Know your strengths and weaknesses — You can always talk about what you’re great at, but the most successful people should also be able to talk about what mistakes they’ve made along the way or what areas where they need help. Sometimes the biggest successes come from mistakes.
Have you ever noticed how often we equate success with more? Whether that’s more products, more profits, more activities, or more accomplishments, we buy into the belief that we must do more to have more to be more. And that will sum up to success. And then along comes The Great Resignation. Where employees are signaling that the “more” that being offered — even more pay, more perks, and more PTO — isn’t summing up to success for them. We visited with leaders who are redefining what success means now. Their answers might surprise you.
As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Heather Perren. Heather is the Director of Community Relations at Lagree Fitness. She lives in California with her family.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you a bit better. What is your professional background?
Thank you for this opportunity. I hold a BS and a CA teaching credential. I was an elementary school teacher for four years until I became pregnant with triplets in 2010. I never went back to teaching but was asked to become a fitness instructor in 2015 for Lagree Fitness. And in 2020, I started a company called Lagreeing at Home, a platform that features On Demand and Live classes for Lagree workouts anywhere in the world.
In 2020, I also was appointed Senior Master Trainer for Lagree Fitness and I certify other trainers around the world to teach the Lagree Method. Additionally, I have been the Director of Community Relations and Events for Lagree Fitness since 2020. I eat, sleep, and breathe Lagree!
Can you please tell us about one or two life experiences that most shaped who you are today?
Having triplets was the most life-changing experience of my life and no doubt shaped me into who I am right now. Having not one, not two, but three babies all at once requires a whole new level of patience, quick thinking, and being great at multi-tasking, amongst so many other skills.
These skills have carried on with me today and have allowed me to look at the world with a deeper appreciation for the little things in life. The other life experience was leaving my comfort zone to become a fitness trainer. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be where I am today. To teach other adults group fitness classes terrified me, but if we want to grow, we must leave our comfort zones. That leap of faith to become certified back in 2015 allowed me to gain so much confidence in myself.
We all have myths and misconceptions about success. What are some myths or misconceptions that you used to believe?
I always believed you must be famous or rich to be successful. As I’ve gotten older and wiser, I know now this is not always the case.
How has your definition of success changed?
To me being successful means, you can positively impact a wider audience while bringing more happiness into your own life and those around you. When my business is doing well, it’s because the members are happy and enjoying the platform, and in return that makes me happy. When I am happy, my kids and husband are happy, and happiness to me is the ultimate sign of success!
The pandemic, in many ways, was a time of collective self-reflection. What changes do you believe we need to make as a society to access success post-pandemic?
I think people need to be more open-minded. As a society, we tend to get upset over little things, but if we can look beyond the day-to-day and see the bigger picture, that nothing lasts forever, we can turn negative things into positive ones.
Some of the most successful people and companies came from something negative. That is how my business was created… Lagreeing at Home was formed during the pandemic to help people stay fit while at home, and in return, it became a positive thing for so many people around the world.
What do you see as the unexpected positives in the pandemic? We would love to hear a few of your stories or examples.
The pandemic showed how people can connect virtually around the world to support each other. The pandemic was a life-altering point for me personally. I was in a very tough spot in my fitness career. I had been working at a studio for five years and the studio was being sold, it was not the direction I wanted to go. Then boom, the pandemic happened, and the fitness studios are shut down indefinitely.
I had nothing but time to be at home and do distance learning with my then 4th-grade triplets. I bought the last prototype version of the Lagree Fitness Microformer in March of 2020 and had no idea how that purchase would change my life. I started posting moves on the machine for social media and the next thing I knew, people wanted to buy the machine and take my classes.
I connected with another trainer with the same passion and creativity as me and in July 2020, we formed our company, Lagreeing at Home, a virtual platform for Live and On Demand Lagree classes.
I was able to pivot my life and in return, so many new doors opened for me. I started working with Sebastien Lagree as the community relations and event director for Lagree Fitness and he appointed me as Senior Master Trainer to certify others in the Lagree Method.
The pandemic became a way for me to connect with other like-minded people around the world and opened a whole new world of opportunities for me.
We’re all looking for answers about how to be successful now. Could you please share “5 Ways To Redefine Success Now?”
- Happiness — When you are happy that exudes beyond you and pours out into other areas of your life. People who are happy have figured out how to let their success impact all areas of their life. As I mentioned earlier, when I feel the most successful, I am the happiest, but it has nothing to do with money. I’m thrilled when I see a client getting stronger, an event I planned come together, or a new trainer teaching their first class. Knowing that I helped them achieve their goals towards their own success is what makes me successful.
- Be Confident — Confidence is a hard thing for many people and it took me a long time to get here. However, when you have people who support you, your confidence will build. People who are confident can pursue their dreams. If someone lacks confidence, their dreams will never reach that next level. You must have confidence in yourself and your business, product, etc.
- Know your strengths and weaknesses — You can always talk about what you’re great at, but the most successful people should also be able to talk about what mistakes they’ve made along the way or what areas where they need help. Sometimes the biggest successes come from mistakes.
- Collaboration with others — No one can do everything on their own. You must find someone or multiple people who share your vision. I truly believe that the more you can join forces with others, the more success will come your way. When I work with Sebastien Lagree, we look at collaborating with other businesses when we do events to help make our events successful and help expand their businesses as well. When I started Lagreeing at Home, I found my business partner and knew she would be a fantastic match, because if we were going to become successful, I couldn’t do it on my own. Collaborating with others is a great way to gain success and grow in so many ways.
- Don’t care what other people think about you — There will always be people out there that don’t like you or your business. If you spend your time dwelling on that you will never get anywhere. Negativity pulls you down. I experienced negativity when I first began working for Lagree Fitness and with Sebastien. I had the choice to dwell on it and let it sink me or ignore it so I could soar. I learned to realize it’s their own insecurities coming through and to stay on my own path focusing on my own journey.
Turns out, the more I tuned out the negative comments, the more successful I felt, not necessarily financially, but in all senses of the word. I choose to focus on positivity. My positive energy gets thrown right back into my business and I set that example for my kids as well.
How would our lives improve if we changed our definition of success?
If people realized that success is not about money, it is so much more, the world would be a much happier place. Success can be defined in so many ways — career, finance athletics, family, etc. Ultimately though, being successful should make you happy because if you’re not happy, does success even matter?
What is the biggest obstacle that stands in the way of our redefined success? And what advice would you offer about overcoming those obstacles?
Having people leave their comfort zones, to redefine success for themselves. It can be scary to leave that comfort zone, but if you believe in yourself and give it your all, you will succeed. Have your support system in place that will support you on your path to success. It’s a bumpy ride, but that’s all part of the excitement on your journey to success!
Where do you go to look for inspiration and information about how to redefine success?
I find inspiration from the Lagree community, my family, and my friends. The people around me inspire me daily. From the clients I work with when they share their stories of success, to working with Sebastien at the Micro events and seeing how we can inspire communities at these events. Additionally, seeing my family, my kids, and my friends have success in their lives inspires me. I cheer them on while they inspire me to continue striving to achieve success in my own life.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He, she, or they might just see this if we tag them.
This is always an interesting question because to me people are just people. However, I would love to sit down with any female entrepreneur that created their business because there was a need for it and found success because they followed their passion. I love meeting and learning from people who have been in a similar place and can share their inspiring stories. I never stop learning and love to learn to continue growing in every sense of the word.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me on lagreeingathome.com, lagreefitbyheather.com, and on social media @lagreefitbyheather.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.