Having played all kinds of sport at school and risen to national level to represent her native New Zealand at pole vault and track cycling – as you do – Joan and her business partner Pip Black fast realised how difficult it was to fit exercise into a normal working life. At least, certainly the kind of exercise that made them feel as good as they had done before adult life took over.
“Do the thing you actually DO.”
“It’s always struck me as surprising that we talk so often about whether we’re fit or not physically, but we don’t consider our mental health the same way,” she says. “Frame was always supposed to be the opposite of encouraging exercise to feel thin or get physically fit. We were focused on the feel good factor from the outset, which is why we’ve come up with such a variety of classes, from the full spectrum of yoga, to meditation classes, to all the fitness options. Fitness can be like fashion – but we don’t want to encourage a fad that will fade out.”
And it’s a philosophy that has worked for them. Having launched in 2009, they now offer 1,400 classes a month with an average of 50,000 bookings. And to prove it they have surveyed their customers – best known as “Framers” – annually, to make sure. The last survey came up with 85 per cent of Framers “doing exercise to feel good about myself” versus 40 per cent for UK women generally; 74 per cent “exercising to relax and destress” (compared to 38 per cent); and 73 per cent “exercising to be healthy in mind” versus 42 per cent.
“The one thing I get asked all the time by people is ‘what is the best exercise for me?’ and my answer is always the same. It’s no good making a resolution to do something that won’t really inspire you – you need to find something that you can enjoy often, even if it starts with that walk with a coffee.
“Do the thing you actually DO.”
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