Meghan Meredith and the Why behind Whole Body Fitness Planner

PASSION PERSPECTIVE

1. All about Meghan Meredith
   1. Life motto: Today is a good day to be well! I came up with this quote while writing and creating my fitness planner and I really love it as a life motto because each day is a day we can choose to be well and begin the journey to being our best, most well self- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
   2. Favorite food: Oh there’s so many! I love eating whole, fresh foods like crisp, cold radishes or a salad but I also love ice cream and chips and guac!
   3. Favorite dessert: Magnolia Bakery cupcakes or ice cream!
   4. Favorite Disney character: Ariel- just because we both have red hair!
   5. One thing you can’t live without: I can’t live without my Bible! And mascara!
   6. Favorite book: Again, so many good ones. Obviously, the Bible is the best book and the best story of all time but other than that, I love One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and glean something new every time I read it…and I’ve read it 3 or 4 times!
   7. One bucket list item: Go to Tahiti! I’ve really been craving a South Pacific vacation in a hut over the water! That would be a dream!
   8. Favorite Bible verse: Again, so many good ones! I love this verse in Habakkuk a lot though and Habakkuk is one of my favorite books! Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed, For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”
   9. Short biography: I am rural Pennsylvania raised, Wheaton College educated, married my Military man in Atlanta, living the good life in sunny Los Angeles currently…until the Air Force sends us to our next home. I’m a lover of beauty and all things home, body, and soul! I love slow mornings, green tea, and spending time with my favorite people- my husband and my mama. I’m a Certified Holistic Health/Wellness Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and the founder of the lifestyle brand, HomeBodySoul.
   10. How we know you: We haven’t officially met, but we “know” each other through a mutual friend, Suzanne, who I went to college with! And we all live in SoCal!

 

2. Take us on the journey of Whole Body Fitness.
   1. What was your original passion? My passion has always been living a holistically well life. While I am a Certified Personal Trainer and Health/Wellness Coach, my heart has always been to take a holistic and Biblical approach to our health and wellbeing. It was through this long-time passion of health and well living that this product was born. I wanted to create a practical tool to help inspire and guide women to living a well lifestyle starting with movement, or fitness.
   2. How and when did it begin? One day in May, while getting ready to go train a client, the Lord literally downloaded this idea of a fitness planner into my head and heart within a matter of two minutes. He gave me everything I needed to know- the layout, what it would include, the heart behind it- everything! I technically didn’t put pen to paper and begin this project until June, about a month after the initial idea came to me.
   3. What steps did you take to make it a reality? I was training a client who also happens to be my mentor and I told her this idea that came to me a few days prior. She said, “Meghan! That is brilliant! You have to create that!” It was her encouragement and gentle nudging that gave me the courage to actually do it. If it weren’t for her, I’d probably still be sitting on the idea. Once I committed to create this planner, her and I sat down and wrote out a timeline, a checklist of what needed to be done, and a budget. Thankfully, she had just been on her own self-publishing journey so she had an immense amount of insight and wisdom for me to glean from.
   4. What sets Whole Body Fitness apart from other planners? Whole Body Fitness is unlike ANY other planner. This undated 6 month planner literally provides daily guided workouts, allowing you the flexibility to choose which exercises you would like to do for that days routine based on your ability and preference. There is an exercise appendix in the back of the planner with over 150 exercises with photos demonstrating and explaining how to execute each move. Whole Body Fitness is comprehensive, faith-based, and is a guide to stewarding your body well through movement. I’ve included modifications for most exercises so that people of all ages and fitness levels can benefit from this planner. There will also be short video clips demonstrating each exercise on my website for those who purchase the planner to have exclusive access to. This planner isn’t just about working out though. While I am guiding you in the area of exercise, my hope is that this planner will help you cultivate discipline, focus, and value that will spill over into every other area of your life. To assist in cultivating these things I’ve included a total wellness self-evaluation at the beginning as well as several goal exercises and goal check-in worksheets. Another unique aspect to this planner is that, yes, it is a fitness planner, but at no point will you be required to weight yourself or record your measurements. I intentionally chose to leave that element out so that you can really focus on how you feel and simply moving more. If you would like to track your progress by taking your measurements, please feel free to do so, but I wanted to bring a fresh perspective to health and fitness that wasn’t solely concerned about weight loss and vanity.

All about Whole Body Fitness Planner:

1. What are your long-term goals and dreams for your brand?  I have SO many business ideas rolling through my head! I have a deep desire to create a lifestyle brand that really is a one-stop shop for women on all things home, body, and soul. I’ve spent a substantial amount of time thinking through the scalability of this brand so that it can continue to grow and evolve over the years. I’d love to work on publishing a magazine next! I love paper products and flipping through beautiful publications, so I’d love to create a HomeBodySoul lifestyle magazine. I also hope to do a one year dated version of Whole Body Fitness in the near future!
2. How has your product line changed and expanded? This is my very first product under the HomeBodySoul brand! I am excited to grow my product base in the future and offer other home, body, and soul type worksheets and planner materials for everyday intentional living. I’d also love to have a HomeBodySoul lifestyle magazine someday!
3. How do you promote your products? Being that this is my very first product, I am very new to promoting and advertising it. I am currently running a sponsorship with a Christian Women’s podcast, The Open Door Sisterhood, as well as being a part of the Belong Magazine’s Market Guide for 2017. I also just began a partnership with Legacy Magazine, a magazine specifically for the Military community. I am definitely open to other promotion and advertising ideas!

 

1. What marketing mistakes have you made? What has worked? What marketing mistakes haven’t I made is the better questions?! I’ve made SO many mistakes! This whole social media marketing has been hard for me to grasp and perfect. I didn’t study marketing or business in college so I am really just going off of what I’ve learned from others or picked up along the way. I’ve learned SO much in the last few months as I’ve had to think very strategically about my marketing approach for this planner launch. It’s pushed me outside of my comfort zone but I’ve gained so much knowledge.

 

3. How has your faith played a part of this journey?
   1. Challenges-expected and unexpected– My faith has been the foundation of this entire journey. The Lord laid this idea on my heart and it’s with a spirit of obedience that I have carried out this project. I’ve experienced moments of extreme excitement and gratitude for His leading in this, and then I’ve faced days of doubt and disappointments. The creative process and the self-publishing journey are like a rollercoaster; some days I feel the entire spectrum of emotions! But Praise God that I have Him to lean on and ground myself in. He is the true author over this endeavor.
   2. Blessing-expected and unexpected– It has been quite the ride over the past several months! I’ve received a lot of no’s and some yes’s. I’ve had to push past my comfort zone to pitch my idea. I’ve seen the Lord open many doors and close a few doors. But overall, He has truly blessed this process by providing me with talented individuals to work with who are equally as excited about the planner. I’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude to see the excitement of others around the launch of this planner. It just makes my heart swell with so much thanksgiving!

 

4. Wisdom
   1. Tips you would want to share with others: Go after your dreams! No matter how crazy it may seem, seek the Lord’s guidance and wisdom and submit all of your wildest dreams to Him. The Lord wants us to dream and have God-sized dreams, but we can’t get so lost in the dream that we forget the dream maker, the author over our lives. It can be so easy to get caught up in our God-given purpose that we forget all that He has done for us and sit in the greatness of His love and sacrifice for us. That being said, I daily have to surrender my business, my goals, my dreams to Him- the ultimate dream maker and giver. There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer, but we have to be obedient and surrendered dreamers to His dream for us, and sometimes that looks very different than what we thought it would, but I promise you, His dreams are so much better!
   2. Positives and negatives while pursuing your dream. There are so many positives, but along with the positives come some negatives. Having your own business and brand is incredible- it allows for freedom and flexibility in your lifestyle and it’s a great feeling having something of your own to operate. The negative that comes with that is often times the work doesn’t stop at 5 PM. Being that I have a lifestyle brand; I literally LIVE out my business and brand, which means I am constantly working. I am my brand… which has its positives and negatives. Yes, most of the time it is fun and enjoyable, but there are times where it is all consuming and exhausting, especially when trying to meet deadlines and feel like you have to live up to some standard or pedestal. It’s just an interesting thing having a lifestyle brand/business because you are your brand and with that comes a lot of great opportunities and a lot of fun, but it can also be hard to turn it off and simply be and find that balance.
   3. Wisdom you have gained personally- The Lord has taught me SO much over the last 3 years. I’ve learned enough lessons to write a book! I think the most wisdom I’ve gained and an area I really needed to grow in would be my understanding that God is good. I know it sounds so simple and elementary, but at the core of my being, I was a Christian who knew God theologically and for others, but I didn’t believe He was good to or for me. The Lord and I walked through a dark season and it was through this season of extreme fear, worry, and panic that the Lord revealed this to me. I’ve since grown tremendously (I still have a ways to go) and my understanding of God has radically shifted. God is truly good. God will always choose life and choose love. It’s the sinful world we live in that causes brokenness, heartache, suffering, and death. God isn’t a God of death and despair. He is light and life. Once I began to theologically understand that and honestly believe it in my heart, my entire outlook shifted and my eyes were opened up to a God, a Father I hadn’t fully known before. I am thankful for His patience, compassion, and grace towards me always! He is a good, good Father.

 

1. How you have grown– Oh how I’ve grown! 2017 in general has been a year of astounding growth for me. I’ve never experienced a year quite like 2017 and it’s truly a testament to Jesus changing me from the inside out. My prayer life deepened to a level I never knew possible. My love and quest for Jesus has been like an unquenchable thirst- I couldn’t get enough of it! This year, faith wise, has been all consuming in the most amazing way. I’ve been more on fire for Jesus than ever in my Christian life. I read my Bible and truly desire to learn more about the life of Jesus, Biblical times, and gain a more comprehensive understanding of theology. I’ve seen the Lord work in ways I never thought possible. He has miraculously worked in my own father’s life who has struggled with alcohol abuse my entire life. Literally like the flip of a switch, one day, my father began dumping his cans of beer down and the drain and hasn’t had a sip since….it’s been 2 months! I literally cannot describe the immense gratitude and awe I stand in every day. I’m standing in the middle of a miracle! I’ve now witnessed a HUGE miracle in each of my parent’s lives’ and I am SO anxious to continue to see God work, believe and pray for the impossible, and someday share this miraculous testimony with many!

 

Thanks for taking the time to get to know Meghan Meredith with us. Now go ahead and check out her website!

Whole Body Fitness with Meghan Meredith