Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karen Shopoff Rooff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Karen, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I am one of the lucky people who is and always has been internally motivated. From a very young age, my innate curiosity has propelled me to learn more, think critically, and take action. When I encounter a new situation, my response is to gather as much information as I can through observation and ask as many questions as I can to flesh out my understanding. It is this hardwired thirst for knowledge that has allowed me to invent and continually reinvent my work as a personal trainer and health coach. I fell into this work rather unexpectedly, despite being a lifelong distance runner who, in my 20s, was on a competitive road racing team in Boston. When I was pregnant with my first child I dove into research about exercise and pregnancy, though at the time the publicly-accessible research was sparse and far too general to be helpful. I dedicated the next several years to learning everything I could about exercise physiology during pregnancy and post-partum. The research skills I honed as a professor of architectural history were proving useful as I pored through archives and journals in a mostly pre-digital world. After my second child was born and I was looking to return to work, I had several friends encourage me to pursue coaching, given that I had specialized knowledge and a passion for supporting new moms. As I have gotten older, I’ve shifted my area of focus to working with perimenopausal women, another group that is understudied. Thankfully I love to follow the science, and I am adept at synthesizing and summarizing the studies for my clients so that I can continue to support them as they work to build a healthy future.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Balance Personal Fitness Training was founded on the belief that women who prioritize health and fitness goals create better balance in their lives. As I expanded my offerings to include women’s health coaching, I began to work online as Well Balanced Women, keeping the focus on the elusive search for balance in a busy life. I believe that small changes can deliver big results, and I love sharing all of the tips and tricks that I use in my own life with my clients to help them find more ease as they build healthy habits. What has made my work successful is that I embody the goals of my work. I am a mother of three children, and despite being pushed and pulled in all of the directions they need, I make time to work towards my fitness goals daily. I’m also not afraid of setting and working towards big goals, as I did in 2016 & 2017 when I ran in the 90KM Comrades Marathon in South Africa, the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon. For women who have never had a fitness habit or who are struggling with a changing body, health coaching can educate and empower them to action. Doing what is just right for your body right now is key, and having a knowledgeable coach for support makes achieving goals much easier.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) Communication is key! Regardless of what type of work you want to do, learn to communicate clearly. This includes acknowledging any time mistakes are made. Communicating clearly and timely will rocket you to the top of your field. 2) Critical thinking will allow you to make connections between seemingly disparate bits of information. The more you know and the more critically you’re able to analyze that information, the quicker you’ll be able to develop an effective solution.
3) Confidence. If you know your material, move through the world with confidence. A confident person also knows when something falls outside of her area of expertise, and she happily leverages her network to find the right person to help.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My parents never tried to talk me out of majoring in art history, and for that I am very grateful! While it’s often seen as a useless degree, studying art history (and earning a graduate degree in the even-more-specialized architectural history) allowed me to develop research, critical thinking, and communication skills that I use every day. As a professor I honed my presentation skills, and those are useful to me when I am offered public speaking engagements today. I still love to travel and look at art and architecture and think about the people who produced such incredible works. I just use the skills I learned in that discipline in a different way now.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wellbalancedwomen.com
- Instagram: wellbalancedwomen
Image Credits
First headshot: Moira Castanon
