Today we’d like to introduce you to Elise Bernier.
Elise, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Movement has brought so much physical, mental, and emotional joy into my life, and it’s my mission to share this with girls and teens!
I have always been an athlete, and my love of health and fitness continued to grow after college. I moved to San Diego in 2007 and became an avid triathlete and swimmer. I have a background in education and 12 years of experience working in schools. I have known for a very long time that I wanted to bring together my love of being physically active with my passion for working with youth, but my struggle was fighting the fear of being clueless about starting my own business. Almost three years ago, I became an ACE certified personal trainer as the first step to creating my company, and then… nothing. I spent the next two and a half years googling “how to start a business,” but made no attempts to give it a shot. I cried. A lot. Thank goodness for sisters!
Today, I am beyond excited and so damn proud to bring Girl Squad Fitness to the San Diego community. I am stoked to share the joy that I feel from being active with children who struggle to find a love of movement. How cool is it that I created my dream job?
I think it’s pretty darn cool.
Has it been a smooth road?
I didn’t just roll out of bed one morning and think, “I want to start a business!” I have been dreaming this for almost ten years, but my fear of not knowing how and where to begin held me back. There were times when I was so frustrated with myself for not making moves that I would, in turn, get frustrated with friends who would ask me about the progress I had made, which was NONE. As good friends should do, they were supporting me and my passion. It was irritating!
This summer, I left the country for three months to travel and hoped to have this massive revelation about my life and end the confusion cycle I have been in for years. I returned home without my revelation, but being in the same exact spot as when I left was the driving force behind beginning my journey into entrepreneurship. I thought, “ENOUGH already.” There were three things I decided to demand in my life, and one was getting this business started.
Less than a week later, I stumbled upon a local online coaching program (shout out to The Greatness Foundation and Passion to Profit!) and cried my way through a month of diving deep into creating a profitable, sustainable business that I was passionate about. I did it! It may have taken me a bit longer than some to get here, but I’m confident that this was the way my life and business aspirations were meant to unfold.
For anyone who feels stuck or confused about how to move forward, my advice is to find what works best for YOU. For me, it was the coaching program. I created Girl Squad Fitness 100% on my own, but having others hold me accountable in the process is what I absolutely needed. We all learn in different ways–finding YOUR way may take time, but let me tell ya, it is well worth the (crazy long–for me) wait when you finally make it happen.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Girl Squad Fitness story. Tell us more about it.
70% of youth in the U.S. are not meeting their physical fitness needs. 70%! For much of our youth, if they are not participating in a sport, they are not moving. Being active without the pressure of teams sports is very powerful, and unfortunately, there is a lack of programs of this kind that are available. So, what does a child do for exercise if she doesn’t like sports?
I am the founder of Girl Squad Fitness, a community-based after-school program that teaches girls the benefits of physical fitness without the pressure of team sports. The program promotes self-confidence, self-acceptance, and empowers girls to feel proud of their physical fitness achievements in a non-competitive, non-sport related environment. I strongly believe that exercise and treating our bodies with love and respect is a NEED. We provide girls with tools to help them understand and value physical activity in their youth, which is proven to help foster healthy habits as adults.
During each session, our girls participate in unique, creative activities that get them moving. Each session has time for time for reflection, goal-making, and team-building. We teach that being physically active can be fun and social!
I am so proud to have designed a program to make every girl feel good about who she is. Every child deserves to feel confident in her skin, proud of her unique talents and abilities, empowered to take care of her body and feel included and connected with her peers. My goal is to bring happiness to girls that they’ll carry all the way into adulthood.
At Girl Squad Fitness, we create a community of girls who connect, accept, and respect.
We are hosting a large event for 6th and 7th graders at the end of January! This will be an empowering morning of creative fitness, team building, and inspirational goal setting led by our team of wellness professionals and our high school ambassadors. There will be a DJ and raffles. As always, all levels and abilities are welcome!
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I think a struggle for females in leadership roles is not only how we are treated because of our gender, but also how we are being treated by our peers, women to women. It is more important now than ever for women to be supporting each other and it is our responsibility to teach our youth how to do the same.
I am a head coach for youth and high school lacrosse program and I end each practice with compliments. I ask the girls to share something good they noticed another player has done at practice that day. When a player gets complimented, her face lights up and that joy she feels radiates throughout our circle. The girls love sharing, and often times, I have to cut them off because parents are patiently waiting. It is my absolute favorite part of practice.
Teaching our youth how to support, accept, and respect their peers is vital to creating a kind, compassionate citizens. We are all role models, and how we treat each other is absolutely noticed by those younger than us. It is our job as women and leaders to set the standards high.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.girlsquadfitness.com
- Phone: 703-927-4534
- Email: girlsquadfitness@gmail.com
- Instagram: heartfilledcards
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