5 questions with a creator: Meet Jennie from “Meet you at the barre”
“I never felt like I was quite 'there' and then barre happened... and I knew I'd finally reached what I'd been looking for all along.”
Meet Jennie Brown - the lady boss and creator behind Meet you at the barre.
Recently voted by Mail Online as the best “At home workout” to do during covid-19, learn how Jennie got started with online barre classes, and get inspired by her words of wisdom for fellow barre creators.
1) Tell us the story behind your business. How and why did you get into barre?
I started as a primary school teacher, but retrained as a personal trainer after I had my first child. It became apparent very quickly that pre and post-natal personal trainers were woefully few and far between back then (12 years ago) and so I specialised in this area.
I now have 4 children and both my own and my client's bodies have been through so much, that I started to look for more appropriate forms of exercise than your average HIIT class.
I stumbled across barre by accident really. I did one class, fell hook line and sinker for it, and immediately signed up to train to become an instructor. My business has evolved to become purely barre, and I run a studio in Sussex, UK and now a successful online barre business with Boon!
Barre does everything: I love the fact it is low impact, so it puts less stress and strain on the body, but it's high intensity so you get the results you're looking for from a traditional exercise class. It also, unfailingly, leaves everyone in an excellent mood. The tunes, the endorphins and the sense of achievement all contribute to this.
I was voted by the Mail Online as the best "At Home Workout" to do during the Corona Virus Lockdown. This came as an absolute bolt from the blue, as I had only been running online classes for a couple of weeks for my regular clients at my gym.
Word had started to spread, and I was getting maybe 100 people watching each class, but then it went crazy. I needed to move away from Instagram Live as the quality wasn't good enough, and I was having issues with the music copyright.
2) Who's your personal role model or hero? Can you tell us a bit about why you admire them?
There's a lady called Jenny Burrell who trains personal trainers, women's physios etc. I have done her post-natal training, pregnancy training and her Menopause training courses.
Her depth of knowledge is absolutely staggering, but more than that she is a real force; not only within the industry but personally as well. She persuades everyone she ever meets to know their true worth, and value themselves.
She taught me to think clearly about my business and how to stand up for what I believe in on a professional level.
3) Do you have a personal motto, manifesto or favorite quote that you live your life by?
Everything in moderation, even moderation. I employ the second half of the quote far more often than the first.
4) Can you share a fun or quirky fact about yourself that not a lot of people know (or maybe wouldn't expect)?
I had one single ballet lesson as a child, but decided I loathed it so switched to football instead. You absolutely do NOT need to have done ballet as a kid to access barre - I am living proof of that! What I lack in technique I make up for in enthusiasm, or so I tell myself.
5) If you had a time machine, what advice would you give to yourself as a young creator? What‘s your one piece of advice for creators just getting started on Boon?
I'd tell myself that everything happens for a reason, and you'll end up in the place you're meant to be.
My teaching career gave me so many invaluable skills that I use today, likewise the knowledge I gained from my years as a post-natal and pregnancy personal trainer helped me really understand how the female body works, and how important correct alignment and posture is.
I never felt like I was quite 'there' and then barre happened, and I knew I'd finally reached what I'd been looking for all along. I appreciate I wouldn't be nearly as good at my job if I hadn't had all my prior experiences and they were leading me here.
To creators just getting started on Boon, I'm afraid I have to steal from Jenny Burrell - know your worth. Don't let people undervalue you.
To learn more about Jenny and her online barre classes, check out her Boon channel and inspiring Instagram account.