Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I used to meet up with the ladies featured in the #BossFiles for coffee or drinks after work. Once the quarantine orders went into affect, I pivoted and started interviewing boss ladies over the phone or on Zoom calls. Andrea Rogers was the first “virtual” interview featured in the series. Check out the interview below!

Meet Andrea Rogers — The creator and founder Xtend Barre! Andrea’s studios offers fitness classes with a unique barre method that combines pilates and dance.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up as a dancer since the age of three, with a love of music and movement. I started my career as a dancer and choreographer. After graduating college, I quickly realized that the corporate world was just not for me. And so I became a ‘Classical Pilates Instructor’, which no one else was doing at the time. No one was even doing barre.

How and when was Xtend Barre born?

I started to sprinkle in some dance moves into my Pilates private clients sessions and all my members and clients asked for more of that ‘ballet stuff’ that I was doing. And I just decided to start something. I had taken other barre classes before, but they weren’t really what I wanted to do. So I approached the owner of the studio I was teaching at in South Florida, and told him about my idea to started a barre class. And no one else was doing it back then; it was just in New York City really. And so I started a barre class and it really took off. We had wait-listed classes within a couple of weeks. That was in 2008 and then, everything else happened very organically from there. We built a training program and launched a license program, which then led to a franchisee program, and now here we are today.

Why has fitness become such a huge part of your life?

Movement has always been a big part of my life.

How do you balance family and work?

Well, it’s not easy. I’m a single mom, so it’s a challenge. But fortunately, I thrive off of finding the routine, but I’m not necessarily a stickler for sticking to a routine 24/7. It’s really important for us to find that balance everyday. So we do thrive off our routine, but we’re also able to have a good attitude and go with the flow.

We moved from South Florida to New York City just over a year ago, which is a major change. And they just go with the flow. We just always seem to be able to do that and take everything in stride. And even with this pandemic, we just put on our happy faces (for lack of better words), but we just move with optimism and let that feeling of gratitude lead the way and find our way.

“Find your way and do it with gratitude.”

How do you inspire your daughters? How do they inspire you?

I think if I were to ask my kids that, I think they see me working very hard. They see me hustle. They see me constantly on calls. You know, they see me working hard for what we have. They also have a lot of pride when they see mommy on a television commercial or on in an ad on their app on their phone. They were so excited when an add came up on their iPad last week and they were like “Oh my god, your commercial is on YouTube!” So, they get inspired about those little things.

My kids inspire me. And they inspire me because they’re my kids, right? They’ are everything to me. So my children inspire me, but aside from that that’s the norm. Everyone says that. My kids just have this unyielding sense of joy and adventure. It’s very impressive and it motivates me everyday.

What work policies do you implement at your company tat allows employees to have a good work/life balance?

We have an incredible beautiful connected empowering community at Xtend Barre. And it’s just so motivating. Our business is very interesting in that we are kinda spread all over. So the people that I work with on a daily basis, like we don’t have a brick and mortar office, so we were quite prepared for this pandemic in terms of being able to work from home because it’s what we’ve always done, which is really beautiful because it always every one of our team members to do their own thing. We have a lot of trust. Everyone gets their job done. There’s no micro-managing happening and so I think everyone just works with ease and trust knowing that they have the trust and ability to get their gig done in their own way.

Since you are a female-found company, do you specifically work to hire women and collaborate with other female-owned obsessions?

Not specifically, but it is something that has happened very organically for us because we are a dance based program. A majority of our studio managers are female, but that’s not intentional. We naturally draw in more of a female demographic, and so we find ourselves surround by many females, which is beautiful and empowering. And the majority of our owners are females. However, we also have a male client base and we have some male owners involved and obviously some operators that we’ve worked with both domestically and international are also male.

But it’s really great to see when you have these classes (no matter how many men or women are in the classes), it' just has this really supportive community. It doesn’t matter what age you are, or fitness level you’re at, or how much dance experience you have. Most of our members are not dancers. It’s just this really incredibly supportive community and we pride ourselves on that.

Share some wisdom with us.

There’s this quote that I love… “Begin as you mean to go.” I learned this quote reading a parenting book when my daughter was a newborn and it just rang true to me. It basically just means set in place a structured foundation for which you want to grow from. And in parenting, that was the analogy of like if you want your child to be sleeping in your bed when they’re ten years old, then start those habits now. And if you don’t, then start a structured routine to create a well-balanced life for your child. And I think this is the same as it attributes to life, in general. So, if you have ambition to do more, be more, and to grow more, you have to start with that foundation and be hyper-focused on the smaller things before you start to reach for the bigger things. You have to set the foundation.

When it comes to fitness, what advice do you have for people to sort of look at it from a different angle? Lots of people enjoy working out, but there are also lots of people who don’t enjoy working out and view it as a chore to stay in shape or maintain this healthy lifestyle.

People are constantly asking me how I stay motivated. And I always have the same response, which is: ‘Motivation doesn’t wake up with you in the morning’. Maybe for some people, it does. For me, I’m already pretty motivated everyday when I wake up, but there are mornings that I wake up and I don’t want to do the things I have to do. We ALL have those days. And some of us have them more frequently than others. And others are just able to push through. I’m one of those people who can just push through and I’m pretty self-motivated. But, when I have those days where I don’t want to push the play button.

I always use the hashtag #JustPressPlay! The goal is you have to do the hard thing and once you do the hard thing, and you start the movement and you do it, you will start to feel better. And that feeling better is part of the results, not just looking better, but feeling better. And once you start to feel those results happening, that transitions into motivation, which transitions into more action. But you have to start with action. You have to start by making the move, pressing play (whether it’s pressing play on a video or in your life- whatever that goal is that you have to do), you have to do the hard thing, you’re gonna feel good after you do it and then you’re gonna be motivated to do it more. It’s a cyclical little dance.

“In order to start the movement, you have to start with action.”

Since you already own a studio and teach barre and Pilates, what fitness activities do you enjoy outside of work?

I love a good Pilates Reformer class. I don’t really have a favorite studio, but some of the local NYC studios that I got to are SLT and New York Pilates. And I really like classical barre studios.

“It’s all about who you surround yourself with.”

What's your day to day like these days? What was it like pre-COVID?

My schedule has changed dramatically since COVID-19, as with most of us. I am no longer traveling, teaching in person, or heading to meetings, shoots like I did in the past. Things have slowed down in terms or running to/from places but I have used this time to add more things to my to-do list and tackle some long overdue projects! My days are focused on looking after my two girls while managing my business and squeezing in some passion projects and time with friends.

How do you stay organized? Do you keep a calendar, make to-do lists out of sticky notes all over a wall, etc?

I have always been a very organized Type A individual. I thrive when I am in an organized environment so I make sure to keep my home and work space tidy and well kept as this is how I work most effectively. I am big on using my google calendar to stay on track for meetings and events, and lean into my routines as best as I can but am not afraid to change direction on the fly!

What's your diet like?

I don't follow any "diet' - I eat for both fuel and enjoyment with the philosophy to "eat empowered". I approach each meal as an opportunity to get in the "goods" that will provide satiety while also enjoying the taste of the foods I love. I don't restrict myself from any foods and focus on eating as nutrient dense meals as possible while indulging without guilt!