I weighed around 172-pounds as a kid.  I weighed more than my dad, sometimes borrowing his t-shirts to wear to church.  So picture me at 11 years old wearing a hyper-color t-shirt carrying a stack of books, now add the glasses and headgear.  Yup.  I was that girl.  I struggled with my weight until I graduated college and completely changed my lifestyle.

Even as a kid, I was always ready to toast to a good meal.

One of the biggest changes I made was committing to working out six days a week.  In fact, when I moved to Newport Beach last year, I fell in love with a cycle class.  This isn’t just any class, it’s special because the instructor is motivating, inspiring, and pushes everyone along.

Last week Bre (the instructor) ended class with her usual motivating speech and then casually mentioned she was dating a new guy and he was planning to take her cycle class on Tuesday.  Within minutes after class, Bre’s Tuesday class was packed with sign-ups.  Why?

Bre’s students want to be in Tuesday’s class because they want to see the guy she’s dating, want to see if he can hang in class, and—mostly—want to see Bre happy.

This got me thinking.  As business owners, we’re sometimes afraid to open up, to make ourselves seen.  But little do we realize people around us want to be part of the journey.  Followers are interested in what we do, but they’re also (maybe even more) interested in who we are.  Yet we hide behind this because we don’t want to fail or take a misstep publicly.

Is it hard being vulnerable in a professional capacity?  Yes.  But I firmly believe openness and realness are secret ingredients to success.  And business owners are better because of it.

And in case you’re wondering, I’m headed to her cycle class today to see who this new guy is!  😉