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The Story Behind Barre3’s Revolutionary Mindset
At our annual Owners’ Summit a few years ago, barre3 VP of Research & Development Lisa Schale-Drake told the story of “Carol,” an achiever who puts all her focus on external measures of success, and doesn’t pay attention to how she feels inside. From the outside, she looks like she has everything, but inside she’s feeling depleted and empty. It’s a reality so many of us can relate to—and one that we have the power to change with a simple shift in perspective.
For years, it’s been our mission at barre3 to redefine what success looks like in fitness and teach people to be empowered from within. Rather than focusing on external measures of success, we encourage you to look within, ask yourself how you feel, and adjust your workout according to your individual needs. Success for us isn’t defined by sculpted abs, fitting into skinny jeans, or dropping pounds. It’s feeling present and alive in your body and honoring what it needs. With each class and every workout, we’re working to shift our view of meaningful growth and achievement. To learn a little more about what this looks like and how external success is different from internal success, we’re introducing you to Carol right here.
To get to know Carol, we’ll start when she was a teenager. In high school, Carol was the image of success. She got great grades and was the top athlete in her sport. She seemed to excel at everything with effortlessness—it all seemed to come easy to her.
Because she worked so hard and got great grades, Carol got into her dream college. When she was in college, her professors loved her and she was at the top of her class, and all of that hard work landed her the job of her dreams.
Carol worked hard at her dream job, and she started getting promotion after promotion. She was at the top of her game, and throughout all of this, she somehow found time to meet the love of her life. They got married and decided to have a family. Carol now has a wonderful job, an amazing partner, and a boy and a girl.
With all of that success behind her, Carol decided to keep striving and run a marathon. She trained, ran and finished the race, got the medal, and earned that symbol of success. Everything she has done from high school all the way to crossing that finish line is success. But, this is only part of the story. Right now, Carol is thriving in those exterior measures of success. Let’s go back to high school and check in with how Carol is feeling inside her body.
Throughout high school, Carol had to work really hard. For Carol to work really hard, she always had this feeling of constantly being a little worried that she wasn’t working hard enough. She was always a little tired and a little stressed. When Carol left high school and went to college, that little bit of stress and anxiety started to turn into panic attacks. Carol felt so ashamed and so frustrated by the panic attacks because everyone made it look so easy. Why was she breaking down?
Instead of going out on Saturday nights with her friends to relax and connect, Carol had panic attacks. And she wasn’t telling anyone, because she felt ashamed of it. So when Carol left college, started her dream job and got promoted, it required her to start working 40 hours, then 50 hours, then 60 hours, and sometimes even 70 hours a week.
Carol is now depleted, and she doesn’t have the time to take care of herself. She’s no longer exercising and doing the sport she loves. She has to grab food on the go. And even though she’s married to the greatest partner who supports her, Carol has to get even more energy to take care of her relationship, to nurture it and to make sure they’re connecting.
When Carol starts to have her beautiful children, who she loves and adores, her body feels foreign to her. She no longer sees herself in her own skin. She’s uncomfortable and has pains and aches where she’s never had them before, even though she’s young. Carol is frustrated and doesn’t understand what’s going on. She’s at the top of her game, but inside, she feels like she’s hit rock bottom. Out of desperation and frustration to gain back some control, Carol decides to run a marathon. She’ll get outside, get in shape, and get back some “me” time. This has to work, right?
So Carol Googles, “How to run a marathon” and begins following this formula for success, because that’s what had worked for her in the past. But instead of making her feel successful, the training is making her even more tired, her knee hurts, and she’s not running as fast as she thinks she can. Though she runs the marathon, crosses the finish line, and gets her medal, the pursuit isn’t fulfilling her in the way she hoped it would.
Carol is an image of success, but what Carol is missing is that equal parallel image of success within. What we can learn from Carol’s story is that, when it comes to her success, there’s a clear difference between how it looks versus how it feels. For Carol, the external measures of success that she’s spent her entire life chasing have left her feeling depleted and disconnected from her body and herself.
At barre3, we’ve reframed our focus from what success looks like to how it feels, believing that when we build strength and empowerment from within, we perform better and move through life with a little more ease. In every workout, we encourage you to look within and listen to what your body is telling you. From there, you’re given modifications that help you make every class your own.
In our online experience, we’re focused on tracking how your workout made you feel. Do you want to feel stronger, less stressed, more balanced? We’ll support you throughout all of those journeys. Because that’s what barre3 is all about: To teach people to be balanced in body, and empowered from within.
Tap into your inherent strength and build a mind-body connection. Get started with barre3 by finding your local studio or try 15 days of at-home workouts, totally free.
At our annual Owners’ Summit a few years ago, barre3 VP of Research & Development Lisa Schale-Drake told the story of “Carol,” an achiever who puts all her focus on external measures of success, and doesn’t pay attention to how she feels inside. From the outside, she looks like she has everything, but inside she’s feeling depleted and empty. It’s a reality so many of us can relate to—and one that we have the power to change with a simple shift in perspective.
For years, it’s been our mission at barre3 to redefine what success looks like in fitness and teach people to be empowered from within. Rather than focusing on external measures of success, we encourage you to look within, ask yourself how you feel, and adjust your workout according to your individual needs. Success for us isn’t defined by sculpted abs, fitting into skinny jeans, or dropping pounds. It’s feeling present and alive in your body and honoring what it needs. With each class and every workout, we’re working to shift our view of meaningful growth and achievement. To learn a little more about what this looks like and how external success is different from internal success, we’re introducing you to Carol right here.
To get to know Carol, we’ll start when she was a teenager. In high school, Carol was the image of success. She got great grades and was the top athlete in her sport. She seemed to excel at everything with effortlessness—it all seemed to come easy to her.
Because she worked so hard and got great grades, Carol got into her dream college. When she was in college, her professors loved her and she was at the top of her class, and all of that hard work landed her the job of her dreams.
Carol worked hard at her dream job, and she started getting promotion after promotion. She was at the top of her game, and throughout all of this, she somehow found time to meet the love of her life. They got married and decided to have a family. Carol now has a wonderful job, an amazing partner, and a boy and a girl.
With all of that success behind her, Carol decided to keep striving and run a marathon. She trained, ran and finished the race, got the medal, and earned that symbol of success. Everything she has done from high school all the way to crossing that finish line is success. But, this is only part of the story. Right now, Carol is thriving in those exterior measures of success. Let’s go back to high school and check in with how Carol is feeling inside her body.
Throughout high school, Carol had to work really hard. For Carol to work really hard, she always had this feeling of constantly being a little worried that she wasn’t working hard enough. She was always a little tired and a little stressed. When Carol left high school and went to college, that little bit of stress and anxiety started to turn into panic attacks. Carol felt so ashamed and so frustrated by the panic attacks because everyone made it look so easy. Why was she breaking down?
Instead of going out on Saturday nights with her friends to relax and connect, Carol had panic attacks. And she wasn’t telling anyone, because she felt ashamed of it. So when Carol left college, started her dream job and got promoted, it required her to start working 40 hours, then 50 hours, then 60 hours, and sometimes even 70 hours a week.
Carol is now depleted, and she doesn’t have the time to take care of herself. She’s no longer exercising and doing the sport she loves. She has to grab food on the go. And even though she’s married to the greatest partner who supports her, Carol has to get even more energy to take care of her relationship, to nurture it and to make sure they’re connecting.
When Carol starts to have her beautiful children, who she loves and adores, her body feels foreign to her. She no longer sees herself in her own skin. She’s uncomfortable and has pains and aches where she’s never had them before, even though she’s young. Carol is frustrated and doesn’t understand what’s going on. She’s at the top of her game, but inside, she feels like she’s hit rock bottom. Out of desperation and frustration to gain back some control, Carol decides to run a marathon. She’ll get outside, get in shape, and get back some “me” time. This has to work, right?
So Carol Googles, “How to run a marathon” and begins following this formula for success, because that’s what had worked for her in the past. But instead of making her feel successful, the training is making her even more tired, her knee hurts, and she’s not running as fast as she thinks she can. Though she runs the marathon, crosses the finish line, and gets her medal, the pursuit isn’t fulfilling her in the way she hoped it would.
Carol is an image of success, but what Carol is missing is that equal parallel image of success within. What we can learn from Carol’s story is that, when it comes to her success, there’s a clear difference between how it looks versus how it feels. For Carol, the external measures of success that she’s spent her entire life chasing have left her feeling depleted and disconnected from her body and herself.
At barre3, we’ve reframed our focus from what success looks like to how it feels, believing that when we build strength and empowerment from within, we perform better and move through life with a little more ease. In every workout, we encourage you to look within and listen to what your body is telling you. From there, you’re given modifications that help you make every class your own.
In our online experience, we’re focused on tracking how your workout made you feel. Do you want to feel stronger, less stressed, more balanced? We’ll support you throughout all of those journeys. Because that’s what barre3 is all about: To teach people to be balanced in body, and empowered from within.
Tap into your inherent strength and build a mind-body connection. Get started with barre3 by finding your local studio or try 15 days of at-home workouts, totally free.
