Chanel is the powerhouse marketing manager over at Ārepa, one of our favourite brands here at Fitness All Together. Having recently initiated weekly FAT HIIT classes for her team, we chatted to Chanel about the importance of exercise & wellness in the workplace; what her team thinks of the FAT sessions, and how the pandemic has changed business for them.
What is your role within Arepa?
Marketing Manager
How did your company hear about FAT and how long have you been training with us?
I heard about it through the boys when I started as an existing partnership we had with sponsoring product at FAT events and knew straight away I wanted to do more!
Briefly explain your experience thus far with FAT?
My experience with FAT has been great. Personally, I’ve always been into working out and staying fit so being able to support you guys doing that for others has been epic, as well as being able to build out our own FAT events to really build out a health and wellness offering for our Brainfood community.
If you could highlight three main benefits you and the team get from FAT, what would they be?
Exercise (obviously), bringing people together to workout and offering our own community something that so strongly aligns with our core values as a brand and the products we produce.
What advice would you give other companies thinking of getting FAT on board?
Do it! Nothing bonds people more than a 45 minute sweat session
What else does your employee wellness program involve?
We’re working on it but FAT is as far as we have got so far as it’s allowed us to incorporate exercise for our employees and our community
In your ideal world, what does wellness in the workplace look like?
I think it’s all about education and awareness. Offering employees a way to move to look after their physical health, as well as enabling employees to learn about what their mental health is so important to and how it can drastically impact our day to day lives
How did your team react to the FAT initiative?
Monday morning HIIT classes initially went down like a cup of cold sick - but after we got some of the team involved, they kept coming back and always said how great they felt that they got up early and prioritised just part of their day to moving
How has the pandemic affected your approach to wellness as an organisation?
The pandemic has had a massive impact on us. We’ve got people finally tuning in and caring more about what they put in their body, as well as learning how it impacts their brain and day to day function. We’ve noticed a huge surge in wellness events we put on, as well as just education pieces around the benefits of exercise, of being mindful, and of taking the time for yourself to check in.