Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Cotten
Hi Alexandra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story starts over a decade ago when I began researching and learning everything I could about movement and the body. I have been an athlete for much of my life, and I have fallen in love with, and enjoyed many sports and activities over the course of my existence. I remember times in my life when movement and exercise did not even feel like a workout. I remember riding my bike to experience the rush of wind past my face and flowing through my hair. This was one of the most exhilarating feelings! I remember swimming because I loved playing games, feeling buoyant, and the feel of the water. I remember running around playing because I was having fun. All these examples include a joyful form of movement. This is something that I believe we unfortunately lose as adults. Movement is meant to make our heart, body, and brain happy. Movement can be exciting, joyful, and adventurous. Movement can be creative and inspiring. Movement can be anything you desire it to be for yourself.
After being badly injured and having to stop my potential career in gymnastics, I found myself in a place where I no longer wanted to move my body for the fun of it. I was lost and I was falling into the fitness industry cycle where I took up workouts or movement for my physique alone. With time, I grew to realize that movement does not need to be painful. Movement does not need to be done to change my physique. Movement does not need to be forced and unpleasant. Through my research and learning about the body and how we move, I realized that I wanted movement to be fun. I sought to wake up each day and look forward to my workout or activity that day. I aspired to have fun like I did in the sports and activities I loved as a young person.
After many years of being a swim coach, I chose to become a Certified Personal Trainer because I wanted to expand my knowledge and ability to help people. I realized that all gyms have similar “fitness industry inspired goals” in mind for their clients, just like I had for myself at one point in my life. Those goals no longer align with my beliefs around movement. It was painful being in a gym where I was seeing people workout and loathe each minute of it. I wanted to help and inspire people to find joy in movement, and I aimed to give other people the knowledge in the form of tools that were given to me so they too can move freely and happily.
This is the reason why I started AMC Rip’d Fit LLC. We provide knowledge in the form of tools that I actively searched for over the course of many years to get myself to the place I am today. We are all different, and each of the tools that we provide about movement are made to adapt to you as a person. We help you acquire your movement toolbox and build your knowledge about movement so you can have all the tools you need for the entirety of your life.
I changed the way I thought about movement and exercise, which allowed me to open up an entire world of positive possibilities. I hope to be a guiding force to inspire other people to meet themselves where they are and open their eyes to the beauty within movement itself. Movement is life!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When people ask me what it’s like creating and running a company, I tell them to imagine themselves in a room that is all one color except for one of the four walls. That wall is actually composed of many walls, which symbolize the many obstacles one faces when starting and running a company. You know that if you slowly chip away at the walls, you will eventually see your dream for that company become a reality.
These walls, for me, encompass more than just the company obstacles, they encompass the hardships I experience due to my age, knowledge, and experience in this field. There is a huge trust component when it comes to connecting with the community through a company that you started.
I explain starting a company from scratch as staring at those walls in front of me that I am slowly breaking down, day by day, week by week, month by month. Each time I make it through one of the walls, another wall takes its place. Each wall represents a challenge for me. One wall represents me inventing structure and materials for the company. Another wall signifies me finding the best way to explain to the world what I originally created in my mind. My most challenging walls are the ones that represent people who tell me to quit. People who tell me that I am too young or that I do not have enough knowledge and experience to make this happen. Those walls are the toughest to break through because it’s challenging not to believe what they say to be true. Nonetheless, I chip away at each of these walls, day in and day out, and one day I finally break down what I think must be my very last wall. It does turn out to be my very last wall, or at least, it looks to be that way at first. I finally see the light on the other side. I see what I have been working so diligently to create. This view that is right in front of me is so enticing that I go to walk into the space where the walls used to exist and just as a smile begins to slide across my face I slam right into another wall. This new wall is transparent, and I didn’t see it coming! It’s a reminder of those sliding glass doors that I accidentally ran into as a kid because I thought that they were open.
The lesson that I have discovered when creating and running a company is that eventually I will step on the other side of the walls. Eventually, I will figure out how to tear down the clear and see-through wall that tricked me into thinking I had already made it. Eventually, I will learn and grow enough to have the knowledge that gets me to the other side. I learned that I will make it happen if I persist for long enough. This is a lesson in business just as it is a lesson in life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
AMC Rip’d Fit LLC is a movement and personal training company. We specialize in movement and movement knowledge. We imagine movement knowledge to be a toolbox that each of us possesses and we are the ones providing more and more tools so you can have all the movement knowledge you need for life. We want our clients to have the tools they need to succeed on their own.
We provide once a month community group classes that are free for anyone wanting to move their body and learn more about what we do. We want to be able to provide our services and resources to people who cannot afford to come to us as a client. We believe that movement is for everyone, which is why we take from what we teach, and we give it to our community so everyone can have an opportunity to expand their movement toolbox.
As for our company services, we provide one-on-one sessions, build your own programs, parent movement classes, movement schedules, group classes, company group classes, non-profit classes, and more to come. All our services are led by our Certified Personal Trainers. A big part of our goal as a company is to provide creative freedom to Certified Personal Trainers so they can learn and grow in their own exceptional ways. This allows Certified Personal Trainers to have creative freedom, knowledge resources, and support in this very rewarding profession. As AMC Rip’d Fit LLC grows, we hope to create more resources for people looking to become Certified Personal Trainers. This way, people from all walks of life can take part in the rewarding experiences that come from this field of enriching knowledge and expertise.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
There are so many! My recent top favorite books have been Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Dr. Becky Kennedy, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith, Street Smart Safety for Women: Your Guide to Defensive Living by Joy Farrow and Laura Frombach, and Rational Discourse for Citizenship and Progress: Prepare to Talk Politics by Carl N. Colavito. Podcast wise, I love all things neuroscience and self-help. My current favorite podcasts are We Can Do Hard Things, Think Fast Talk Smart, How To Be A Better Human, Huberman Lab, Hidden Brain, and Good Inside. One of my most used apps happens to be WeatherBug because it gives me data and information on whether it is safe to do outdoor activities. I love checking it prior to going out for a run, or to help me schedule outdoor group classes at an appropriate time of day. The heat and air quality can be brutal in Florida, so having extra input on whether it is safe to move outside is so helpful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amc-ripd-fit-llc.square.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amc_ripd_fit_llc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085070161010
- Other: [email protected]
