I’m not helping a soul.
This isn’t my calling.
Why am I putting up with this boss?
Let’s be honest; we’ve all been here. Frustrated, stuck, and discouraged at our job, wondering, “How in the world did I end up here? My dream was to…” You fill in the blank.
Through Adrien’s story, she shows us there is a way out. She went from a miserable corporate gig to becoming a health guru.
It took me a while to build up the courage to start my journey as an entrepreneur in the health and wellness industry. I was afraid of being afraid. Afraid of my reputation. Afraid I couldn’t do it. Afraid I wouldn’t be good at it. Five of my dearest friends said I had to, which turned into my first five clients, and the fear began to transform into confidence.
Adrien couldn’t deny the fiery passion stoking in her belly to debunk the image of the fitness industry. Her heart was, and still is, broken over people believing the lie that eating less and doing more would result in greater health. She noticed people were throwing their money at the problem by buying pounds of workout equipment, gym memberships, and even personal trainers with little to no lasting results.
What’s everyone’s intention? To have your gravestone read ‘Sarah had skinny thighs’?
Adrien discovered through her research and work that the root of most people’s health, especially in the DMV hustle culture, is not food or exercise, but stress. She believes her life’s work is not only to help people develop a healthy relationship with food and movement, but also build stress resilience and tolerance. Through Fitness on the Run, Concierge Wellness Program, and Corporate Wellness with Adrien Cotton, Adrien is devoted to helping sustainably improve the overall health of her clients.
If anyone knows me for five minutes, they know I am passionate about strengthening the mind, body, and soul by fueling your body with physical movement, sleep, stress resilience tools, good food, meditation, and healthy habits.
Adrien is proud that she has helped around 2,000 lives in the Alexandria community become healthier. And not by using a superficial thirty-day program to lose thirty pounds. No, she has walked with, counseled, and educated every single client over the course of six months to fifteen years. She holds clients accountable to implementing tools like the ‘5 to 1’, which consists of walking 5 times a week, meal prepping 4 times a week, strength training 3 times a week, drinking 2 liters of water everyday, and doing a self-care event free of cost 1 time a week.
When I first started my business, I was devoted to fixing my clients. I wanted to do everything for them. Overtime, I’ve realized it is truly my role to guide and equip them with the skill set and, most importantly, mindset to be able to overcome their challenges themselves.
To ensure a healthy mindset for her clients, Adrien’s mindset has to be even healthier. And working from a gym stairwell isn’t the best option to foster a healthy mindset. As Adrien was growing her different business ventures, she would host conference calls in the hallway stairwell outside the gym and dealt with important financial and staff calls from her car. At first, she was hesitant to pay for official office space because of slim margins, but eventually she found ALX and couldn’t deny the energy that was gained by working from the space.
Now, she is part of a community to connect with other entrepreneurs and host weekend client meetings. ALX Community provides a kick-butt entrepreneur like Adrien a workspace that fills her with inspiring energy and increases her productivity tenfold as she fights for the advancement of her mission and health of her clients everyday.
ALX changed my life. I tell everyone who owns a business or works from home they need to invest in themselves by joining the ALX Community. Your business, and how you view yourself as a business owner, will never be the same once you do.