About Embody Wellness & Fitness

More Than a Workout, A Community That Moves Together

Heather Dawson, Naomi Swanson and Stephanie Perez are part of the team behind Embody Wellness & Fitness in Greenville.

It started with three women and a Pilates class inside Fit City Nutrition.

Stephanie Perez had been building her personal training and Pilates business mostly through word of mouth when Heather Dawson invited her to begin teaching Thursday nights at Fit City. Three women showed up for those early classes, then a few more came, and before long there were 13 trying to fit into a space that simply wasn’t big enough anymore.

It only took about three months.

Heather called the landlord to ask about the space next door, and an idea that had been in the back of her mind suddenly had somewhere to go. That space became Embody Wellness & Fitness.

For Heather, opening the studio wasn’t simply about finding more room for a growing Pilates class. She saw an opportunity to create something she had wanted for a long time: a smaller, more personal fitness space where people could feel comfortable trying something new, but also a place where women with their own talents and businesses could have room to grow.

Today, Heather Dawson may own Embody, but she is quick to talk about it as a team. Heather brings strength training, stretch and mobility, and one-on-one personal training to the studio. Naomi Swanson brings the energy of Zumba and Wake Up, Workout & Worship. Stephanie brings a softer energy to Pilates. Monica brings plenty of early-morning energy to Core Fusion, a combination of core work, strength and plenty of resistance bands. Chelsea Daugherty rounds out the wellness side of Embody with massage therapy.

They each have their own personalities, specialties and businesses, but the vision behind the space is shared.

“We all have the same vision,” Heather said. “The goal is to make people feel really good about being active and feel good within their own skin.”

Heather Dawson’s Path to Fitness and Wellness in Greenville

Heather Dawson brings strength training, stretch and mobility, and personal training to Embody Wellness & Fitness.

That vision makes a little more sense when you know Heather’s story, because fitness wasn’t actually where she expected to end up.

Heather originally went to school planning to become an Ag teacher, inspired in part by her own Ag teacher, Joanna Arnwine. As life changed and Heather became a mom, her plans changed too. Nursing entered the picture for a while, followed by coaching.

Eventually, Heather realized she didn’t want to coach sports. She wanted to coach fitness. Over the years, that path has grown into work as a personal trainer, certified stretch specialist, yoga instructor and stretch and mobility coach. Today, she teaches strength training, stretch and mobility, pelvic floor restoration, and works one-on-one with clients who need a little more individualized care.

Heather Dawson works one-on-one with Joanna Arnwine during an individualized session at the hospital.

But ask Heather what keeps her doing it, and she doesn’t start talking about certifications or workouts. She talks about people.

She remembers her first client losing 103 pounds. She talks about an older client who was suddenly able to climb stairs without knee pain. And she lights up talking about her own mom, who had never really exercised before, now showing up for classes, challenging herself and getting stronger.

Those stories and the relationships behind them are what keep Heather coming back. And maybe that’s why her approach to fitness isn’t about creating one perfect body or finding one perfect workout. She believes movement can look different for everyone, whether that means lifting weights, dancing, Pilates, running or simply working on mobility.

As long as someone is moving, taking care of their body and beginning to feel better in their own skin, Heather considers that progress.

How Embody Wellness & Fitness Creates Space for Women to Build Their Businesses

Chelsea Daugherty adds massage therapy to the wellness services available at Embody Wellness & Fitness.

But Heather’s vision for Embody wasn’t only about creating more room for fitness classes. She also saw an opportunity to create space for other women to build something of their own.

Rather than hiring instructors to simply teach under the Embody name, the women inside the studio operate their own classes and businesses. Embody gives them a place to grow without taking on the expense of opening a studio of their own.

For Heather, that part of the vision is personal.

When she was approached by a massage therapist looking for a place to grow her business, Heather recognized something familiar in her story.

“I’ve been in that position where she is,” Heather said. “All I needed was someone to say yes to me and my vision for me to be able to flourish.”

So Heather said yes.

It is the same philosophy that runs through the rest of Embody. One woman’s success doesn’t have to come at the expense of another’s. There is room for each of them to build something, bring her own personality into the space, and serve people in her own way. And when one of them grows, the others are there cheering her on.

Finding the Right Fitness Class at Embody Wellness & Fitness

“I like to dance, but I hate to work out,” Naomi laughed.

What began years ago teaching Zumba in her mother’s garage eventually grew into classes at the YMCA, Snap Fitness, Fit City, and now Embody Wellness & Fitness. Today, she hopes every woman who walks into her class leaves feeling confident in her own skin and discovers that fitness can actually be fun.

When I asked Naomi if there was someone whose journey had stayed with her, she mentioned a familiar name: Mistye Clary, owner of Fox Nutrition in Caddo Mills. Earlier this year, Mistye shared with The Local Letter that one of the first steps in her own wellness journey began in Naomi’s Zumba class, where Naomi encouraged her to “just keep moving.” Months later, sitting across from Naomi and hearing her remember Mistye’s journey too felt like a pretty special full-circle moment.

Naomi Swanson brings music, movement and plenty of energy to Zumba at Embody Wellness & Fitness.

For Stephanie Perez, the journey looked different.

After spending years as a stay-at-home mom raising four children, postpartum depression led her to begin working with a personal trainer. Before long, she found herself earning certifications in personal training and Pilates. What she once thought would simply be a personal journey has become an opportunity to encourage other women every week.

Her classes began with just three participants, and within months, they had outgrown the original space. Now, women from all stages of life fill her classes.

“The young girls, the older girls, moms… they all feel comfortable,” Stephanie said. “They feel like they fit in.”

Stephanie Perez teaches Pilates in a welcoming environment designed for women at different ages and fitness levels.

For someone who isn’t sure where she fits, Embody has also created a simple way to find out.

Once a month, the instructors come together for a $5 community class. Heather jokingly compares it to speed dating for fitness. Participants spend about ten minutes with each instructor, getting a feel for the different personalities, classes and styles offered at Embody.

The idea is to give someone who may be hesitant about walking into a new class a chance to meet the instructors, experience several types of movement and figure out what feels right for her.

Maybe that’s Zumba. Maybe it’s Pilates, strength training or something else entirely.

The important part is finding something that makes her want to come back.

Why Community Matters at Embody Wellness & Fitness

Embody’s monthly community class gives participants a chance to experience different instructors and styles of fitness.

That idea of finding where you belong isn’t limited to the people taking the classes. You can see it in the way the women behind Embody work together, too.

If someone comes to Heather and says she wants to try Pilates, Heather doesn’t try to convince her to stay in one of her classes. She sends her to Stephanie. If Zumba sounds like a better fit, she’ll point her toward Naomi.

“We’re not afraid to send our people to each other,” Heather said. “It’s not about who has the biggest class. It’s about how can we serve the community in the aspect that they’re needing us.”

Naomi sees something else happening because of it.

People walking into Embody aren’t only seeing women teach different styles of fitness. They’re watching women build alongside one another without treating the woman in the next room as competition.

“There is no competition,” Naomi said. “We are all in competition with our own selves.”

Monica leads Core Fusion, combining core work, strength and resistance training at Embody Wellness & Fitness.

That means success at Embody doesn’t necessarily look like convincing someone that one particular class is the right one. It might mean helping her find the instructor, class or type of movement that makes her want to keep coming back.

As Naomi put it later in our conversation, it doesn’t really matter where someone finds that.

“It may not be us,” she said. “It may be the rec center. It may be go for a walk. As long as you’re moving, we don’t care.”

That philosophy extends beyond the instructors.

Heather smiled while describing friendships that have formed inside the studio. Women who met during class now walk together outside of class. Clients cheer each other on, celebrate personal victories, and even decide together when new members have become “part of the group.”

“It becomes a family,” Heather said.

Classes at Embody have become a place for women to move together, encourage one another and build friendships.

Building Confidence Beyond the Workout

Perhaps the most surprising part of our conversation was how little of it was actually about workouts.

Again and again, we came back to confidence, relationships and how women see themselves. Even after years in the fitness industry, Heather admitted there are still times when she looks in the mirror and is harder on herself than she should be.

Years ago, Naomi’s mom gave her a piece of advice that Heather still reminds herself of today: “You are someone’s goal.”

It changed the way she looked at herself.

While she might be noticing the things she wishes were different, someone standing across the room may be watching her lift a weight they hope to lift one day or do something they aren’t able to do yet. Heather realized that sometimes we become so focused on our own imperfections that we don’t see the things in ourselves that someone else already finds inspiring.

That’s something she wants the women who come to Embody to understand about themselves, too.

When I asked what they hoped someone would feel after their first class, the answers came quickly. Naomi said powerful. Stephanie said refreshed. Heather added challenged and accomplished.

But Heather kept going.

She talked about how easy it is for women to speak negatively about themselves and how intentionally she tries to change that conversation during her classes. She wants women walking out the door talking about what they accomplished, what their bodies were capable of and what they can do next.

Stephanie agreed. She wants women to leave loving their own bodies.

Getting Back to Business by Making Yourself Part of the Plan

That’s a fitting place to end our Back to Business series.

As August brings Hunt County back into its familiar routines, the kids head back to school, work gets busy again and calendars begin filling with all the things that come with another season. It can be easy to spend so much time getting everyone else back into a routine that we forget to put ourselves somewhere on the schedule.

Maybe getting “Back to Business” doesn’t always have to mean working harder. For some of us, maybe it’s getting back to taking care of ourselves, finding a community, trying something new or finally doing the thing we’ve been telling ourselves we’ll start on Monday.

Whether that first step leads someone to strength training, Pilates, Zumba, stretching, massage therapy or simply a walk around the neighborhood, the women at Embody aren’t particularly concerned with where you choose to move. As Naomi said during our conversation, “As long as you’re moving, we don’t care.”

What they hope is that wherever you start, you begin to recognize what your body can do, give yourself a little more grace and maybe even realize that while you’ve been busy comparing yourself to everyone else, you might already be someone’s goal.

Because sometimes getting back to business starts by finally making yourself part of the plan.

More From The Local Letter’s Back to Business Series

Embody Wellness & Fitness brings our August Back to Business series to a close. Catch up on the other Hunt County businesses and people we met along the way: