By Kathryn Arellano
Rachel is a mother of three and is well known for her work as a successful mind and body fitness transformation coach. She is a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition and Weight Loss Specialist, a Certified Reiki Practitioner and is currently undergoing a Clinical Hypnotherapy Certification program. Rachel is a fitness, health and wellness entrepreneur. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, and now she is based in Calgary, Alberta.
After becoming a widow and a single mom of 2 beautiful girls at the age of 28, she decided to rebuild her life and inspire her children and be the best role model for them. She created goals for herself which started with committing to a fitness competition to get her mental and physical health back on track and to get her body to the best it had ever been.
Rachel’s ambition brought her to achieve top placement in her fitness competitions which earned her a Pro Fitness Model Card in Montreal in 2013. Then her career took off. She completed in World Pro competitions. She’s been featured in multiple online websites and print magazines such as top 100 hottest fitness models in the world in both “Inside Fitness” Magazine and “Status Fitness” Magazine. She landed her very first cover in Australia’s “Women’s Health & Fitness” magazine, March of 2015.
Rachel’s passion is to motivate others. She started her first fitness business in 2013 in her private personal training studio. Her vision is to promote self-love and happiness. That same year, she married her childhood sweetheart, Justin Joson. They were blessed with a baby boy. Together, they are promoting “I love my life” through their new and growing business in Mahogany Village, Calgary, called “Oxygen Yoga and Fitness.” Rachel is a woman of strength and purpose. I asked her questions to know more about her and her amazing life journey.
Kathy: What are your short and long-term goals?
Rachel: My short-term goal is to get involved in more charity work and to surround myself more with other entrepreneurs to continue feeling inspired with ideas to get our business running smoothly and steadily. Steady to the point that we are able to create more financial savings for the business as well as personally.
I would like to build another location in the next year and have more flexibility to travel with my husband and kids to create amazing memories of experiencing culture together. I’m excited to see everything and to continue checking off my bucket list!
Long term goals I just want to create a wonderful life story with my husband that will impact our kids in a positive way as they create theirs. A story that will inspire them to live their dreams and not be afraid to take risks. Most importantly I wanted to show them that even when your world falls apart, you can still rebuild yourself and find new happiness. Life goes on and you have to live it with love! That is what our souls journey is all about.
Kathy: How did you end up franchising an Oxygen fitness business? Why Oxygen fitness?
Rachel: It’s really funny because I remember just having a simple thought years ago that it would be cool to find a new, up and coming franchise that I could be a part of. I was really interested to know what franchising was all about. I just needed to find the one that shared the same goals and passions of the things I loved.
Interestingly enough, it was in the spring of 2014. I decided to take a trip to do a photo-shoot with a photographer that I had on my bucket list for years in the USA, and on that trip I planned an extra stop to Miami before I came home. I took that 2-day stop for my own true inner reflection of what I wanted to do. I wanted to take the time to ground and recenter myself. I knew that I needed to have a moment of solitude to really refocus my heart and intentions on what I wanted to accomplish for myself over the next couple of years.
I remember sitting on the beach thinking about all of the things I was grateful for, then I started writing down the things I needed to change in my daily life, and any ideas of what I thought I wanted in my next business venture.
What I wrote down for “business and career” was that I wanted a business that wasn’t just focusing on bettering your body image, but a place that had focus on mental peace and spiritual wellbeing. A place that created more happiness from within while showing a more balanced approach to healthy living.
Then in 2016 a good friend of mine had finished taking a yoga teacher training course in Vancouver and became a yoga instructor. During this we were introduced to a new trendy and modern business that was very popular in Vancouver, B.C., the studio that he taught classes in. Almost at the same time, my Mom had also told me about the same studio so it instantly spiked my curiosity to find out what Oxygen Yoga & Fitness was all about. So while visiting family in Vancouver later that year, I went to visit one of the locations to see what is was all about. Almost immediately I fell in love, I really liked the vibe and the concept of the business. I realized as I learned more about it that it really fit into the description of what I had written in my dream journal back in Miami.
What I loved about this business was the variety of classes that it had to offer in one place. It was yoga, it was fitness, and it was a whole fusion of the two inside a FAR infrared heated room! The combination amazed me with all the benefits. I think that the body needs to be consistently stimulated by different types of movements, strength training and intensities in order to avoid plateau and achieve the best results. There is a class for every aspect of fitness and wellbeing, from restorative yoga to butt-kicking fitness classes. At the end of every practice, I really loved the idea of using positive affirmations and the motto “I Love my Life”. While at first it may seem kind of cheesy, after hearing it over and over again you really start believing in yourself by being reminded of the good things that you have at that moment, even when life seems that it is not at its best.
My vision for the studio was just to create a fresh, beautiful modern space for everyone to love coming into every day, as much as my family and I would. A place full of good energy, amazing instructors that had a passion to teach. A place where people could free themselves of every day stress and feel great when they leave.
Kathy: In regards to your business, what techniques would you employ to increase your clientele?
Rachel: My only technique is doing everything from the heart. I believe in putting good and honest intentions into everything you do, especially in creating a happy and welcoming place for everyone to enjoy.
To add, I feel that being personable, and creating good relationships with people in and outside of our studio, is very important. I want everyone to feel like friends and family – more than just a member going in and out. Getting to know everyone is the absolute favorite part of my job! I’m always amazed at all the inspiring stories I hear when learning about all the wonderful the people in the studio. Building relationships on a more personal level allow me to genuinely help support their fitness goals while keeping them on the path of success to good health. It really fills my heart to learn about the strength people have with their own types of battles. It is in these relationships that contribute to a major part of what builds the love, motivation and positive energy in our studio.
Kathy: How important is nutrition to you? Will you strongly suggest your clients follow a better diet to improve their fitness goals?
Rachel: Nutrition is incredibly important to me, especially when it comes to my family. I want to lead by example especially for my kids as they are soon hitting teenage years. I want them to understand what a healthy diet actually means and what being healthy is really all about. Often I find that a big misconception about “dieting” is misunderstood to cut down on what you eat, sometimes people think to simply “not” eat or they even think to restrict certain types of foods. While this may cause some temporary weight loss, is not very healthy and it is detrimental to your health. When I was competing in fitness competitions to get very lean, people would think that I literally ate nothing – but the truth is you have to eat lots of food to first build muscle tone and secondly to kick-start your metabolism. It is a combination of both to achieve any body goals.
Every time I cook, I make sure to make healthy balanced meals, when I bake I like to experiment using more natural ingredients rather than processed foods and chemicals. I also teach my family to enjoy the not so good foods and snacks in moderation or I just recreate a healthier version for us to enjoy.
In the end, the importance of nutrition attributes to 90% of what makes fitness goals a success! When it comes into conversation about diets and nutrition in our studio I like to give advice because I want to make sure that our clients have the best experience when they choose to commit to their health. Educating in nutrition goes a long way in removing feelings of frustration and feeling like they are getting nowhere with the efforts they are making. I love being able to share my knowledge because I am a lover of ALL food and I am passionate about living healthy, very happily. Being healthy does not have to be boring!
Kathy: How do you balance being a wife a mom and a successful business owner?
Rachel: My husband is a huge part of what helps me stay balanced. That is one of the very many reasons why I married him! He truly balances me. I wish I could say that juggling being a wife, a mom and business owner was a piece of cake, but it definitely has its many challenges! When we first opened our studio doors my husband, kids and I were forced to make a lot of tough and quick adjustments. Opening Oxygen was a big step up from my last business and it took a lot more time away from my kids, my husband, our home and even time for myself.
At that time we were really blessed to have my Grandmother and Father-in-law step in to stay in our home periodically to help us with our kids and cook food for us for the first few months. Which I am extremely grateful for. Work was definitely tipping the scale and I wouldn’t have eaten very much if it weren’t for them. But over time I started to feel like I was starting to fail the two most important roles of my life. Being a Wife and a Mother. I wasn’t home to do the all the things I used to do for them because life was just so busy. That was one of the worst feelings. I knew at that point that I needed to make some changes in order for me to fulfill those roles. When something is wrong you just have to acknowledge it, and take the time and effort to fix it! I was on a mission to find that balance!
So what did we change? My husband and I enforced daily “teamwork” in our home with our kids and it has worked wonderfully. We are so lucky because our kids are so willing to help keep our home clean when we are busy. They take responsibility to get their homework done, and take time to organize things, do laundry, help with their younger brother, and they even surprise us with fresh baking, which is a bonus! Sometimes I feel like I’m spoiled, and maybe I am. But I definitely love it! Our kids are amazing!
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