A Tale of Triumph

Preparing to leave, I had no idea what to expect, but I felt excited none-the-less. It was about a quarter to 6:00pm and the event started at 7:30. I double checked to make sure nothing on my checklist was forgotten, and out the door I went to the Connect To Fitness Event taking place at Lulu Lemon Athletica at 7:30.


After planning this event for a couple months, I rethought the process on my way to pick up a generous donation from Tropical Smoothie Café off of Horizon Ridge and smiled to myself as the sun gleamed down and made my eyes squint. Pulling into Tropical Smoothie, I walked in, introduced myself once again and was greeted by the owner, Dan Lasker, who ever-so-graciously donated an ENTIRE, packed cooler of over fifty regular size smoothies for me to take to the event. After talking with him for a little bit and exchanging ‘thank-yous’, I got back in my car and began my journey down to Lulu Lemon Athletica in the Fashion Show Mall off of Las Vegas Boulevard on the glamourous Strip of Las Vegas. The music on the radio was remixed by the ice in the cooler shaking around. In that very moment, I thought to myself that life doesn’t get any better.


Admiring my surroundings and looking up at the larger-than-life buildings that make up the incredible 7-mile Strip, I felt a wave of accomplishment as I pulled into the self-parking garage at Fashion Show Mall and parked on the second floor. From there I was greeted by the man behind the vision of Connect To Fitness, Dr. Darian Parker, who, as usual, was kind enough to assist in lugging in all my bags and the smoothie cooler. Having never been to the Fashion Show Mall, I was taken aback as we walked through the absolutely breath-taking shopping center and felt humbled once again at how over-the-top and outrageous Las Vegas really is. While traversing on the second story, I peered down below to the first level over the balcony that passed me by and admired all the glitz and glamour all around me in both my surroundings as well as the other people in the shopping center. To my left, shop owners were finishing their closing duties and a few doors closed up shop in passing as well. While carrying on a conversation with Darian he pointed out that we were headed to the red ‘horse-shoe looking thing’ in the distance, so it was there that I kept my focus as we neared our destination.


As we approached Lulu Lemon, another wave of excitement went through me as I realized this was it. This was our moment to shine and that is exactly what we were going to do. We finally arrived and walked through the giant, red horse-shoe and I briefly stopped to admire the giant yellow ‘Lulu Lemon Athletica’ sign encasing the horse-shoe. Putting my smile on once again and never taking it off the entire night, I walked wide-eyed into Lulu Lemon and was graciously welcomed by both the actual employees AND the customers! What a place! Every color imaginable was either embellished into the walls and displays or mixed in with the huge selection of athletic wear that was displayed so perfectly. Over to my left was the check-out counter with some eye-catching artwork on the walls around the desk and the display case on the far right wall. As customers browsed the isles, I walked around and couldn’t help but admire the work and creativity that had gone into making this place so stimulating. Colorful hoodies, yoga and fitness pants lined the left-hand wall and encircled to the back where it eventually meets up with the changing room and restroom area. Set up next to the changing rooms was a large container of crystal clear water with lemons floating tranquilly near the brim. Heading over to the right side of the store, you come face to face with a display case overflowing with yoga mats of every shade and more clothing displays with t-shirts, undergarments, tank-tops, shorts, adorable purses, and of course the adorable mannequins posing in the front windows wearing the most trendy fitness gear available. Centered in the middle of the store as a median, is a display of clothing parallel to the walls on either side. Hanging on the front of the display facing the entrance is a giant, hand-made ‘book’ of all things Lulu Lemon. From advertising and photos to research and exercise, this creation was truly remarkable to look at as each giant ‘page’ had so much thought and work behind it. There was even a Connect To Fitness page designed by CTF Volunteer Coordinator (and Lulu Lemon employee), Heather Doane.


As the rest of the mall was closing down, our event was just getting started. Guests were piling through the door right at 7:30 and continued to pile in sporadically throughout the event as people stopped by. A CTF table was set up in front where I stood to greet guests, have them sign-in and make name tags and where they also received their raffle ticket for our prize giveaways. On the side of the table were the cooler of Tropical Smoothies as well as another cooler of bottled water and Vitamin Water sponsored by the Professional Fitness Institute and brought by PFI President Charles Ware and his delightful wife, Hannah. As more and more people gathered in, the sound of conversations and connections began to fill the room. An array of people including personal trainers (both independently contracted and employed), business owners, massage therapists, exercise instructors, dieticians, as well as business creators, innovators and entrepreneurs traversed the event while conversing with old friends and connecting with new. There were also many people who specialize in more than one profession who were had incredible stories as well.


New to our events, a few trainers and coaches from Las Vegas’s own Crossfit facility on E Sunset Road stopped by to connect and to demo an interactive workout let by Crossfit trainer and coach, Joe Marsh. Volunteers as well as the rest of the Crossfit staff performed a 4-minute workout consisting of nothing but squats and isometric squat holds while the rest of us watched on feeling the participant’s pain. If you haven’t yet heard of Crossfit, it is something worth checking out as it is one of the fastest growing methods of training to date. If you haven’t heard of it, check it out as it is a tool you will want to have in your toolbox as it is gaining popularity among the masses. Having done Crossfit before, I can voucher for it’s difficulty, high intensity as well as benefits (not to mention not being able to move after any given training session). It never hurts to broaden your horizons and keep up with what’s new and exciting in the industry. Check out their site and see for yourself! (http://www.crossfitlv.typepad.com/)


We also had two separate raffles where we were able to give away some pretty awesome prizes. Along with Tropical Smoothie, we were also able to connect with Starbucks, who kindly donated three whole pounds of coffee to our prize giveaway and PFI once again donated a PFI logo backpack stuffed with goodies as well. A big kudos as well to the always inspiring Scott Lenz from Advantage Fitness Products for supplying us with his ever-so-popular fitness travel kit, which is always a huge success at our events. Lulu Lemon also took part by donating a few invitations to schedule a time to come into the store and be a tester of their apparel. Not only do they fit you personally for whatever you chose to wear, but you also get to take them home, wear them wherever you please and the only catch is they ask you to provide them with feedback on the articles of clothing so they can have knowledge of what customers love and what could be improved. They realize that, ultimately, it’s not just about the sales made, but about customer satisfaction. They truly go above and beyond to create a lasting impression on both the fitness industry and fitness apparel industry.


If you aren’t familiar with Lulu Lemon Athletica, stop by the Fashion show mall and head to the second story where you can stop in, say ‘hello’ and enjoy the amazing ambiance the store has to offer. You will continue to be in awe of all they have to offer. Aside from fitness apparel, they are also huge into giving back to the community. If you check out their website (http://www.lululemon.com/) you will come across the ‘Community’ tab at the top of the page where you can check out all they are doing. From their Monthly Challenge to their Charitable Giving Program, they truly stand out among the rest in their openness to contribute to others. They also offer actual yoga classes and they also have an open invitation on their bathroom door inviting anyone and everyone to meet up every Thursday in front of Starbucks at 6:00am to run the Strip. They have a way of being versatile in their endeavors and in being so incredibly accepting and open-minded about other people and other causes. You cannot walk into their store without catching the infectious positivity from the staff. You feel like you are in another world in their store and for just a minute you even forget you are in the always fast-paced city of Las Vegas. The ambiance is second to none and I suggest you check out Lulu Lemon under the hightest of recommendations. You will not be disappointed you did!


One of the things I love most about meeting and connecting with new people in the health, wellness and fitness industry is there is never a time I haven’t heard a story that inspired me in some way as to how the person entered the industry and why they chose the path and direction they are headed in presently. It seems each professional at some point, has had an ‘Aha’ moment that changed them forever. It is always so incredibly humbling to hear the different ways these people are not only impacting the people around them, but also the industry itself. Each person is making an incredible contribution to their field of choice and in seeing so many different career choices in one room, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it will be when we all connect and find better and more efficient ways to improve our own careers and the lives of the people we are in contact with each day. In helping to close that six degrees of separation between health, wellness and fitness professionals, we will find that we can more easily help our clients as we can then refer to our connections when we may not specialize in something our client may benefit from having. Not a single one of us can say we know-it-all and if we continue on attempting to be selfish, we are doing nothing but hurting our own careers as well as our clients. Open your mind to creating connections with others as you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. As we all know: No man is self made, and it is only together that we will be able to make a lasting impact and impression on our industry.


If you haven’t yet made it to a Connect To Fitness Event, you are really missing out on a very valuable and fun treat! In just sparing an hour or two of your time a month, you could ultimately make the connections that will help benefit you, your career and your future. The event last night was an absolute blast and many beneficial connections were made throughout the night between all who attended. There are listings of the next couple events on Facebook under our page ‘Las Vegas Connect To Fitness Networking Group’. If you have access to Facebook and haven’t yet checked us out, please do and stay in the loop as Darian does a tremendous job of keeping an updated news stream on the page for all to follow. By following our page, you will also receive messages detailing invitations, reminders, opportunities, more on what’s new, sponsor information and volunteer information. Please follow along and join our team!


Also, Darian, Heather and I are really trying to reach out and connect with you, Faithful Reader, by setting up meetings and making efforts to visit new facilities. If you would like to become more involved with CTF, have a great story or facility you would like to share, are looking to get into volunteering around the community, please, PLEASE don’t hesitate to get in touch. We established this organization to benefit you which will ultimately benefit the entire industry. Las Vegas is a melting pot where anything and everything is possible. With so much potential and opportunity awaiting, we want to get the word out on you and what you believe in as well because it is only with your help that we can be Las Vegas’s premier networking organization for the health, wellness and fitness professionals of Las Vegas. Email Darian or I at ConnectToFitness@gmail.com, DarianParker@gmail.com or EPfitness7@gmail.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/Connect2Fitness, where we are always streaming information as well. Jump on the CTF train and join us in making the world a better place. We look forward to hearing from you and connecting with you!


And lastly… on behalf of Connect To Fitness, I would like to send out a MASSIVE ‘Thank-you’ to all who helped make this event such a success. We couldn’t have done it without the help of all of our sponsors and, of course, our members and followers who continue to help us grow and prosper into a thriving organization. I would also like to thank each of you who came out to the event last night and we hope you had as wonderful of a time as we did. All the hard work that goes on behind the scenes is always worth it when we receive such glowing feedback from those who attend and benefit from what we are trying to accomplish. A big ‘thank you’ as well to Lulu Lemon for allowing us to take over their store for 2 hours and in all the help and contributions they continue to make for CTF. You are all amazing and we are so happy to be involved with you. Thank you as well to Charles at PFI for always being such an awesome supporter and for all your contributions to CTF, Scott Lenz for your positivity always and for your donation and continual support of CTF, Dan from Tropical Smoothie Café, and Dale from Starbucks. I couldn’t finish this paragraph either without giving a round of applause to the man behind the success of CTF, Darian Parker. The King of Networking, Darian put in SO much work to make this event a success and all his time and efforts really paid off. It has truly been an honor working for him and he is someone you definitely want to get to know if you don’t know him already. Thank you to all!


At 9:30pm after all the guests had left, we packed up shop, cleaned up and started out to the parking garage for our ride home. Once in my car, I felt a huge wave of triumph once again wash over me and I briefly asked myself if the 3 smoothies I drank could be contributing to my high before ruling that out. I think I fell asleep smiling last night.


Until next week, Faithful Reader, thank you again for all you are doing to better yourselves, those around you and the industry. I never ceased to be amazed with you and look forward to working with and getting to know more of you.


“If there was ever a time to dare, to make a difference, to embark on something worth doing, It is now. Not for any grand cause, necessarily... but for something that tugs at your heart, something that's your inspiration, something that's your dream." –Author Unknown (but greatly appreciated!)


"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." –Author Unknown (but, once again, greatly appreciated!)