This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
01/11/2017 11:00 PMJodi Harrison has always been an active person. Jodi started dancing at age three, was a cheerleader throughout school, and rowed crew at Simmons College in Boston. Still, Jodi never considered turning fitness into a career when she was younger. She majored in communications and worked in retail and fashion until her first daughter was born in 1989.
Jodi was a stay-at-home mother to her two daughters for many years. She became a personal trainer, offering her services at two different gyms. During this time, Jodi also trained for fitness competitions and competed in her first show in 2008. The following year, at age 49, Jodi won her first World Show in the 45-and-older Masters Division. She took first place in the same competition later that year in Las Vegas.
“Nobody else has ever won two consecutive world titles in masters, so I’m very proud of that,” says Jodi, a Branford resident. “Fitness shows have really changed my life. They have made me stronger mentally and physically. If you’re not mentally strong and focused on what you want to do, you won’t accomplish it, and that goes with everything in life.”
Jodi competed again in 2010, but when her father passed away shortly thereafter, Jodi took a break from competing. She remained focused on fitness, though, and opened a fitness studio in Woodbridge in 2011 after her youngest daughter went to college.
“I wanted to take control of what I loved to do and decided at 50 that I never wanted to work for anybody because I had a vision of what I wanted to give to other women,” Jodi says. “I saw a very clear path of what I felt women over 50 needed. Even though I have clients in their 40s, I wish I had had a trainer like me to tell me what I could expect in the next 10 years.”
For three years, Jodi operated in Woodbridge before relocating to the shoreline area. In 2014, she opened Jodi Fit in Branford, focusing her fitness mission around her love of boutique shops.
“I was evolving as a woman, an athlete, and a coach, and I wanted to create a very boutique-oriented environment, so women can feel how important they are,” says Jodi. “I wanted to create a place where they could come and feel comfortable and be energetic, motivated, and inspired.”
Even though Jodi wasn’t competing at the time, she wasn’t far from the competition circuit as she was training other women for competitions and fitness shows. Jodi proudly notes how most of the women she trained finished in the top five of their class, while two of them won pro cards.
This past March, Jodi’s mother had a stroke, which led to partial paralysis. Seeing how quickly life can change inspired Jodi to return to the stage. This summer, Jodi traveled to Vegas to once again compete in the Masters Division with women aged 45 and older.
“My mom’s stroke has given us all a new perspective and I realized I am so lucky I have these two legs I get to stand on,” says Jodi. “I thought, ‘I am 55. I’m going to get in the best shape I’ve ever been in and I’m going to get...on stage.’”
When Jodi got to Las Vegas, she checked out the roster of her fellow competitors. Normally, there are between 12 to 15 women in her division. This summer, however, there were 27 competitors. Jodi always teaches her clients to not focus too much on the competition and she took her own advice. The approach paid off with a second-place finish.
“I told myself, ‘You’re going to rock this and you came here to compete with yourself and to inspire women your age,’” Jodi says. “I felt amazing on stage and placed second. Only one woman beat me and she was 45 and a tall blonde. It was like I won and I never felt stronger. I felt like superwoman.”
In addition to getting back into competitions, Jodi has also spent time expanding her business. She still teaches her clients in Woodbridge twice a week and, this August, group classes were added to Jodi Fit’s offerings of personal training and nutrition consultations. She also brought things like yoga, barre, and TRX classes to the studio.
Sally Esborn met Jodi through the Chamber of Commerce and has been impressed by Jodi’s approach to fitness and nutrition. Esborn is also impressed with the Jodi Fit studio.
“She lives what she teaches and is her own calling card for exercise and diet. She has legs I can only dream about,” says Sally. “She has made her studio welcoming to women and she is so motivational. I was so pleased to see that she took over the upstairs of her studio to include more classes.”
While Jodi’s original goal was to serve women who are near or going through menopause, she wants her studio to appeal to females of all ages. One of Jodi’s teachers recently had a baby and will soon be hosting Mommy and Me classes to appeal to even more women.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Jodi hosted a four-week class called Hot for the Holidays where women worked out in the high heels they were planning on wearing during the holidays. The goals of that class and Jodi’s other classes are to “empower women” and help women “feel sexy in their bodies.”
“The most important thing is to focus on each woman and their needs and what they want to accomplish,” says Jodi. “Everything I do with a client or group fitness class is to focus on what they came there for and dig deeper and figure out how they want to live their life.”
Jodi is now thinking about competing in Miami this June. She has seen her involvement in fitness and competitions not only inspire her clients, but her daughters, as well.
“My clients see me walk the walk and talk the talk. I can relate to almost any excuse for not working toward goals. I’ve been married, divorced, a single mom, dated, opened my own business, lost a parent, dated crazy men,” says Jodi. “My daughters have seen me go from a stay-at-home mom to a business owner doing all of these things. It’s really important to show them how strong you need to be in this world, mentally and physically.”