Meet Sarah Kennedy

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Kennedy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My work ethic derives from my parents. As entrepreneurs themselves, I was raised watching them work hard each day to achieve their goals making it easy for me to follow in their footsteps. It’s a blessing to have someone in your corner to bounce ideas off of and talk through challenging business decisions. Nothing is straight forward in running your own business. It’s a role for those who understand that you need to embrace the uncertainty and always stay focused on your vision. Something of which I’m always reminded! I am organized, creative, and hold myself to a high standard. This ensures that my clients and customers will have the best possible experience every time.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I hail from Billings, MT or better known as ‘Big Sky Country.’ I have a passion for helping others succeed in becoming the best versions of themselves through fitness and movement. Especially dance.

I have always gravitated towards the Latin culture and the Spanish language leading me to move to rural Costa Rica for three years in 2012. The lifestyle and ‘live and let live’ Pura Vida attitude allowed me to live simpler and healthier. I was employed as a tour guide for an outdoor adventure shop where I guided kayak, mountain bike and stand-up-paddle (SUP) tours. During my off hours, I indulged in the local dancing and music—its fun, sexy and sultry style! Through these experiences, I was led to Zumba® Fitness. It was important to me to be involved with the local community and be a part of my immediate neighborhood. There were few options for the locals, so through a non-profit organization I volunteered my Zumba® skills.

Upon returning to Billings, I co-founded Sizzle & Stomp, a platform for multiple class formats. I am a licensed Zumba and STRONG Nation instructor. I am a NASM CPT and also developed my own fitness format, Kinetic K’motion (trampoline fitness!). I focus heavily on group fitness believing that a support system of like-minded people working together to achieve a common goal is a powerful motivator.

In October 2020, I founded and opened Pura Vida Studio, my passion project. Pura Vida directly translated means “pure life” or “simple life.” You can use it to say hello, goodbye, or that everything is great. The lifestyle is a reflection of happiness, stress-free living and being thankful for what you have.

I often say I am an entrepreneur helping entrepreneurs, offering space for those who want to teach their own class or offering. And it can be anything! This past month, we held a fundraising event for a local animal rescue. It’s all about community, collaboration and uplifting other small business. I understand the challenges of making a career as a fitness trainer and coach, and this is a viable first step and great space for training events, photoshoots and more! This space is designed to empower your creative vision.

Right now, I continue to focus on growing my online platform for virtual classes, bringing MORE dance fitness to the space and my eyes are peeled for another location to EXPAND!

Movement is Medicine.
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Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back on the progression of my career into owning my own studio, the top 3 things that I can confidently say that have helped me navigate my journey are:
• Fail forward. As someone who would refer to myself as a perfectionist, don’t let the granular details stop you from taking your first steps into chasing the life you want. It’s all ‘figure-outable.’
• If you’re working a job, you’re not particularly excited about, ask yourself, “what skills here will be advantageous to MY future business?” There may be a set of skills you may have never been exposed to otherwise.
•Associate with friends, mentors, and networking events that support and encourage your vision.
Every job I held allowed me time to save money for my business, learn from amazing leaders, and utilize skills I gained over the years. In the moment, you may feel it’s “taking too long,” but if you take decisive action every day and you’re looking forward in the direction you want to go, you will make it there.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I believe it’s important to use your strengths as the foundation and seek advice, knowledge and understanding from experts in other areas you need to improve on. We can’t do it all, all the time (though sometimes I think I can). It’s OK, and encouraged, to delegate tasks, but if you have a level of understanding of every aspect of your business, you will be able to assist your customer base better. An example of this is my new website! For the first few years, I used a website I created, and I was definitely missing the mark on a more professional look and easy navigation (which could have impacted my business.). When I worked with the company I chose, they made work that would have been months of my time a 6-week process. They were able to pull all my ideas out and create an eye-catching, beautiful, user-friendly site of which I’m proud. It’s the little things that will set you apart from other businesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.puravidastudiobillings.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puravidastudio13/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puravidastudio13/

Image Credits

Maddie Nichole Photography
Arica Lipp Photography
Skoog Photography