Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfreda *Fabulous Freda* Horrice.
Hi Alfreda *Fabulous Freda*, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved fitness. When I was a teenager, I looked forward to Sunday’s so that I could workout with the ladies from church. I remember spending the week creating workouts so I could be ready. I would save up the money from my chores to buy “VHS” workout videos.
I had them all, Richard Simmons, Billy Blanks Tae Bo, Jane Fonda, Tamilee Webb, Denise Austin, Gilead Body in Motion, Donna Richardson, Althea Dance Workout, Firm Body, Abs of Steele, Paula Abdul Get Up & Dance. Many people do not know Paula had a workout video. You name it, I have it.
The crazy part – I still have them! Savage 😝I LOOOOOVE Fitness. It never stopped! I graduated to DVD’s. 😂I have 100’s of DVDs. If there’s a workout, I have it! All the Turbo’s, Pilates, Yoga, Insanity, Hip Hop Abs, All of Shaun T’s, I have no name people🤩 What’s more Amazing! I have my own! I made Fit With Freda DVD’s in the early 2000s and would sell them out of my car and on… wait for it…”My Space”….🤣
My vision, I am traveling the world teaching fitness and dance! It is what I was born to do.
Nothing comes without trials. It was all working out. I earned a spot on the Ricky Smiley Show Wednesday mornings. Freda’s Fitness Tips. I was making videos, teaching at Bally’s, 24 Fitness, Gold’s Gym, & Lady of America… and tragedy. I was hit by a drunk driver. Broke 2 bones in my back, dislocated my spine, crushed my right hip & right knee. The doctor said I was paralyzed and may never walk again. I looked up at t
he doctor and said, “that’s not an option, I have a step class in the morning at 8:30 and a marathon in 2 months. My mama was so mad! 😅 She said, “how they gon tell you, you can’t walk and Lord Jesus, she talking about aerobics”. 🤣😂🤣😝. The doctor said, “We will see how things go after the surgery”.
I’m here to tell you, it wasn’t easy. After the surgery, the doctor said, “The surgery went well. You will walk again. It will take about 9 months to a year. However, you will be on a walker or cane the rest of your life”. I laid there thinking. He doesn’t know who he’s talking to. I keep trying to tell them I am a Fitness Guru . 🏋🏾 Long story short, I was back at the gym teaching classes with my walker, complete with a huge medical back brace, neck brace, and all the fixings. I was at 24fitness teaching class. Never seen nothing like it. I was the happiest person in the world. Eventually I was on a cane. About a year later, the cane was gone and I was running a marathon.
I said, “The doctor was right, I did not walk again. I’ve been running every since”. Everyday, I live with pain, but I do not let it stop me. Not only back pain, but Lupus. 3 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I battled 2 years. I lost the mobility in my left arm because some of lymph nodes were taken out to remove the cancer. I was destined to wear a medical compression sleeve the rest of my life with little mobility. I asked the doctor, “if I workout, will I be able to use my arm”. He said, “I can’t say”. I said, “well I’m going to go to the gym everyday and work with my arm and see what happens”. I’m here to tell you, I have full mobility and no sleeve. 😁 I climbed a mountain last year in Colorado using the same arm I was destined to never use.
Through the battle of surgeries, chemo, radiation, nausea, all the things. I still kept moving. When I say “Movement Matters” (that’s one of my slogans) I mean it from my heart. Without movement, I would be a vegetable. I defy the logic and keep moving through the pain, through the sickness. Keep moving.
I started Fun. Fresh. Funky. Fitness. Freda Style. Fit With Freda in 2000. I wasn’t making enough money to take care of my son. I was a single mom. I had a degree in Kinesiology. I went back and got a Bachelors degree in Education. My desire was to be a Master Fitness Instructor, but I was offered a job to work at the school. It was instant. It was a blessing from God. I accepted the position. I needed it. It paid the bills. However, there was never a day, that I did not think about fitness. Fitness was on my mind, morning, noon, and night.
When I was laying on the radiation table battling cancer, I knew I had to go back to doing what I love. What I was born to do. If I don’t do it now I won’t ever live the life I was born to live. When I die that will be my biggest regret. I walked away from my career as a teacher. That was a HUGE leap of Faith and still is! The craziest thing, to not know what the future holds, but I did it.
It has not been easy, nothing ever is really. I’m currently teaching at multiple gyms. The biggest craze right now is line dancing. I started teaching line dancing. I asked to teach it at the gyms. It was not allowed. I was shocked and surprised. I clutched my pearls!🫨 I started asking questions. 🤔 I learned it was not considered fitness. Well I was on a new mission. It took a year, but I wrote curriculum, a 45 page manual study manual about the physics & science of line dancing, created an exam, and tutorials, submitted it the National Athletic Fitness & Sports Association and it was accepted. Line Dance is now considered fitness💃🏽
The door has been opened. Any Line Dance Instructor who wants to teach line dancing at a Fitness Facility can now take the course and become Certified to teach at a gym or any fitness facility! And here I am today. Living by Faith and Not by Sight.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No… it has not been a smooth road.
I’ve been through seasons that could have taken me out—being a single mom, experiencing homelessness, surviving a broken back, living with lupus, and fighting breast cancer. There were moments in my life where everything felt uncertain, and the odds were stacked against me.
And even now, the struggle looks different—but it’s still there.
People see the success, the energy, the passion—but they don’t always see the doors that keep closing. The emails that go unanswered. The calls that aren’t returned. The meetings that never happen. I’ve reached out to major fitness facilities, small studios, anyone willing to listen… and more often than not, the answer is still “no.”
I’ve poured my heart into creating something meaningful. I wrote a full curriculum. I turned line dancing into a recognized fitness format through National Academy of Sports Medicine and Athletics and Fitness Association of America. I created opportunities for instructors to walk into gyms and teach something they love.
And still—I have to fight to be seen.
I’m often told, “We already have Zumba,” as if it’s the same thing. But it’s not. What I’ve created is different. It reaches people in a different way. It connects, it includes, it brings in people who may not feel seen in traditional fitness spaces.
That’s the part people don’t always understand.
But here’s what I do know—I didn’t come this far to give up.
Every “no” reminds me that I’m pushing something new. Something that hasn’t fully been understood yet. And I believe with everything in me that one day, those same doors will open.
So no, it hasn’t been smooth…
but I’m still here.
Still standing.
Still moving.
And I’m not going anywhere. “Because what I’ve built is bigger than rejection—it’s purpose.”
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What sets me apart? I’m Fabulous Freda 💃🏽- Fitness For Life!
I’m known as “Fabulous Freda,” and I specialize in creating fitness experiences that are fun, high-energy, and rooted in purpose. I’m the founder of Fit With Freda and the creator of Grown Folks Grooving™—an aerobic line dance format that blends dance, cardio, and community into one powerful workout experience.
What sets me apart is that I don’t just teach fitness—I create movement that connects. My classes are designed for real people, especially adults 30+, who want to feel good, move with confidence, and enjoy the process. It’s not just about working out—it’s about showing up, letting go, and living a “Better Quality of Life”.
I’m most proud of turning something that was once overlooked—line dancing—into a recognized fitness format. I developed a full training curriculum that is now approved through National Academy of Sports Medicine and Athletics and Fitness Association of America, allowing instructors to become certified and teach in fitness facilities nationwide.
That’s bigger than me—that’s legacy.
I’m also proud that everything I teach comes from lived experience. I’ve overcome serious injuries, chronic illness, and cancer, and I continue to show up and move every day. When I say “Movement Matters,” it’s not just a slogan—it’s something I’ve lived through.
What truly sets me apart is my energy, my resilience, and my ability to turn fitness into something people look forward to—not something they dread.
I don’t just lead workouts… I create experiences, build confidence, and help people rediscover joy through movement.
“It wasn’t smooth—but I didn’t come this far for smooth. I came for purpose.”
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite childhood memories is discovering new workout videos and creating my own routines at home. I would spend my days dancing, making up choreography, and getting excited about trying new moves. On Sundays, I especially loved when the ladies from church would come over and we’d work out together—it felt like joy, community, and fun all wrapped into one.
Fitness wasn’t something I had to learn to love—it was already a part of me.
In fact, I loved it so much that my mom used it as punishment. If I got in trouble, she would take away my workout videos and tell me I couldn’t work out for two weeks—and then she’d tell the ladies from church, “Freda is on punishment, she can’t work today.” I would be absolutely heartbroken.
Looking back, it’s funny—but it also shows just how deeply connected I’ve always been to movement. Even as a child, it wasn’t just something I did for fun… it was something I needed. “Most kids got their toys taken away… I got my workouts taken away.”
Pricing:
- Birthday & Graduations $30 +
- Weddings $200 +
- Marathons $200+
- Lectures $200+
- Events $30+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fitwithfreda.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitwithfreda/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freda.horrice?_rdr=p
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fabulousfreda9648
