Fitness Expert Julie Voris: From Avocation To Vocation: How I Turned My Hobby Into A Career

The feeling of accomplishment after a good workout never goes away and always filters into my every day life, it never gets old. So I focus on that feeling, rather than doing my millionth squat.

As a part of our series about entrepreneurs who transformed something they did for fun into a full-time career, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Voris. Julie has a mission: helping women live life to the fullest, through healthy lifestyle tips, expert nutrition plans, and a motivational attitude. Voris equips women with simple online workouts and nutrition guides that can truly transform your everyday life. Julie was one of the trainers featured in the nationally released Insanity training videos, TurboKick training videos, and the P90X2 home workout. She is a 15 Star Diamond Coach and 6X Elite Beachbody coach, an honor that only three other coaches — out of over 400,000 — can claim.

A passionate advocate of women in the fitness field and beyond, Julie is tearing down old barriers with the ever-present hope that in the future, women will feel secure in their balance of fitness, motherhood, and business. Julie lives in Carmel, Indiana with her husband, Jeff Voris, and their three young daughters, Jenna, Josie and Jessy.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! What was the catalyst from transforming your hobby or something you love into a business? Can you share the story of your “ah ha” moment with us?

So I get this question a lot and truthfully, there wasn’t an a-ha moment. It’s been a series of step by step moments….teach one class, then teach another class, then audition to be a master trainer, and on and on little by little bit by bit. I usually didn’t know what I didn’t know and with no one in my family as a role model in the fitness or entrepreneur space, I just sort of kept moving forward, figuring it out as I went along.

The moment I remember as a “kind of” aha moment was when I made my first check for $1000 as a Beachbody coach. When that happened, I began to see the potential in the business and in myself.

There are no shortage of good ideas out there, but people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How did you overcome this challenge?

There is also no shortage of people who need guidance with their health and fitness.

I didn’t invent group fitness or at home workouts. But I believe that my consistency has been the driving force behind my success. I’m not the smartest or most creative or most innovative person. I’m not often a “first-responder” to a trend. But once I find something that works and about which I’m passionate, I’m all in, til the end of time. I believe that inspires people because consistency is rare,

What advice would you give someone who has a hobby or pastime that they absolutely love but is reluctant to do it for a living?

Ask yourself, WHY are you reluctant? Is it truly your own trepidation talking? Or is it fear of what OTHER people might think that’s holding you back? Because opinions of others don’t pay your bills and don’t build your life. At the end of this amazing ride we’re on, we want to be able to say WE created the life WE wanted to create, on purpose and with intention. We cannot do that if we’re held back by fear. It’s such a waste of energy!

It’s said that the quickest way to take the fun out of doing something is to do it for a living. How do you keep from changing something you love into something you dread? How do you keep it fresh and enjoyable?

GREAT question!! I think I keep the joy in what I do because I focus on the FEELING.

The feeling AFTER the workout

The feeling when a new coach gets their first check

The feeling of not worrying if my card will get declined at the grocery store

The feeling of accomplishment after a good workout never goes away and always filters into my every day life, it never gets old. So I focus on that feeling, rather than doing my millionth squat.

Also during a workout, I think about how I can make this squat or this pushup just a tiny bit better than the one I did yesterday. How can I connect this workout more deeply to my goals and to my life.

I believe when we focus on ourselves rather than serving others, we lose our joy.

It’s SO powerful to acknowledge that something is HARD or challenging….then do it anyway.

That is power that defines character and defines life.

It’s okay to acknowledge something is hard or you’re a little bored doing it.

It’s NOT okay to wallow in that. Find new ways to fall in love with your passion…it’s your passion for a reason. And it’s okay to have more than one passion. As Marie Forleo says, be multipassionate. The more we find in life to enjoy, the more OF live we enjoy.

What is it that you enjoy most about running your own business? What are the downsides of running your own business? Can you share what you did to overcome these drawbacks?

Running your own business allows you to set your own hours — benefit!

Running your own business allows you to set your own hours — drawback!

LOL

I can work my business at any time of day, during any pocket and crack and cranny…and I have. I’ve built it from the ground up raising 3 extremely busy daughters.

BUT that also means it’s harder to “shut off”…it can feel like you are ALWAYS working, because there’s no boundary between work and “life”.

But frankly, I like that. Health and fitness IS life. So I’m okay that the personal development I read to help me be a better leader spills over into my parenting and then influences my girls to listen to a good book or podcast. I’m okay that my mentoring of coaches spills over into life and influences my girls to help others. I’m okay that my family sees me working hard and building a business and a life on purpose. That’s more important to me than any drawback.

Can you share what was the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

I truly had no idea what network marketing would be like in the health and fitness space. Well, I take that back a little…I did think that I could just post about my workouts or nutrition and people would immediately GET how valuable this stuff is and run to be with their credit card. So that’s NOT the case :) I’ve learned to really hone in on sharing the VALUE of health and wellness, sharing the value of self-care, share the value of good nutrition, share how these tools can solve problems and make life easier. I’ve learned to share my story in different ways so that it connects with different people in different phases of life.

I was a high school English teacher turned fitness instructor turned Master Trainer turned Entrepreneur. I suppose none of what I did — and yet, ALL of what I did- prior to now prepared me to be the CEO of a multi-million dollar company.

Truthfully, I like not knowing what I don’t know…that blind naivete’ serves a business owner well sometimes, because you just DO THE WORK.

Has there ever been a moment when you thought to yourself “I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to get a “real” job? If so how did you overcome it?

Absolutely not. I know that may sound crazy but absolutely not.

I believe I am put here on this earth to change lives through health and fitness….I believe it’s more than fitness, it truly is life, and what we do in our workouts translates to how we live our lives. Fitness is moving meditation and nutrition is the glue. I believe empowering women with tools to CREATE a life on purpose starts with fitness and I think I have the coolest job on the planet. Maybe aside from JLo :)

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

About 10 years ago, our premium nutritional was introduced and as amazing as it was FOR us, it tasted like dirt. I kept trying to drink it and it tasted. Like. dirt. Now I could share the heck out of it because I KNEW the science and research behind it. IN FACT, I was the top 3 in the company for sales of this shake the year it came out…..and I wasn’t even drinking it. Because I hadn’t figured out that I needed to figure out my recipe. I had been making it according to the package, which we all know, usually doesn’t work in the real world. That chocolate shake needed a little more ice and a bit of peanut butter and maybe a little of this and a little of that and BOOM!! Once I found that recipe, that was all there was to it. I haven’t missed a day of my shake since then and my mind is blown every day thinking about how this amazing nutrition is improving my health in ways I don’t even know, every single day!

Who has inspired or continues to inspire you to be a great leader? Why?

I find inspiration every way. I am SO inspired by Walt Disney. The thought that someone could stand in a swamp land in the middle of Florida and see magic is so visionary to me…truly, I get goosebumps thinking about it now. THEN I think about how that one vision has grown into this life changing legacy…and wow! It inspires me so much.

So I read anything I can get my hands on about Walt Disney.

Also I currently obsessed with Abby Wambach and her new book, Wolfpack. The ideas and concepts in her book truly make me want to BE and DO better.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Just recently I got a text from a friend who takes my classes. He is an oncologist and he wrote in his text, your class today will affect my 300 patients I see this week.

That really stopped me in my tracks.

That my friend, in taking one hour of his week to care for himself physically and mentally, chose my class as the place to soak in what he needed to better care for his 300 patients?? That shows the power of health and fitness and community and someone being AWARE enough to know that the positive energy he creates AND takes in makes his life better…and in turn makes others lives better.
THAT is the power of health and fitness.
I also love the messages I get from my coaches like, “today I put gas in my car with my Beachbody check” or “today I was more patient with my children because of the book we are reading.”

None of that is small and I don’t take ANY of it for granted.

And it all starts with fitness.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

That it doesn’t get easier but you do get smarter

That it’s okay to have multiple passions

That when it’s your calling, it won’t matter how hard or long you work. You still love it

That you will literally change your family’s lives with this business

That “this little fitness business” will create a legacy you can’t even imagine

What person wouldn’t want to work doing something they absolutely love. You are an incredible inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

What I most want women to understand is that fitness and health doesn’t have to be hard and yes, they are worth it, and yes it’s possible to create a life on purpose.

I don’t have an app for that :) but I believe FAR too many people — women especially — think fitness and health is SO hard, and takes SO much effort, and they try to do it on their own. We are MEANT to be in community with each other. We are MEANT to collaborate with each other. We are MEANT to show each other the way. If women would just embrace that they don’t have to know everything or do it all, if they would lean in and raise their hand, and embrace that they need help, I believe the world would be better for it. More collaboration. More showing the way. More asking for help. More machete-chopping the way through the wilderness for others. More acknowledging that as a human, you are WORTH taking care of yourself and when you do, it truly can change the world.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Show up.

That’s it. I got it from my Dad, a 40 year Navy man + civil engineer. Out of everything he taught me, I have taken that and taught it to my daughters, to my team, to my class members.

Showing up is truly ‘half the battle.’

Show up when you don’t want to show up.

Show up when others won’t. Because successful people get successful by showing up when others won’t.

Success isn’t as dependent on talent as we might think it is.

I believe it’s dependent on showing up, day after day. I believe the Universe rewards consistency in passion, in work, in belief.

There are so many times when you think it doesn’t matter if you show up or not. It matters.

There are so many times when you think no one will really notice if you show up or not. They notice.

Show up. Sit in the front row. Take notes. ALWAYS take notes.

Get out of the passenger seat and show up in the driver’s seat of your 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Melanie Whelan because I’m obsessed with Soul Cycle and the culture they are building. I want to know how I can do that too, in my own way.

How do they train and develop their culture so well? How do they develop rockstars? Just culture culture and more culture…how do they do it? Ob. Sessed.

Jennifer Lopez because I’d love to know more about her work ethic and her ability to stay relevant. How does SHE stay creative and innovative and inspired? Obsessed with her too.

Abby Wambach because I’d love to know more about the work she is doing and how I can help.

ALSO obsessed with her :)

There are SO many amazing women doing amazing stuff in this world right now…can I have lunch with ALL of them??

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.