Inspired to Move

< Full Episode

Transcript: Inspired to Move

Season 3, Episode 5  | April 20, 2021

Jamie Martin

Welcome to Life Time Talks, the healthy-living podcast that’s aimed at helping you achieve your health, fitness, and life goals. I’m Jamie Martin, editor-in-chief of Experience Life, Life Time’s whole-life health and fitness magazine.

David Freeman

And I’m David Freeman, the national digital performer brand leader for Life Time. We’re all in different places when it comes to our health and fitness, but no matter what we are working toward, there are some essential things we can do to keep moving in the direction of a healthy, purpose-driven life.

Jamie Martin

In each episode, we break down the various elements of healthy living, including fitness and nutrition, mindset and community, health issues, and more. We’ll also share real inspiring stories of transformation.

David Freeman

And we’ll also be talking to experts from Life Time and beyond, who’ll share their insights and knowledge, so you’ll have the tools and information you need to take charge of your next steps. Here we go.

[MUSIC]

David Freeman

What’s up, everybody? I’m David Freeman.

Jamie Martin

And I’m Jamie Martin.

David Freeman

And we’re back again, and we’re bringing something special, special, special with Miss Kaisa Keranen, AKA KaisaFit. In this episode we’re talking about behind the smile, and we go so much deeper behind that smile, talking about mental health, challenging certain things within the fitness industry, what joy and what health is. So, so many great topics. Jamie, what stood out to you?

Jamie Martin
You know, I really connected with Kaisa’s story around just finding joy through movement, and you know, so often, we connect movement with results and having to look or be a certain way, and her focus on being joyful and how we move our bodies and finding strength and power and you know, just self-realization in terms of what we can do and what our bodies are capable of, that to me really connected, and honestly, one of my favorite takes was her energy and her enthusiasm, her passion. It all came through, and I just wanted to talk longer, but our conversation flew by. It was so much fun. I can’t wait for listeners to tune in.

David Freeman

You could feel the energy coming through the screen. The things that stood out to me is, just being in the health and fitness industry, how you can actually challenge these social norms and what we have been conditioned to view what healthy looks like, and I can’t wait for everybody to kind of hear that piece of the podcast. I love her energy. I love any and everything that she’s doing within our health and fitness industry. You know I’m huge on mental health, so just diving into that and how movement plays such a vital role in her life and how she was in some dark times and how she came out of that through movement. So, so many, so many great moments throughout this podcast, and I’m super excited to share with all of our listeners.

Jamie Martin

Listeners who may not know Kaisa, she is a personal trainer, fitness educator, and social media influencer who is known for the fun and innovative ways she gets people to move. As the owner of KaisaFit, she has developed her own method of movement, which she shares daily with her clients and social media followers worldwide. She lives and teaches by the motto that health is a feeling, not a look, and believes wholeheartedly in her mission to get people around the world up and moving. So, I think that’s the key, movement in any way, shape, whatever brings you joy, how do you move your body?

David Freeman

And with that said, I want everybody to smile right now and get ready to just move with Kaisa. Welcome, everybody. We have a very, very special guest, Miss Kaisa herself, Just Move queen. We like to call her that here. So, Kaisa, how are you feeling?

Kaisa Keranen

I’m feeling good. Thank you for having me.

Jamie Martin

How has the year been treating you so far?

Kaisa Keranen

The year has been a roller coaster ride. It feels like a day, a year, 20 years all in one. Things are good for us business wise. We just got to launch a brand new workout platform called Just Move that is literally my entire career in the making. So, I can only be grateful about where life is at right now.

Jamie Martin

That’s great. Congratulations.

Kaisa Keranen

Thank you.

David Freeman

We’d like to dive right in. There’s so much content out there with you on it and something that’s very unique in a lot of this content. So, I ended up bringing attention to you to both Jamie and our team a while back, and it was a story behind your smile. So, like I said, literally just about every video that we see you in, you’re always smiling. I definitely love that. I know you did a short documentary, as well, that people can actually see. We’re going to put that in our show notes, but I would love for you to share your story as far as the story behind the smile.

Kaisa Keranen

I mean, how much time do you have? That’s, like, a really long story. I think the overarching thing for me is that a smile is a really simple gift to give people that you come across, and I’ve gone through lots of highs and lows in my life, and if you watch Behind the Smile, you’re seeing movement is really the thing that saved my life. In high school, I was in a really, really deep, dark space.

And I had, like, made a decision that I was going to focus on the one positive thing at that time, and that was movement, and that was, like, soccer for me, and so, that’s what I did, but as I started trying and like, as I had my workouts out there and people were seeing them, I felt like movement was such a positive space for me, that I wanted to kind of flip the script on most people seeing movement as this, like, intense, scary space and like, workouts are so crazy.

I just, like, wanted it to bring joy, and I wanted it to be inviting, and I really wanted people to be intrigued, and then, you know, that’s like a deeper story about all of the kind of fun and creative ways I like to move, but I really just want it to be a positive space, and I think, like, a smile is the best way to signify something positive. So it’s kind of like, there’s a way longer story Behind the Smile, but that’s the quick version.

Jamie Martin

Do you have a first memory of moving that you remember? I know in the documentary, you say you did gymnastics and things, but do you have an early memory of movement and it bringing you joy?

Kaisa Keranen

So, I have no memory. I literally have zero memory, but the craziest story is a two-part story because the crazy story of me moving…and I remember it because I’ve seen pictures. I won a crawling race at Nordstrom, and at the time, I couldn’t even crawl. I was, like, scooting myself along, and I beat everybody. I’m, like, driven to the finish line. Beat everybody, and I won a pair of Nikes. So I’m like, it’s a two-fold. It’s like how I started my movement career and then also how I started my obsession with shoes. So, like, that’s the earliest memory of movement for me, for sure.

Jamie Martin

Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious. I love that. It’s at a department store, and you got tennis shoes as your reward. Do you know how old you were?

Kaisa Keranen

I was so young, that I literally was just crawling. So, I mean, how old are you in crawling? Eight months, nine months? I don’t even know.

Jamie Martin

Maybe not even a year yet. Wow.

Kaisa Keranen

Oh, yeah, not even a year. Definitely not even a year.

Jamie Martin

Oh, that’s so funny. I love that. When do you remember — so, you talked about movement and bringing you joy, but what about, like, the connection of movement with health and fitness? What did that start for you?

Kaisa Keranen

You guy are asking these big questions. I’m like, these are, like, detailed conversations. So, for me, movement was always athletics, and it was a space for me to go to kind of tune out the outside world, to connect with myself, just to, like, find my happy place, and I went to college. I did track and field at the University of Washington, and I ended up being really, really injured outside of college, and so, I had this moment of just being like, I have got to learn about my body.

Like, I can’t keep having coaches tell me and pushing through things without having an understanding of what’s happening in my body, and I really need to train myself. Like, movement is the thing that gets me through life. It can’t be the thing that’s taken away from me at 22 years old, and so, I became a certified trainer, but I had no intention of ever training. Like, I was headed back to school going to a master’s program. I wanted to be a social worker.

So, at the time, a woman that I know, I was nannying for her, and she was like, can you just please coach a boot camp this summer for me and the ladies at work? And I was like, oh, Leslie, come on. No, I don’t want to. I’m like, I’m not a trainer. That’s not what I do, but I did. I did her a favor. I did it, and like, in the first 10 minutes of coaching all these women, I was like, oh my gosh, like, the spark and the joy that movement brought to me when I was doing it for myself is, like, that’s what happened when I was coaching other people.

And so, throughout the course of the summer, being able to see . . . it was probably, like, 10 to 12 women. Being able to see how movement empowered them and the things that they were able to do, and not just in their body, but how they felt about themselves, how they were appearing at boot camps not physically, not what they looked like, but how they felt about themselves, the things that were changing in their outside world.

And I was like, I knew I wanted to work with people, but I didn’t know that it would come full circle. That, like, the thing that saved me and the thing that completely changed my life would then be kind of like the gift that I could give to others, and so, it was basically…from that moment on, it was like a light — like, I remember that moment. I was like, yes, this is what I’m doing, and this is what I’m bringing to the entire world. Like, pedal to the metal.

David Freeman

I love it. I love it. When I think of movement . . . let’s stay with the M’s here. So, Just Move Queen movement, there’s another piece there that we could dive deeper into and draw a parallel to mindset, and mindset is huge for you. I know that’s a big pillar for you, as well. So, being a woman and so many women out there, it is very challenging, and I have a daughter. I have a wife, but I am not a woman, and when I say it is challenging, it’s so much put out there as far as what is identified as beauty and how you should look and how this should be this or that way. So, how would you define beauty?

Kaisa Keranen

Well, not what you look like. I’m like, again, where do we get started on this? One of my biggest sayings, besides Just Move, is I am more than my body. Like, you are not about to define who I am as a human being, who I am as a woman by the way that I look, and people get so confused by this. Like, when they hear me say I am more than my body, they think it’s like a negative relationship that I have with my body, and it’s not.

It’s, like, ridiculously positive, but what you’re not going to do is sum me up by what I look like. Like, I am who I am as a human being, the way in which I carry myself in the world, the qualities that I have that make me who I am, the things that I’m doing, but who I am is not what I look like, and so, for me, like, one of the biggest things for me when it came to training was, like, how I interacted with people, and my biggest goal as a trainer was never to be like…

Of course I want to be a smart trainer, but was never to be the best trainer in terms of I knew everything about the body. My biggest goal as a trainer was to have a positive effect on human beings. Like, every single day, I was like, every single person that I come in contact with is going to leave the gym feeling more positive and more empowered about who they are, and so, if you want to sum up beauty, I think beauty’s the way in which you affect others, you affect community.

Like, the lasting impression that you leave on people has nothing to do with what you look like. So, you can tell I get fired up about this, but I’m like, we’re in a world of fitness where we, as an industry, we tend to sum people up by what they look like, and I just constantly say, health, first of all, is a feeling, not a look, and like, what we look like is the least most important thing about us.

Jamie Martin

You recently talked about this in a post on self-love where you got into this, and I just want to say, one thing that resonated with me was that self-love is how you talked about it’s not about, like, well, looking in the mirror is like…but at the awe of your body’s capabilities, and I thought that was a really powerful statement that you made because it is about empowering us in our bodies, and all of these things that, in many cases, have gone right over the years, and then sometimes, they don’t, and we have health issues, but just that awe, I was really struck by that, and then, also, you also said sometimes that it’s like feeling like a fraud in your body in this industry. Could you talk about that a little bit more?

Kaisa Keranen

Yeah. Oh, gosh, that’s been a rough one this year. I think for me . . . first of all, I am more than my body is so important to me because it’s something that I constantly have to remind myself. I feel like it is more important to me, that statement, than to anybody else. The thing about feeling like a fraud in this industry right now is like, I am on social media 24/7. People are watching what I’m doing 24/7, and when the pandemic happened and I went through my own struggle, we were all struggling. I went through my own struggle.

What is most important to me about movement is community. Like, it is a place for me to not only connect with myself, but connect with others, and so, when that was taken away from me, I wasn’t motivated to go move by myself. That was something I really, really struggle with, and so, people are looking at me like, you’re the crazy lady that’s supposed to be smiling and positive and doing all the crazy things, and what are you doing right now, because we don’t see you doing anything? And so, it’s like, it’s been this whole struggle for me of the reality of we’re all on a roller coaster ride.

I’m not always the crazy lady that loves to jump around or can jump around and smile. This year has been really, really hard. I am not taking it away from anybody that’s had a harder time than me, but like, I personally struggled a lot this year, and movement was something that I just, like, pulled away from, which is never something that should happen because it’s not a pretty picture when I’m not moving, like, mentally, but for me, I think it’s really important for people to understand movement is so much more than moving to change the way that you look.

It’s a constant opportunity to connect with yourself, connect with others, and connect with yourself, and like, work through things, and so that’s where . . . I’m assuming you’re talking about the video that I posted on Instagram, but that’s where I just felt like it’s really important for me to be real. Like, social media’s so fake. This is an opportunity for me to be really real about what’s going on in my world.

David Freeman

That’s so dope. So, let’s dive deeper into that. I love what you just said on so many different levels, and to your point, so many people are still going through, or went through, a lot during the past year with the pandemic, but going back to that reflection of what you see in the mirror and what narrative was painted by so many other individuals as far as what you should be and how you were painted into that corner.

So, the dope part about looking into the mirror and understanding self and understanding who you are is always dope, and I feel like the pandemic allowed a lot of people to self-reflect because you are isolated. A lot of the distractions were removed, if you will. You weren’t able to do what you always would do or what was the norm. So, now, being able to stare at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, who am I?

And then if there’s a clear understanding and you now know who that person is, that mirror now becomes a window, and you can see the other people out there and create that impact and influence that you just were speaking on, and for you to say that happiness and beauty is creating that movement within somebody else, making them leave the club or the gym better than what they came in, that is a beautiful thing, and we sometimes need to hit rock bottom to find that self. So, I appreciate you actually sharing that.

Kaisa Keranen

I mean, absolutely. I think the thing is, is life is a roller coaster ride. Like, sometimes we’re on crazy highs, and sometimes we’re on crazy lows, and I think, for me, being somebody that’s on social media, which means that people are watching what I’m doing, I can’t just show the highs. I can’t just show the good times. I can’t act like the pandemic didn’t happen and it didn’t affect me, but the silver lining in all this is, like, coming back to movement has been the thing that pulls me back to who I am.

When the pandemic happened, I lost myself. Like, I can look back and say, you know, work was crazy, and so I buried my head in work, and I forgot about everything else, and I am very appreciative that I can do that because it allowed me to keep giving movement out to community, but it also . . . I forgot about myself, and so, the silver lining of all of that is, like, movement is of the utmost importance for all of us, especially me, but all of us. Like, human beings are made to move, and that’s why I’m so adamant about expanding people’s understanding of what it means to move.

The fitness industry, we got people in, and we tell them that movement is just a workout that happens in a box when you’re lifting weights, or it’s like, that’s not what movement is. Movement is an opportunity to explore who you are as a human being, to explore your body. Like, it’s such an incredibly positive space, and I think that’s why . . . like, for me, it’s just what I’m all about, and I just feel like I’m being called to speak about that louder and louder I guess.

Jamie Martin

One thing that you’ve said is that movement translates to power. So, I mean, it seems like…can you speak to that a little bit, because that’s…what does that means to you?

Kaisa Keranen

For me, the thing is, is, like, if I can make things super simple, the thing is, I always wanted to have a positive effect on the world. I always wanted to somehow create change, and I what I realized was we’re a really unhealthy world in a lot of ways, and one of the thing is, like, instead of looking at big, global things, what I could do was help create positive change in individuals. Healthier human beings are going to be making healthier choices.

So, for me, there’s so much power in empowering people to become happier, healthier versions of themselves, and I think, for me, the thing that happens in life is when you’re standing in your truth and you’re standing in the thing that lights you up, you automatically light up people around you, and so, that’s where, like, with movement, it was always the thing that lit my soul on fire. It was always the place that was my happiest. It was always the place that brought the best side out of me.

So, it seemed only natural that I would go into training, but I don’t know, it didn’t hit me until it hit me, but it’s like, that, for me, is my biggest goal, and I think for everybody, whether you’re a trainer, whatever you’re in, I hope that everybody is standing in a space and doing the thing that lights their soul on fire, because that’s the only way that you really create change. Like, you have to be a healthy human being to help the world be a healthier place, and that for me is what movement does.

David Freeman

Love it. Love it. Alright, so check this out. So, I read up on it. Did my homework on you, obviously. So, we were talking about what’s on your actual Instagram page, and I read an article saying a third of it is probably going to be sneakers. So you’re a sneaker-head, for sure. Obviously, one of your Nike pair of shoes, right, and all that. Fitness is another third of it, and then some political rhetoric, as well.

And this next piece I want to throw at you, I’m going to speak from my personal perspective, and then, obviously, I want you to throw your sauce in there, too. So, we’re in the industry. We kind of already talked about what the industry defines as beauty, so I don’t want to go down that route again, but when we look at the covers of the magazines or we see individuals on the videos, let’s talk about representation, how important that is.

And when I say I’ll speak from my perspective, I know where I’m at and what I do. A lot of it was hidden because I was an athlete. I know you’re an athlete, and I know you’re an athlete, too. So, when you’re an athlete, we probably are not getting as exposed to what everybody else who is not an athlete gets exposed to.

So, I want to share with any and everybody who is listening, is that, as an athlete growing up, I did not experience a lot of racial issues or anything like that, and maybe it was being said behind closed doors, but never in my face. It wasn’t until I left the athletic world that I started seeing more and more of it, because I was now in what we would call the real world. So, when we talk about representation, going back to the original question, how key and big is representation?

Kaisa Keranen

I mean, it’s everything. Representation is everything. The thing for me is, especially in the fitness industry, it’s like, I’m going to stay in my box right now. So, like, especially in the fitness industry, it is a white, male-led industry, and then second to that is white female, and I think, for me, if my goal is to get the world to move, if my goal is to help empower more people to come into movement, then I sure need to create, for lack of a better word, an army of trainers who represent a diverse crew of people to come along with me, and I am a white woman. I am not going to resonate with everybody. Nor should I.

Like, people should be able to see themselves reflected in the coaches that are teaching them, and I think that’s a huge issue for us in this industry and every industry, but especially, like, for us in this industry, how can we think that we’re going to get the world to move when we only have, generally speaking, white people leading these movements? It’s not going to happen. So I think, for me, representation, diversity is of the utmost importance in everything that I do, but especially when it comes to movement.

David Freeman

It’s crazy. Right now, I know that Kaisa could see and Jamie could see, when you look behind me, you see pictures of myself that you see around the house. Pictures of myself, my wife, and people are like, wow, you’re really full of yourself, and I said the reality is, I want my son and daughter to see what it looks like as far as this is us, and you can be this, too. It’s not about me being up on the picture or whatever it might be. It’s like, my wife making it to the Olympics, me going to the level of what I ended up doing within the magazines and being on covers and stuff. We want our kids to see that, because they, too, can do that, and that’s the reason why it’s really up. It’s not to give myself a pat on the back.

Jamie Martin

Amen. I mean, first of all, you deserve a pat on the back, but also amen. Yes. Being in the media industry, running a health and fitness magazine for a health and fitness company, one of my goals is always to make sure that we’re thinking about how are we representing more people more often? And we recently had, back in November 2020, Chrissy King on the cover of the magazine.

And we got this letter to the magazine and made me cry, honestly, because I was like, this is why we are working so hard to do more of this, which is different in our industry, and it was just a woman saying I saw myself for the first time, and that, to me, was super powerful and also a reminder that this has to happen more often by more places across all the industries, as you’re saying, not just in media, but everywhere. We need to do this better everywhere.

Kaisa Keranen

Yeah, and in everything. I mean, not only ethnicities, race, genders, you know, body types. It’s in everything, and it’s also not tokenizing. Like, I think that’s the thing that’s really important for me, is not just plopping in a black woman. We cannot just tokenize, you know, especially black bodies right now, which is happening, and bigger bodies right now, and so, for me, it’s like, really creating spaces for people to come up, and for me, it’s for coaches to come up and to be themselves and to have their own space and to be supported.

Jamie Martin

So, I want to go back to your documentary for a second, and you actually spoke to this earlier, about how movement saved you, and we’ll link to your documentary so everybody can watch. It’s less than 20 minutes, but it’s so powerful and what you share in that period of time, but when you talked about not wanting to go on living, we talk about mental health on here all the time, and so, let’s talk a little bit more about that movement aspect and why it mattered for you, and what other influences were there that helped you through that time?

Kaisa Keranen

Yeah. I mean, mental health is everything. It’s just, you know, in the health and wellness world, you know, it’s becoming more important to talk about mental health and to bring that into the mix, but it’s still not at the forefront of what it means, you know, to take care of one’s health, but for me, mental health and physical health go hand in hand, because when I’m moving, I’m also clearing my mind and giving myself a space to work through things back then.

So, I was 12, a freshman in high school. I wasn’t going to therapy. I didn’t have the tools, and I also had, for some reason . . . you know, I’m a stubborn person. I also just wanted to deal with things on my own. It wasn’t that I grew up in a hard environment. I just didn’t feel like I could go anywhere other than turn to myself to work through this, and so, for me, it was I literally remember this, and if you watch the documentary, you’ll see me say it again, but like, I had no memory of anything. I don’t remember what happened yesterday.

I remember walking down the hill to the park carrying my soccer bar and literally just saying at that time, the biggest thing for me was, like, I couldn’t imagine what my mom would go through if I killed myself. That was the thing where I was like, I don’t want to be here, but if I killed myself, I don’t know what my mom would do, and also, there’s three other children to take care of. So, like, I remember at, whatever, 12 or 13 years old, being like, so, that’s not going to happen. So, what are you going to do? And I never thought about . . . I’d never thought asking for help.

Whatever you’re going through with mental illness, it’s like you’re embarrassed by it, and even being 12 or 13 years old, knowing this isn’t right. Everybody’s happy, and everybody’s a freshman in high school, and I just was like, OK, what’s the one thing that you can do that basically keeps you alive and keeps you happy, that is your happy space very single day? And for me, that was soccer, which is movement, and I went to that soccer park every single day for four years.

David Freeman

Powerful. Powerful, and I encourage all of our listeners to definitely go check out the documentary in the show notes, and staying with the mental piece, let’s stay with that. I recently was on Clubhouse, and I was just listening in. Sometimes feel kind of weird because I’m just eavesdropping, but that’s what the platform’s all about, but they were talking about a topic that I’m curious to hear your opinion, and any and everybody listening, this is opinions, obviously. It’s not our word is golden.

But I am curious as far as when we talk about body shaming and representation and those things that we touched on earlier, when it comes to health, your keywords as far as Just Move and also making sure that these individuals are leaving wherever they’re coming into happier than when they came into it, there’s this fine balance that I always am curious about. Is I definitely want these women to be empowered within the body that they’re in and men to be empowered with the body that they’re in, but at the same time, make sure that they’re making healthy choices.

And that’s not to say I can look at you and tell you’re unhealthy by the way you look, but what is your thoughts about that as far as body looks a certain way, and we’re empowering the different bodies to be showcased, but at the same time, making sure that all the things inside, mental, and then also all those biomarkers, as well, that they’re learning more towards healthy versus just saying it’s OK to do X, Y, and Z. We just want you to embrace your body. Does that make sense?

Kaisa Keranen

Oh, yeah, you’re poking a bear. Biomarkers, I mean, we can go into a whole argument about all these standards that people set, first of all. For me, there’s a bunch of different avenues in which people come into health and taking care of themselves, and healthy people will make healthier choices.

But it’s one step at a time, and so, for me, it’s all about having . . . being able to step into somewhere, whether you come from movement or the mental aspect or the nutrition side of things, whatever your first step into I want to become a healthier version of myself is, is a great step, first and foremost, and I think the thing is, is, like, people are far more intelligent about their own bodies than anybody else.

Like, if you took an opportunity to just get healthy and focus on what felt good every single morning, you know what eating relatively well is. You know what it means to start moving more. Us coaches are here to guide you, of course, if you needed, but I think the thing is, is people know what it means to take care of themselves and be healthy, and again, like, health is not a look. It’s a feeling.

Our industry, like the war on obesity and everything else that’s going on is, like, there is no truth to that, and I don’t care what people come at me and say about that. There’s no truth to that. It’s all a marketing scheme. So, at this point in time, I don’t really think you want to go into a conversation with me about helping people understand the biomarkers and making sure they look a certain way, because health doesn’t look a certain way. That’s not what it is, and healthy people are people who are finding their own balance in life.

Meaning they’re moving relatively often in whatever way they want. They’re in tune with themselves to know that when they eat that carton of ice cream, they’re probably not going to feel good tomorrow, so they don’t do it very often, but when they do do it, they don’t beat themselves up. Like, it’s balance. It’s not the image that we sell in the fitness world where to a schedule and to a routine 24/7 and everything is perfect, and what kind of life is that? Like, I’ve done that before. It’s not a very . . . it’s just not very fun.

If you have goals and things that you want to achieve, especially performance wise, then, like any other athlete or anybody training for something, you do that and dedicate a period of your life for that, but what we do in the fitness world is sell something that people do mainly what came from bodybuilders, do for a finite period of time for their sport, and then we say this is how people are supposed to live for their entire lives. It’s not going to happen. It’s not sustainable.

Jamie Martin

Absolutely, and what is sustainable, often, is the thing that brings us joy, you know, in joy and movement. Like, I’m going to keep doing that because I love it. Going out and walking every day and feeling the wind on my skin and fresh air, like, that to me is pure joy, and I love to go lift a heavy thing now and then, too. Don’t get me wrong, but what is that joy that I want to do for each single day without feeling guilty if I don’t do it? You know what I mean? I want to let go of the guilt around this.

Kaisa Keranen

Yeah, and amen. I mean, and sometimes . . . I have a lot of workaholic friends, and a lot of times, what I’m telling them when they’re like, I can’t find time to work out, I’m like, listen, some things that you can control are sleep. Try to find more time to sleep, hydrate, and make sure that you’re adding your fruits and veggies. Like, that’s a great way to be doing what you can in this season of your life. That’s great. When you can go add an occasional walk, start adding that. But I do want to encourage movement because I think that movement is a really important way for you to stay connected with yourself, and moving your body is one of the best things that we can do for ourselves, not only for our body, but mentally, as well.

David Freeman

I love it. I want to come back to the poke the bear before we go into the two minutes, just because that was so much passion that came out. So, one, I want you to know that I definitely love what you said there. Breaking the mold is key. I’m one of those individuals that . . . and Jamie, you can attest to this, too. I’m one of those individuals that definitely thinks outside the box, and I’m right there with you. It has been a lot of conditioning learning, has been what we’ve seen over the years.

So, therefore, we think it is the norm. So, any and everybody that is a coach or potentially going to be a coach one day, challenge the norm. Do your research. Do homework on yourself, and also understand what you do might not necessarily work for everybody else, and what worked for one client doesn’t necessarily work for every other client. So, I appreciate that you actually were passionate about that and spoke the truth, because, like you said, you got to keep it real. So I appreciate that.

Kaisa Keranen

Yeah. Amen, and just to, like, keep going on that real quick. I really think that trainers have some of the most important roles in society. We work with individuals. So, in my opinion, media is never going to change. It’s always like sex sells. It’s always going to be a thing that’s like the clickbait, and you know, it’s always going to be about money. The thing is, is trainers are the people that are actually working with the individuals.

Like, we have so much power and influence when it comes to individuals, and if you think about, like, there’s a whole bunch more people that need to get into movement, but you think about just the growth of our industry, there’s a lot of human beings that are moving. There are so many trainers out there that, if we all chose to kind of rise up to this occasion, there’s so much positive change that can happen in the world.

So, when I speak to trainers, it is 100 percent challenging them to, first and foremost, take care of their clients, not by changing the way that they look, but by truly helping them become happier, healthier human beings, and like, I know clients, 99.9% of clients come to you because they want to lose weight. I know that. I know that struggle, but show them something different. Don’t tell them no. Bring them in.

Don’t do what I did when I first started training, and I was like, oh, you want to lose weight? Oh, I’m not the trainer for you. Go ahead, go to Moe. Don’t do that. You’re going to lose all your clients, but bring them in, and be the parent, and teach them. You know what I mean? Give them opportunities, especially from me. I worked with middle-aged women, and that’s, like, it brought me so much joy for them to come in and think that the reason that they wanted to move was because they wanted to lose weight.

They thought, to sum it up underneath, I want to lose weight, is I’m going to be happier if I look differently. You know, that’s, generally speaking, most people’s perspective, and the reality is you’re going to be happier when you feel confident and empowered in who you are as a human being and what you do in the world and how you show up for the world and how you show up for your relationships and your partners and your community.

Like, that’s going to make you a happier human being. So, as a trainer, I was like, OK, it’s my job. Every single time Mary comes in here, slowly, I’m going to chip away. She’s going to talk about weight loss, and I’m like, mm-hmm, not going to co-sign it. Not going to say anything. We’re going to start lifting weights. We’re going to start doing the things…like, I’m going to start picking out performance goals that she wants to do.

Next thing she knows, she’s doing two pushups, and Mary walks out being like she walks on water. Like, that’s a thing as trainers, I feel like it’s a huge call to action for trainer to take on the, like, do we really want to make the world healthier or are we just saying we do? Because if we do, then we need to have a whole switch in our mindset and the actions that we take with our clients.

David Freeman

Yeah. That’s a mic drop, for sure. When you think about impact, people go to their doctors, what, once or twice a year, right? They see their trainer 2 to 3 times a week. There’s 52 weeks in a year. You’re getting 100 touches with this individual. So, when you think of impact to influence, I’m not trying to take anything away from doctors, but we have people’s lives in our hands that we’re touching day in and day out. So, respect the job, own the job, and step up, and let’s create some change. So, I appreciate that. You ready for this two-minute drill?

Kaisa Keranen

As ready as I’m going to get.

David Freeman

Alright, here we go. Kaisa, your go-to dessert?

Kaisa Keranen

Brownie.

David Freeman

What is your most embarrassing moment?

Kaisa Keranen

I don’t remember anything. I just told you that.

David Freeman

OK, we can call that the most embarrassing moment right there. Alright. Do you prefer hot or cold weather?

Kaisa Keranen

Hot.

David Freeman

Favorite movie of all time?

Kaisa Keranen

Love and Basketball.

David Freeman

What is your greatest accomplishment in life to date?

Kaisa Keranen

I think it’s just move platform is by far and away.

David Freeman

Awesome. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Kaisa Keranen

Fly.

David Freeman

If money were no object, and you were guaranteed to be successful, what job would you do as a career?

Kaisa Keranen

Oh, I’d be a professional athlete. Soccer.

David Freeman

Love it. If you could meet anyone and have dinner with them, whoever lived, who would it be and why?

Kaisa Keranen

Oprah. She’s my birthday twin, January 29. I just love her, so it’d be her.

David Freeman

What would you ask that person?

Kaisa Keranen

Oh my god, don’t call me out. My god. This is my second most embarrassing moment. I mean, I think I would just want to know her story and her experience from day one and like, what it was inside of her that constantly allowed her to persevere through moments and times that almost everybody would quit.

David Freeman

What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Kaisa Keranen

Unique, creative, powerful.

David Freeman

Yes. Last question. What legacy do you want to leave this world with?

Kaisa Keranen

Are you serious right now?

Kaisa Keranen

I mean, that is the . . . I don’t know. I don’t know, but the thing is, is, like, what I do want . . . what I’m most driven by is to completely flip the health and wellness world upside down. Like, if there was any legacy left behind, it would be like the definition of what the fitness world looks like right now was a thing of the past.

David Freeman

That’s it. That’s it.

Jamie Martin

Kaisa, thank you so much for coming on. Before we say goodbye, can you just let us know, where can people find you and follow you? I know you have a huge community, like you said. You have your team. So, how can people join that team?

Kaisa Keranen

Yeah. I am KaisaFit on all social media, Instagram and Facebook mainly, and then I would love anybody to check me out at Just Move is our new platform. So, I’m KaisaFit across the board, YouTube, on everything, and then Just Move is our brand new platform.

Jamie Martin

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your schedule to join us.

David Freeman

Appreciate you, Kaisa.

Kaisa Keranen

Thank you so much for having me. That went by really fast. Thank you.

[MUSIC]

David Freeman

Thanks for joining us for this episode. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our conversation today, and how you approach this aspect of healthy living in your own life. What works for you? Where do you run into challenges? Where do you need help?

Jamie Martin

And if you have topics for future episodes, you can share those with us, too. Email us at lttalks@lt.life, or reach out to us on Instagram, @lifetime.life, @jamiemartinel, or @freezy30, and use the hashtag #LifeTimeTalks. You can also learn more about the podcast at el.lifetime.life/podcasts.

David Freeman

And if you’re enjoying Life Time Talks, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to write a review, and also let others know about it, too. Take a screenshot of the episode, and share it on social, share it with your friends, family, work buddies, life coach, you get the gist.

Jamie Martin

Thanks for listening. We’ll talk to you next time on Life Time Talks. Life Time Talks is a production of Life Time, healthy way of life. It’s produced by Molly Schelper, with audio engineering by Peter Perkins, and sound consulting by Coy Larson. A big thank-you to the team who pulls together each episode, and everyone who provided feedback.