We caught up with the brilliant and insightful ZERINA HUTCHINSON a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi ZERINA, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I truly owe my resilience to watching my parents as a child. I was born in Bosnia & Herzegovina and when I was just two years old, the war broke out and displaced so many of our family, including my parents, brother and I. Throughout my childhood we moved around from refugee camps to different countries and back. We came to the U.S. in 2001 when I was 11 and through all the uprooting and stress, my parents always came out on the other side to make sure things were stable for us. Watching my parents come to a different country with three kids and learn yet another brand-new language while working and taking care of their family oversees was just so inspiring to me. I don’t know anyone more resilient than my own Mama and Babo. If they can go through what they had to, then I know that I can work towards anything.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I own a Fit4Mom Franchise! Fit4Mom Lake County to be exact! Fit4mom is the nations leading pre and postnatal fitness program specializing in group fitness classes with or without your kiddos. Fit4Mom is a community of moms who support other moms! I love being able to give back to the community in the form of wellness and health. It is so important to keep yourself accountable and move your body, for yourself and for your little ones. Seeing the kiddos picking up on those subtle cues to move and be kind is the icing on the cake. Fit4Mom offers group fitness classes for all stages of motherhood, whether you are currently pregnant or have kids in school. There truly is a good fit for everyone. But even more than fitness, we offer community and a village to make moms never feel alone. When I was a new mom over five years ago, I was so lost and didn’t really know how to find my footing in the world of motherhood, and that’s where Fit4Mom came into play! I found a franchise near me and became a member and have met some of my dearest friends, and so did my kids. It was a no brainer for me to take over the business when the opportunity came about three years ago.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are so many qualities and skills that are needed to run a business, it’s hard to pick just three. But If I had to, it would be passion, patience and resilience. You can’t run a business if you don’t have passion for it in your bones. You have to be able to feel that deep inside to be able to bring it to fruition and share it with the world. My second skill in patience, which I have to be honest, is still my biggest opportunity. It’s important to remember and understand that things don’t happen overnight. Things will happen in business every day to test your patience and being able to work through that to get to the end goal is such an amazing skill to have. Though I’m still working on my patience, it has definitely become more of a natural response since becoming a mom and business owner. Lastly resilience! There are so many obstacles, challenges, needs for adaptation and so much more in the business space. Resilience is key in managing a successful business and an overall balanced and fulfilling life.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
There are always areas of growth and improvement, but I think my biggest one this past year has been accepting that not everyone is our client. I love what I do and have so much passion for helping women be the best mom they can through the avenues that we offer, and my downfall is that I think everyone needs what we provide. But the thing about people, is that everyone is different, and everyone will have their own preferences on how they keep themselves moving. Instead, using that energy to love on our current clients and women who show genuine interest has been a huge move for us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lakecounty.fit4mom.com/
- Instagram: fit4mom_lakecounty
- Facebook: Fit4Mom Lake County
- Other: fit4mom.com will show all franchises nationwide
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