Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

CELEBRATE SUCCESS!

2018; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 22; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1249/fit.0000000000000430

1536-593X

Dixie Stanforth, Alex Weidenheft,

Digital Games and Media

Girls Gone Strong:https://academy.girlsgonestrong.com/ Their Story: What started off as a simple invitation to a workout grew to what we know today as Girls Gone Strong (GGS) — a leading resource for trainers and coaches, created for women by women. Molly Galbraith and six other women co-founded GGS in 2011 when Molly invited a group of over a dozen female fitness enthusiasts to a powerlifting meet in Cincinnati to support one of the women lifting. All seven of the women who attended had been positively impacted by strength training and represented a mix of expertise ranging from kettlebells to traditional weight training. Recognized as industry leaders and believers in the benefits of strength training, they wanted to help others by building an accessible digital community open to all women. Molly's interest in fitness began in 2004, and over the past 14 years she has trained clients online, co-owned a brick-and-mortar gym, competed in figure competitions and powerlifting meets, and even started a fitness software business. She committed early to the vision of GGS and the importance of embedding strategic personal relationships within the DNA of the organization. One of the earliest challenges facing the organization was having seven busy women across four time zones trying to make tough decisions, with no one officially “in charge.” Yet she believed at her core that her vision for GGS was going to work. Within the first year, GGS grew in popularity on Facebook, garnering up to 1,000 likes the first day. Despite rapid social media and community growth, in some ways they were “running in place” as it took a year to finish their website, and by the end of 2012, the leadership was down to three founding members for a variety of personal and financial reasons. 2013 proved incredibly difficult as well as Molly juggled GGS, her personal website, her training studio, her online clients, and a seminar business. By early 2014, Molly decided to basically “burn the ships” by selling her ownership in the gym and seminar business and dedicating all of her professional time to developing the online platform of GGS. Now, GGS approaches more than 260,000 likes on Facebook and a global community of over 600,000. As the organization has grown, it has expanded its influence beyond the realm of strength training, yet stayed close to issues that matter to women. Body confidence, shame, and mental health are some topics that GGS addresses in an effort to “help women reach their health and fitness goals while falling in love with themselves.” GGS is dedicated to providing information to help women feel safe and strong in their bodies “no matter what” and has worked to expand its reach beyond any particular female demographic.A WOMAN'S BUSINESS GGS's business model was established to provide value to the community without asking for anything in return to ensure that every woman had access to reliable, evidence-based information. Unlike most fitness-based information companies, GGS does not accept any ad revenue from outside companies seeking to have access to the community the organization created, which for Molly was not a difficult decision. The message to their members is clear: the information they provide cannot be bought or sold by outside sources, and the trust of the GGS community is not for sale. It was important to the GGS team that its community was supplied with free information untarnished by personal or corporate bias to ensure they established a trusting and safe community for women before they started selling any products. They wanted to earn trust through providing reliable and accessible content and developing additional materials to meet identified needs within their online community. GGS spent the first 3 years sharing free, high-quality information and only began selling products once the community started asking for merchandise. Once GGS decided to create its first program, Molly knew it had to be something remarkable. Thanks to its small size and nimble nature, GGS was able to pivot to get things done quickly and self-published The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training in 2014. While other businesses only offered digital copies of their programs, GGS created a hard-copy version of their program in addition to a digital version. The digital version was offered at a lower price to make it more accessible, and the hard-copy version was created to appeal to those who like to hold their program in their hands. This feature helped their strength training manual stand out in a market flooded with downloadable programs, and it has since sold in more than 70 countries. GGS offers other programs that stay true to its mission of providing evidence-based information able to stand the test of time. Fifteen world-class experts contributed to their Moms Gone Strong program and worked together to design the content. Every chapter was reviewed and challenged by no fewer than six other women on the team. These collaborative efforts were important to Molly and the team members of GGS because they wanted to present peer-reviewed and relevant information to their followers. They also created the Coaching and Training Women Academy, an online academy housing multiple women-specific certifications specifically designed to help trainers better understand, connect with, serve, and empower their female clients. The academy currently offers two certifications: GGS Level 1 Coaching Certification and their Pre- and Postnatal Coaching Certification.COMMUNITY FIRST Social connection and a strong sense of community is another hallmark of GGS. To tailor its social media to the needs of its members, GGS created three unique Facebook groups representing different areas where women or fitness professionals can connect with each other. The Strong Mom Sisterhood was created for moms and moms-to-be. Strong Women Lift Each Other Up was created for women who have a strong interest in fitness and want to connect and share resources with other like-minded women. Coaching and Training Women is for current and aspiring health and fitness professionals who want to connect and learn from other health professionals when it comes to working with female clients. These are closed Facebook groups, meaning you must submit a request to join and be approved by a moderator. This keeps the groups in high quality and free of the spam or “noise” often found in other Facebook groups. The groups have between 10,000 and 20,000 members each and provide a safe, available space for folks to openly engage with each other and connect with those who share similar goals. For example, posts in the Strong Women Lift Each Other Up group include new personal records on deadlift, worries about working with a personal trainer, and questions about nutrition. In one particular post, a picture and caption of a woman describes her feelings of pride on her new personal squat record, how she feels about herself in the posted picture, and how lifting has been a “happy place” for her during a trying time in her life. In the comments, other group members applaud her milestone, share her sentiments, provide words of encouragement, and ask for her advice. AUTONOMY FOR ALL Their Message: At first, GGS communicated the message that “all women should strength train.” As Molly realized the importance of women having autonomy over their bodies, the message shifted to say that women should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies — but she hopes strength training is part of their lives because it’s so beneficial for women! GGS promotes inclusivity for women of all ages and rejects the narrow, socialized conceptions of beauty that have historically influenced women. They emphasize that women have more to offer than their looks or youth and that a person's value is not based on what size or shape they are. Women of every age, race, ability, education, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status have a place in the GGS community. More recently, GGS has been able to broaden its message to intersect with other causes like the “Me Too” movement and has continued to change the conversation about women's issues to empower coaches, clients, and patients with information to help them feel comfortable in their own bodies. GGS has evolved to represent the bigger picture of health and fitness for women and helps women feel empowered in their own skin rather than relying on companies, who might prey on their insecurities, to tell them which image or body type is ideal. This positive message is the foundation of GGS. The work and information they provide to their community is not offered with the idea that women should change their bodies to fit society; it is presented with the understanding that every woman has the option to choose how she wants to live and train and provides empowering tools to do just that. Share Your Success Stories! We hope that you, too, will be inspired and work to bring about meaningful change in the realm of health and fitness wherever you are. We would love to hear how you are changing your world! Please send us your stories for publication consideration. If your story is selected for publication in ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal®, we will contact you for additional information. To submit, simply email the following to [email protected]: A Word file with: Your Story Lessons Learned Advice Your contact information (name, affiliation, mailing address, phone number, and email address)