Who are Hustle and Thrive?
We are Tori Daile & Caitlin Devidas and we run Hustle & Thrive group fitness studios in Thornbury and Heidelberg. We are two local mums that turned their passion for fitness and helping others into a successful fitness business. Both university qualified we pivoted our careers later in life to create a business that worked around our own families and provided a fun, community minded space for people to exercise.
Tori lives in Thornbury with her husband and two teenagers and Caitlin is in Ivanhoe with her husband and 3 primary school children. We met in a group fitness class 4 ½ years ago and haven’t looked back. Friends and business partners!
What do you do?
We change people’s lives!
Through our two beautiful group fitness studios, we have built a community of people who all want to feel their best. Our studios are nonintimidating, friendly, inclusive and we have helped hundreds of locals get fit and feel amazing both physically and mentally, it has been a game changes for so many local mums, dads, and families. We run group fitness classes that included bodyweight HIIT, strength, boxing, pilates, run group, spin, glutes & core strengthening to name a few. We also have partnered with a wonderful women’s health physio to provide classes for new mums to get back to fitness safely.
Basically, we help people feel great!!!
What makes Hustle and Thrive special?
We aren't just about fitness and looking great, we are about a community that supports and helps each other. We aren’t a big box franchise that doesn’t take the time to know their clients. We know our clients, their partners, their children and even their animals! We both have set up separate children’s areas at our studios so anyone can bring their babies, toddlers, children to class with them. We keep our sessions short to enable mums to train without having to leave their kids in care.
We are two locals mums that have a passion for both helping people and for fitness and so we combined both of these loves and created Hustle & Thrive…..you can come and get your hustle on and thrive on the results!
What did your business look like before COVID 19 and how has that changed?
Before Covid we ran our two studios, Thornbury and Heidelberg solely as group fitness classes with face to face coaching. We have 10 coaches and we would run 5/6 classes a day to over 150 clients…everyday…and we loved it. At the end of March we were told that we would have to close. We didn’t miss a beat and took our entire business online, the next day! We gave out all our equipment to our clients to use in their homes, we set up a live streaming studio with TV’s, computers, audio and camera systems and we continued to deliver high end classes to our dedicated members.
We’ve also built an on-demand library of classes that our clients can access anywhere and at anytime!
We aren't just about fitness and looking great, we are about a community that supports and helps each other.
Providing a reason and routine for people to continue to exercise, even under tough conditions was our goal. We wanted our clients to know that even though we were now online that we would still be there for them and that they could still connect with us and the rest of the tribe, everyday. It wasn’t just about the exercise, it was the connection that clients craved also. That we could continue to provide through this format.
Never in our dreams would we have imagined that our business would be run completely online.
Are there any apps or technology that really helped you make this transition?
Zoom is our go to for livestreaming (like the rest of the world). We did it differently to others though in that Caity and I run every session together, one of us coaches and one of us demonstrates and does the workout. The coach sits at the desktop and watches clients for form and encourages them while the demo coach is live on screen doing the workout alongside the clients. We have actually had a lot of fun delivering these classes.
When we went into stage 4 lockdown we continued to do this but we were at different locations, to clients this was a seem less transition that some weren’t even aware of.
What has been the most challenging aspect of this time?
Missing our clients! We have built such an amazing community and seeing clients face to face, smiling, sweaty, high fiving and helping each other through a session.
Also the not knowing when we will be able to open and return to face to face training. We want to be able to tell our clients that there is a light at the end of this tunnel but we just don’t know at this stage. We are hanging in there.
Have there been any 'silver lining' surprises?
Absolutely.
Our membership base has grown to interstate and the occasional overseas client. We have been able to coach some of our old clients, that have moved away from the area, through our online livestream classes. If you had told us that in February that our whole business would be online for most of 2020 we wouldn’t have believed it. We are incredibly proud of how we pivoted our business so quickly. We found out at the end of march that we would be closed within 3 days. We did not miss a session, we gave out all of our equipment and set up or livestream studio. We feel like we stood up as leaders in our community in a time of uncertainty!
How do you see your business evolving in the future? Are there changes you've made that you will continue with when things go back to 'normal'?
We hadn’t run an online session prior to COVID but it has now become a great way to reach more people. We will continue to offer online classes once we open our studios and will provide a hybrid model …face to face and also virtual classes. We also now have a bank of recorded classes that we can offer as on demand session…clients can train anytime, anywhere with Hustle & Thrive. They can even take us on holidays with them.
If you had told us that in February that our whole business would be online for most of 2020 we wouldn’t have believed it.
Are there any business decisions that you have made with sustainability in mind?
We are considered with the merchandise we buy – supporting Australian made – and the printing is done by local small businesses. Our reusable coffee cups bring us much joy….mainly in the form of coffee!
Our meal plans are delivered electronically – we try and reduce our footprint where possible and our cleaning equipment as been all environmentally considered (only until COVID where we had to purchase some stronger antibacterial cleaning products).
Many people find the ‘traditional’ gym environment unwelcoming or intimidating - could you share the ways you’ve worked to make your space more welcoming?
Both of our studios are bright, light spaces, no mirrors with dedicated children’s areas. Every session has a coach to welcome you and help you through. We always offer options for exercises and the community that we have built is very welcoming and encouraging too…they have all been the new person in the class and know how it feels. Our classes are cost effective and we offer a trial to make sure it’s right for you. No lock in contracts.
I think a lot of people are missing the variety of exercise options while everything is closed - do you have any fun moves we could do at home with minimal props?
We have so many bodyweight classes and the variety of options are endless.
You can try a simple workout at home:
- Burpees
- Sprint
- Squats
- Lunges
- Planks and
- Push-ups make a great combination.
Set a timer do each exercise for 30 seconds with a 10 second break, then combine two exercise together (back to back) 40 seconds on, 15 seconds off. Finally do the first 3 together for 60 seconds, then 20 seconds off and repeat with the final 3. To finish off add in a sprint finisher for 60 seconds.
Quick, effective, guaranteed to get your blood pumping and that oxygen moving around your body – exercise doesn’t need to be long and arduous to be effective.
I know you are both local Mums, what advice/options do you have for parents who are struggling to find time for self care/exercise/anything during lockdown?
Take the time to know that this will all be over at some point. With the children, don’t beat yourself up over home schooling or worrying about progress. What they will remember from a time like this is not what they have achieved school wise but how they felt – happiness, love and secure is the best gift you can give.
Likewise, take the time for yourself – go for a walk, chat to friends – do whatever you need to do to make yourself feel ok as well!