Today we’d like to introduce you to Bridget Silva.
Bridget, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It isn’t really that unique to have a story. Everyone has one. What makes this one worth telling is that it is one of perseverance and serendipity, it reads like a roller coaster ride, and the fun is just beginning.
My name is Bridget Dawn Silva. Before you judge me for laying out my whole name like that, let me explain what’s in that name.
Bridget = Strength
Dawn = First Appearance of Daylight
Put it together and you get “strength which brings light”.
My name tells the story of a purpose that I almost never pursued. I could spend days talking about this one point alone, but to spare you, let me net it out.
My mother never wanted to name me Bridget Dawn. She wanted to name me Brandy Nicole. The meaning of Brandy Nicole is “burned wine” and “victory of the people”. I was obviously meant for something different. My dad one the argument. I don’t really know my dad very well. I haven’t seen him since I was 15. He doesn’t even realize his name for me set me on my path, but I am grateful that he did.
Life was pretty hard as a kid. I’m pretty grateful to be alive. Just like most people, people close to me have faced serious illnesses in life. For example, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37 and my husband is a Type 1 insulin dependent diabetic. There have been days that I’ve gone without necessities in life. As a child, there is nothing more sobering than feeling like a burden because there aren’t enough resources. Body image ruled my life for a long time. I am a 37-year-old mother of 3 beautiful girls. Nothing beats being a mom of girls but nothing is more challenging.
My first career is in corporate America. Like most, my family has always depended on the income and benefits. After chasing corporate success for many years, I found myself and my destined path in the summer of 2014. It was just in the nick of time
As a 33-year-old professional workaholic, I found myself in a successful but miserable mess. I was very important in my executive role at work and very unimportant at home. My husband made sacrifices to make my career work and I provided a great salary and benefits to my family. I gained a few pounds. I lost a bit of fitness. Then I gained a few more pounds and lost a bit more fitness. Then I started stress eating because it was convenient. I was tired and out of balance. I remember asking myself, “why?” Why did I work so hard to be so miserable? What is it that we are actually seeking in life? Is it a great salary with great benefits, a great title, and a great image?
As a child, I always felt like I wasn’t valuable unless I was achieving something worthy of reward. At this point in my life, my childhood philosophies fought with me but on the inside, I had a fire in my belly to live a different life; to show the world and my girls that creating your own destiny is not only possible, but it is ingrained in the human spirit. In the spring of 2014, I quit my corporate/executive job. I moved my family back to the Northwest Houston area, and we started over.
Here’s what happened next:
1. I found a way to spend quality time with my girls while investing in myself. We did it by becoming members of the YMCA and attending every family class offered.
2. As my self-efficacy improved, so did my physical and mental endurance, passion for programs, and confidence to step into new classes.
3. I accidentally found myself in an intense cardio strength class called Les Mills BODYCOMBAT (TM). I almost died shortly after the warm-up, but I persevered through the class and felt genuinely successful.
4. I made friends outside of work for the first time in my life. I believed that my value was more than my income for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.
5. Less than 1 year later, I became certified in the class that I almost died….Les Mills BODYCOMBAT (TM).
6. I went on to become certified in many other things…Les Mills BODYJAM (TM), PiYo, ACE and AFAA Group Fitness, Advanced certifications (upscale training) in BODYCOMBAT (TM) and BODYJAM (TM), and became a certified personal trainer.
7. I found freedom in fitness and committed to myself that I would live my life to pay that freedom forward in others. My goal would now be to help free people from whatever mental bondage they face in life and my vehicle for doing it would be fitness.
For three years I participated in and taught fitness classes in the Houston YMCA community until August 25, 2017, when something pretty devastating happened to our community. Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area not once, but twice and created all kinds of chaos. Many people not only lost their homes, but they lost their lives as they knew it…their schedules…they basically had to start over. As devastating as it was, that fire in my belly was reinvigorated and it became clear to me that the past three years had been spent in preparation for this. This is what all my training and certifications prepared me for.
Believe You Can Fitness has been born out of the ashes of this horrible natural disaster and has bridged the fitness gap in the community in ways that traditional facilities have not been able to accommodate. We’ve been flexible and worked to license programs in ways that help us bring continuity and hope to the community. We’ve connected friends and communities through fitness training and “EnterTRAINment” when there were simply no other options. Most importantly…we’ve paved a path and started a movement with a bigger purpose…one that offers services that will empower small businesses to offer employees better healthcare coverage options and more preventative care with less expense.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing worth doing ever has a smooth road. I basically started with nothing but a desire and a vision.
Imagine a community that is so focused on recovering from flood waters that all they have time to do is focus on the loss and recovery effort. When you take a step back from that, though, you see the human condition. Stress and anxiety run rampant in our world. The community that I grew to love in fitness had it figured out. When stress encroached, they hit the gym.
Hurricane Harvey turned that model upside down and entire communities of fitness freaks no longer had access to these stress-relieving activities. So the first thing I had to do was create visibility around the problem.
Step 1. Find a venue. “Hey, listen. I know you want to give diapers, sweatpants, and send people to demolish houses, but what do these people do to decompress? What if your purpose was meant for something bigger?” We found the Tomball Community Center and the park next to it, otherwise known as the Depot. Thank goodness for them.
Step 2. Gain support from the big licensed/packaged programs. “Yeah, I know it’s nice and dry in your location, but we are literally in shambles down here. Throw us a bone and create loyal fans forever by permitting us to operate outside the confines of stringent licenses.” While they could have said “no”, they said “yes”.
Step 3. Do some PR with the hubby…”The only way I’m going to continue looking so cute in these Lululemon pants is if I get to train people, babe.” ;-). I had to spend quite a bit of my own money. Thank goodness I married the most understandable man in the world.
Step 4. Communicate the plan! Well, first we had to find everyone! How’d we do it? Social media marketing. Then it needed to be realistic. Free access to classes, stuff for kids to do…who could say “no” to that?
Step 5. Make the plan achievable for the community by scheduling classes during nostalgic times and with nostalgic fitness presenters. I wish I could make something dramatic out of this and tell you it was hard. Quite frankly, the heart of our best presenters has always been there. Nothing could have kept them from participating in this effort.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about GigiFitFan – Believe You Can Fitness – what should we know?
Our company offers a twofold value:
1. Group Fitness Experiences. We call this “EnterTRAINment”. We aren’t interested in having you reach goals while making you loathe your workout. We want to entertain you through fitness. We want to bring a smile to your face, joy to your spirit, and all the while we want to help you create change faster. We do this through community based and entertainment based training. We go harder, stronger, faster, and longer because our platforms are fun, full of wonder, and flat-out entertaining.
2. Tangible Benefits to Small Business through Health and Wellness programs. It’s no secret that the healthcare industry has changed. It costs businesses and individuals a fortune to ascertain even the most mediocre healthcare plans. Our company is committed to helping small businesses achieve tangible savings and their employees higher morale, less time off, and more preventative health by participating in our small business health and wellness programs (fitness, nutrition, and preventative concepts).
Why are we different? We are a perfect blend of fitness advocates, performers, and healthcare activists. We have real-life experience with what the average American experiences in their hectic lifestyles. We will meet our consumers where they are and entertain them while we help them create life-changing fitness results. We will meet our small business clients where they are and provide the same results for their employees while saving them tangible dollars. I can’t think of another company that creates so much value for both the consumer and their employers.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Culture. Within the culture of our business resides a community, heart, and a desire to do something that matters. When you see the words “Texas Strong” and think of the hurricane recovery as covered by major news stations, you see the tip of the iceberg at Believe You Can Fitness. Every instructor brings a unique value. Every participant has an important place in our community.
Our culture is one that sees every human being that participates in our program. Not superficially…we SEE our community. It is IMPORTANT that our participants participate and we notice when they are there, but more importantly, when they are not. There is NOTHING that they lack and NOTHING more than we need them to be. We just need them to be who they are, where they are. As a community, we meet our fellow fit friends where they are and join them for their journey. We sweat together, celebrate birthdays together, laugh together, cry together, and do life together. We believe we can reach our goals together.
Pricing:
- Some of our classes are free!
- Most of our classes are $5 on a drop in basis.
- Unlimited memberships are available.
Contact Info:
- Address: 221 Market St
Tomball, TX 773753. (Coming Soon) - 32360 FM 249 Pinehurst, TX 77362 (Believe You Can Fitness)
- Website: www.believeyoucanfitness.com
- Phone: 713-817-6542
- Email: bridget.silva@gmail.com
- Instagram: @gigifitfan
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gigifitfan/
Image Credit:
HSilvaStudios
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
