Brian: 0:11

All right, well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast. We are on part three and we're sitting here with Danielle, here at Resistance, and today we're going to talk about why Vero Beach and I want to start off. We've been talking a lot about community. What does community mean to you?

Danielle: 0:25

So moving down here, you know, four years ago I left a friend group that was solid. I don't have, like really a large family, so it's super, super small. So all of my friends to me are my cousins. All of their kids are my nieces and nephews. All their parents are my aunts and my uncles. Leaving Westfield was the hardest thing of my connection and friends. Luckily, breeze has a flight Hartford to Vero, which is awesome and that, yeah, that dropped six months after I moved down here and I was like, okay, I can see all my friends. One little flight Moving down here.

Danielle: 1:00

Low thirties, everybody's friends are like pretty much established. If you're a Vero local, you're probably friends with the same people. Or if you've had a kid, you're probably meeting moms in a mom group. If you're married, you and your spouse are meeting other couples. Let me backtrack the reason I'm here in Vero. My dad moved down here in 2017, 2018.

Danielle: 1:23

So then, when COVID happened and my hands were tied at the gym I worked for, I bought a one-way ticket and came down here to Vero to stay with my dad. I figured it'd be better for him and I to be together than be solo, and I also didn't trust him. He was going to Publix every single day like your typical seven-year-old man and I was like I don't want you getting sick. So about a week being down here, I met my current boyfriend. I put a dating app on and I just put looking for somebody under 70 to hang out with. I knew I was going back to Massachusetts, I wasn't looking for a relationship, and then we actually liked each other. So let's fast forward now five years which is crazy Since our first date we were long distance for seven months and we made sure we liked each other through distance and moved right in. So the only person I knew was him and pretty much all of his other bachelors Not the best way to meet girls my age and we live on a dead-end street with people that have lived there for 50 years, so I wasn't going to be meeting neighbors. So when I did start working, I was able to meet coworkers, but the people that frequented that fitness center were also my clients, so I didn't necessarily want to like have this client but friend relationship. So I was meeting people, but not at the level of my friends there. So I was in the back of my mind when I was thinking of resistance.

Danielle: 2:47

How do people, specifically women, meet others when they're new here? Now, guys, get a little advantage. If you're into golf or you're into fishing or shooting, there are clubs and not saying women aren't members at those places, but the majority of clientele are men and if you have that similar interest, you could pretty much talk to a stranger. So my boyfriend has a golf membership. If he's golfing solo and he sees another person golfing solo the hole ahead, he's probably going to say you want to just golf together? Name a place women have that we, if we're getting our nails done, we're probably on our phones or listening to music or reading a book and we want silence. If we're getting our hair done, how do you lean over to the next chair, like you don't, you're always in a different stage of the process, exactly so.

Danielle: 3:36

Studios are a great place for people to meet each other. I've seen it at yoga studios, I've seen it at other spin studios. My mom works from home, so the fact that she goes to Roots three times a week to see her pals, I've seen it happen. So I really wanted to create this community and this connection, not just in house of resistance but also with local small businesses. So we've created a relationship with Pepper and Salt Market down the street. They bring their coffee mobile bar here for one Saturday a month and it allows people to hang out in our lobby after class, get to know each other, chit, chat and I've seen people become really good friends, which is so amazing. And we've only been open for a short time, but I can only imagine a year from now the friendships that have started.

Danielle: 4:22

We have a wine tasting. You bet your butt people are going to be sitting in the lobby chit-chatting. I know Dana, the owner of Vero Vino, is going to make more connections with people here. So it's not just the connection in the walls of resistance, it's also pulling in some small business owners and some practitioners. We have Ashley from Breeze, who I know you guys interviewed recently. She's coming in twice this month Right there. She's going to make huge connections. I've had Coastline Spine come. Miro is a new location for them. They were here a couple of weeks ago. So always just having those mini pop-ups to get our members meeting new things or businesses and then just having the opportunity to chit-chat with each other.

Brian: 5:05

I love that you're creating a community not just for the people, but for the people and for all the small businesses too. I think we even saw in the bathroom there's some local like fragrance fragrances Is that how you say it? I'm like I need a good drink of water Fragrance.

Danielle: 5:20

Yeah, so my front desk worker, holly her and her sister Heather, own the soap house and I met them this fall when I was at holiday vendor fair. So I was pimping out resistance before we even existed and I went to their booth and they were selling hand soaps and sprays and all just non-toxic products. So when Holly applied to work for me and she had expressed that, I reached out to her and Heather and I said I want your products in all my bathrooms and my lobby. And what's nice is people, members, people that have visited our studio. They've had a table here during my ribbon cutting. They've been able to sell their products here. That's great and it's awesome being able to get them invested with the business of resistance but also to help them out, that's great.

Brian: 6:08

That's really cool. I got to figure out something else to say besides. I love that, because I say I love that a lot. I know I always guess that I smell that, I smell that, I smell that. Well, that fits in really weird here at the fitness studio. I love it. You're pretty new to the area that the studio is, so how has the community responded so far?

Danielle: 6:28

Oh, the community has been amazing. Luckily I had a handful of people that had been training with me or taking my classes for, you know, between one year and three and a half years. So before we even opened, just to kind of get my jitters out, I invited them to a little VIP sneak peek. So we had a little party in here before our doors open, just letting them know like I have been working hard. Look at all this work that we've done and word spreads. That is the best marketing I have. So I knew they were going to start telling their friends and people in their world their kids, their spouses. But then we also had great marketing leading up to our grand opening.

Danielle: 7:07

I like to always get to know at least something about somebody and I have a really weird skilled memory of names with that Thank God. My mom made me play that memory game when we were little, so I guarantee like if I do mess up your name the second time, it will be at least close to the name, but I'll remember something about you. And our staff is really like that as well. We're still getting new leads every single week and it's primarily from the word of mouth. I try to engage through Metta, through Facebook, our Instagram, if you are on either platform, if you want a little humor, whether you're into fitness or a member or not.

Danielle: 7:45

Back to Holly. She is killing it with our reels and I kind of tell her an idea and she makes it happen. That's awesome. I don't know what tool she's using. That can be her own little secret. I don't need to know. I need one less thing off my plate. Even my mom she's like. You know, I'm 1300 miles away, but I love seeing your videos every day. I feel like I'm staying up with it and into it. So I have friends up north that love it. My friends that have visited down here have met my staff, so they love re-seeing my staff on film and you know it's like a visual check-in with everybody.

Brian: 8:57

Yeah, that's cool, that's fun. So, danielle, what do you love most about working and living in Vero?

Danielle: 9:03

Well, I live two miles away, so that's the best part. Fun fact, 8th Street has two zip codes. Really, I am so bad at north, south, east, west I think this is south right so south side of 8th is 32962, so that's our lobby right now I live on the north side of 8th, the right side, whatever. That's helpful for me, the right side.

Brian: 9:26

Whatever?

Danielle: 9:27

And that's 32960.

Brian: 9:29

Okay, so we're on the right side. Crazy, we live on the right side.

Danielle: 9:32

Yeah, so 8th Street is literally cut in half. So Vero fun fact. Look at me, I would say, coming from New England. I mean the weather down here it's either hot or really hot. So I love that there's no seasonal depression, because that is so real. Shout out to my friends up north.

Danielle: 9:48

Still, I feel for you during those winters. But you can come visit me Exactly, I think. Vero since COVID and I might be biased because that's just when I've been living here but I've seen such a transformation and just like newer things. For example, we had 21st Amendment open and that was like the real first, like cocktail lounge bar. It had a theme to it. It's obviously very patriotic, but it fits. It fits with who the owner is and what it's all about. Curfew it's open a little bit later and what it's all about. Curfew it's open a little bit later. Me, I mean, this is a new like spin and strength studio which we didn't really have here. There's new coffee shops popping up everywhere. Pepper and Salt came with Texas barbecue. It's just, you know, it's a different vibe and I think it's moving really really fast. We also have a lot of people moving to Vero.

Brian: 10:40

Exactly.

Danielle: 10:41

Or people that now have traveled a little bit outside of Vero and might be coming back to their home roots, but maybe they did live in a city where there was a spin studio and now we have one. So I think Vero is in a really exciting time right now and I think people with the help of like podcasts and social media, people are more apt to try new things when they're hearing about it or seeing it in that word of mouth.

Brian: 11:05

Absolutely, Danielle. For someone that's listening to the podcast, that might be nervous about walking into resistance here and taking that first free class. What would you say to them?

Danielle: 11:15

Be nervous, it's okay, that's natural. That is a natural reaction. But if you're nervous because you're thinking about judgment or that people are going to be staring at you or you might mess up, guess what? You're going to mess up. You've never done this before and that's okay. You're not applying for a job. You don't work here. We're serving you, so be nervous. But the nervousness is telling me you're excited and you're looking forward to it.

Brian: 11:41

Keep that energy, I, but the nervousness is telling me you're excited and you're looking forward to it. Keep that energy.

Danielle: 11:45

I like it. What's your vision for resistance going forward?

Danielle: 11:48

First throw an epic first year party, celebrating that 365 of being open, is going to be incredible. The first year we'll also be able to see what our season is like. People have said, like you're going to slow down in the summer. We haven't slowed down, which is great, but to see, you know, the holiday shift and the seasonal shift and all of that, my big goal five years would definitely be second location. That would be the dream. It's another reason I came up with resistance. It sounds good with the towns resistance, vero Beach, resistance, psl resistance, stewart resistance, vero Beach North. Like PSL Resistance, stewart Resistance, vero Beach North. Like you know, you never know what's going to happen. But at the end of the day, that's my big goal During its first year.

Danielle: 12:32

I would love to hire some more instructors. I would love personally to have more work-life balance. I do not want to be on the schedule for 14 classes a week forever. That is not the reason I opened Resistance. My reason was to empower the future instructors of fitness, to give them the tools that I have been given and have learned from amazing mentors that you know. It shouldn't be hold onto. It shouldn't be a secret of how to make a killer playlist or how to coach appropriately to this age group or this kind of person. Come down the line. I would love for me to be on the schedule, to be like oh my God, danielle's on the schedule. Wow, like, let's go see her.

Danielle: 13:11

Let's see if she can still teach. No, I'll never be off the bike or off the room. The goal is definitely to have this work-life balance and to empower the new instructors as we get ready to wrap up.

Brian: 13:21

What's the best way for people to get started?

Danielle: 13:23

I would say best way for people and we're going to strip it down First, check out our website. Look at it, see if it's calling attention to you. There's certain restaurants. You might look at the website and you're just like, eh, I don't know if I'm feeling that vibe. And it's the same thing when you're looking at fitness. The fitness industry has become like the yogurt aisle in the grocery store and it's overwhelming. So take your time. Look at my FAQs. Check out our Facebook. Read our Google reviews. The Google reviews are super helpful because they're coming from people that I'm not paying them to leave. These. These are true experiences, some people that have known me for a few years and some people that have not.

Danielle: 14:00

If you're feeling inclined to maybe create a profile and book that first class, then I say don't sit on it, because then your body and your mind are going to talk you out of it. If you're feeling that engagement, then create that profile. Again, you'll get a phone call from us. Hi, we saw you created a profile. Let us help you with that first class. Feel free to ask questions where to start, what to start with. At the end of the day, we're going to tell you the same thing we coach to all levels and we do. And what's your website address? Website is resistancevb. As in VeroBeachcom, our app, you can literally search on the app store with your Droid or iPhone. Just type in Resistance Vero Beach and it'll show up Our social media. Same thing Facebook and Instagram page Resistance Vero Beach. And then we're on Google as well. Awesome, awesome, well, thank you so much, Danielle.

Brian: 14:45

Of course I'm going to sign up right now, but I already did that you did, so I'm already there. Already there. Check off my list If you've not been out here. Make sure you take advantage of that free offer that class. Come in here, check it out, get a tour.

Danielle: 14:58

Yes, we also offer free tours. So once you do create your account, you can book a free tour.

Brian: 15:02

We just want to thank all the listeners for your support and for tuning in to the Bureau Beach podcast. If you've enjoyed this episode, make sure you click review and share it with your friends. Thanks for listening, neighbor.