Today we’d like to introduce you to Roots of Wellness Maggi Shupe and Ailee Larson.
Roots of Wellness, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Roots of Wellness was created with the idea of giving you roots within your fitness and wellness community to grow and learn. We want our community to know that it has the ability and support to stay grounded through the ups and downs in the realms of wellness. Our hope is that with the experience of participating in any ROW event every person will leave feeling empowered and educated to live a balanced, healthier, and happier life. ROW tailors each of our comprehensive programs to fit the needs of every individual. We want our participants to feel the strength and power that our community has to offer as they chose to better their life.
The owners of Roots of Wellness, Maggi Shupe and Ailee Larson, met in the spring of 2017 while co-managing a weight loss retreat in Salt Lake City and instantly connected. Through their mutual love for the outdoors, they became fast friends. While working at that company, Maggi and Ailee saw that there was a need for a company that supported our local community that was less concerned about the profit and more concerned about the quality of the client’s life.
Maggi and Ailee both believe that healthy change begins with a strong support system, that the biggest key to success is a friendly atmosphere to thrive in, and that wellness looks different for everyone. ROW does not look at wellness as a one-size-fits-all approach, everyone struggles with different problems, and we all need support in different aspects of our lives. With Maggi and Ailee’s diverse experience, combined 25 years of experience, and extensive education, each ROW client is sure to find the true meaning of what wellness means to them.
Ailee has had a love for fitness and wellness since she was a child. Growing up in Northern Minnesota, Ailee was an avid outdoors enthusiast and participated in sports throughout high school. She was nationally ranked in Cross Country in college, competed internationally with Team Nike, and has competed many years in the Leadville trail 100 and Lutsen 99er mountain bike races, winning her age division numerous years. Ailee has eight years of professional instruction, working in individual and group training sessions ranging from clinical wilderness therapy to live-in fitness and wellness retreats.
Ailee holds certifications as a personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports medicine, a functional range specialist through functional anatomy, a nutrition coach through precision nutrition, a pre and post-natal coach through Girls Gone Strong, and a CrossFit level 1 trainer. She specializes in weight loss and nutrition, strength and conditioning, barbell weightlifting, and sport-specific training. Ailee’s foundation for every wellness program is fueled by scientific and evidence-based approaches to fitness. Ailee’s philosophy on fitness is to ensure you feel heard, empowered, educated, and see results while having fun.
Maggi Shupe was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. She obtained an academic and athletic full-ride scholarship to attend private high school and moved to Utah in 2007 to graduate with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science. Maggi is a personal trainer certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and group fitness certified through the American Council on Exercise. She is also Schwinn cycle certified, TRX suspension trainer certified, and Tabata Bootcamp certified.
Maggi has channeled her love for outdoor recreation into her passion for fitness and well-being to create effective, lasting, and life-improving exercise programs. She has worked in the fitness industry for 18 years and loves seeing her clients thrive. Maggi won 2nd place in the worldwide Sigma Theta Tau research convention for her presentation on diabetes prevention and in-home wellness practices.
Maggi’s philosophy on wellness is to make every moment she spends with her client enjoyable and educational to ensure future success.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The process around developing Roots of Wellness has been an exciting and wild ride. The passion for this project that Maggi and Ailee’s share has set them up to be incredibly motivated to make ROW succeed. With the strong foundation of genuinely wanting to help others improve the quality of their lives, ROW has blossomed into a company unlike any other.
As with any business, the early years of an establishment can be challenging. Maggi and Ailee chose to not hire someone to develop and market their company, but rather to do it themselves and learn about the process along the way. They quickly realized it was like learning a new language on a time crunch!
When aspects of the business development process became overwhelming to the point of not being productive, Maggi and Ailee would turn on the Taylor Swift song “Shake It off” and dance the fog away. They never undervalued the importance of moving your body and being silly to get back to the spirit they wanted to engrain in ROW. Early on in their friendship and professional relationship, they both learned that their differing personality characteristics balanced each other out and during challenging times. This unique friendship allowed them to support each other in taking a step back, gaining preceptive, and openly communicating about the best path to move forward.
Pre-covid, Row focused primarily on high-end retreats. As the reality of the rippling effects Covid would have on small businesses set in, Maggi and Ailee quickly realized that they needed to restructure their company in order to survive. They made one heck of a Covid-19 comeback. They developed more community-based programs such as their monthly BE WELL events and created a virtual platform for their fitness classes such as virtual physical education classes for children doing remote learning.
They also hosted a large amount of virtual employee wellness programs during quarantine. While that initial panic Covid-19 brought was unsettling, Maggi and Ailee are grateful for the shift it bought in their company. By adding more virtual classes and events they were able to connect with a larger group of online clientele and began hosting more retreats outside in nature.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
ROW offers a variety of wellness services. Please see the description of each service below.
1. Destination pop-up group and private wellness retreats – These amazing retreats are hosted all over Utah, on the Big Island of HI, Austin TX, and in multiple locations across Colorado, and Montana. Row specializes in designing retreats to help you “unplug” from the stress of your daily life as well as have the ability to learn how to manage stress in a more effective way.
Each event includes scientifically proven exercise routines for all fitness levels, immersion in the outdoors, education about how to improve your quality of life, top-of-the-line spa services, yoga, meditation, and healthy, delicious food prepared by ROW-approved chefs.
2. BE WELL Community Day Events – These monthly events focus on blending wellness and outdoor recreation. Each BE WELL features fitness classes, educational sessions, mindfulness exercises, and some type of seasonal lessons about outdoor activities such as paddle boarding or snowshoeing. ROW typically partners with a restaurant, brewery, or distillery to showcase a variety of local like-minded businesses.
3. Fit Fly – ROW will come to you! Roots of Wellness offers a variety of packages all designed to improve your specific lifestyle in your environment. Maggi and Ailee will come to you to create a tailor-made, judgment-free, educational program in your home to fit your individual needs.
4. Wellness Events for Local or Out-of-State Companies – ROW brings wellness to you and your team. Employee wellness has been proven to lower health insurance costs, improve employee productivity, and improve the work environment morale. Through a wide range of mobile fitness equipment, educational tools, and mindfulness practice ROW can create an employee wellness program to fit any team.
5. Virtual Fitness classes/P.E. (classes for children aged 10 and above) – ROW offered weekly fitness and wellness classes virtually to anyone who is not available to work with them in person.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
ROW has a strong base of supportive people who have helped them immensely as they have grown as a company, specifically Amy Wallace from North Carolina. Amy met Ailee and Maggi when she was attending their previous retreat company in 2018. Amy recognized their unique skillset and encouraged them to create their own company. Amy is a phenomenal attorney and assisted them in setting up the ROW corporation and with legal counsel. In addition to being tremendous legal support, Amy is also huge emotional support for Maggi and Ailee. She has been one of their biggest cheerleaders and advocators. They love her like their own family and recognize that without her ROW wouldn’t be where it is today.
Ailee and Maggi are so extremely lucky to be very close with their families. Neither of them has personalities that thrive in traditional nine to five job roles. It took the support of each of their family members reminding them that nothing worthwhile comes easily and to have faith in the fight to create the life they want when they crossed bumps in the road developing ROW. Both of their families taught them the value of supporting others and paying it forward, which has been one of the fundamental values they built into their company.
One of Ailee’s closest friends, Steph Mayer, is the senior manager of Recreation and Adventure Programs for the National Ability Center (NAC). She has been a supporter of ROW from the beginning. The NAC is a great company that empowers adaptive athletes by building self-esteem, confidence, and lifetime skills through sport, recreation, and educational programs.
Steph and the NAC regularly let ROW rent their outdoor recreation equipment and connect them with ideal locations to host their BE WELL events. Steph is a true friend to them. She also places high value on supporting people through wilderness therapy and healthy lifestyles.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@rowretreats.com
- Website: www.rowretreats.com
- Instagram: rootsofwellnessrow
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rootsofwellnesstraining
