We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristen Kurihara and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
There wasn’t really a thought process behind whether or not to start my business, it was just something without a doubt I needed to do. It was the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and I had recently got laid off from my job at Carbon38 where I had been managing the Global Ambassador Program for 4 years. When fitness studios were closing, it was a time that the fitness industry was forced to be nimble or sink. In my previous role, I had worked with thousands of fitness professionals all over the world, and I saw these friends having to figure out how to bring their fitness classes online. It was for the love of fitness trainers I believe in, and the excitement that I have for them to grow their audiences beyond the constraints of 4 walls or even their cities or countries, that led me to take the leap and start my business.

Even before I had my business website up, I was holding impromptu weekly zoom marketing coaching calls for fitness professionals and I let people invite anyone they thought needed the community and resources as a beta group while I was registering my LLC. What started very organically as a grassroots meet-up, soon grew to become a dynamic membership network for elite fitness pros.

My mission for MoveForward Community is to bring together incredible women in fitness to build community, connect them with brand opportunities, and to provide business resources to help them uplevel their businesses.

What should our readers know about your business?
MoveForward Community is a membership network for women in fitness (aka fitpreneurs!). My business offers marketing group coaching calls weekly and 2 business webinars a month, with guest speakers on topics like personal branding, social media growth, reels training, and brand partnerships.

As far as how I got here, it has been an up and down journey working for big brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Lululemon, and smaller but quickly growing brands in LA like Seaside Luxe, Pressed Juicery, Kreation Organic, Rese Activewear and Carbon38. I guess it has been all these roads that have prepared me for this opportunity, as scary as it sounds, to begin something myself.

Some thoughts I’ll share that I’ve learned along the way:
– The power of community is that you can bring together incredible minds and energy to solve for something big. You can create a social impact and literally make someone’s day more joyful when they feel seen and supported.
– Word-of-mouth referrals are better than gold. One of my favorite things is to help companies ideate around building ambassador or influencer programs, and I find referral marketing to be an incredible and under-utilized tool in so many businesses!
– When we start saying out loud what we are looking for, the chances that someone has just done something similar and has key pointers or knows the right person to connect us with increases tremendously. I always encourage my members to say the big goals out loud, so people can support where they can. With that said, I’ll put it out here: If you work for an awesome brand that is interested in partnering with fitness influencers, connect with me. If you are a fitness pro, looking for help with growing your business, connect with me. I am here for all of it!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Day 1
Hike Tuna Canyon, Topanga
Smoothie at Sunlife Organic and shopping or grab sandwiches for a picnic at the deli in Malibu Country Mart
Malibu beach day- surfing by Malibu Pier

Day 2
Bike ride from Santa Monica to Venice Beach
Breakfast burrito at Bellissimo Cafe in Venice
Shop around on Abbot Kinney
Beach day in Venice
Lunch at Hinano’s (burgers and beers) by Venice Pier. This place has been around since my parents were dating!
Drinks at Proper Hotel rooftop in Santa Monica has a beautiful ambiance and is dog friendly!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It’s so true that it takes a village to bring a business to life. So many shoutouts… I’ll start with my grandma, because she reminded me when I was devastated about losing my job that I can create the feeling of community I want to have by building the business I wish existed. She’s got 101 years of wisdom, so there’s a much longer story but that’s the meat and potatoes of her teaching and that anything is possible with faith!

I want to give a shoutout to StayOpen Hotels who have created a gorgeous space where I recently hosted the first event of a new event series I launched called “All in: Inclusive Beauty + Fitness Summit” in partnership with Pothos Beauty. It was an incredible all-day event with movement, dancing with @rockyourbest_fit, yoga and mediation with @drypbySoha, delicious Mexican food from @plancha_tacos, conversations about inclusivity, awesome gift bags with brand partners, and a rooftop Venice Beach party with content creation photo ops.

Lastly, I want to give a shoutout to the MoveForward members who have given me purpose and brought me to life! I get so excited thinking about the impact we can all make when we support each other and continue to build off each other’s success and energy.

Website: www.moveforwardcommunity.com

Instagram: @moveforwardcommunity @kkholidayy

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-kurihara-23ab51b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristen.kurihara

Image Credits
photo of me and the picture of 4 of us is photographer. @Maggiezulovic produced by @moveforwardcommunity The picture of the yoga class was my friend’s picture @j.monae.w I can provide you with more photos if you need.

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