We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Frances Flores a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Frances , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I would say that through the years I have learned resilience from my rock bottom moments. The failures that I’ve had along the way, or the redirections that I’ve been given through the years. You know what I’m talking about. Those moments in life when you think you’re on a specific path, or you have your own set of plans and then life decides to throw you a curveball…or ten of them at once! (lol!) When that happens you have no choice but to take a moment to reset, regroup, and go in a different direction. This is not to say that I bounce back in pure motivation, light and positivity immediately. I’m a feelings person. When I care about something or someone I invest my whole body and soul in it. So I feel everything deeply, the highs, the in between moments, the lows, and that goes for my losses as well. Some losses take me longer than others to recover from. While I have beat myself up in the past about it, I understand now that sometimes the delay is because our bodies and minds need that to process and recover, and that is ok. We are on our own timeline, even if we want things to happen faster. Even in my darkest of moments I made the point to do something in my day that would at least keep me moving in one way or another. And trust me when I say the last few years I’ve been through some pretty big professional and personal losses that have left me frozen and stagnant for longer than what I’m used to. I had a period of time where I was paralyzed completely and couldn’t physically move or think about my next steps. The biggest lesson in those moments was deciding that if I at least crossed ONE thing off my list for the day, especially on the days where I felt that I couldn’t, then I was still fighting to move forward.
For me literally moving my body has saved me from not giving up on myself throughout the years. Sometimes the only thing I could cross off my list was going for a walk, a strength training session, or a yoga flow…any type of physical movement. When I’m coaching people I always say that working out goes beyond the physical. We can learn a lot about ourselves and how we show up in this life through our workouts, and how we treat our bodies and minds. Well I can speak to that for myself as well.
I get my resilience from the lessons I’ve learned from my failures, unexpected losses, and dark moments because you are forced to look at yourself and your life and you have to decide not to give up every single day. I discovered that in order to get out of those moments the only thing to do is to keep moving. To do something every day that keeps you in motion even if it’s completely unrelated to what you need to be doing. But doing something and staying in motion in one way or another will inspire you to keep moving, to keep trying, to keep searching, to keep reaching, and to not give up on yourself not this time, or the next time.
Having a supportive group of people that are there for you in these moments is key. My parents and family are my biggest blessing because they have also taught me to be resilient not only by example with their own life experiences, but for always being there for me and letting me know that I am stronger than I think. For reminding myself of who I am and what I bring to the table when I have moments of doubt. So for them I am lucky and grateful! Make sure to surround yourself with people that support and make you better too. Because in the end we really are stronger together and we’re all going to need each other at some point.
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?
Like many entrepreneurs and creatives I feel like I’ve lived a million different lives in this lifetime already when it comes to “what I do.” But for the last 15 years or so after I decided to stop dancing professionally, I have been in the health and wellness space in one way or another. From teaching classes, special events, training celebrity clients, founding coach for Tonal, coaching on multiple virtual platforms, to managing other coaches at Equinox, it’s been a fun ride!
As a health and wellness coach and trainer my mission is to help free others from all of the outside noise so that they feel their best from the inside out. Becoming their healthiest physically and mentally so they can move well, feel their best, and be their most confident self throughout.
My passion to help others lead me to create The #ShapedByFrances Movement: A wellness lifestyle movement designed to empower you to feel your best, connect with others, move with purpose, and step into your unique power. Not just in your workouts, but in your life!
I believe our health and well-being are affected not just by what we eat, or how much we exercise. The quality of our relationships, our jobs, finances, where we live and even our hobbies can have an impact. If one is off balance, then so are we! In turn, it affects our thoughts, words, and actions. All of these components together shape our lives. So it’s more than working out, it’s encouraging each other to be better and to live a life we’re proud of and excited about.
I also created my own signature format that I am really proud of: A three-part yoga and functional strength training experience designed to shape & level up your mind and body called The Yoga Shape Up. Here’s the breakdown in case you’re feeling spicy: GET GROUNDED in block 1 with simple breathwork and a dynamic yoga flow that becomes a moving meditation. SCULPT & BURN in block 2 where you’ll build full-body strength and endurance using only your bodyweight and resistance bands. RESET & BALANCE in block 3 with chill restorative yoga stretches that will help your body and mind unwind. All accompanied by fun beats and good vibes, you’ll be left feeling stronger, more confident, and energized!
Right now I am teaching classes all over Los Angeles on my own and with Equinox. I am also training private clients. What I am mostly looking forward to is continuing to build my community not only in LA but all around the world! We gotta dream big right?!
I am putting on special events featuring The Yoga Shape Up, but my goal with these events is more than just working out. I want people to connect with people. Make new friends. I want to provide an experience where people from all ages and backgrounds can all come to move, hang out after the class with like minded individuals that can be a way for us to grow, learn new things, and simply expand our mindset and everyday life. Honestly, to just have a good time and take a break from the everyday hustle.
I’m also working towards a strength training membership for women. I am a Certified Women’s Coach Specialist and I recognize that a lot of my own confidence has come from strength training. I also know that a lot of women are unsure of how to move on the gym floor and shy away from it. I want to empower women to take ownership of their health and strength training is a big key to that. So I am creating a membership where women can not only feel stronger physically because they’re more comfortable lifting weights, but also that they have a support group with the other members to talk about training (or life!).
There are other things that I am still in the brainstorming stages with like retreats and how else I could expand my reach beyond Los Angeles. I am also in the process of figuring out what else beyond health and wellness I want to leave my mark on. But I’ll have to have another interview with you all once I get the ball rolling! (haha) For now though, all updates can be found on my social media or through my website.
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 three qualities that I would say are important to have when you’re working towards something are: Resilience/Perseverance, Curiosity, and Passion.
Resilience/Perseverance are important because we are bound to have set backs. That is what life is! So you gotta be strong enough and believe in yourself and what you’re working towards enough to want to keep going when the going gets tough. Because those challenges are going to be a part of the journey.
Curiosity is important because it helps us wanting to keep learning. Always trying to surround ourselves with people that know more than us, or work on new certifications, or expose ourselves to new life experiences that can offer new perspectives and more knowledge. It’s important to know and feel that there’s always more that we can learn to not only live better more fulfilling lives, but to be better at our craft.
Passion is extremely important because what is life without passion!? I think it’s a gift to be passionate enough about something to take risks to fulfill it. It’s also a gift to be passionate about our lives in general, beyond our careers. So holding on to the things that brings us joy and bring passion into our every day lives, is a must to be successful in anything.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am looking for people in the industry that are interested in collaborating in events and/or retreats. Brands that are interested in sponsoring, venues that are wanting to host, anyone in the health and wellness space that wants to connect and create an experience. I’m looking for latina owned businesses to partner with. That goes for coaches too! I’m also taking in a few additional private clients on a case by case basis, if anyone is looking to get started on their health journey.
On a different note, if there are any business mentors out there looking to take in another mentee, or agents and talent managers, feel free to reach out to me. I’m on a journey to keep learning and keep expanding not only my brand, but myself.
If anyone is interested in any of this, or have any other ideas to throw in my direction, they can e-mail me at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shapedbyfrances.com
- Instagram: @francesflores
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-flores-a77b76172/
Image Credits
Some of the professional images were taken by the photographers Meir , and Jesse DeYoung
