Today we’d like to introduce you to Geri McNiece.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Most people assume that I have always been able to hoop a.k.a. hula hoop. The truth is, I never even tried until the age of 47. I couldn’t keep it spinning on my waist when I tried to do it then, either. So this begs the question, how did I ever get started teaching it? THAT’S a testimony in the real power of what hooping can bring into your life… I was raised in dance class and baton twirling lessons from the age of about three. Never shy, always outgoing, I loved the performing arts and as I got older, I was involved in all that very heavily during high school. By the time I went to college, I knew I wanted to be on stage more, so I majored in Musical Theatre.
When I was 20, I landed a summer job performing in an outdoor musical production and made many new connections and friends from New York. So, I decided to move there but came home after about SIX months. I didn’t feel “at home” and missed Texas terribly. I just wanted to perform, but have a day job, to support myself, not really make performing my main career and I could do what I wanted back home, in a much smaller ocean, so-to-speak, find a real job easier and get cast in shows when I chose to audition. This worked well and I really loved my career in banking, which I began once I returned home. I also began making more connections in the Dallas theatre community and did shows I enjoyed with people who are still friends to this day. What I didn’t plan on was meeting a man I would marry, who was not into theatre, and then becoming a wife and mom.
Nothing wrong with that at all, mind you. It has been my FAVORITE role of a lifetime! Funny what true love does… yep, I lost touch with the side of myself that I identified with most, the performer, and began to raise a family. That’s not to say I didn’t get to entertain customers at my desk during the workday… I think working in public like that suited me well, and I got to fill that part of my soul that loved connecting with others, making them smile. I just did it and got paid for it under the title of Teller and New Accounts Officer! When I was in my 40’s and my two boys were in high school, I knew the time was coming for them to be out of our house and I’d have a little more time and a chance to do something I enjoyed. I was cast in a couple of local stage productions and had lots of fun… but I wasn’t in my 20’s anymore, let’s face it! The process was hard and tiring! I knew I wanted to be dancing more and felt for health reasons, it sure would be good for me to move more.
The choreography in the shows was appealing and just the right amount of challenging, but the rehearsal & performance schedules were not really on my radar of fun any longer. What’s a girl to do? I set out to try new forms of exercise that might fill that void of dance in my life. Hip Hop aerobics? Kinda fun, but not really my thing. Plain aerobics? Nah, too fitness-y. Water aerobics. Nope, too slow, but it WAS gentle. Yoga was a little to strict, Pilates felt wonderful, but pricey, needing the right equipment in a place that had instructors (it was relatively new)… tap class was fun, so I tried a little of that but I still just wasn’t finding exactly what I was looking for. I just gave up for a couple of years and poured myself into selling AVON, of all things. Not only was I an empty nester, but I had left my banking career to help take care of my mother-in-love… I had time on my hands and began dipping my toe into my own business. I sold a ton of lipsticks & lotions to all my former bank customers, friends, family and the ladies who lived at the retirement & assisted living places with my M-I-L!
I especially adored serving those women and learned a lot from their wisdom. We had many talks and I got a deep respect for them. I learned even more reasons why I wanted to age well, gracefully, as pain-free as possible and my wheels were turning again… how could I help them? Better yet, how could I help myself? I was only thinking about it, had not told ONE person, however and within a few days, I turned on my TV and THERE was hooping on Good Morning America! It took my breath away… the pretty woman spinning a hoop on her hand above her head! I wasn’t thinking about moving with the ladies at the retirement place anymore… I just wanted to TRY THAT HOOP thing! This was before DVR’ing and I only caught the last few seconds of the TV segment. I ran to my computer and searched GMA’s website… nothing. I waited for about an hour and it had updated! I found out who and what this hoop thing was and sent them an email… they were in California. I placed an order for a hoop and the next thing that happened was a HUGE GodWink!
I suddenly realized something after I completed my hoop purchase. Believe it or not, we were actually heading to Los Angeles in two weeks for a vacation (WHAT a coincidence, right?) and we were going to be very close to the studio where I could buy a hoop AND take a class! I was shocked that such a class existed! Unfortunately, no classes were being held while we would be there, but they did offer private lessons by appointment and so without a second thought, I booked one by email. I didn’t tell my husband and son until were at our hotel, though! I knew they would laugh at me! I was right… they did! I told them it was the only souvenir I wanted from this trip and as it turned out, the BEST one I ever got on ANY trip! It changed my life, obviously! Even though I couldn’t waist hoop very well at all during my lesson, I loved the off-body moves with the arms & hands… that’s because of my twirling background!
This was what I had been looking for movement that made me feel connected with… well… ME! Something that spoke to my younger self certainly other women out there needed to feel young again and come ON, the movement is sexy & great exercise, to boot! It even had a nice performance element to it! Could I actually teach this someday? All my background in business processes from banking, customer service from that career, too… all my years of dance, TWIRLING (the spinning of an object) and even my small AVON business, with all the women, various ages, that I already had connections with… it set me up with a great foundation to begin as an entrepreneur, hoop in hand. My husband thought it was a crazy idea, but he saw how much passion I had for it.
Within about 18 months, I learned, studied hoop curriculum, taught my first clients and became a certified hoop instructor and master trainer then started my company, aRoundJoy, in 2009 at the age of 49 and opened The HoopShack, an indoor-outdoor all hooping warehouse in Arlington, the only one of it’s kind in Texas. Hoop classes and the right size hoops themselves… all available from me there. Over the years, we have sized down to a smaller studio and thankfully, before 2020, I had pivoted to the online space enough to only be teaching privately from my home, as needed. I offer an online hoop course and coaching group that comes with my Beginner Hoops and YES, the hoops are still custom made for all clients, by me! This year, with more women home, I have been busy and so very blessed.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The stigma that hooping is “too hard” or “I could NEVER do that” or a woman feels she’s “too fat” or the best one, “I’m too OLD!” THOSE are all self-limiting beliefs that can make it difficult for me to help the women who need it! I always remind women that you never know until you try. Also, the hoop welcomes you at any age and at any size. There is always SOMETHING beneficial that you can do with a hoop, as it meets you where YOU are. Women who doubt they can hoop need only remember TWO THINGS: 1. You have never been “taught” by ME! 2. You have never had the RIGHT size hoop, which is what I offer you. Also, another obstacle early on in my business…I hit so many roadblocks at local gyms who THOUGHT they wanted me to come to teach a class, only to realize hooping is not the right fit there. In the business world, I’m looked at as “fluff” and the “hoop lady” who’s a lot of fun, but can this REALLY be a legit exercise/fitness biz?? Well, that’s up to how far you want to take it… I prefer to look at these last 11 years as providing an option for women who hate the gym and for that, I feel aRoundJoy has it’s place and fills a need. There’s a reason you won’t ever see this as a legit class at a gym… it’s not for gym people.
There’s a huge learning curve, too much for a big group to all be working in unison… you can’t just jump in a hoop and go to town… you’d hurt yourself or you’d give up when the hoop keeps dropping after a few tries! Gyms need classes that work you out, in lines, no hoops falling and making people feel like failures… in traditional gym classes, your just move and keep moving… start to finish. Hooping isn’t like that, It’s evolving and personal. That’s why I prefer the personalized approach and WHY I even sized down from the larger classes, I started teaching at my warehouse. ANYONE can hoop. It simply takes instruction, the proper size hoop for YOU and time. The time part is something that many struggle with in our Amazon Prime lifestyle these days. Hooping requires you to slow down. Learn to talk to your hoop with your body. IT’S ABOUT BODY AWARENESS. Overcoming negative dialogue and mindset. Make mistakes. Drop it. Pick it up. Try again. All the while it is exercise. It’s fun. You laugh. You learn there are SO many things to do with it beside spinning it on your waist. Ways to keep your body flexible and tone. You get to listen to music and play… not follow an instructor up in front constantly. Hooping is creative & flowing… open-ended experimentation and practice.
Lucky enough for some, 2020 offered lots of opportunities to take time and devote it to learning how to hoop at home with me! Another challenge for me… many women see hooping as too intimidating since it’s seen as a “circus art” and is always the stuff that’s seen on viral videos as “amazing” but not something a “normal” woman could do. THAT’S the farthest thing from the truth, however. It’s all about how you approach it… where/who you learn from and the type of hoop you begin learning with. I always teach real, everyday women how to hoop in real everyday life, for health and happiness, I don’t just teach you a bunch of tricks to amaze your friends. That’s ok for YouTube if that’s your thing. I take each individual client’s needs, goals and abilities in mind and we go from there.
Lastly, I tend to get women always asking about weighted fitness hoops and do I sell those? I do not! THOSE are very unsafe. They are too heavy and without any instruction or guidance, they are making it into the hands of so many individuals. I see woman after woman injuring their back or other body parts! DO NOT get a weighted hoop…bruising is what you’ll get. That’s not the kind of hoop I recommend, make, sell or use. This is perhaps the biggest challenge, trying to get women to understand, it is the SIZE of the hoop that matters, NOT the weight!!! I have talked about this on my website, my blog and in many, many social media “live” videos for years! Every woman who has one that ends up finding me after they purchased a weighted hoop ends up very sorry she didn’t get one of my hoops first!! So this is a challenge that can be easily overcome as long as you WAIT before just purchasing the first hoop you find on the internet. Not all hoops are the same!!! That also goes for the TOY hoops from the stores… TOO small and TOO light…so don’t waste time with those either!! I save women from those little hoops, too, and the toys then get given to the kids and grandkids, WHERE THEY BELONG!!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about aRoundJoy ?
I’m Geri and I help women in midlife say goodbye to the gym & hello to FUN! With my custom hoops & instruction, I experience the JOY of childhood play while moving daily, plus staying more flexible, tone and fit! I mean, whoever said we had to stop recess? aRoundJoy offers hoop dance training & coaching, both ONLINE and in-person. Geri also makes custom, handmade fitness hoops for each individual’s optimum success. Hoops can be shipped or picked up in person. No need to go to a gym for this fun way to get moving, get in shape and reduce stress. Need to get started? Learn & workout with Geri inside a virtual studio, with membership access to streaming, on-demand videos 24/7 on aroundjoy.com! Find FUN, lose inches, PLAY in, work OUT, slim down, tone up and feel JOY!
Contact Info:
- Email: geri@aroundjoy.com
- Website: aroundjoy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aroundjoy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aroundjoy/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aroundjoy/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/aroundjoy/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/aroundjoy/
