Life changing decisions and bold moves with guest Clare Kennedy

Intro music playing quierly in the background

00:00:02Áine Maguire

Welcome to the 37%. This is a show that invites people to reflect on a significant career leadership or life decision. My name is Áine Maguire and my name is Susy Kenefick.

00:00:14Áine Maguire

On our show we asked our guests about what led to a decision why they made it, how it was made and what happened next.

00:00:24Áine Maguire

Hi Susy, how are you?

00:00:25Susy Kenefick

I'm good. thanks Aine, how are you?

00:00:29Áine Maguire

I'm good, here we are. So our guest today is Clare Kennedy, who is a fitness and nutrition coach, an interesting profession in lots of ways. But why Susy do you think anyone who's thinking of listening to this podcast?

00:00:41Áine Maguire

Should listen to Clare's story.

00:00:43Susy Kenefick

Well, only I don't want to be accused of overselling it, but I would say that Clare's interview was actually really inspiring. She talked about something that I think is a little bit taboo in a lots of in lots of ways. And first of all, you know, she started a business at a relatively late stage in life, in her in her mid 50s. And it was very much a passion project. So that that's interesting.

00:01:03Susy Kenefick

Something that she'd been passionate about all of her life and and and in that regard it was very much a second act for her. It was something that she did after having spent, you know, a long time in, you know, in the home caring for her kids. And I think what's also really interesting about this.

00:01:16Susy Kenefick

Is the way she made that decision. It wasn't a sort of a point in time thing, but you know it was an incremental natural and organic process for her to turn something that was ultimately a lifelong passion into into a business. And as I say at that stage in life, for most people, I think about winding down. So what did you think was interesting about it?

00:01:33Áine Maguire

Yeah, I I thought

00:01:36Áine Maguire

I mean, a couple of things came out. She's an inspirational person and I think it was interesting to listen to her.

00:01:43Áine Maguire

Really talk about her story from an early stage. The choice she made at university and how she'd sort of all the time that had been on the back burner. And then when the kids had grown up, there was the opportunity to get more active in that area. And she started to take little baby steps, sort of incremental steps towards what ultimately became quite a significant decision to set up her own business and to start to develop that,

00:02:08Áine Maguire

She makes the point which I think is really interesting is she makes the point that she was lucky in the sense that she didn't need. There was no economic necessity. But as you and I both know from working with business owners, economic necessity rarely comes into it. If you're driven to do to do something like set up your own business, it's it's always there. And really what you're looking for is the opportunity.

00:02:30Áine Maguire

Or and as we see with Clare, there is also the impact of events. Big life events like COVID had a huge impact and it educated her about the possibilities that there were for her.

00:02:43Áine Maguire

In the business, the nascent business that she'd set up at that stage.

00:02:47Susy Kenefick

Hmm. No, I I think those are all really, really good points. And and I mean for me, if I could just boil this down to the key take away personally that I I would, I would say about about Clare's story is, is and encapsulates this idea that I love that life is is both short, but it's also long and it's too short not to do the thing that you really want to do, and to really explore that passion, but also it's long enough to be able to take your time and be patient in achieving your your goals and your dreams ultimately so I think that's a nice lesson for all of us.

00:03:13Áine Maguire

So let's go to Clare now, let's hear what she has to say.

00:03:19Susy Kenefick

Clare Kennedy runs a fitness and nutrition business. She specialises in training clients in their 50s and upwards and providing nutritional and fitness advice, with a focus on health and longevity. This is very much a second Act career for Clare, who previously spent many years raising her children and came to this career in her mid 50s. Clare is passionate about educating people in middle age and beyond about sustainable health and fitness into old age.  Clare, welcome to the 37%. 

00:03:45 Clare Kennedy

Thanks for having me along.

00:03:47Áine Maguire

Oh, it's great to have you here, Clare.

00:03:50Áine Maguire

We're going to start where you just see a little bit about your background. Now, I know you studied. I think it was biology in Loughborough as a student?

00:03:58Clare Kennedy

Yeah, way back when human biology was something that I loved and I studied, I did in undergrad, at Loughborough University, as you say, 

00:04:02 Áine Maguire

what happened then? 

00:04:09Clare Kennedy

Gosh, what happened then?A little career in advertising, met my husband three children.

00:04:14Clare Kennedy

My husband John had quite a challenging job which involved moving a lot, so I suppose my role really was quite a nurturing role and just running the home and we moved countries for four different continents in about 10 years, so started in Dublin and finished back in Dublin, but it meant I didn't really have a look in on a career or even wanted to, I was very happy doing what I was doing. I suppose I'm quite a nurturing person.

00:04:39Clare Kennedy

So being home with with the kids was what I wanted to do at that time, but now I'm running a small business, so it's sort of sometimes wonder how on Earth did that happen? And I suppose it really came out of just a a passion to get a message across which I feel isn't really out there so.

00:04:59Clare Kennedy

I just had this desire and I thought I'm late to the game, but why wouldn't I give it socks and try and get it out there

00:05:07Áine Maguire

So OK, You you did your nurturing  and possibly what you're doing now has a link with nurturing. We'll hear a bit more about that.

00:05:14Áine Maguire

But tell us, it sounds like you got to your sort of your middle age and your career as a mother was coming to a certain stage.  What happened then? What was your thinking?

00:05:26Clare Kennedy

Well, I still I suppose you know, fear of failure. Lots of things. But I suppose the lynch point was a friend of mine was doing the personal training course at University College Dublin.

00:05:34Clare Kennedy

I thought God, that sounds interesting. I could give it a go and I really went into that saying I'm just doing it out of pure interest. I'd just love to learn more. It wasn't committing to anything. Loved it.

00:05:47Clare Kennedy

Still not ready to do anything with it, but also felt I had a big gap in my nutrition knowledge, so then went on and did further studies and became a certified nutritionist. Now had really no excuse not to use this knowledge, still tiptoeing around and I started working with a few personal training clients in a local gym.

00:06:06Clare Kennedy

I absolutely enjoyed that tremendously. I suppose COVID happened, and suddenly I have this small cohort of clients who really wanted to keep going.

00:06:16Clare Kennedy

They were enjoying their training. Suddenly all gyms were closed so I I started doing on zoom online personal training classes. It was really basically to a Group, a personal training session to keep people going so through COVID. 

00:06:36Clare Kennedy

That just gradually gained traction and I realised it was such a good tool for people to do strength training, resistance training, which is so important to us as we age and future proof ourselves and have such a positive impact on our well-being going forward.

00:06:52Clare Kennedy

And I suppose the bottom line for me was it meant I could reach a lot more people so fast forward a few years. I've now got a gym in in the house where where we live and I see personal training clients all day long during the week. But I can only reach a certain amount, but the online classes allowed me to reach so many more people and also they are available as an on demand recorded product as well. So you could do it in your own time. It's almost like having your own personal trainer at your beck and call in your back pocket,

00:07:21Susy Kenefick

I mean, you talked there about the the decision that you made and you describe it as the lynch pin.

00:07:26Susy Kenefick

and also how you went back to education in this part of the business. But I'm interested to know, I suppose, what role fitness and nutrition played in your life up to that point. I mean, how important was it to you as as just a philosophy in your own life?

00:07:38Clare Kennedy

Yeah. Always been. I've always been fascinated and enjoyed exercise and I know not everybody does Enjoy exercise. Something I've really enjoyed.

00:07:47Áine Maguire

Well, what does it give you, exercising?

00:07:49Clare Kennedy

I think you got a natural high. I think we could put that high in a pill would be millionaires. You know, there's nothing like that post exercise high. You just feel great for the rest of the day. And I suppose the knowledge that you've done something for you just for you, that's going to really impact on your future

00:08:06Áine Maguire

So sounds like exercise has always been really important to you. It's it's a passion would you say?

00:08:10Clare Kennedy

Definitely. Life. Over the years, I've done triathlons, a lot of bike riding, bike riding is something I really enjoy. So I suppose what I do is almost like the homework part now in that. it's if you can Strength Train

00:08:25Clare Kennedy

 Try and keep your muscle mass intact or keep growing your muscle mass cause as we age, muscle mass naturally will decline.

00:08:33Clare Kennedy

It's almost like our ageing process blunts our muscle protein synthesis, so if you can go against that and make sure that you don't let the muscle protein synthesis break down, keep your muscle protein, protein synthesis mouthful growing. You've got this strong framework and you can keep using it to enjoy your golf, your tennis, you're running.

00:08:54Clare Kennedy

Just keeps you in great shape, so I suppose that's really what I was trying to inject into people with these online classes.

00:09:01Susy Kenefick

Mm-hmm. I think there.

00:09:02Susy Kenefick

Are a lot of people women in particular?

00:09:04Susy Kenefick

Who might be frightened at the idea of doing strength and resistance training, and I'm just wondering if you could maybe debunk that myth for us

00:09:10Clare Kennedy

Yes, it it's I come across it daily. I don't want to get bulky. I don't think this is for me. I you know I don't need to lift big weights. We do need to lift big weights. We do not have enough testosterone to ever become bulky.

00:09:24Clare Kennedy

As you see, I'm quite a small frame myself and I lift very big weights. 

00:09:28Clare Kennedy

You are just making sure that your muscle mass stays intact and it's it's a gift if you can eat enough protein to that's your building block to grow muscles, you will stay strong right the way through your 80s. It's never too late to start. I have personal training clients in their late 70s who are working out, my own Mother-in-law, who's 85, works out regularly with weights.

00:09:52Susy Kenefick

Yeah.

00:09:52Clare Kennedy

No, it's never too late.

00:09:54Áine Maguire

Very good. So go back to what got you going on the on the business side because you mentioned COVID as kind of an enabler, which I thought was interesting.

00:10:03Clare Kennedy

It was. I think it's an enabler for a lot of people. It really changed lives and for me, I'd heard about this thing zoom. I assumed it was a big piece of equipment I didn't realise I hadn't a clue what it was

00:10:16Clare Kennedy

 I suddenly started using zoom, so again pushed out of my comfort zone and just started doing these classes. And then even when gyms opened up and COVID was sort of a thing of the past, I still had quite a lot of traction with the classes. People were still getting a lot of benefit from them, so I just kept going. So I suppose 4 nearly five years later they there's three.

00:10:36Clare Kennedy

Life classes I do a week.

00:10:38Clare Kennedy

Reaching people who maybe don't have time to go to a personal trainer or don't have the money to go to a personal trainer. I suppose that was my decision. Do I keep going with that? Because certainly even now four or five years later I get a little nervous before a class. I'm, you know, I don't. I sort of have this whole conversation in my head. I don't need to do this. This is silly. Why am I doing this? You know, scared of failure. Scared of putting myself out there.

00:10:58Clare Kennedy

 Scared of judgement, usually scared of judgement. I'm. I'm nearly 60. What the heck am I doing racing around, lifting weights and telling other people what to do?

00:11:07Susy Kenefick

What do you mean when you say you don't need to do this.

00:11:10Clare Kennedy

I suppose money comes into it,

00:11:12Clare Kennedy

I think in some ways that's been a slight disincentive for me in that it's not paying the bills, which I'm hugely privileged to be in that position. But it also does make me have to force myself to do these sometimes it it I'm probably not a particularly public person, and I find going out of my comfort zone, uncomfortable, 

00:11:33Clare Kennedy

and timing. I was like, gosh, you know, who's starting a business career in the late 50s? I'll be 60 next year. You know who does that? So all these words in my head, I suppose we have lot going on in our head.

00:11:44Clare Kennedy

But I think the passion to get the word out there overrode those.

00:11:49Áine Maguire

What feeds the passion now?

00:11:51Clare Kennedy

You know, I think it is just seeing people get so much from weight training. I have just, especially when Christmas, I've got so many lovely notes and messages about difference that had made from, say, posture to helping people with injury to keeping somebody in their golf game.

00:12:09Clare Kennedy

I had the hilarious story where somebody was playing golf with her son and she was hitting the ball so much harder than her son and she he just couldn't believe it. And she was just so thrilled.

00:12:22Clare Kennedy

Very often people will start with their teeny tiny weights and then they'll text me and they'll say I think I need to buy more weights I'm finding them too light and honestly, nothing makes me happier. Total nerd. But to hear that somebody's now using a 10K kilogramme dumbbell is a joy to me.

00:12:39Áine Maguire

Sounds like you've become an evangelist.

00:12:43Clare Kennedy

I mean, if I can, you know, help people to stay in all the areas of their life that they want to be strong in, whether it's playing with grandchildren, whether it's playing tennis, golf

00:12:54Clare Kennedy

And the importance of just staying upright, not falling, not breaking a bone. And I suppose that leads down another path of why resistance training is so important. The tension of of the muscles on the bone increases your bone density. That keeps you away from things like osteopenia. Osteoporosis, it strengthens your joints, It strengthens the tendons that support your joints, so I suppose.

00:13:14Clare Kennedy

The term I've used already is.

00:13:15Clare Kennedy

Future proofing, but you really are

00:13:16Áine Maguire

You talked a little bit there about fear of failure? And that's something Susy and I hear a lot about. So I'd love to hear how you deal with that and maybe to start by telling us, what does it feel like to have fear of failure? And then how is it that you battle through that every day?

00:13:31Clare Kennedy

Yeah, I gosh, I don't know. I suppose like everybody, I have conversations in my head. Some days are better days than others, but definitely, definitely the reward process. I mean, I find it hugely positive what I do, you know, seeing somebody come in not really wanting to work out and then having a great session and they bounce out and they feel great.

00:13:52Clare Kennedy

You get, I guess an automatic high from that. It really gives me pleasure.

00:13:56Clare Kennedy

So I love what I do. I suppose that's that helps.

00:13:59Susy Kenefick

Yeah. And I think, you know we we are going to talk a lot about decision making and I I think that inherant in that there's often a tension between the fear of failure and getting it wrong, but also the reward that comes at the end. And I suppose that's the inherent motivation in doing that. And I I suppose I just I'm I'm curious about your view on this.

00:14:16Susy Kenefick

But do you think that fear is a necessary?

00:14:18Clare Kennedy

Gosh, you know, I think it is. Mm-hmm. I think it is. And I feel I have grown so much where I I could have stayed. You know, the kids were reared. We were comfortable, happy relationship. We could travel. Could do all sorts of things

00:14:32Clare Kennedy

and I'm so glad I have stayed doing this because I feel I've got more confident in myself, which just seems mad in my late 50s. I'm still slightly technically savvy, not very, but much more than I would have been. I was relying on my kids tremendously and suddenly they're gone. So I have to figure out why the zoom isn't working or why I haven't got Wi-Fi.

00:14:54Clare Kennedy

Which has has been great for me as somebody that would avoid that at all costs.

00:14:59Clare Kennedy

And also I feel I'm less judgmental about people now. I see such an array of people through my week that it makes you, I think, see things from a more sunnier perspective. And you realise what? What issues and constraints people have and you feel lucky, therefore for what you have.

00:15:19Áine Maguire

Do you think running a business is keeping you young, so part of your rejuvenation?

00:15:23Clare Kennedy

Yes, I think it does. I think it keeps you in, in a world that is real.

00:15:30Clare Kennedy

You could sink into maybe an environment which is all very safe and cosseted gotten well, but you, you know, people who you hear stories you hear about everybody's lives. It keeps you thinking, keeps you active. And I stay really current on all the research and fascinated by especially nutrition and seeing how that's growing.

00:15:50Susy Kenefick

Yeah, I mean, we talked about the the myth that we debunked as well around the benefits of strength training, particularly for women. And this idea that, you know, you're gonna get bulky, that obviously is not the case.

00:15:59Susy Kenefick

But are there other common myths or beliefs out there amongst society that when when clients come to you, they say, oh, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do that, maybe particularly around nutrition that, you know, you find you have to contend with.

00:16:11Susy Kenefick

And educate people out of these beliefs?

00:16:12Clare Kennedy

yes, I think

00:16:14Clare Kennedy

That's pretty much across both areas of the personal training and the nutrition, particularly the nutrition there's always the excuse and accountability is really hard.

00:16:23Clare Kennedy

I mean nutrition is so interesting because it's actually still not rocket science, you know, basic nutrition. I think most people know how to eat well. It's getting people to eat well. So it's a real combination of working out what will work for this person, finding that most often isn't some sort of fad diet. It's just working with them. 

00:16:43Clare Kennedy

Course correcting just finding a way that will keep them on track and how they can feel good about themselves. Feel full. I'm I suppose I'm talking about weight loss here, mainly because that would be sort of 90% of my clients would be weight loss but finding.

00:16:57Clare Kennedy

The way that.

00:16:58Clare Kennedy

Works for them. That would be the hardest, hardest thing.

00:17:02Susy Kenefick

Being an accountability partner effectively for people.

00:17:04Clare Kennedy

Being their coach, yeah, their supporter. I think positivity in their life is really important, but sometimes I've I've had clients whose doctor said you're on the verge of osteoporosis. You really need to do resistance training. They leave the surgery thinking, what the hell is resistance training? How do I do it? And it is a it isn't that straightforward.

00:17:24Clare Kennedy

You do need to have somebody who knows what they're doing and you do need to be coached through it. And what I often find is after a few sessions people really start to enjoy it.

00:17:33Clare Kennedy

They just need to sort of know how.

00:17:34Áine Maguire

Going back to the decision again, I'm just listening to you and wondering what role do you think your personality or your background or maybe your values have played in in the decision and what's happened since?

00:17:48Clare Kennedy

Yeah. Gosh, I I suppose my personality, I suppose you ask my kids, man like mad and say I'm always a fixer.

00:17:54Clare Kennedy

And I suppose that's must have been what drove me to see this. And then it was.

00:18:01Clare Kennedy

I suppose personality wise I I love contacting and connecting with people and I I thought I had this knowledge that I just wanted to give over to people just to, you know, let people know this. You don't have to accept sliding into old age, you can go and kicking and screaming.

00:18:20Clare Kennedy

You have a really good old age.

00:18:22Clare Kennedy

And it's not that hard and you can start at any point, I think. I think that's probably the main thing.

00:18:28Susy Kenefick

Mm-hmm. You mentioned feedback from your kids there, and I'm curious to what extent the skills or the experience that you had in in your home life raising your children and and also in your career in advertising, you know, have you brought some of those skills with you into this new business?

00:18:43Clare Kennedy

I'm sure I'd say definitely. I think having kids is very humbling.

00:18:47Clare Kennedy

That you always think you're going to get them to eat bowls of broccoli, and I'd say I've got 3 amazing daughters all in their late 20s and we've had all sorts. It's things that I never thought would be would be possible in our lifetime. So yes, they they have brought a lot to the table and.

00:19:06Áine Maguire

Well, sounds like they were part of your training.

00:19:08Áine Maguire

for the path you took.

00:19:10Clare Kennedy

very much so, they were very yeah.

00:19:11Áine Maguire

Yeah, listening to you feels like after you've sort of finished the main focus of bringing them up and you you sort of redeployed that learning into this business that you have now and I'm wondering, you know, what do you think you've learned as a business owner in the last number of years?

00:19:30Clare Kennedy

It it did. Actually. You're right. And there's a lot of it was that the the kids were, I felt I had more to give, but what I learned from being a business owner.

00:19:40Clare Kennedy

It's not easy. It's so not easy and I don't like the sell part of it. That's that's really tough for me anyway. I think some people are are are born natural sellers and and that wouldn't be my way and I've never advertised it. It's all being word of mouth.

00:19:56Clare Kennedy

But there are quiet times and you question yourself and again, that fear of failure. And why am I doing this? And who do I think I am? again Hits, hits home. But I've I've been incredibly lucky. It's always been a relatively busy business. And just this year I've taken on two more people. There's more live classes.

00:20:16Clare Kennedy

I don't work Fridays, so there's somebody working in my gym with personal training clients on Friday, which has just been great and lovely to have somebody to work with her. I think I missed that and maybe that's one of the learnings being a single business owner is hard. It would be time to, I'd love to just have a moan with somebody

00:20:32Clare Kennedy

who really understands and there's nobody really there and and decision making would be lovely to bounce ideas off people and have pretty much made those decisions myself going forward over the years.

00:20:45Áine Maguire

As this is a podcast about decision making.

00:20:47Susy Kenefick

Yes.

00:20:48Áine Maguire

Tell us a little bit.

00:20:48Áine Maguire

About how you make decisions now.

00:20:50Áine Maguire

In the business

00:20:52Clare Kennedy

How well actually, there was a funny thing that happened to my life and in.

00:20:54Clare Kennedy

That my husband retired and then we had six months of lovely retirement. Luckily, I didn't retire. I carried on working and then he went back to his full time job. So I know that he's going to be gone and working a lot again. So I decided that this was my year and I was going to really try and shout from the rafters. So I suppose that was my decision.

00:21:14Clare Kennedy

I'm gonna give it socks this year. You know what? Have what have I got to lose? 

00:21:19Clare Kennedy

and in that my twin sister.

00:21:22Clare Kennedy

Who is a marketing consultant, was looking for a bit more work, so she has done my classes. She's lived in London and is a big fan. So she came on board. So she I said I finally have somebody I can chat to about the business, moan to about the business and have sort of the best backer you could ask for in a in a sister. So that's been a lot of fun.

00:21:43Clare Kennedy

So so that yeah. So that's shared this decision making process a bit and help me and actually pushed me more, I think it's really got me moving more, she sort of makes pushes sort of boot up my bum and you can do this and go and do this.

00:21:55Susy Kenefick

And how? How important are other people's views when it comes to your decision making process?

00:22:00Clare Kennedy

They're important,

00:22:02Clare Kennedy

I Like to think I'm. I would listen. Mm-hmm. I wouldn't sort of feel I had the confidence just to go straight out there and know I know best. Mm-hmm. I've pushed back on a few things. People are very quick to comment and critique. And, you know, I've been doing it a long time now. So I I sort of when I I know.

00:22:17Clare Kennedy

That's I know what I'm doing is right. I I would be happy to say so.

00:22:20Susy Kenefick

What are you guided by when you have those strong instincts about something and you do push back and you know you're quite forthright?

00:22:26Clare Kennedy

I got quite feisty this week, and just some comments on the class and I thought, no, actually I know this works and you've done it once and.

00:22:37Clare Kennedy

You know, so I I sort of came right back and I was quite pleased that I, I I had that sort of confidence and just, well, well, this is as it should be

00:22:46Áine Maguire

yeah, it it feels like your conviction and your self-confidence are really grown as you've gone into this.

00:22:51Clare Kennedy

Have really grown.

00:22:52Clare Kennedy

Yeah. Which is a really nice feeling. 

00:22:55Clare Kennedy

it's funny because I teach people strength, but I found it sort of my inner strength, which you know is strong physically, but I think think I've become stronger as a person mentally running a business and, you know, seeing the growth of it.

00:23:08Áine Maguire

Wow, how amazing. What advice would you give to someone else? You might be listening to this and thinking well, you know, I'm kind of. I'm around the same age and what's left in me? What have I got in me?

00:23:17Clare Kennedy

do it. I think I don't know one person. I don't think I've ever had anybody come in.

00:23:24Clare Kennedy

For a training session with me, one-on-one or do a class and not left feeling great, it's just the best thing and then if you think that you are just helping yourself live better, we want our old age be good. We're all living longer, so  we want to age well and I think this is.

00:23:44Clare Kennedy

Strength training is the key to ageing well.

00:23:47Áine Maguire

I'm wondering how you describe yourself now because you you talk about strength training and you're you're clearly sort of an advocate or maybe even a guru

00:23:55Clare Kennedy

But it's not a guru

00:23:56Áine Maguire

Would you do if you were, you know, at a party and someone came up to and said what? Who are you? What do you do or how do you describe yourself?

00:24:03Clare Kennedy

Do you know what I would say? I'm a business owner and I'm running this business. It's funny. It makes me think of business dinners. I would have done with my husband before I ran the business. And I remember if somebody asked me what I did, they sort of seem inwardly cringing when I said I stayed home with the kids. It sounded so boring and they didn't really have any. So now I feel I have a conversation.

00:24:22Clare Kennedy

To have about what I do, 

Áine Maguire

you have an identity. Outside the home.

00:24:37Clare Kennedy

Yeah, I hadn't even thought of that.  But I do. this is the first time, it's funny to have only found my identity outside the home in my late 50's ,Yeah. I hadn't actually made that connection, but yes.

00:24:41Susy Kenefick

And and we mentioned in the intro that it is a second act in effect and I think for a lot of people, women in particular, who have spent a number of years in the home, the idea of going back into the workplace is very intimidating. So I suppose what advice would you give to them in particular about starting?

00:24:54Susy Kenefick

Something new in this phase in life?

00:24:57Clare Kennedy

Mine  was a windy road and going there and I think I needed that space. Definitely doing the personal training course 10 years ago was a huge step for me that kids were still at home and.

00:25:07Clare Kennedy

I just didn't even know my brain would still work.

00:25:08Clare Kennedy

 I had to do essays and tests and exams and things.

00:25:13Clare Kennedy

So I think go easy on yourself would be my advice. Don't jump in there a feet first. I think I even started that personal training course saying I was only doing it for interest and to gain knowledge and I wouldn't be doing the exams at the end of the year, which of course I did the exams at the end of the year. I was just maybe protecting myself from myself. So I think yeah,

00:25:33Clare Kennedy

Don't be hard on yourself, and I think if you're really passionate about something, it's quite easy.

00:25:39Susy Kenefick

And the curiosity is very clear as well. Just follow that and.

00:25:41Susy Kenefick

See where it goes.

00:25:41Clare Kennedy

Follow, your curiosity? Yes. And I think I was really lucky with COVID because I don't think I'd ever have thought I could have

00:25:49Clare Kennedy

Given these live classes and they're, they're actually my work out these live classes, so I'm doing them so people can see me and I'm talking throughout them because I'm terrified of people not having the right cues. I want them to do it correctly and obviously not get any injuries or anything like that. So I would never have done that if COVID haven't had happened.

00:26:09Susy Kenefick

I'd say you're a COVID success story.

00:26:11Áine Maguire

Yes, yes, its usually the other way

00:26:14Clare Kennedy

Know I think there probably are a few around, but yes for sure I mean literally the first few classes were in my kitchen with cans of tomatoes as my weights.

00:26:23Clare Kennedy

And then I gradually grew more, you know, gave more equipment. Then we built the studio so.

00:26:29Áine Maguire

This is going to sound like an interview question, but I'm wondering, do you have a sort of vision now, now that you've got your marketing consultants slash twin sister on board and you you've really started to grow the business, what's the vision for it?

00:26:40Clare Kennedy

It do you know, I do have a vision. It's. I can't believe I do, but.

00:26:44Clare Kennedy

My vision is to have a platform that is really a community for people in their

00:26:51Clare Kennedy

40s, Fifties, 60s and older that they can go to and look at what classes they want to do a week, whether it's yoga, strength training, Pilates, maybe mindfulness, and can buy their class buy their on demand recording. What I think if they want. But it's a really safe place. You know you're going to get a very high quality class

00:27:12Clare Kennedy

And it's a gathering point in this exchange of information, there's questions can be asked. There's research evidence put on the website. It's so maybe even a shop. I I could just see it being a real place that attracts like minded people.

00:27:28Susy Kenefick

Community. I think that's important. Yeah, I.

00:27:29Clare Kennedy

Think, which is really important, I think as.

00:27:32Clare Kennedy

That as we as technology takes over, we get more and more out of the Community and I think people needed Community.

00:27:38Clare Kennedy

To feel part, to feel that they belong.

00:27:41 Susy Kenefick: 

Reflecting back as well on your decision that you did make, is there anything that you would do differently if you had had to do over? 

Clare Kennedy: 

Gosh, I'm I'm sure there's loads of things I would have done differently. I can't nothing comes to mind. I just kept going and I know some of the early classes were disasters. I'd absolutely hate to see them played back now.

00:28:03Clare Kennedy

But no, I I can't think of it. It was just I was just sort of blindly following my nose, really just trying to just follow what I wanted to do.

00:28:13Susy Kenefick

So a great decision, it sounds like, yeah.

00:28:15Áine Maguire

You know, since we always.

00:28:16Áine Maguire

Ask at the end, would you? Would you do it over again or or is it just drive on? It sounds like it's drive on for you, yeah.

00:28:22Clare Kennedy

Drive on, but I would do it again. I I don't know if you mean do it different of course. No, I'm so I feel very lucky that I randomly found myself in this position. Yeah, it is. Just drive on.

00:28:37Susy Kenefick

Don't go back.

00:28:41Susy Kenefick

Anyone thinking of getting in shape no matter what age you are drive on.

00:28:42Clare Kennedy

That is seriously that is the main message. You know, it's never too late.

00:28:46Áine Maguire

Good news. Yes, thank you so much Clare

00:28:48Susy Kenefick

Thanks Clare

00:28:49Clare Kennedy

Having  for having me, it was really great. Thank you.

00:28:56Áine Maguire

Susy, you didn't.

00:28:57Áine Maguire

Oversell last one bit. That was really inspirational. I have to say I'm totally fired up and I already have a business. What did you think?

00:29:04Susy Kenefick

Yeah, I know. I completely agree. It was. It was a really, really interesting conversation. And. And yeah, a really inspirational person, as you say.

00:29:12Susy Kenefick

But the first thing that really stood out for me is her passion, without a doubt. But I mean, that just flowed through the entire interview that this is very much a passion project for her, something that she has been interested in all her life being, you know, in in the health and fitness as a philosophy for her is, is, is hugely critical

00:29:28Susy Kenefick

And then for her to find the opportunity, at a certain point relatively late at late in life to start a business, you know in that area I think is is just such an interesting and inspirational story

00:29:37Áine Maguire

Yeah, I I agree. And I suppose we would probably talk about that in the context of values, which you tend to see being really important in decision making for everybody.

00:29:48Áine Maguire

Particularly, and this is an interesting example of that. As you get older in life, your decisions tend to drive or your values tend to drive your decisions much more strongly, partly because you have the opportunity, but also because you really know your values.

00:30:01Áine Maguire

And so often people at the end of their careers, or as they become more, more experienced in life, have opportunities to do things that are much more aligned with their values. That's a really good example of that.

00:30:12Susy Kenefick

Yeah. And I also think that the passion that she described and which was so evident from her, it was almost like the antidote in a way to the fear and.

00:30:20Susy Kenefick

The self doubt that she described.

00:30:21Áine Maguire

Totally

00:30:21Susy Kenefick

As not just being something that you have to contend with when you're at the beginning of a process or starting something new that she described it as something that is ongoing, that every time she even, you know, logs on,

00:30:31Susy Kenefick

To start a class with somebody that she feels the sense of obligation and the need to perform and do it well.

00:30:33Susy Kenefick

And I think that, you know, if you're really doing something that's important to you and and that you're passionate about, that's always going to be a feature. So it's not just in the initial decision making that we have to deal with fear. Fear is an ongoing thing that I think it is very much symptomatic of of something being very important to us and something.

00:30:54Susy Kenefick

It means we're passionate and it means we care and I think that's a good thing.

00:30:57Susy Kenefick

So reframing that fear as a positive thing, I think is something that she just worked really well.

00:30:58Susy Kenefick

Fear as a positive thing, I think, is something that she just.

Áine Maguire

Couldn't agree more. I mean, fear of failure is something that I that I think is really interesting and we hear a lot of people talking about what what I loved about was just the honesty calling it out, fear of failure and then not bright siding. Not saying, you know, and we're over that now and I'm I'm I get out about every morning full of confidence because nobody does particularly as you say if.

00:31:21Áine Maguire

If you care about something, so I I think that fighting the fear of failure and you know, feeling the fear and doing it anyway, as as the phrase goes, is just is just so interesting. And it's a really it's a good lesson for us all to just like just do it if you feel if you feel frightened of failure, it's because it matters.

00:31:39Áine Maguire

To you. So I suppose the other thing that I I really from a decision making point of view thought was really interesting was how the decision momentum grew because it feels to me like a story that started when she went to university and which was sort of on the back burner all her life. But when.

00:31:58Áine Maguire

The kids were grown.

00:31:59Áine Maguire

There was an opportunity to really exercise that. It was almost like she was drawn to it and it's something you see with people where, you know, we often say in coaching, it's a sign of a strength. You would do it anyway, even if you didn't get paid for it or you didn't have the sort of conscious opportunity she seemed to be driven to that naturally

00:32:16Áine Maguire

and we saw a series of incremental steps going to a course saying to yourself, I'm not going to do the exams, then you are going to do the exams. Then each little step, you know, added to the strength of her decision and the conviction she had.

00:32:33Susy Kenefick

Yeah, I I'd agree with that. And I think that maybe the temporal aspect of decision making isn't something that we always give a lot of consideration to because we tend to think of decisions as being a.

00:32:41Susy Kenefick

Point in time.

00:32:43Susy Kenefick

And and and actually in a lot of cases for people, they make very, very important decisions on an incremental basis where there isn't any kind of particular pressure. And I think that was very much the case for her. This was something she cared about for a long time, and she made a series of decisions that got her to the ultimate decision to start this business and and take on this career. And it was probably something that she

00:33:02Susy Kenefick

Didn't envisage doing originally. Then sometimes I think a lot of decisions can be like that. They're incremental and it's it's a building block type of situation. But always I think in this case underpinned by that conviction and the belief in what she

00:33:13Susy Kenefick

Is doing and and it's that passion that sometimes leads us to make decisions more so out of a series of small decisions along the way. So I think that's something, again for people as a lesson is it's it's not always something where you just have to, you know, make a snap decision on the spot. It's about, you know, considering it and thinking about it and taking your time, that's that's really important. If if of course.

00:33:33Susy Kenefick

You have nobody to do that.

00:33:34Áine Maguire

Yeah. And I think that was that was one of the learnings she had and she wanted to say that to people that, you know, be easy on yourself, which I thought was a lovely message

00:33:41Áine Maguire

And I think then the the the never too late phrase, you know, she said. It's never too late about lots of things. It's never too late to get up and start a business or do something that's important to you. But also it's never too late to actually look after yourself then I know you you have.

00:33:54Áine Maguire

An interesting take on that.

00:33:55Susy Kenefick

I do because I think I referred to her as, as as being a kind of a second Act type decision and increasingly as.

00:34:02Susy Kenefick

You know the population gets.

00:34:03Susy Kenefick

Older you really do have to think about our longevity more so you know, in terms of not just just health and Wellness, but also about keeping our minds fresh and doing different things and experimenting. And you know, you don't don't just have a second act maybe you get to have a third act. And I think that's just so important in my my own father has started going to the gym for the first time at 72.

00:34:23Susy Kenefick

It's. It's really never too late.

00:34:25Susy Kenefick

To start doing something and we need to find ways to.

00:34:28Susy Kenefick

You know, to evolve and grow. And she talked about her confidence growing and she talked about her, even her psychological development changing because she started this new thing that at the time when lots of people think, oh, it's it's time to start having a rest now and winding down. And that's just not the case. And I genuinely believe for people's well-being and longevity that, you know it the the idea that never being too late.

00:34:48Susy Kenefick

And being confident and brave enough to have a second act or a third act or whatever you want.  It's vital.

00:34:52Áine Maguire

I would say Clare Kennedy is somebody that definitely has at least a third act, if not several other other ones in the bag. And so look forward to seeing what happens next.

00:35:04Áine Maguire

Yeah, there you have it folks

00:35:04Susy Kenefick

Thanks for listening. See you next time on The 37%

Ending music playing quietly behind for final wrap up

00:35:12Susy Kenefick

Thank you for listening to the 37%. If you want to know more about us, what we do and how we might be able to help you with the key decision you're considering, check out our website at www.persuasion.ie