she is now a doctor. A lot of
times, you know, kids have this idea or this spark of creativity and
(04:07):
it's suffocated. Were you encouraged to do this or did you just grab a can
of paint and decide to make it happen? I mean, my mom had me when
she was 21. They were married when they were 19. They were young. They were
involved in sports, partying. Now look back. They probably weren't really paying
attention to what I was doing and they were just like, sure, go for it,
whatever. They weren't really nurturing of my entrepreneurial spirit.
(04:29):
My dad had said my entire life, when you're 18, you're out of the house.
So figure it out, get a job. I learned quite quickly if I wanted
things, I needed to buy them for myself. So, and once I started working, I
really loved working and making money. And if you talk to my mom
now, like, she's like, you were always working. And she's like, I don't know where
you got that from. Even when I went to university, which I followed a
(04:50):
boyfriend at the time, I didn't really have any idea to go to university. It
wasn't something that was talked about in my family. And I
applied to get in and I got in and I remember going to my mom
and saying, I need to borrow $200 for residents. I have to put
a down payment on residents. I don't have the money. Can I borrow it? And
she's like, what? For what? Why would you do that? Why would you go to
(05:11):
university? I remember the day came for me to go to
university and I had my bags packed on the front
lawn And I've been talking to my parents and they just weren't listening.
And they're like, where are you going? I'm like, I'm going to university. And they're
like, well, how are you getting there? I'm like, my boyfriend's parents are gonna come
pick me up and I'm gonna go. And they're like, what? Well,
(05:32):
no, we're gonna drive you. And so they drove me and I remember
they it was, Laurier. When did you do
this? How did you do this? And I just been doing this
ever since. I just have an idea. I'm motivated. I just
figure out how to do it and away I go. You wouldn't call them the
motivators of your life. Let's put it that way. No.
(05:53):
Like, I have a sister. My, you know, she was like a police officer. She
ran a more traditional route. My parents were so concerned about me always.
I think they just thought I was, like, flippant, fly by the seat of my
pants. Like, we're, like, we're not really sure what I was gonna do with my
life. I just ran into my dad and, I hadn't seen him in a while
and he had never met my husband. There's a whole story there I'm not gonna
go into, but my dad said to my husband, you know, people ask me if
(06:17):
I'm proud of my daughter. And I'm like, of course not. Why would I be?
Like, she just does what she does. Like, she says she's gonna do something and
she does it. That's what I expect of her. My dad was the kind of
person who I remember once I came second in something.
I said, I won second place. And he said, you didn't win. You lost. You
didn't win. And that has really stuck with me.
(06:37):
I'm now coming to realize that their way of not motivating me
was very motivating for me. It's interesting that someone that did
motivate you that I heard about was this aerobics instructor at YMCA.
A couple times you cited that moment in life as a big
change moment. What happened? The YMCA was a a place to hang out when I
was younger. I walked by this room, and there I remember seeing her.
(07:00):
She had short hair. She had leg warmers on, and she was screaming at
people, yelling at them. I mean, like, almost, like,
in a not nice way, but also strangely motivating way.
And people are running around this circle in this gym and she was
pumping her arms up and down. And I was like, what is that?
And I stopped and I watched her and I just was like, this
(07:23):
is fun. I want to do this. Like, I, I want to yell
at people, but in a super motivating kind of way.
People look so happy, even though she was screaming at them and
getting down and on the floor and pointing at people and up in
people's faces. And I'll never forget that moment. And I was like,
wow. And so I signed up and would take her classes, man. She
(07:46):
was so hardcore. I remember leaving her class sometimes and just
feeling like I was going to vomit, but it was like, that was the best.
And I became a personal trainer and aerobic instructor and,
started teaching classes. You could legitimize your dollar, fee now
that you had some you had a little bit of currency. Exactly. It's funny thing
about that. You know, I I'd forgotten that I had done that until many years
(08:08):
later in my life and my life had fallen apart. My husband
at Mac's husband at the time had gotten sick. I had a health and wellness
business, a TV show, and he'd gotten very ill, almost died. And I I lost
everything and had to close my business, got behind in my rent. I was trying
to figure out what I was going to do in my life. And my mom
brought me this box of photo albums, the old school photo albums in the day.
And I opened one of them and I saw the flyer for the GNFC, the
(08:31):
Gina Nicole fitness center. And I was like, So the thing that I've
been doing all along that I thought was my side gig, cause I got into
working in television and that was going to be how I was going to become
successful. And so I'd always been teaching classes, personal training, helping
people lose weight. And I was like, this thing that I thought was my side
gig has been my passion all along. That That was a real defining
(08:52):
moment in my life where I'm like, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna
do this. This brings me joy. This brings me happiness. So to my listeners, I'm
gonna give you a a warning right now. Stay with the show, but we're gonna
bounce a bit like a pinball because I think that's who Gina is. So now
I'm gonna take you back to university because you go off and chase your boyfriend,
Deloria, but I hear that you put on a hundred pounds in university.
I did. One of the ways I've funded my way through university was
(09:15):
working at a gym and teaching classes. I was teaching classes in the residence.
I was teaching classes at, this club called Waterloo Women's Club back in the day,
hardcore ropes classes. I was teaching two, three ropes
classes a day. I was working full time in the morning from 7AM to three,
going to school in the afternoon, pulling all nighters. When I started
university, I did not have a weight issue. And one night I
(09:37):
was waiting for my friends after the bar and this
drunk guy walked by me. And for whatever reason, looked at me
and I was standing beside a tree and he's laughed and he's pointed at me.
He's like, look at that girl's legs. Her legs are as big
as the tree trunk. And I remember thinking, oh, yeah.
I was fat, but fit, I would say. Kind of like stocky, like a football
(09:59):
player. I even played on the powder puff football team at university. And I remember
thinking there's something wrong with me. And I started talking to some of my friends
and they're like, yeah, you work out a lot. You should be super
skinny. I made an appointment with my doctor. You know, I gained all this
weight. I don't know what's going on. And he's like, well, you probably are
eating too much. And I was like, I know how to count calories. My job
(10:19):
is to help other people lose weight. And at the time I would
walk to work for seven, stop at the coffee shop, get a muffin or a
scone. Okay. Not the best choice and a coffee, but then I would not eat
all day long. I would come home, maybe have a salad because I was on
a diet. That can't be it. I'm hardly eating anything. Hardly like
eating any calorie, five, six hundred calories a day. That's it. And he's like, well,
(10:40):
maybe you need to work out more. And I was like, how much more do
I need to work out? Like, I know what I'm doing here. He said, well,
you must be big boned. And I was like, okay, what's going on
here? Why is everything that I was taught not working for me? When I
was done university and I went to I moved to the city and moved to
Toronto and I got a job working at a gym and I was young. And
(11:00):
so I was also working at a bar and I met my,
ex husband and, he was a chef. And I remember one time
he came to my my apartment and he opened up the fridge and he was
like, where's your food? I'm like, I don't have any. I'm on a diet. And
he's like, you work out more than anyone I know. Like, how's that working for
you? And I'm like, I know. Right? And so the more I ate, the more
(11:21):
I lost weight. So I started really looking into how the body processes and
digest foods, what was happening with stress and sleep. And this was
before the internet. Within eight months, I'd lost a hundred
pounds and within the year I'd lost pretty much all my
weight. And did I have it figured out? I don't know that I had it
figured out, but I figured some things out. My stress levels
(11:42):
have changed. I was starting to get sleep. I was, you know, mindful about
what I was eating. I was eating more than I ever have. You start figuring
it out. And then part of this is television comes along as
well. So while I taught classes in, at
university, we used to travel to the city to Toronto to take classes at
this, like, really popular club where all the who's who
(12:03):
of Whoville went. I found my way into getting a job
there. And Anne Romer, who you might
remember, she used to be the host of this morning show, this big morning
show called breakfast television. And she used to teach classes.
At the gym that I worked at. And so I got to know her. And
then one day out of the blue, she called me and she said, Hey,
(12:26):
we need someone to, to fill a spot on the show this morning,
doing something fitnessy. Do you want to come on? And I was
like, sure. I guess I walked in the
lights, the busyness of people yelling at each other and trying to
organize things. And I was like, what is this? I want to be
part of this thing that is being created this live show,
(12:48):
the energy, all of that Few months later, there was an
opportunity to be a volunteer. The interview lasted an hour.
I didn't get the job and I was like a bit disappointed.
Then two days later, I got a call and saying, Hey, the person we hired
for the job bailed and you were next on our choice. Do you want this
job? And so I was like, I'm there. Long story short, it's
(13:09):
it's serious. Like it's a full time volunteer position
and you don't get days off. You don't get holidays. If you miss a day,
you're out. That's it. And I volunteered for a
year every morning, five till twelve. Then I would
do my other job. I would go to the gym and work one till nine.
And I just learned everything I could about television. And
(13:31):
I started as a volunteer running scripts in the news run. And then I was
the coffee girl who was like sat at the little coffee table at the
breakfast morning show. And then I became a floor director
kind of wearing a headset and telling people where to go. And
then I became the fill in person for the live eye. Then from
there, I opportunities come up for me to host my own show that I
(13:53):
got and then move from Toronto, went to Barrie and whatnot. So So what's really
interesting to me is how these two tracks now come together because
you have this idea of creating a weight loss program that's less
about fad and looking fabulous and much more your whole
body, and we're gonna talk about it. But at the same time, you have to
be engaging and entertaining and you have to project it because there's
(14:15):
just a lot of people chasing eyeballs out there. So tell me how
those two came together. So I moved to Barrie. So I I moved from
Toronto. I left the morning show, to host my own show. And then one day,
I walked in. They're like, you're gonna be the new sportscaster. Okay.
Like I wasn't into sports. I like, who gave me that job?
I don't know why. I did it for a while and then I hated
(14:37):
it. I quit. I was like, I don't, I don't want to do this anymore.
And then I found out I was pregnant. Then I was like, oh shit. Now
I need a job. My husband at the time decided to and I decided
to pitch our own show to a local television station
in Aurora, Ontario. Manager was like, sure. He
cooked. I talked about fitness. For ten years. I produced
(14:59):
and hosted my own show. And I was like, I love television, but if I'm
gonna be on TV, I wanna talk about what I love. I stopped
doing that. My husband got sick. Then I had to figure out things on
my own. And fast forward many years later to
I was helping people lose weight one on one running a very successful
business, and I wanted to scale. I wanted to help
(15:21):
more people. So I came up with an idea to
host groups on Facebook. At the time, they had a new feature
called live. I just sat there all day, kinda
like how I'm talking to you now, and people would talk about their weight loss
questions, and I was able to talk about what I love.
Now the programs that I run, I run three programs a year,
(15:43):
a year in the fall, in the winter, in the spring, and I get to
talk every day to thousands of people.
We come back, Jane and I talk about the entrepreneurial dilemma.
That point in life where you start realizing what you've built has
got success and momentum, and you need to invite others in. And
with that, you have to decide who's got influence, who's got authority,
(16:06):
and who can you trust.
Hi. It's Tony Chapman, host of the podcast Chatter That Matters, and
I'm here to give a big shout out to a long standing partner of RBC,
Woman of Influence Plus. This is an organization that isn't here to
change the narrative. It is here to rewrite it, to create a more inclusive
tomorrow. And one of their biggest initiatives is the RBC Canadian Women
(16:29):
Entrepreneur Awards. For over three decades, they've recognized and
celebrated the strides of Canada's most accomplished, influential, and
impactful women. It is a leading women's awards program in the nation,
working to elevate their important contributions economic growth to
social change across sectors, across industries, and across Canada.
Women of Influence Plus and the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur
(16:51):
Awards, well, that matters to you, to me, and to RBC.
If you have been trying to lose weight for over twenty years, you haven't
failed. Straight up, the diet industry has failed you. The diet
industry is not designed for sustainable weight loss. It's designed to lose your weight, and
they hope that you keep coming back time and time again. Our hope for you
(17:13):
is that you lose your weight in a way that you truly are able
to move on. Joining me today is Gina
Livy. She's an extraordinary female entrepreneur.
She's created the Livy Method. She has a community
of thousands of people around the world. And instead of five
steps to this or that, I think what she really focuses
(17:35):
on is a human being, how we think, how we
feel, and how we act.
So let's talk about the Libby method because you've been recognized as one
of Canada's most powerful women entrepreneurs. Very often
when people are talking about it or you've talked about it, the word community
sort of roars through it. So as opposed to what I think is an
(17:58):
individual and a personal struggle with weight loss, you're saying we're much
stronger together? The community that I've been able to facilitate,
and I say not create, but to facilitate is probably the thing I am
most proud of. This goes back to my TV roots. I'm gonna take you on
a bit of a story here, but, I had a friend who reached out to
me, someone who I worked with on that morning show, breakfast television.
(18:21):
He was now working for a different television company and he's like,
Hey, I see what you're doing. We want to chat. We
want to make you the Tony Robbins. Of the weight loss
industry. We want to do a big infomercial with you. We want to sell your
program. We have television stations all over the world. We want to put you out
there and sell this and we are going to make a lot of money.
(18:43):
Okay. Well, I've never really been motivated by money. I love the idea of
getting out there, but I knew I had something special. I knew that I
had a program that really helped people, but I
also knew they would have questions about it. And I was like,
this is my one shot. I wanna do it right. And so I walked away
from that meeting and I came home and I went to bed in the middle
(19:04):
of the night. I was like, okay, well, if I create a Facebook group, people
can all come together and then they have questions they can ask
me. My first program I did for free. So I was like, whoever wants to
lose weight, then four eighty four people sign up. And then when I
was done, I was like, okay, there you go. I taught you how to lose
weight. And they were like, we want to do it again. And then, so then
(19:25):
I started my paid program. So you had to pay to get in. So I
charged $60 for ninety one days, the same thing
with different people. Everyone was just trying really hard to wake up every day,
you know, make choices that fall in line with their goals, try to lose this
weight. They've been trying to lose weight forever and, and, and do it while life
was smacking them in the face. But what's really important to me
(19:47):
was to create a safe space for people. And I used to say positive, safe
space. I don't say positive anymore. It's not a place where it's like, you
have to be happy and everything is wonderful. It's a, it's more of a safe
place for people to, to ask questions. There's no such thing as a silly
question to feel like they're part of something. So the community kind
of created itself by those people who were vulnerable enough to share
(20:09):
and ask questions. And then I think I also. I
showed up every day at 9AM showing up through my son being in the
hospital for a whole month. I will go live from sick kids' hospital, downtown Toronto,
a year and a half ago. My kid's dad passed away. And so I showed
up through trying to navigate that. I have a kid right now in rehab
and she's had mental health issues and I've navigated my way through that.
(20:32):
I've cried a lot. I've laughed a lot and I've shared probably
way too much with our community, but in doing that, it
made people feel vulnerable enough to share
their stories. Very early on. Someone said to me, you
can't, that's not sustainable. You're not going to be able to do that. And I
realized sometimes when people say mean things, they're just having a hard time in their
(20:53):
life And weight loss is very personal. So sometimes the way people express
themselves, so I've, I've gotten softer in the beginning. I would just kick people out.
If you're an asshole, you're out. And now I give people an opportunity.
I'm like, Hey, there's a nice way to say anything. We, I
really am here for you. And, you know, if you want to be part
of this, you, you know, you gotta play nice. It's just grown
(21:16):
and grown and grown and grown. And, you know, we have a community of upwards
of, you know, probably a couple hundred thousand people at this point. And it's just,
it's lovely. You know, you talk about those people
that just struggle with other people's success. And when I read
your critics, they talk about, well, it's not really a community,
it's more of a cult, or your credentials are
(21:37):
suspect. Is that a Canadian thing or is that a global thing
where when somebody is successful, people find a way to try to find
a way to put it down? It's the one thing that really surprised me.
And it's a lot of times it's women and it's not men who are criticizing
me making money. The program is $60 I mean, the value that
you receive for it is insane. That's one of the things I've been criticized by
(22:00):
people personally is like, you, you need to charge more money. Like, what are you
doing? Because I, my whole model is accessible, affordable,
doable. So say I really truly want people to lose their weight and then
move on for the rest of my life. I don't, I don't want to keep
making money from people and ask me why I'm motivated. I don't know. I
just, it's my passion in life. And I truly
(22:20):
am out there. I try to add more value, more value, more value, and keep
the price at $60 It will never be low enough for people. You know, recently
I got on the dragon's den, which was a really, like, it was a
really great moment for me. Cause the, the, the Canada's top 100 thing you
mentioned, the Dragon said was very validating for me. I'm a, I was a single
mom with four kids for a while and I, I sacrificed a lot.
(22:42):
A lot of people. Yeah. Criticized me for the business
part of things. And why, why can't I run it? Don't you want me
to run a successful business? I would do it for free,
except I have 43 people on my team right
now. I want them to have a
career where they are happy and they are passionate and
(23:03):
they make good money. And to be criticized for that is something
I never dreamed would happen. I always go back and
we're going off track, but I always question why women that have a majority in
almost every democratic nation very rarely vote for a woman leader. Just curious,
like, have you ever figured that out or you're just gonna go, you know what?
It's not for me to think about. I'm much more interested in how
(23:24):
the positive impact I'm having on others, and I'm gonna let all of that stuff
wash over. Does it does it get at you? I don't wanna talk about that
negative side of things, but it, it definitely is very real. I think about it
all the time. Recently, we've decided to put our prices up and I'm I don't,
I don't sleep at night. I need to put my prices up because my value
keeps going up and the cost of living goes up for my team. And it's
(23:45):
still an amazing, incredible, ridiculous value yet.
I'm concerned about what people are going to say about it. It's
interesting. I had a woman, I saw her on social media and she was cutting
me up and saying whatever thing she was saying about me, it was over an
interaction of me trying to justify something she had said, and she
didn't like my response. And I was like, I'm never going to win this conversation.
(24:07):
I'm just going to let it go. I was thinking, man, here she is on
Christmas day at the time. Trying to slam me.
And like, I'm just trying to help people. Just so, so cliche.
I am really, I'm the good guy. I haven't spoken
to my dad in a while. Cause my dad is not the most
supportive person on the planet. And he, he met my husband for the first
(24:28):
time and he proceeded to tell stories that
made me a fool and talk about how he wasn't proud of me. And I
was like, what is wrong with him? I'm a good daughter. I worked
really hard. I'm a good person. It's his own thing. It's his own
issue. So I try not to convince people. There's sort of
this psychological chords that play through a lot of what you're doing.
(24:50):
You talk about anxiety, emotional eating. Is
this what you wanted for yourself growing up? I don't wanna paint you in a
corner on it, but it strikes me that this young woman looking to belong
and looking for different things, and all of a sudden, finally creating a
community, in fact, is the kind of community you might have been looking for.
I feel like I finally belong. I found my people. Someone had said to
(25:12):
me, and this is when I was doing social media in a few years back,
can I ask you a question? And I said, yes. And this this person was
quite successful. They run their own kind of business, and they're in they're in the
public eye. And I said, who are you talking to? And I said, what do
you mean? And she's like, well, I go to your Instagram account, your social media,
and I see you on the red carpet. I see you hanging out with your
famous friends. I see you going for dinner. I see you but who, who are
(25:34):
your people? You are so knowledgeable. And she had been a client
and she's like, you are so good at what you do. You have so many
good things to share and so much knowledge. Like you need to find your people.
This really got me thinking, like, who am I trying to help? Who
are my people? And I spent a lot of time thinking about that.
I was nervous about posting and what I was sharing and nervous about
(25:55):
people picking me apart. And I just started sharing
what I know. I believe sharing is caring. I've, amassed a lot of
knowledge in the space. If there's one thing I'm really good at it's weight loss,
everything else in my life, a crapshoot, but I've spent my entire life trying
to help people lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way. That's the place
that I, that I function from. What I've learned from other people
(26:17):
is about making real change in your life. And what I've learned
through making change in my own life, because I love change. I love change. People
can change. You can change your situation. You can be in a shit situation.
And then next thing you know, you're in a totally different situation just by doing
the little things that you do each day. And when it comes to weight loss,
it's not about what you're eating and when. It comes to your issues
(26:39):
and associations in and around food, how you were raised,
how your parents were raised and their issues and associations. It has
to do making change with your habits, the habits you've
created and creating new habits. It has to do with your beliefs, whether you
believe you were worthy of making the changes that you
want to make in your life. And for a lot of people past
(27:01):
trauma. And this is where a lot of times, that has to do with
trying to control certain elements in their life. It's the one thing that they could
control. I don't personally like promote my program
as something that's going to help people with eating disorders,
but I've always had an interest in what is going on with
me, what is happening with me and what do I need to
(27:23):
do to make change? And so this is what I teach other people. I,
I teach them to be in tune to their needs, to
trust their gut, to be self aware.
People, especially through dieting have learned to disconnect from a young
age, your parents, right? Eat your broccoli. It's good for you. Well, what if that
broccoli upsets your tummy? You're, you're taught to ignore that. Eat it anyway. Eat
(27:45):
everything on your plate. So you're taught as a young kid, many of us, to
eat past the point of feeling satisfied, because you're gonna sit there and eat every
last, every last bite. Or you go to your parents. They're like, I'm
hungry. They're like, dinner's in three hours. You can wait. And then you add dieting
on top of that. And then you learn to starve yourself all day, not
eat when you're hungry. We don't sleep when we're tired. We don't drink when we're
(28:06):
thirsty. And so we learn to really disconnect. And so what I'm teaching people, it
has to reconnect with what's going on with them physically
and mentally. So for some people that goes real deep. If you think
about dieting, it's difficult because what makes weight loss hard is
that you need to eat to survive and your
past and how, you know, you've utilized food or your
(28:27):
association with food factors in. So the weight loss industry has this
oversimplified calories in versus calories out, and it's so much more than that. Like, I'm
I wanna help people lose weight, but in a way that they they are changed
forever. Is losing weight a Trojan horse for actually wanting
people to feel better? Do you know my my motivation isn't weight loss. It's
helping people lose weight already so they can move on and take that time and
(28:48):
space and energy that they spend on it and put it into other things in
their life. I wanna, like, solve the obesity crisis. I I've actually
I've created the algorithm for sustainable weight loss. I know that and and I have
a team that at the University of Ottawa who's been been studying the living method.
The living method works. My focus is on maintenance, helping people not just lose their
weight in a healthy way, but actually in a way they can maintain and sustain.
(29:09):
Like, a couple of things I wanna talk about your business. You you talked about
having a 42 people? Yes. How is that for you? Because for
someone that used to just love to be in control of the
aerobics class and then go home, teach a class and go home, you're
now I mean, that's a twenty four seven responsibility for
these people and how they feel that they whether they belong in your organization
(29:30):
and whether they think there's upward mobility. I mean, it I must have
changed everything for you to take that on. It's been very difficult
sometimes for me because and I'm gonna be real honest here. People come
and work for me, and I try to do everything I can to make them
happy, full benefits, the best wage possible. I
want them to be happy. And sometimes it seems like it's never enough. And I've
(29:52):
just come to realize sometimes people are just unhappy in their life. So I'm not
going to be able to make everybody happy, though. I definitely do
try. I want to be one of those companies that where people want to work
for me. But it's been difficult because the more
people that I have on my team and I want everyone to have a seat
at the table, we're all sitting at the same table. That's it. But the more
(30:13):
people you have on your team, the more people want to say The hardest thing
is trying to make people feel heard and seen, but also then at the same
time, trust that I know better. It's been a learning curve for me
to trust that I do know better. Not that I'm not open. I love
a good brainstorming session. I love hearing people's ideas.
But for a while, I wanted to make everybody happy. And so I would do
(30:35):
what other people wanted to do. And every time in my life I've done what
other people wanted to do. That's when shit just goes sideways. And that's a lesson
in life for any entrepreneur because, you know, when you start a business, you do
everything. As you start surrendering control, it's one of the
hardest things to do because other people are on that wire. And not
only are you worried they're gonna fall off, but at the same time, they might
(30:55):
accidentally knock you off of it. I also though recognize
that the skills and the tools that I had to take to bring the
business to where it is are not necessarily the skills and the tools that I
need in order to carry the business forward. So this is
where I will never claim to know it all. And that I do
have to learn to trust other people. Because at this
(31:17):
point, moving forward, I've never been here before. I've never run a company of this
size with this many people and I still have a lot to learn. And this
is where I do have to learn to trust other people,
but also to trust my gut. It's one thing to bring the great idea to
the table, but I can't go against my gut. I have to be like, is
this the right move? It's been very interesting. A lot
(31:40):
of people on my team have jobs that they are
not qualified to have. And so we hire people out of passion
and then we help them acquire the skills so they can
take courses. They can go to school. That's something that I'm I'm
really proud of is giving people the opportunity. And sometimes people
rise to the occasion and sometimes they don't, which is hard for me too,
(32:02):
because I can't want something for somebody that more than they want it from
themselves. So that's where we're at now is if I want to have the number
one weight loss company in the world. Even I have
a cap to what I've learned and where I'm at, I need help.
And this is where the, that we were recently on Dragon's Den. Talk to me
about that because up until now, you refused any outside investors, any
(32:24):
external investors. You are someone who likes to have your hand on the rudder.
What was it like on Dragon's Den? Is that something you really wanted investment or
was it more a way to get some profile or validation? I'm curious what why
you would go on. My husband and I and my husband, Tony,
he's been running the company with me, for the last four years. He used to
work at Amazon, quit his job when he realized, like, it was just getting too
(32:45):
big for me. We have a great successful business. You
know, we would watch people on the show and be like, what would our numbers
be? And what would we say? They had someone drop out and someone said,
Hey, do you want to be on Dragon's Den? We had two weeks, two weeks.
To pull everything together that we needed to, and, you know, we, should we
go on? What are people going to think? And I'm like, let's just not worry
(33:08):
about that. This is for you and I, this is like something fun for us
to do. It's a great opportunity. And we brought six of
our members with us, people who've done the program been successful. So we included
it and we made it about wanting to make our community
proud. We have a solid business. We don't have to worry about that. We went
in with a really low, valuation. We wanted to talk about our program.
(33:30):
We want to talk about our people and let's make the sole focus, making
our community proud. And the dragons fought over us.
Like we were in there for an hour. People, you didn't even get to see
half of it. People were throwing out deals left, right, and center.
We didn't even have to counter cause we got what we wanted.
And when we walked away, we were like, wow, that was like really
(33:52):
validating personally, for me, I cried a lot. Because again, I
sacrificed a lot and a lot of people in my life didn't understand what I
was doing or why. I've never been quiet about the fact that I
want to have the number one weight loss company in the world. Like that's it.
So it was really interesting because it was a really proud moment, but I did
get a bit of criticism for that. Talking
about investors. Yeah. We didn't need, we don't need the money, but what I do
(34:15):
need is I need someone who's been where I haven't been. I need someone who's
gonna share their knowledge with me to help just like people come to me and
help ask me to help them lose weight because of what I've learned. I need
people to help me in business. We haven't signed a deal
yet. I'll I'll be honest in that, but what I can tell you, especially
Michelle Romanoff, who we made a deal with, she I
(34:38):
spoke spoken to about five times. Talk about an incredible woman. She says,
listen, you don't need my money. Let's just see where your company's at.
Let me see where I can help. And so she has given me so much
of her time for free behind the scenes
because she cares about women in business. First of all, I
am a champion of people that dream big and do. And I love the
(35:00):
fact that you wanna be the number one company in the world.
Anybody that tries to pull you down, slap them. And
any investor that thinks that they're the ones that are gonna get you to where
you wanna go, slap them as well because you're the one that's gotta
carry this torch. But my three takeaways is the first part of your
life, I've framed as what is this? I wanna be part of this. I wanna
(35:21):
do this. And this is where you you saw the aerobics instructor, and you you
went to the TV station, and you you were fascinated by how you
wanted to insert yourself in that role of a authority or power.
And then you shifted to I will make this. I
will be this. You finally had your knapsack as full as it
could be and say, no. It's my turn to do it. And then the
(35:44):
last thing is, which to me will define how far you go in
life, your ability to make tough decisions, because
there'll must be people you've kept on staff far longer than they should have been
with you because you wanted to make them happy and you wanted to make it
perfect and you don't like criticism. But it really comes down to this
sense of of navigating this new world for you of trust. I have
(36:04):
to trust others that I'm bringing in who have skills that
I don't have, but at the same time, I can never lose the sense
of trusting my gut because it's what got us here.
And there's a great book called The Founder's Dilemma. You were hitting that
dilemma point because you've gotta decide, am I
gonna be the founder that continues to grow this
(36:27):
business? Or am I gonna surrender that role? And I've yet to see
that successfully done. I think there's so
much coming through you, but the thing I admire the most
is this great passion. And I'm just delighted you came on Chatter That
Matters. Thank you. Thank you. You get me.
Once again, a special thanks to RBC for supporting Chatter That Matters.
(36:51):
It's Tony Chapman. Thanks for listening, and let's chat soon.
I've been doing chatter that matters since 2020, and I guess
I've earned enough of a reputation that on any given
week, I get pissed a dozen or more times by
book publishers, publicists, PR companies, and even guests themselves
to appear on the show. And as you know, I only do the show once
a week, so that's a lot of people I have to turn down and a
(00:23):
lot of tough decisions I have to make. And my guest
today, I almost dismissed immediately. But what made me give
her a second look is, first of all, the pitch came from Praxis, a PR
company that I admire. And I went beyond her business,
which is weight loss. After some reason, it just
created a stigma with me to really get behind the
(00:44):
individual. And what I learned through research is a story about a
extraordinary woman. And I've always been a very gut instinct
girl. I know what works. I know where I wanna go. I know
what I need to do to get there. Certainly self motivated,
didn't find any inspiration or motivation from her parents,
had personal context in terms of weight loss. In
(01:07):
each step in a longer journey, she continued to fill her knapsack with
essential tools and skills that led her to the point in her life where she
said, this is my time to make something of everything
I've learned. I felt like the odd man out in my childhood and
with relationships and friends, and I just felt like I never belonged. So I wanted
to create a space where everyone felt like they were welcomed and belonged. And she's
(01:29):
made an extraordinary success of herself. And what I enjoyed most
about this show, and I hope you do as well, is that instead of what
a lot of people aspire to be entrepreneurs by saying, I wish that was
me or I could do that. She went out
and carved and crafted her own path. I'm gonna
show you. I'm gonna get it done. And I think that kind of
(01:50):
resiliency has really helped, I guess, make me as
successful as I am today. She's articulate, hilarious,
self deprecating, really an individual
that I think in some ways no longer struggles with weight loss, but
maybe her success. Because with her success comes the
need to scale her organization and invite new people in,
(02:13):
decide who's got influence and authority, and really all the dilemmas that
happen when an entrepreneurial strain becomes a reality.
Hi. It's Tony Chapman. Thank you for listening to Chatter That Matters presented by
RBC. If you can, please subscribe to the podcast. And
ratings and reviews, well, they're always welcome, and they're always appreciated.
(02:38):
I'd like to welcome the one and only Gina Lizzie to Chatter That
Matters. Gina, welcome. Thanks for having me. I'm
glad I didn't listen to my instincts and instead did my homework.
So I wanted to begin by actually you're age 10.
And in one of the articles I read about you, you said, this is where
you first got the entrepreneurial bug. And we're gonna talk about your entrepreneurial
(03:00):
success later in the show. But tell me what a 10 year old does to
to sort of scratch that itch. When I was 10, I
decided to open up a gym, paint my parents'
basement, you know, old school basement,
white, and kind of reorganize whatever was down
there and make a flyer. And I did this with my best friend
(03:23):
at the time, Nicole, And we called it the GNFC, the Gina and
Nicole Fitness Center. And I had this idea that
I was going to help the kids in my class
lose weight. But at the time, now looking back, there wasn't a lot of
overweight kids in my class. And the one girl
in my class who was overweight signed up. I charged a
(03:45):
dollar and she came to my house and we did a
little workout. I knew nothing about working out.
I like, looking back, I'm like, what was I
thinking? Interestingly enough, my best friend
who, did that with me, she is now a doctor. A lot of
times, you know, kids have this idea or this spark of creativity and
(04:07):
it's suffocated. Were you encouraged to do this or did you just grab a can
of paint and decide to make it happen? I mean, my mom had me when
she was 21. They were married when they were 19. They were young. They were
involved in sports, partying. Now look back. They probably weren't really paying
attention to what I was doing and they were just like, sure, go for it,
whatever. They weren't really nurturing of my entrepreneurial spirit.
(04:29):
My dad had said my entire life, when you're 18, you're out of the house.
So figure it out, get a job. I learned quite quickly if I wanted
things, I needed to buy them for myself. So, and once I started working, I
really loved working and making money. And if you talk to my mom
now, like, she's like, you were always working. And she's like, I don't know where
you got that from. Even when I went to university, which I followed a
(04:50):
boyfriend at the time, I didn't really have any idea to go to university. It
wasn't something that was talked about in my family. And I
applied to get in and I got in and I remember going to my mom
and saying, I need to borrow $200 for residents. I have to put
a down payment on residents. I don't have the money. Can I borrow it? And
she's like, what? For what? Why would you do that? Why would you go to
(05:11):
university? I remember the day came for me to go to
university and I had my bags packed on the front
lawn And I've been talking to my parents and they just weren't listening.
And they're like, where are you going? I'm like, I'm going to university. And they're
like, well, how are you getting there? I'm like, my boyfriend's parents are gonna come
pick me up and I'm gonna go. And they're like, what? Well,
(05:32):
no, we're gonna drive you. And so they drove me and I remember
they it was, Laurier. When did you do
this? How did you do this? And I just been doing this
ever since. I just have an idea. I'm motivated. I just
figure out how to do it and away I go. You wouldn't call them the
motivators of your life. Let's put it that way. No.
(05:53):
Like, I have a sister. My, you know, she was like a police officer. She
ran a more traditional route. My parents were so concerned about me always.
I think they just thought I was, like, flippant, fly by the seat of my
pants. Like, we're, like, we're not really sure what I was gonna do with my
life. I just ran into my dad and, I hadn't seen him in a while
and he had never met my husband. There's a whole story there I'm not gonna
go into, but my dad said to my husband, you know, people ask me if
(06:17):
I'm proud of my daughter. And I'm like, of course not. Why would I be?
Like, she just does what she does. Like, she says she's gonna do something and
she does it. That's what I expect of her. My dad was the kind of
person who I remember once I came second in something.
I said, I won second place. And he said, you didn't win. You lost. You
didn't win. And that has really stuck with me.
(06:37):
I'm now coming to realize that their way of not motivating me
was very motivating for me. It's interesting that someone that did
motivate you that I heard about was this aerobics instructor at YMCA.
A couple times you cited that moment in life as a big
change moment. What happened? The YMCA was a a place to hang out when I
was younger. I walked by this room, and there I remember seeing her.
(07:00):
She had short hair. She had leg warmers on, and she was screaming at
people, yelling at them. I mean, like, almost, like,
in a not nice way, but also strangely motivating way.
And people are running around this circle in this gym and she was
pumping her arms up and down. And I was like, what is that?
And I stopped and I watched her and I just was like, this
(07:23):
is fun. I want to do this. Like, I, I want to yell
at people, but in a super motivating kind of way.
People look so happy, even though she was screaming at them and
getting down and on the floor and pointing at people and up in
people's faces. And I'll never forget that moment. And I was like,
wow. And so I signed up and would take her classes, man. She
(07:46):
was so hardcore. I remember leaving her class sometimes and just
feeling like I was going to vomit, but it was like, that was the best.
And I became a personal trainer and aerobic instructor and,
started teaching classes. You could legitimize your dollar, fee now
that you had some you had a little bit of currency. Exactly. It's funny thing
about that. You know, I I'd forgotten that I had done that until many years
(08:08):
later in my life and my life had fallen apart. My husband
at Mac's husband at the time had gotten sick. I had a health and wellness
business, a TV show, and he'd gotten very ill, almost died. And I I lost
everything and had to close my business, got behind in my rent. I was trying
to figure out what I was going to do in my life. And my mom
brought me this box of photo albums, the old school photo albums in the day.
And I opened one of them and I saw the flyer for the GNFC, the
(08:31):
Gina Nicole fitness center. And I was like, So the thing that I've
been doing all along that I thought was my side gig, cause I got into
working in television and that was going to be how I was going to become
successful. And so I'd always been teaching classes, personal training, helping
people lose weight. And I was like, this thing that I thought was my side
gig has been my passion all along. That That was a real defining
(08:52):
moment in my life where I'm like, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna
do this. This brings me joy. This brings me happiness. So to my listeners, I'm
gonna give you a a warning right now. Stay with the show, but we're gonna
bounce a bit like a pinball because I think that's who Gina is. So now
I'm gonna take you back to university because you go off and chase your boyfriend,
Deloria, but I hear that you put on a hundred pounds in university.
I did. One of the ways I've funded my way through university was
(09:15):
working at a gym and teaching classes. I was teaching classes in the residence.
I was teaching classes at, this club called Waterloo Women's Club back in the day,
hardcore ropes classes. I was teaching two, three ropes
classes a day. I was working full time in the morning from 7AM to three,
going to school in the afternoon, pulling all nighters. When I started
university, I did not have a weight issue. And one night I
(09:37):
was waiting for my friends after the bar and this
drunk guy walked by me. And for whatever reason, looked at me
and I was standing beside a tree and he's laughed and he's pointed at me.
He's like, look at that girl's legs. Her legs are as big
as the tree trunk. And I remember thinking, oh, yeah.
I was fat, but fit, I would say. Kind of like stocky, like a football
(09:59):
player. I even played on the powder puff football team at university. And I remember
thinking there's something wrong with me. And I started talking to some of my friends
and they're like, yeah, you work out a lot. You should be super
skinny. I made an appointment with my doctor. You know, I gained all this
weight. I don't know what's going on. And he's like, well, you probably are
eating too much. And I was like, I know how to count calories. My job
(10:19):
is to help other people lose weight. And at the time I would
walk to work for seven, stop at the coffee shop, get a muffin or a
scone. Okay. Not the best choice and a coffee, but then I would not eat
all day long. I would come home, maybe have a salad because I was on
a diet. That can't be it. I'm hardly eating anything. Hardly like
eating any calorie, five, six hundred calories a day. That's it. And he's like, well,
(10:40):
maybe you need to work out more. And I was like, how much more do
I need to work out? Like, I know what I'm doing here. He said, well,
you must be big boned. And I was like, okay, what's going on
here? Why is everything that I was taught not working for me? When I
was done university and I went to I moved to the city and moved to
Toronto and I got a job working at a gym and I was young. And
(11:00):
so I was also working at a bar and I met my,
ex husband and, he was a chef. And I remember one time
he came to my my apartment and he opened up the fridge and he was
like, where's your food? I'm like, I don't have any. I'm on a diet. And
he's like, you work out more than anyone I know. Like, how's that working for
you? And I'm like, I know. Right? And so the more I ate, the more
(11:21):
I lost weight. So I started really looking into how the body processes and
digest foods, what was happening with stress and sleep. And this was
before the internet. Within eight months, I'd lost a hundred
pounds and within the year I'd lost pretty much all my
weight. And did I have it figured out? I don't know that I had it
figured out, but I figured some things out. My stress levels
(11:42):
have changed. I was starting to get sleep. I was, you know, mindful about
what I was eating. I was eating more than I ever have. You start figuring
it out. And then part of this is television comes along as
well. So while I taught classes in, at
university, we used to travel to the city to Toronto to take classes at
this, like, really popular club where all the who's who
(12:03):
of Whoville went. I found my way into getting a job
there. And Anne Romer, who you might
remember, she used to be the host of this morning show, this big morning
show called breakfast television. And she used to teach classes.
At the gym that I worked at. And so I got to know her. And
then one day out of the blue, she called me and she said, Hey,
(12:26):
we need someone to, to fill a spot on the show this morning,
doing something fitnessy. Do you want to come on? And I was
like, sure. I guess I walked in the
lights, the busyness of people yelling at each other and trying to
organize things. And I was like, what is this? I want to be
part of this thing that is being created this live show,
(12:48):
the energy, all of that Few months later, there was an
opportunity to be a volunteer. The interview lasted an hour.
I didn't get the job and I was like a bit disappointed.
Then two days later, I got a call and saying, Hey, the person we hired
for the job bailed and you were next on our choice. Do you want this
job? And so I was like, I'm there. Long story short, it's
(13:09):
it's serious. Like it's a full time volunteer position
and you don't get days off. You don't get holidays. If you miss a day,
you're out. That's it. And I volunteered for a
year every morning, five till twelve. Then I would
do my other job. I would go to the gym and work one till nine.
And I just learned everything I could about television. And
(13:31):
I started as a volunteer running scripts in the news run. And then I was
the coffee girl who was like sat at the little coffee table at the
breakfast morning show. And then I became a floor director
kind of wearing a headset and telling people where to go. And
then I became the fill in person for the live eye. Then from
there, I opportunities come up for me to host my own show that I
(13:53):
got and then move from Toronto, went to Barrie and whatnot. So So what's really
interesting to me is how these two tracks now come together because
you have this idea of creating a weight loss program that's less
about fad and looking fabulous and much more your whole
body, and we're gonna talk about it. But at the same time, you have to
be engaging and entertaining and you have to project it because there's
(14:15):
just a lot of people chasing eyeballs out there. So tell me how
those two came together. So I moved to Barrie. So I I moved from
Toronto. I left the morning show, to host my own show. And then one day,
I walked in. They're like, you're gonna be the new sportscaster. Okay.
Like I wasn't into sports. I like, who gave me that job?
I don't know why. I did it for a while and then I hated
(14:37):
it. I quit. I was like, I don't, I don't want to do this anymore.
And then I found out I was pregnant. Then I was like, oh shit. Now
I need a job. My husband at the time decided to and I decided
to pitch our own show to a local television station
in Aurora, Ontario. Manager was like, sure. He
cooked. I talked about fitness. For ten years. I produced
(14:59):
and hosted my own show. And I was like, I love television, but if I'm
gonna be on TV, I wanna talk about what I love. I stopped
doing that. My husband got sick. Then I had to figure out things on
my own. And fast forward many years later to
I was helping people lose weight one on one running a very successful
business, and I wanted to scale. I wanted to help
(15:21):
more people. So I came up with an idea to
host groups on Facebook. At the time, they had a new feature
called live. I just sat there all day, kinda
like how I'm talking to you now, and people would talk about their weight loss
questions, and I was able to talk about what I love.
Now the programs that I run, I run three programs a year,
(15:43):
a year in the fall, in the winter, in the spring, and I get to
talk every day to thousands of people.
We come back, Jane and I talk about the entrepreneurial dilemma.
That point in life where you start realizing what you've built has
got success and momentum, and you need to invite others in. And
with that, you have to decide who's got influence, who's got authority,
(16:06):
and who can you trust.
Hi. It's Tony Chapman, host of the podcast Chatter That Matters, and
I'm here to give a big shout out to a long standing partner of RBC,
Woman of Influence Plus. This is an organization that isn't here to
change the narrative. It is here to rewrite it, to create a more inclusive
tomorrow. And one of their biggest initiatives is the RBC Canadian Women
(16:29):
Entrepreneur Awards. For over three decades, they've recognized and
celebrated the strides of Canada's most accomplished, influential, and
impactful women. It is a leading women's awards program in the nation,
working to elevate their important contributions economic growth to
social change across sectors, across industries, and across Canada.
Women of Influence Plus and the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur
(16:51):
Awards, well, that matters to you, to me, and to RBC.
If you have been trying to lose weight for over twenty years, you haven't
failed. Straight up, the diet industry has failed you. The diet
industry is not designed for sustainable weight loss. It's designed to lose your weight, and
they hope that you keep coming back time and time again. Our hope for you
(17:13):
is that you lose your weight in a way that you truly are able
to move on. Joining me today is Gina
Livy. She's an extraordinary female entrepreneur.
She's created the Livy Method. She has a community
of thousands of people around the world. And instead of five
steps to this or that, I think what she really focuses
(17:35):
on is a human being, how we think, how we
feel, and how we act.
So let's talk about the Libby method because you've been recognized as one
of Canada's most powerful women entrepreneurs. Very often
when people are talking about it or you've talked about it, the word community
sort of roars through it. So as opposed to what I think is an
(17:58):
individual and a personal struggle with weight loss, you're saying we're much
stronger together? The community that I've been able to facilitate,
and I say not create, but to facilitate is probably the thing I am
most proud of. This goes back to my TV roots. I'm gonna take you on
a bit of a story here, but, I had a friend who reached out to
me, someone who I worked with on that morning show, breakfast television.
(18:21):
He was now working for a different television company and he's like,
Hey, I see what you're doing. We want to chat. We
want to make you the Tony Robbins. Of the weight loss
industry. We want to do a big infomercial with you. We want to sell your
program. We have television stations all over the world. We want to put you out
there and sell this and we are going to make a lot of money.
(18:43):
Okay. Well, I've never really been motivated by money. I love the idea of
getting out there, but I knew I had something special. I knew that I
had a program that really helped people, but I
also knew they would have questions about it. And I was like,
this is my one shot. I wanna do it right. And so I walked away
from that meeting and I came home and I went to bed in the middle
(19:04):
of the night. I was like, okay, well, if I create a Facebook group, people
can all come together and then they have questions they can ask
me. My first program I did for free. So I was like, whoever wants to
lose weight, then four eighty four people sign up. And then when I
was done, I was like, okay, there you go. I taught you how to lose
weight. And they were like, we want to do it again. And then, so then
(19:25):
I started my paid program. So you had to pay to get in. So I
charged $60 for ninety one days, the same thing
with different people. Everyone was just trying really hard to wake up every day,
you know, make choices that fall in line with their goals, try to lose this
weight. They've been trying to lose weight forever and, and, and do it while life
was smacking them in the face. But what's really important to me
(19:47):
was to create a safe space for people. And I used to say positive, safe
space. I don't say positive anymore. It's not a place where it's like, you
have to be happy and everything is wonderful. It's a, it's more of a safe
place for people to, to ask questions. There's no such thing as a silly
question to feel like they're part of something. So the community kind
of created itself by those people who were vulnerable enough to share
(20:09):
and ask questions. And then I think I also. I
showed up every day at 9AM showing up through my son being in the
hospital for a whole month. I will go live from sick kids' hospital, downtown Toronto,
a year and a half ago. My kid's dad passed away. And so I showed
up through trying to navigate that. I have a kid right now in rehab
and she's had mental health issues and I've navigated my way through that.
(20:32):
I've cried a lot. I've laughed a lot and I've shared probably
way too much with our community, but in doing that, it
made people feel vulnerable enough to share
their stories. Very early on. Someone said to me, you
can't, that's not sustainable. You're not going to be able to do that. And I
realized sometimes when people say mean things, they're just having a hard time in their
(20:53):
life And weight loss is very personal. So sometimes the way people express
themselves, so I've, I've gotten softer in the beginning. I would just kick people out.
If you're an asshole, you're out. And now I give people an opportunity.
I'm like, Hey, there's a nice way to say anything. We, I
really am here for you. And, you know, if you want to be part
of this, you, you know, you gotta play nice. It's just grown
(21:16):
and grown and grown and grown. And, you know, we have a community of upwards
of, you know, probably a couple hundred thousand people at this point. And it's just,
it's lovely. You know, you talk about those people
that just struggle with other people's success. And when I read
your critics, they talk about, well, it's not really a community,
it's more of a cult, or your credentials are
(21:37):
suspect. Is that a Canadian thing or is that a global thing
where when somebody is successful, people find a way to try to find
a way to put it down? It's the one thing that really surprised me.
And it's a lot of times it's women and it's not men who are criticizing
me making money. The program is $60 I mean, the value that
you receive for it is insane. That's one of the things I've been criticized by
(22:00):
people personally is like, you, you need to charge more money. Like, what are you
doing? Because I, my whole model is accessible, affordable,
doable. So say I really truly want people to lose their weight and then
move on for the rest of my life. I don't, I don't want to keep
making money from people and ask me why I'm motivated. I don't know. I
just, it's my passion in life. And I truly
(22:20):
am out there. I try to add more value, more value, more value, and keep
the price at $60 It will never be low enough for people. You know, recently
I got on the dragon's den, which was a really, like, it was a
really great moment for me. Cause the, the, the Canada's top 100 thing you
mentioned, the Dragon said was very validating for me. I'm a, I was a single
mom with four kids for a while and I, I sacrificed a lot.
(22:42):
A lot of people. Yeah. Criticized me for the business
part of things. And why, why can't I run it? Don't you want me
to run a successful business? I would do it for free,
except I have 43 people on my team right
now. I want them to have a
career where they are happy and they are passionate and
(23:03):
they make good money. And to be criticized for that is something
I never dreamed would happen. I always go back and
we're going off track, but I always question why women that have a majority in
almost every democratic nation very rarely vote for a woman leader. Just curious,
like, have you ever figured that out or you're just gonna go, you know what?
It's not for me to think about. I'm much more interested in how
(23:24):
the positive impact I'm having on others, and I'm gonna let all of that stuff
wash over. Does it does it get at you? I don't wanna talk about that
negative side of things, but it, it definitely is very real. I think about it
all the time. Recently, we've decided to put our prices up and I'm I don't,
I don't sleep at night. I need to put my prices up because my value
keeps going up and the cost of living goes up for my team. And it's
(23:45):
still an amazing, incredible, ridiculous value yet.
I'm concerned about what people are going to say about it. It's
interesting. I had a woman, I saw her on social media and she was cutting
me up and saying whatever thing she was saying about me, it was over an
interaction of me trying to justify something she had said, and she
didn't like my response. And I was like, I'm never going to win this conversation.
(24:07):
I'm just going to let it go. I was thinking, man, here she is on
Christmas day at the time. Trying to slam me.
And like, I'm just trying to help people. Just so, so cliche.
I am really, I'm the good guy. I haven't spoken
to my dad in a while. Cause my dad is not the most
supportive person on the planet. And he, he met my husband for the first
(24:28):
time and he proceeded to tell stories that
made me a fool and talk about how he wasn't proud of me. And I
was like, what is wrong with him? I'm a good daughter. I worked
really hard. I'm a good person. It's his own thing. It's his own
issue. So I try not to convince people. There's sort of
this psychological chords that play through a lot of what you're doing.
(24:50):
You talk about anxiety, emotional eating. Is
this what you wanted for yourself growing up? I don't wanna paint you in a
corner on it, but it strikes me that this young woman looking to belong
and looking for different things, and all of a sudden, finally creating a
community, in fact, is the kind of community you might have been looking for.
I feel like I finally belong. I found my people. Someone had said to
(25:12):
me, and this is when I was doing social media in a few years back,
can I ask you a question? And I said, yes. And this this person was
quite successful. They run their own kind of business, and they're in they're in the
public eye. And I said, who are you talking to? And I said, what do
you mean? And she's like, well, I go to your Instagram account, your social media,
and I see you on the red carpet. I see you hanging out with your
famous friends. I see you going for dinner. I see you but who, who are
(25:34):
your people? You are so knowledgeable. And she had been a client
and she's like, you are so good at what you do. You have so many
good things to share and so much knowledge. Like you need to find your people.
This really got me thinking, like, who am I trying to help? Who
are my people? And I spent a lot of time thinking about that.
I was nervous about posting and what I was sharing and nervous about
(25:55):
people picking me apart. And I just started sharing
what I know. I believe sharing is caring. I've, amassed a lot of
knowledge in the space. If there's one thing I'm really good at it's weight loss,
everything else in my life, a crapshoot, but I've spent my entire life trying
to help people lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way. That's the place
that I, that I function from. What I've learned from other people
(26:17):
is about making real change in your life. And what I've learned
through making change in my own life, because I love change. I love change. People
can change. You can change your situation. You can be in a shit situation.
And then next thing you know, you're in a totally different situation just by doing
the little things that you do each day. And when it comes to weight loss,
it's not about what you're eating and when. It comes to your issues
(26:39):
and associations in and around food, how you were raised,
how your parents were raised and their issues and associations. It has
to do making change with your habits, the habits you've
created and creating new habits. It has to do with your beliefs, whether you
believe you were worthy of making the changes that you
want to make in your life. And for a lot of people past
(27:01):
trauma. And this is where a lot of times, that has to do with
trying to control certain elements in their life. It's the one thing that they could
control. I don't personally like promote my program
as something that's going to help people with eating disorders,
but I've always had an interest in what is going on with
me, what is happening with me and what do I need to
(27:23):
do to make change? And so this is what I teach other people. I,
I teach them to be in tune to their needs, to
trust their gut, to be self aware.
People, especially through dieting have learned to disconnect from a young
age, your parents, right? Eat your broccoli. It's good for you. Well, what if that
broccoli upsets your tummy? You're, you're taught to ignore that. Eat it anyway. Eat
(27:45):
everything on your plate. So you're taught as a young kid, many of us, to
eat past the point of feeling satisfied, because you're gonna sit there and eat every
last, every last bite. Or you go to your parents. They're like, I'm
hungry. They're like, dinner's in three hours. You can wait. And then you add dieting
on top of that. And then you learn to starve yourself all day, not
eat when you're hungry. We don't sleep when we're tired. We don't drink when we're
(28:06):
thirsty. And so we learn to really disconnect. And so what I'm teaching people, it
has to reconnect with what's going on with them physically
and mentally. So for some people that goes real deep. If you think
about dieting, it's difficult because what makes weight loss hard is
that you need to eat to survive and your
past and how, you know, you've utilized food or your
(28:27):
association with food factors in. So the weight loss industry has this
oversimplified calories in versus calories out, and it's so much more than that. Like, I'm
I wanna help people lose weight, but in a way that they they are changed
forever. Is losing weight a Trojan horse for actually wanting
people to feel better? Do you know my my motivation isn't weight loss. It's
helping people lose weight already so they can move on and take that time and
(28:48):
space and energy that they spend on it and put it into other things in
their life. I wanna, like, solve the obesity crisis. I I've actually
I've created the algorithm for sustainable weight loss. I know that and and I have
a team that at the University of Ottawa who's been been studying the living method.
The living method works. My focus is on maintenance, helping people not just lose their
weight in a healthy way, but actually in a way they can maintain and sustain.
(29:09):
Like, a couple of things I wanna talk about your business. You you talked about
having a 42 people? Yes. How is that for you? Because for
someone that used to just love to be in control of the
aerobics class and then go home, teach a class and go home, you're
now I mean, that's a twenty four seven responsibility for
these people and how they feel that they whether they belong in your organization
(29:30):
and whether they think there's upward mobility. I mean, it I must have
changed everything for you to take that on. It's been very difficult
sometimes for me because and I'm gonna be real honest here. People come
and work for me, and I try to do everything I can to make them
happy, full benefits, the best wage possible. I
want them to be happy. And sometimes it seems like it's never enough. And I've
(29:52):
just come to realize sometimes people are just unhappy in their life. So I'm not
going to be able to make everybody happy, though. I definitely do
try. I want to be one of those companies that where people want to work
for me. But it's been difficult because the more
people that I have on my team and I want everyone to have a seat
at the table, we're all sitting at the same table. That's it. But the more
(30:13):
people you have on your team, the more people want to say The hardest thing
is trying to make people feel heard and seen, but also then at the same
time, trust that I know better. It's been a learning curve for me
to trust that I do know better. Not that I'm not open. I love
a good brainstorming session. I love hearing people's ideas.
But for a while, I wanted to make everybody happy. And so I would do
(30:35):
what other people wanted to do. And every time in my life I've done what
other people wanted to do. That's when shit just goes sideways. And that's a lesson
in life for any entrepreneur because, you know, when you start a business, you do
everything. As you start surrendering control, it's one of the
hardest things to do because other people are on that wire. And not
only are you worried they're gonna fall off, but at the same time, they might
(30:55):
accidentally knock you off of it. I also though recognize
that the skills and the tools that I had to take to bring the
business to where it is are not necessarily the skills and the tools that I
need in order to carry the business forward. So this is
where I will never claim to know it all. And that I do
have to learn to trust other people. Because at this
(31:17):
point, moving forward, I've never been here before. I've never run a company of this
size with this many people and I still have a lot to learn. And this
is where I do have to learn to trust other people,
but also to trust my gut. It's one thing to bring the great idea to
the table, but I can't go against my gut. I have to be like, is
this the right move? It's been very interesting. A lot
(31:40):
of people on my team have jobs that they are
not qualified to have. And so we hire people out of passion
and then we help them acquire the skills so they can
take courses. They can go to school. That's something that I'm I'm
really proud of is giving people the opportunity. And sometimes people
rise to the occasion and sometimes they don't, which is hard for me too,
(32:02):
because I can't want something for somebody that more than they want it from
themselves. So that's where we're at now is if I want to have the number
one weight loss company in the world. Even I have
a cap to what I've learned and where I'm at, I need help.
And this is where the, that we were recently on Dragon's Den. Talk to me
about that because up until now, you refused any outside investors, any
(32:24):
external investors. You are someone who likes to have your hand on the rudder.
What was it like on Dragon's Den? Is that something you really wanted investment or
was it more a way to get some profile or validation? I'm curious what why
you would go on. My husband and I and my husband, Tony,
he's been running the company with me, for the last four years. He used to
work at Amazon, quit his job when he realized, like, it was just getting too
(32:45):
big for me. We have a great successful business. You
know, we would watch people on the show and be like, what would our numbers
be? And what would we say? They had someone drop out and someone said,
Hey, do you want to be on Dragon's Den? We had two weeks, two weeks.
To pull everything together that we needed to, and, you know, we, should we
go on? What are people going to think? And I'm like, let's just not worry
(33:08):
about that. This is for you and I, this is like something fun for us
to do. It's a great opportunity. And we brought six of
our members with us, people who've done the program been successful. So we included
it and we made it about wanting to make our community
proud. We have a solid business. We don't have to worry about that. We went
in with a really low, valuation. We wanted to talk about our program.
(33:30):
We want to talk about our people and let's make the sole focus, making
our community proud. And the dragons fought over us.
Like we were in there for an hour. People, you didn't even get to see
half of it. People were throwing out deals left, right, and center.
We didn't even have to counter cause we got what we wanted.
And when we walked away, we were like, wow, that was like really
(33:52):
validating personally, for me, I cried a lot. Because again, I
sacrificed a lot and a lot of people in my life didn't understand what I
was doing or why. I've never been quiet about the fact that I
want to have the number one weight loss company in the world. Like that's it.
So it was really interesting because it was a really proud moment, but I did
get a bit of criticism for that. Talking
about investors. Yeah. We didn't need, we don't need the money, but what I do
(34:15):
need is I need someone who's been where I haven't been. I need someone who's
gonna share their knowledge with me to help just like people come to me and
help ask me to help them lose weight because of what I've learned. I need
people to help me in business. We haven't signed a deal
yet. I'll I'll be honest in that, but what I can tell you, especially
Michelle Romanoff, who we made a deal with, she I
(34:38):
spoke spoken to about five times. Talk about an incredible woman. She says,
listen, you don't need my money. Let's just see where your company's at.
Let me see where I can help. And so she has given me so much
of her time for free behind the scenes
because she cares about women in business. First of all, I
am a champion of people that dream big and do. And I love the
(35:00):
fact that you wanna be the number one company in the world.
Anybody that tries to pull you down, slap them. And
any investor that thinks that they're the ones that are gonna get you to where
you wanna go, slap them as well because you're the one that's gotta
carry this torch. But my three takeaways is the first part of your
life, I've framed as what is this? I wanna be part of this. I wanna
(35:21):
do this. And this is where you you saw the aerobics instructor, and you you
went to the TV station, and you you were fascinated by how you
wanted to insert yourself in that role of a authority or power.
And then you shifted to I will make this. I
will be this. You finally had your knapsack as full as it
could be and say, no. It's my turn to do it. And then the
(35:44):
last thing is, which to me will define how far you go in
life, your ability to make tough decisions, because
there'll must be people you've kept on staff far longer than they should have been
with you because you wanted to make them happy and you wanted to make it
perfect and you don't like criticism. But it really comes down to this
sense of of navigating this new world for you of trust. I have
(36:04):
to trust others that I'm bringing in who have skills that
I don't have, but at the same time, I can never lose the sense
of trusting my gut because it's what got us here.
And there's a great book called The Founder's Dilemma. You were hitting that
dilemma point because you've gotta decide, am I
gonna be the founder that continues to grow this
(36:27):
business? Or am I gonna surrender that role? And I've yet to see
that successfully done. I think there's so
much coming through you, but the thing I admire the most
is this great passion. And I'm just delighted you came on Chatter That
Matters. Thank you. Thank you. You get me.
Once again, a special thanks to RBC for supporting Chatter That Matters.
(36:51):
It's Tony Chapman. Thanks for listening, and let's chat soon.
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