Getting Raw - Ep #7 Edwina Griffen

How you going? It's Richard Mark Toutounji from Getting Raw, and today I'm here with Edwina Griffith from the Fit Brands, Everything Fit. She's fit and she's got her name around Fit Brands. So, really interesting because you've been in the industry for a while, and I've seen your brand in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. You have Fit Women, Fit Men. And I saw your website the other day and we've got Fit Executive, Fit Mums, Fit Bubs, Fit Everything, right? Yeah. Fit Everything. So I'm really intrigued about that brand and how that came about and what you're doing now. Tell me about yourself and how long you've been involved in the industry for.

Okay, yeah. Well, I've been in the industry for about 17 years, a bit over actually.

Really?

Yeah. So I set up my business at 21. Okay. And set up a little studio specializing in women and—

Was that in Sydney still?

That was in Sydney. Same one? Well, not the same studio. Yeah, yeah, same brand. So that was a Fit Women brand, was my first brand. Okay. Um, then branched into Fit Mum, Fit Man, then Adventure Women, Adventure Man.

Adventure Fit Adventure Man or Adventure Women Adventure Man?

Adventure Women Adventure Man.

Okay, cool.

And then, um, Sanctuary of Light. And the Real Body Management is more speaking brand. It's the umbrella company.

Okay.

For all. And then we're doing Fit Space now.

So what's Fit Space?

Fit Space is an online program. So that's pretty, pretty well incorporating everything my past 17 years for me, you know, that mind-body where I'm doing online videos of exercises, yoga, nutrition, mind programming.

And you showed me some of the videos. We just saw some videos. You flipped them to me on videos, and you've got like hundreds there. You've done a lot of work. It's not just a matter of you've got to set a FitSpace up and throw a few videos there. You really put a lot of effort. They're edited professionally. They're really done professionally. And that's why I think you have a massive IP in your intellectual property is right there, which I think is fantastic. Fantastic. So tell me a bit more about, uh, let's just take it back a step because we're pushing a bit though. I want to take it back. So you have your studios, you had your fit men, your fit women, and they were in different— were they in the same place?

Yeah, different locations. But then I brought it into a bigger space where I brought in, yeah, all the areas.

So they were in different places down the road from each other, weren't they? Yeah. So what, you do the AM sessions for women and do the PMs for men? Is that how it worked?

Yeah, we had some going on at the same time, so different locations. And then there was the main location that was a bigger location for yoga, Pilates, and acupuncture, massage. So that, that enabled us to have a lot going on in the same space. So there was the main section and then we had a smaller kind of PT session.

Okay.

Yeah.

And that's where a lot— you're aligning yourself now with a lot of women, 30 to 55 plus wellness.

Yeah.

Yoga, Pilates. Is that—

Yeah, it's very much— I mean, that's, that has been my brand always, uh, a holistic approach. And the Fit Women, Fit Mum brands certainly have been all the way through. But I think, um, you know, doing a bit more writing and stuff with women's health on, on that pregnancy and not just relying I launched the new Fit Mum DVD, which I originally filmed about 10 years ago. I've just redone that.

Flaws from the past.

Yeah, yeah, come back around. You know, you look back and you cringe. I was like, I have to redo that. So yeah, and then obviously travel with, you know, Women's Global Change Conference and stuff. So it's all, it's, you know, there's a lot, that's a lot of my experiences being a woman.

And now you put a lot of, some of your time into actually, well, coaching or mentoring, I should say, fitness industry and non-fitness industry people on branding. Yes. Yes. Okay.

Yes.

So you obviously take your brand very seriously.

Yeah, well, I do. I think that was one of the things we were just discussing with the studio that I decided to close the studio earlier this year because I noticed a change in the industry and what my clients were wanting, which is why I've put all my energy into the online. And, you know, one of the things that people like, you know, initially I was weighing up whether to sell it or whether to franchise it or what to do. And I decided not to sell it for the reason that I wanted my brands, you know, it's sort of you spend that many years building the brands and you've got a reputation And one of the main things with online branding is it's kind of maintaining the equity of your brands and just diversifying and changing with the times. And that's kind of been one of the things that I— the reason that I've established the different brands is things change. And you see the signals from your clients, and you see ahead. When I did women back 17 years ago, I was specializing in women, it was quite unusual. People were like, why are you specializing in women? And now it's kind of the norm. And so to me, it's very much about just seeing those indicators a little bit ahead of everyone else, hopefully. And that's why I started the online thing, as I said to you. It's always the

way

with online.

They say, oh yeah, it's easy, we'll do it in 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months. Have we got that website up yet?

Yeah, original plan was last Christmas, now we're looking for this Christmas.

Yeah, yeah, things start in January anyway, so don't worry.

Yeah, yeah, new year, new fresh start. But yeah, so it takes a lot longer than you think when it's totally new, but exciting.

It is exciting. The online space is very exciting. I'm always interested in the online space, and I'm always interested in who's playing in the online space because I believe that's really the way that we're going to go as a culture and people are getting busier so it's always, you know, how to have people access online. So that's important. Tell me when you did the switch to your online, obviously you're not an IT background. No, definitely not. Okay, so you're starting an online business without an IT background so I want to commend you for that for a start. And I think that's awesome because it's not about, you know, can you upload a video to YouTube, it's about the marketing and what you want to deliver and then you can find the experts to do that obviously. So what have you made some mistakes in that? Because I think at the moment there's a lot of people trying to delve in that and they kind of go, oh yeah, I'm going to get into the online space, I'm going to get my Facebook going, just the simple stuff like that, and they're really struggling. What is, I guess, 2 online mistakes that you've made getting this 12 to 15 month process of your Fit Online space happening? What are some big mistakes, costly mistakes that you've done?

I think for me, which is often my mistake in business, One of my big lessons has been to try and do too much.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah, but I think, you know, as simple as that sounds, initially I kind of, you know, I created it into this huge project where, you know, it's great now that it's nearly finished, but looking back, I'm kind of like, you know what, I probably could have got it out earlier. Just getting very clear on the intentions of what you had, and it did shift and evolve throughout that, but I have probably spent a little more than I had to based on that. And just really, as you say, familiarizing yourself with the market. and I've learned in business and a couple of other things that I did with the Sanctuary of Light that I set up. Lost a bit of money with that one because I went into an industry that I didn't know that well, the spiritual kind of field, and didn't research the market well enough and launched on these great visions and yet hadn't really connected with the right people and had some expensive mistakes. So I think when I went into this venture, I had learned that lesson. Right. So I like to think there certainly hasn't been any major ones this time, but that was a big lesson that I brought to this project. Was very much to do a lot of research. I very much checked out the people that I was working with and going through referrals

because you had problems in the

other business that you were doing. So that lesson came in when I was like saying, because I don't know IT, it was very much—

Can you tell me an example of what happened?

Oh, with that? Yeah, look, I brought these people out from— and there's no need to mention them— from overseas to come and do—

International team.

Yeah, international team on healing, shamanic work. And so it was a sanctuary of life. It was a very much my spiritual community group, and I was running workshops, events with that. So, you know, I flew them all out, and there was a lot of promises made. And, you know, I was a little bit naive, really, I think, because, um, in business I broke some of my own business rules in that. And that was a big lesson, you know, don't ever bend the rules. I think I, I kind of allowed certain flexibility because I didn't know the market. Oh, you know, they're spiritual, so— And that's certainly not to put spiritual people down, it's a beautiful community. But, but I broke those rules because I was like, oh, okay, they operate slightly differently, so maybe I should just not worry about that. You know, they don't operate a business the way everyone else does, so I'll allow that. You know, they haven't actually got back to me. So basically, they had a lot of promises that were made on the contacts they had here, their intentions, and how they were going to run things. And when they got here, they just didn't honor that. They didn't have those contacts.

And I'm assuming you said you didn't have contracts in place. Yeah. You wishy-washy emails and that sort of stuff.

Yes. Yeah. Sent off contracts.

The theory is have these signed contracts before you pay people to get on a flight and come in. Yeah. And fairly basic mistakes. Well, basic, but But I think the basic mistakes of everybody stuffed up. So the failure here is get your client stuff happening before you go into agreements with partners and JV partners.

And yeah, the other lesson with that was that my client base, I realized they were coming for me and my staff. And I brought in a crew of people who they didn't know, who they didn't have— I hadn't established a relationship with them yet. So that was an important lesson as well. If you're branching into a different area, for me, you can't assume that the market's going to want it with someone totally different. Because I think when I'd done the Fit Women and Fit Mum and Fit Men Adventure, that all worked perfectly because I had the same team operating with it. When I brought outsiders in, my vision was like, yeah, it was really clear it was all going to work, but I was bringing in different teams, so the energy dynamic was different, and my client base didn't necessarily resonate with that totally different group of professionals.

But I think now you're knowing where you're going, and now it's just the next phase to actually get your own minds working and getting that moving along nicely. So I guess for the industry, So for the industry as a whole, what are they going to sort of see with you in the next couple of years? Like, where are they going to be seeing you doing— what are they going to be seeing you doing?

Yeah.

Besides, I mean, obviously the online space is huge for you.

Yeah, definitely the online space. I'll continue on the mind-body stuff, but I'm certainly running some events in Australia and overseas, obviously. But very much just trying to get it out to a bigger community for me now. So that's part of the reason of the online, was to get it to the broader community and connect with more people in the industry and just run some group events all together, you know, and really bring it all together. holistic approach of, you know, mind-body. And I'm very much about that, you know, about that holistic approach and bringing the different industries together and having some great holistic events where we can really share some of that knowledge of, you know, the mind and body and professional and more alternative and bring it all into some great—

And are you targeting consumers or you're actually targeting the public, sorry, the industry to do your—

Well, I think the industry also with my brand, the Fit Women Fit Mum brand, yeah, I'm going to be accrediting the program next year for that. Yeah, so that's in the in the women's space and very much testing the systems and stuff that I've learned, um, to say that some people don't make something along the same. So we're still running those brands as mobile trainers.

So— Oh, you are?

Yeah.

So you gotta, you gotta, you got a lot of diversity.

Yeah.

There's a lot of different, a lot of different buckets, um, going on. So if one fails, the other one totally can get up there. And I think that's sometimes what fitness is about. It's about juggling act, it's about finding which one hopefully faster than the other one works and which one doesn't. Um, but I am really looking forward to seeing your online stuff happening. It's coming Yeah, yeah. Watch the space soon.

2012, we'll be there.

Very soon. What's the site anyway? What's the website again?

fitspace.com.au.

fitspace.com.au. So watch that space and, you know, sort of see where that's going. Okay, what's your biggest success tip now? So we did the failure tip is having any kind of contracts. What's your biggest, I guess, tip of advice for people in the industry?

Yeah, I think when I've spoken to people before, a lot of people have got some great visions and which, you know, never think that you can't do it. Is one tip. Like, you know, anything is possible, is it? And whether that's a tip or a motivation, to me it's just— You experience that, yeah. Yeah, there's always moments of doubt, and I think that often people, um, you see people who are getting the breaks, and there's some— everyone who gets the breaks, they've usually had quite a few little hiccups on the way. It's never smooth, you know. It's that kind of ride to getting that break. You usually have 5 or 6 drops, or, you know, or who knows how many on the way through. And I think it's really nice to hear— I always like hearing from other people when they're getting their breaks, you know what, I had— I've been through what you went through. I've had a few hiccups. I didn't get there. You know, you've just got to keep strong and clear on what you want, you know, and just being very clear on intentions and having, you know, little goals and little winning points on the way through. There will be hiccups up and down, but I think you've just got to be real that—

Prepare for the hiccups.

Yeah, prepare for the hiccups and know that that's— that everyone who makes it— I think know that that's normal.

I think this is normal in running a business. It's the hiccups and making sure that you push past that. But I think you said too, you said have a strong and clear vision and goal of really why you're doing it so you don't go off tangent, off track.

And this is the thing, and having mentors for me has been hugely important.

And you've had a few mentors along the way.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, Michelle, probably Michelle Woods would be my closest mentor who's been through my whole business growth from when I was still a student.

And some of your mentors, we'll go offside topic here, because is mentors for you something you actually have to pay, or is it just like a close colleague, friend, or what is it to you, a mentor, when things happen?

Yeah, because I've had a lot of mentors, as you say, and they're different. They're all different mentors. So there are some that I pay. And there are others who— I've had some amazing clients who have been mentors in their own way where, you know, you can get amazing tips from people in a conversation. And a lot of the great advice I've had has literally been in those conversations that are off the cuff, you know, here, there, and everywhere. And yeah, sometimes it's other people that inspire you, that, you know, mentors in that way. But often the best tips I've had have just been that little casual conversation, you know, in a session or on a bus. Or it's amazing some of the stuff that you just suddenly hear at the right time and it just clicks.

Well, I really look forward to seeing Your space and what grows off it. And, you know, if you're living in Sydney Eastern Suburbs, I'm sure you would have seen the Fit Women, Fit Men. The branding is really nice, nicely done. And I'm sure there's big things next year with the Fit Space stuff.

Yeah.

So check it out. Where can people find you? On Facebook, Twitter? Where do you hang around?

Yeah, Facebook.

You're on Facebook? Okay, so find her on Facebook, chat to her, because that's what it's about in the industry. It's about the community and having a chat and seeing if you can have those— spark up those conversations that might be your golden No good old mind, and you might have a tip to share. More joint ventures. More joint ventures. We like joint ventures. Everybody who joint ventures, we

like joint ventures.

Alright, thanks a lot.

Alright, thank you.

Cheers.