Start a Group and Never Be Alone. Here’s How.

I was talking to a friend of mine at the gym in between walking from machine to machine, and we were talking about how nobody really gets to talk and get to know each other at the gym. There are a few women in the early a.m. hours that I come, and we all inspire each other. Even if we haven’t spoken I know we have to, because we are all there looking at each other. So I heard that there was a brunch that somebody was going to plan but they wanted to wait until the warmer weather. I didn’t know what this meant because it was already pretty warm, and I just thought to myself the only way this is going to happen is if you take the reins.

A little background on myself, back in the 90s before I became a personal trainer I was just really interested in fitness and wanted to get together with others who wanted the same. Like a group to motivate each other. I named it Brooklyn fitness buddies and began to put flyers along the walkway around the park I used to frequent. There I was with my staple gun and a tear sheet and Brooklyn fitness buddies on my mind. It was a walking club that I wanted to form. At first there were a couple of people who came to walk with me around the park. Then the next week it would double.

Before I knew it we had a group of interested people who wanted to get together with the same interest in mind, walking. It wasn’t really more than just walking. And I wasn’t really certified yet to be an authority on giving people exercise advice or even leading them in a workout.

Shortly there after I got a training certification from American Council and exercise (ACE).  Over the next few years I would get a personal training certification a business certificate and liability insurance. I became serious as a personal trainer and had a group exercise program in the park called women’s outdoor workout (WOW). We pitched in every so often to help clean up the park because I wasn’t paying overhead and the parks department was willing to let us clean up to gain entry for our program. And I had my liability insurance.

So that’s enough about the background that you should know about. I was interested in fitness at one point in my life, so I reached out blindly to people who would be hopefully interested in the same and formed a club. It snowballed and then it changed my life forever. I was hooked on fitness and knew I was not alone.

Whether or not you have fitness has an interest, I’m sure you have a hobby or something that you would like to get better at. Maybe you would just like to get better in dealing with a chronic illness, like MS. Like a support group.  I am a coleader of an MS Society support group located at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack New Jersey. Actually, I should say that this was where we originally started. Since the pandemic, and because Bergen county was a high risk zone, we have been virtual ever since with monthly meetings on zoom with myself and to other leaders.

Being a support group leader for people with chronic illnesses it’s not the same as hosting a group for people with similar interests. I had to go through hours of training to learn how to be at the front of a group who might have members who are in depression, want medical advice, a whole host of other things. One of the things in my training was to always refer people to an MS navigator with the Ms Society, who is there to help with any difficult questions. Or for guidance in a specific area that they may have experience with. It’s more specialized to the illness itself rather than just generic advice.

I wanted to create a group within my Gym, Planet fitness, and I knew it had to have a catchy name. I thought right away of the ladies who lift, as it was pretty catchy and you got exactly what I meant when I said it.

I remembered my group fitness program in the park, and I had T-shirts made with our logo. We were all part of something special, and it kept attention in our area That’s it, will all wear pink tops. thought of what platform I would use to send my invitations.

I had recently got an invitation from someone who used Punchbowl, and it seemed pretty easy to use. It was an app.

I created my first invitations and sent it out from the app, as I had entered the mobile numbers of the ladies in my phone contacts, and the app and ported them. It was an easy way to do it all at once.

But then it was a little quirky in that it wouldn’t send a couple of invitations to peoples mobile numbers for no reason at all, and I decided to switch.

I had only used Evite before, and even though you have to pay a premium membership to get all the use without ads, it didn’t seem like it warranted that because I wasn’t going to use it that often. Just for a monthly meet up. My list has grown, and I sent out a mass invitation.

What I liked about Evite was that it was a conversation visible to everybody, not just a back-and-forth between me and one person. People could see who was coming and not coming, and who was part of the group. It’s a good start. 10 people tomorrow, I better go and check today to see how the tables at Panera bread are going to be arranged.  It’s not a huge place.

So that’s just it. I have a background of getting people together with similar interests, I like to connect with people to motivate myself and feel like I’m not alone. I started with a couple, and now it’s grown five times as much. Who knows what the future will hold, I only know that in the past but I have created has had a snowball effect. If you put your mind to something and think you can, you will. There are people out there who are just like you. I think connecting with others and sharing knowledge is way better than being alone in your world of one. It’s a lonely place to be when you just feel depressed and lost in your own chronic illness. The way that I keep positive is keeping myself out there and believing that I can do anything, and being along side other people who are doing what I do, makes me just that.