Written by: Abigail Plante
Itās 5:30am. Darkness covers the sky and the moons glows like a dim night light. The streets are as deserted and quiet as a ghost town. Most people at this time are just waking up for work, but for Lori Pattersonās St. Peters boot camp and roughly 500 other camp locations across the U.S., itās time for a nice, brutal work out.
Lori Patterson is CEO of Boot Camp Challenge, a nationally recognized fitness and wellness program for all fitness levels. The program is fun, effective, and provides a way to incorporate army style training into your everyday exercise routine. Patterson started the company 15 years ago and it hasnāt stopped growing since then. She sells her program to gyms across America. Lori creates routines each day for the camp and sends them out to participating gyms and trainers with which to follow along. Trainers can check in with a social media app called āSwarmā to let campers and anyone interested know when and where the camp is being held that day.
At 19 years of age, Lori joined the army as assistant to the command staff and was stationed in Germany. During the hard, cold winter months in Europe, the army was unable to go outside for their runs. The colonel knew Lori was into fitness, so he asked her to train 300 troops in aerobics. This experience sparked a passion inside of her. It taught her the fundamental values of integrity, respect, perseverance, diligence, and ingenuity that Boot Camp Challenge is built upon.
I meet Lori in the parking lot. She has a commanding presence, one to make you listen to anything she says. Sheās wearing army pattern capris and a black jacket and tee with āBoot Camp Challengeā printed on them in bold letters. Sheās lugging a duffel bag also with the logo on it. Dog tags hang from a chain on her neck. She holds open the door and I walk into the gym.Ā Iām hit with the pungent odor of sweat and feet upon entering. The bright, fluorescent light shocks my eyes after being in the darkness outside. The bars, beams, vault, and foam pit reveal that it doubles as a location for gymnasts. After sending her campers on a mile run outside, Patterson jogs inside and immediately begins setting up the gym for her class. She turns on some poppy music and begins scrawling todayās āmissionsā, or station routines, on the mirror lining of the walls. As the 16, out of breath campers return from their warm-up run, Lori divides them into groups called Alpha, Bravo, Echo, and Delta. She assigns three to four of them into each group.
Since this is modeled after army style training, I expect loud yelling and intimidation from Lori. Contradicting my preconceptions, she rotates around the groups, correcting form and shouting words of encouragement. She even stops once to resolve problems with a woman leaning on a mat, feeling queasy and faint. After Lori has a short, quiet talk with her, the woman is back on her feet, working out with her team.
The comfortable and chatty campers seem to enjoy one another. They act as a team and motivate team mates to push themselves, eliminating any negative, doubtful or competitive feelings. āCool Kidsā starts playing and Lori excitedly announces that this is her new favorite song. āIām dedicating this to all my campers!ā
After each rotation is completed by the groups, Lori switches the music to something slow and calming then calls everyone over to make a circle to cool down and stretch. āLetās go around the circle and I want you tell me how you liked the work-out today. Rate it on a scale of one to ten,ā Loriās slightly gravelly voice instructs. There are solid tens all around. āI wish the missions were written on a piece of paper. They were hard to read on the mirror.ā One of the campers gives some feedback and several heads bob in agreement.
Stretching is completed and the door closes on the last camper. Ā Lori is quickly on her feet putting up weights and cleaning up. Less than ten minutes later, we meet at the Starbucks down the highway near her dance work-out class that begins in a little over an hour. She orders her coffee and picks up breakfast, a Starbucks Protein Box, and chooses an overstuffed chair to sit down in, allowing herself to rest for probably the first and last time today.
āI love my job,ā she states. āWhen I got involved in this industry, it was new. The fitness industry was just starting. The only jobs were group exercise. Personal training didnāt exist.ā She leans forward and emphasizes each word with large gestures. āWhat makes our business different are our values and philosophy and culture. We create a culture of family with our partners. We share, weāre noncompetitive.ā
Lori takes a drink of her coffee. She explains a career as a personal trainer doesnāt provide enough income to live off of. āThey donāt make enough money. Not enough money for 401 or insurance. Rudimentary. I want trainers to make what their worth and for this to be a valuable and good career choice. Itās sad if you have this passion and canāt even put food on the table.ā
Even though she doesnāt have a degree in physical fitness, Lori earned her degree in communication, which has helped her when she appears on Fox 2 news every Monday. āI do this to act as a platform to share vision with the world and vision of wellness. I get to share real truth with everyone. Thatās why I starting selling it. To leave something to my kids. It gives my daughter a job.ā Pattersonās oldest daughter, Victoria, works for her company. Lori squints her eyes as she thinks about Victoria. āSheās my biggest inspiration.āĀ
āThe toughest part of my job is staying open and attentive to my team as CEO. As a trainer, right now the hard part is creating work outs that stay in all sciences, deliver results, but that campers find fun. On the nutrition aspect, I have to battle Jennifer Anniston, movie stars, diets, and even doctors that tell patients to go do diets like Atkins,ā she voices.Ā āThe truth I give my campers is what they donāt want to hear. The truth is that you have to make a lifestyle change. Being the deliverer of truth is tough. You go against the media.ā
Lori adds that when a member is having an issue, you must start by talking. Ask a powerful question and just listen. It all comes out and youāll learn the real problem thatās blocking them. āUse powerful questions to find out what is the real motivator and overcome obstacles. Show them the way. Iām just a facilitator.Ā I help them find what is blocking them. I like to dive in and help them find new choices.ā
Patterson is the type of person who honestly loves what they do. She has a passion to help people and guide them to not only a healthy body, but also a healthy mental lifestyle. āWhat the clients anticipate and expect is the physical change. What shocks them is the mental change, the change in self-confidence. It changes them.ā
As her business continues to grow, more and more people are recognizing the difference in how things are run in Boot Camp Challenge. Honesty always stands out, just like the spunky CEO, Lori. Boot Camp Challenge is the type of company you can really dig into and come out feeling refreshed, unable to find any cheats, lies, or marketing scams.
She drives off to her class while I ponder her motivation to keep going every day. In just one short session with her, Lori has inspired me to challenge myself and go beyond my limits every day.
