Women In Wellness: Lyanne Hodson of StrongHer On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
More people more problems — Now having a team of 20 people you would think it gets easier, but NOOOOOOOOO it doesn’t, the biggest misconception. It absolutely decreases the workload of the day to day runnings, but then you have to not only think about and deal with questions from all your members/customers but also from your employees.
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lyanne Hodson.
Lyanne is Co founder & Head of Brand, Marketing & Fitness London’s first & leading strictly women only strength gym. Over the past 5 years, she has built a solid purposeful brand and community that despite Covid, has flourished and are now at the point of expansion.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Absolutely! I’m from Stafford, the land of the oatcakes and grew up with my mum, stepdad and 2 siblings. As the oldest child, I felt I always had something to prove I was imbued with a solid work ethic from the tender age of 13 with my first waiting the job and this type of work was something I did, (and did well may I add) through to my early 20s. Along with this, I was a very active individual, I loved doing things, very athletic & sporty, you know that annoying person that was captain for the netball team but I also had a love for dance and so when it came to Uni and choosing a pathway I went with my passion and studied dance for 3 years and then lead me into the professional dance careers that saw me travel to New York, China, all over the UK and do incredible shows like Xfactor & The voice. However after a few years, I began to resent the industry which lead me into finding other work, and one of those jobs was as a receptionist in LA fitness where my reconnection with fitness began!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
It was a huge achievement when myself and my business partner raised £125,000 in crowdfunding on zero experience. Takeaways from this experience are that if you be you, and stay true to your purpose then you can genuinely achieve anything and also don’t have a million other jobs at the same time as raising capital, its 2x a full-time job and I’m not quite sure how we did it.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting?
Spreading myself too thin that it led to burnout. I was working in 7 different studios, it took its toll on me and I devalued my time. You have to strip things back and focus on the things that resonate and reflect worth.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
My purpose, mission the reason StrongHer exists is to give all women a place where they can thrive, feel confident, discover theemselves and be comfortable with their individuality. As a mixed-race woman, I didn’t see people like me that I could aspire to, nor did I feel there was a place I could be me and it was ok, as I didn’t “look” like other people, not to mention the intimidation I felt when it came to weight training and as a sporty youngster. Creating a space that is accessible to women from any culture, any colour, any background, any anything showing them that weight training can change your life will ultimately, in my opinion,” change how women are viewed in society, will change how women view themselves, allow them to be bigger risk-takers, get more women into higher roles in companies and ultimately bring gender equality.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
For women specifically
1- Tracking your menstrual cycle- This is the holy grail to mapping out what you do and what time in the month physically, socially, mentally and at work. I have personally now will not see people on my week 3 as my mood shifts and I go into conserve energy mode and it means my PMS symptoms are significantly less
2- Taking necessary vitamins and supplements- This is off the back of the previous one women are not educated on the necessary supplementation to support their hormonal changes- a very least taking Vitamin D, magnesium and Omega 3 daily will really help to regulate abrupt hormonal changes
3- Bedtime routine- so many people I speak to don’t have one, it’s just on their phone/watching TV then BOOM bed, with no sense of winding down- your mind and body needs and craves habits & patterns and so getting into the rhythm of turning off devices 15–60mins before bed and spending a little more time prepping for the next day, maybe reading a book/ journaling- will absolutely help those of you that are stress sleepers or get anxious through the night
4-Do something you truly enjoy everyday- now this can be as small or big, but I make it a mission to do something I enjoy, I recently realised that I had lost my hobby of dancing and as I have a keen interest in music I decided to take up DJING and WOW it fires neurons around your brain differently when you do something you enjoy, and that then seeps into other areas of your life.
5- Cut out people that don’t support you- this is a huge one, whether it’s family, friends, co workers. I have done this on a number of occasions and will continue to do so, protecting my space and my energy is no.1 if I wish to help others in the way I want to. So reducing the time spent with people that don’t serve you or your purpose is exhausting and counterproductive.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I’m already doing it haha, A movement that would empower women to embrace their strength & confidence.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
More people more problems — Now having a team of 20 people you would think it gets easier, but NOOOOOOOOO it doesn’t, the biggest misconception. It absolutely decreases the workload of the day to day runnings, but then you have to not only think about and deal with questions from all your members/customers but also from your employees.
Competition is ignition — I, like most, am very competitive and that’s great as it keeps you on your toes and pushing forward, but when competition turns into comparison it becomes toxic. I am noticing it more as a few other business come on the scene that are similar to what we do-but I’m not comparing what we doing I simply use as a catalyst to not settle.
Don’t settle or stay silent — if you don’t fit into the norm you have to be prepared to be loud, stand out and not be afraid of bounceback
You are the expert — You are the expert at what you do, nobody can take that a way from you. You often get greeted with lovely imposter syndrome at any given moment throughout your career, and you have to remember as long as you stay true to what you know and believe you will succeed.
That success comes in many forms — you always think you know when your most successful moments will be and then POW trivial happens and that actually becomes the most powerful thing. Yes returning clients and yes money are great, but actually seeing women that have gone from little confidence to fighting to lift a barbell with a weight they couldn’t initially conceive- is the most magical moment.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health for sure, its as important if not more than your physical health and your body follows where your mind leads it. I absolutely have my low days AKA dark days where I dont want to leave my house and the gym/movement or maybe a solo dinner date day is the only thing that will make me feel good again. Im also faced with women of all walks of life every day battling there mental health conditions and hearing from them how much they need a community & space like ours and how much it helps them
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
ooohhhh where do we start @be__authentig is my insta or you can also find me on @strrongherwomen
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Lyanne Hodson of StrongHer On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.