Orange Theory Coach with Heather Camacho

S3 Ep7 Episode Shownotes:

“Movement is medicine.” —Heather Camacho

Orange Theory is a popular fitness franchise that offers heart-rate-based interval training workouts. The classes combine cardio, strength, and power training to help members achieve their fitness goals. With studios across the country, Orange Theory provides a unique and challenging workout experience for fitness enthusiasts.

Heather Camacho is a seasoned Orange Theory coach with 8 years of experience. In her current role at Orange Theory headquarters, she provides business consulting and support to studios, ensuring they deliver the brand's high standards.

This conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Orange Theory experience, from the motivating coaching to the tight-knit community, providing insights that will inspire listeners to try this transformative workout.

Connect with Heather: 

Website

Facebook 

Instagram

LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:

01:31 Training the Trainers

06:40 Searching for a Motivating Place

14:58 Working Around Heart Rate Response

20:05 The Goal 

27:25 Learning How to Coach

37:21 Why Coaches Coach     

43:06 More Than Traditional Class 

46:40 The Mental Aspect 

52:10 The Biggest Event of the Year

58:08 Give It a Try

Connect with Heather: 

Heather Camacho is an experienced leader in the health, wellness, and fitness industry with a proven track record of driving growth and team development. Currently, she works as a Fitness Support Specialist at Orange Theory Fitness. 

She excels in sales, management, presentations, and social media strategy, using her strong communication and customer service skills to deliver exceptional results. Known for her professionalism and dedication, Heather's leadership style is both growth-focused and people-centered. She holds an Associate’s degree in Social and Behavioral Science from Santa Rosa Junior College, reflecting her curiosity and ambition to continuously learn and improve in her field.

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Transcript

Heather Nelson: Cheers, ladies. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this week's Life Conversations With a Twist, I am so hyped for this conversation. You are the one person that I've been like, you're on my podcast. I know her through as a coach at Orangetheory, and everyone knows how much I love Orangetheory. And so I'm really excited to dive into your story about your involvement? How you got to where you are today, and then all about Orangetheory. I'm wearing orange today.

Heather Camacho: I'm wearing my Orangetheory sweatshirt as well. It's not orange, but it's still branded.

Heather Nelson: It's still branded. I love it. Welcome. Tell everyone a little bit about who you are, what you do now in your role, maybe a little bit of like where you live and those kinds of fun things.

Heather Camacho: Excellent. I am Heather. I live in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, and I currently work for Orangetheory headquarters. That's actually based out of Boca Raton, Florida. So I'm a remote employee for them. I travel quite a bit for work, about 50% if not more, of my job currently is travel. And when I'm not traveling on the road, I'm actually still coaching at my home studio in Rohnert Park. That's where Heather and I met. My job is a little bit different now. You want to think like Train the Trainer almost. I go into studios, and now I focus on more of a business consulting role. So I look at their fitness business as a whole, the coach's quality. I look at the studio itself. Are they upkeep, I guess. Just making sure as far as what Orangetheory is looking for, as far as our brand standard we're providing to the members. And then if the owner needs support in different areas, that's where I kind of come in. So it could be educating coaches. It could be just observing their operations daily and just giving my guidance. I've been with Orangetheory for eight years, by the way, so I just kind of give my guidance and the knowledge that I have. And hopefully, it's helpful to them to build their business, get more members and build the Orange Community.

Heather Nelson: So Orangetheory is a franchise.

Heather Camacho: Yeah. There are different layers to it. We do have some corporately owned studios out in Florida that are closer to headquarters. Most of them are owned by franchisees. They can own one, they can own seven. However, they decided to license that. And then we also have private equity groups that own lots of studios across state lines. So there's different levels to how Orangetheory are owned.

Heather Nelson: That's so interesting. I started my Orangetheory in Rona Park. We just recently moved, so now I've had to switch studios. Santa Rosa is great, but it's not Rona Park. I can tell you that I miss my coaches, and I miss the girls that I can work out with. But there's something about Orangetheory that I think I was there for probably a year, and then I got pregnant, and then covid happened, and I just didn't go back. But I used to go at 5:00 AM, and you were our coach. I have to say, having a motivating coach, you look forward to going every morning. I just have to say, as a member and as someone in the classes, that was something that was really important to me.

Heather Camacho: I love that, and I think that's really important. My fitness journey started that way. It started with a really great instructor, which is what made me, if we wanted to go real deep on this, I truly, for probably the majority of my life never really knew what I wanted to do. I kind of feel passionate about a lot of things. And I think Orangetheory allows me to dabble in all of the things that I'm passionate about. So not even just fitness, customer service, in sales, in boutique, branding, all of that stuff I really love. So it actually allows me to do a little of everything. I can totally relate to that. My health journey started. I was in really poor shape. I was in an unhappy marriage, and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I had worked in retail for a really, really long time. And in fact, one of my mentors that I grew up with was just really admiring how she operated as one of your friends as well, Alicia. I learned a lot from her, and then I went on to a different brand when it came to retail, and I wasn't happy. Unhappy at work, and happy in marriage. You know how that goes. It takes a toll on your health. So I ended up finding myself really, really overweight. 

I wanted to get out of retail, and I decided I'm gonna go back to school full time. That's kind of what I thought. And in order to do that, I really couldn't work because I was trying to go into Radiology at the time. I've always been fascinated by the human body. I was a total science geek in school. I even transferred high schools to a more science driven school than the other side. I came from Janesville, Wisconsin. They were gonna ask you, okay, Janesville, Wisconsin, two high schools. One was more science and tech. One was more agriculture. So I asked to go to the side. I had to sign a whole position. My family had to ask permission for me to go there. But anyway, I've always loved the human body. Even when I was going to college, initially right out of high school, a lot of everything was science based. My mom thought I was going to be a nurse. I just didn't really feel connected to nursing. So I stepped away from that. And then I was like, maybe I thought about phlebotomy. I thought about all these different avenues when it came to health science. Never thought I could imagine what I was going to be doing now.

Heather Nelson: Our path and everybody, everyone's like, hey, I'm going to go to school, and then I'm going to go to college, and then I'm going to do the things. And no one ever does the things that they went to school for. Not even close.

Heather Camacho: Totally. Not even close. First of all, I have this major fear of public speaking, which you would never guess. Because as a coach, that's what we do hour after hour. And now, it's probably about 90% of my job. But I don't know. I started to take group fitness classes at the community center. I was really overweight at the time. My gosh, it's really hard for me to recall that time in my life, but I decided that I was going to start taking group fitness classes at the community center. I realized that I really liked the group environment. I started with Zumba and cardio kickboxing. And I kind of liked the performance aspect of it even though I didn't know half the steps half the time. I still liked it. I liked the group environment. For me, that was a very motivating space. And even though there's this fear like, oh, God, everybody watching me. Am I doing what everybody else is doing? It didn't really matter at the same time because I was having so much fun. So I started doing that, and then I left the field. I don't really even remember how I decided I wanted to try pole dance fitness. I thought I wanted to do it. I remember going to the studio at the time. It was located in Rohnert Park.

Heather Nelson: I've been there a couple times, you were like the instructor?

Heather Camacho: Just wait till that part comes down the road. So, yes, yes. I watched class. I decided to take a class. Finally, I had to watch first. I was like, I don't know if I belong here. And again, the instructors were amazing. They were so friendly, so encouraging and very inclusive. When you think now, if you just Google pole dance fitness, a lot of them are actual athletes. They're ripped and flexible, and I was none of those things. Obviously, I just wanted to have a good time in a group environment. I wanted to do something that was out of the ordinary. I wanted to kind of feel sexy because that's something I hadn't felt in a very long time. So yes, I started taking classes regularly. At a certain point, the studio owner decided she wanted to get out of the business. And my heart felt like it was breaking physically in my body because I'd found something that I liked, a place that I felt safe. And I do love music. When I was in high school, I did dance. But after that, in adulthood, I didn't follow it so it allowed me to get back into that. So I was breaking inside. 

And at the time, one of the other employees there was like, would you want to go into business and do this together? And I was like, I guess. I really did. I'm telling you, the journey is so long and there's so many details. But at a certain point, I work my way up from classes. They asked me if I wanted to be an instructor. Mind you, I have zero technical training as a group fitness instructor. And I was like, sure. Let's do that. But I was that person in class like I got to know everybody. I was friendly with everybody. So it felt natural. The natural progression, almost. And I felt like I did all right at it. I can teach people this. We decided to go into business, and that's what I did for a lot of years. It is called iCandy in Rohnert Park. And again, that's part for me that dips into the customer service part. Just being able to provide that moment for people where it's to them, it's something so memorable, and they're having a great time. And really, that's what matters. When it comes to fitness, in my opinion, you have to enjoy it. So I thought, gosh, I loved the bachelorette parties. There were so many.

Heather Nelson: Because you learn to dance to a song. And every time I hear the song, I think back to that day and like, we had these crazy ass heels on. It was so fun. So yes, you did create a memory because I still remember every time I hear the song, I'm like, oh.

Heather Camacho: I love it. Yeah, that's what happened. At the time, I was teaching all kinds of stuff. We grew that studio from just pole dance fitness. I went and officially got all my certifications to be a group fitness instructor.

Heather Nelson: That was my question. I'm assuming that you have to go through something, and then, then what? I'm sure Orangetheory has some kind of program or something that they have to go to.

Heather Camacho: With iCandy, no. There was no requirement. It's just, can you dance? Are you friendly? But I wanted the business to grow. I wanted to be able to offer women more than just pole dance fitness, because I get it. That's not for everyone. And there are some people that are like, maybe it's for me. I'm just not ready for that yet. So I did. I went and I got my group fitness certification. And through another brand called Beachbody, I got certified to teach cardio kickboxing, yoga fusion type of class, a more strength focused class. You probably heard of all those brand names. That's the type of stuff I learned, and then we started bringing that to the studio. I was teaching all different kinds of classes to try to get the body conditioned. And I felt like that added major value to what we were offering women at our studio. So fast forward, I'm teaching all these things. But I'm like, my gosh, I really need to do something for me. When you're teaching, especially at the time, those group fitness classes, you're teaching it in real time with them, and you're physically moving and burning like 700 calories or whatever. But it's not really for you, it's for them. So I'm like, I needed to find something for me. I'm not gonna lie to you, I've never in my life ran. I avoided it in PE. I used to live over by Cottington where the Santa Rosa location is, and I would walk by it and I'm like, oh, there's treadmills in there. But the music was loud, and everybody looked like they were having a great time. And I liked to exercise. 

I was like, well, I guess I'll give it a try. And I walked in, and it was like an experience that I'd never had. Walking into a fitness facility. Here's a bunch of paper, please fill this out. The person that greeted me actually sat down with me and asked me questions about my goals, and that was already different for me. Like, oh, you're gonna actually ask me this and have a conversation about what I'm looking for. And that already was different. Then everybody for the class started to come in, and it was super lively. It was chatty. The coach greeted me, and I got a mini private tour of the studio. I was honest with her. I was like, I don't run. I've never really ran. And she just kind of smiled. She's like, well, probably do it today. I'm like, okay, well, here we go. And I fell in love with it. I honestly had no idea what was going on that entire hour. I knew nothing about what she was saying, but I had a great time. She made me feel comfortable. The environment made me feel comfortable. We have our data that happens in real time. I didn't know what any of that meant at the time. I just knew that I was earning points, and I thought I was winning because I had like 40 of them by the end of the class. I am like, I am working harder than everyone here. I am winning.

Heather Nelson: Let's talk about that, because I want people to know what Orangetheory is about. I'm with you in the first class. You're just like, what? I always tell people when they come, you have to come a second time because the first time is like, what? You get to the second one, and then you settle in. You're like, I can actually enjoy this. But what is the concept behind Orangetheory? What's with the points, slot points and all that?

Heather Camacho: Let me give it to you. So it's heart rate based interval training in everything we do. And the way the workout is designed is around heart rate response. So yes, when you come to take a class, either you will have your own or we'll give you one complimentary to try what we call an OTB wearable. And that's how we track your data, and that data is all connected to your app so you'll actually get all of the data afterwards. On top of that, the data is smart. So something that's changed for us is after someone's first five classes, it'll actually adjust your heart rate zones in order for us to figure out your points and where you should work optimally. And It customizes it to you based on what we have found about you.

Heather Nelson: Is that why I can't get splat points anymore?

Heather Camacho: Yes. It's telling you that you are fit enough, that you can work harder.

Heather Nelson: I'm in a group text with the girls from the 6:00 AM class in Rohnert Park and I'm like, I want to be on it. I cannot get it. When I get splat points, they're like, that was a good workout for you. I'm like, I know. Why can't I get splat points anymore?

Heather Camacho: It's not meant to be impossible. When you think scientifically, your max heart rate, there's this generic formula out there. It's like 220 minus your age, or something like that. But we're all so different. Our metabolism is different. Your resting heart rate is different. You can be the same age, same weight, same gender as someone else, but your heart rate is going to be so different than someone else's. So we try our data, try to customize it to you after learning enough about you to know where this person's optimal zones are in order to get into a higher heart rate instead of this, versus what that blanket algorithm said. So yes, it does make it harder for you at a certain point, because it's trying to encourage you also to work a little bit harder.

Heather Nelson: I'm definitely lifting heavier weights, and I'm starting to run again. I do enjoy its 3G class over the 2G because it's less time. I don't like running either, but I've been pushing myself to run, and then that's when I get this flat point.

Heather Camacho: They're already hearing language that they're like, well, what are they talking about? It's a whole different language. Once you get inside the orange bubble, there is a language. But you learn it. So for anybody that might listen to this that they're nervous about, just know that the first three to five classes, you might feel a little lost. And that is truly, truly okay. Our job as coaches is to check in with you, especially in those first five classes to make sure, one, we're answering your questions because you're going to have them. That's okay to have a ton of questions, and to make sure that you are learning it as you go. But Heather, now you're tuned in. You hear words, and you know exactly what to do. It takes a little time, though, to get that.

Heather Nelson: My best friend, she just signed up in Santa Rosa, so it's been fun to be along that journey with her. But then she just encouraged her husband, and he started last week. He was like, that was harder than I thought it was going to be. I was like, yeah, no, shit. It really is hard.

Heather Camacho: It is a tough workout. But the beauty of it is you really, it can be really whatever you want it to be that day. The coach is there, the workout is designed, but we really try to check in with everybody that comes to class. If you're trying to take it easy today and you let the coach know, we respect that. We try to help you at least, then we'll check in with you. We think you're going too hard now because you just told us that you want to take it easy. Or if I can tell that you're feeling a little competitive, I'm gonna give you a couple. I'm gonna push you a little bit. I'm gonna push you on the treadmill to give it a little extra gas. Might give you a heavier weight or two on the floor. But that's what we're there to do.

Heather Nelson: I actually like that. I've seen coaches that don't do that. I actually like the coaches that do because they see you and they're like, I can see that you can do more. I think that is something that I really, truly love about it. There's a lot of people, but the fact that they notice you and they're like, I think you need a heavier weight. I'm like, okay, yes.

Heather Camacho: That's a big deal too. The group classes, particularly those bigger 3G classes, there's a lot of people that we have to manage, and a lot of things that we have to keep track of. But yes, you have a good coach. They're going to be able to do that and more. They're going to be able to see each person as an individual and know how to coach them to get the best results for that day. Because every day is so different.

Heather Nelson: There's so much we could talk about. Let's go back real quick to the splat place. As we talked about heart rate, what is the goal of that?

Heather Camacho: I got it, okay.

Heather Nelson: Then I want to come back to something else too.

Heather Camacho: We love splat points. So the goal in your classes is to try to get 12 to 20. In fact, the algorithm that actually sets your max heart rate is designed to keep you inside of 12 to 20. If your body gets those 12 to 20 points, and I'll talk about what points are in a minute. Your body will burn extra calories for up to 24 hours after the workout. Imagine a car going on a long drive and it gets really hot, but then it takes a little time even once the car has stopped for it to cool down. It's kind of that cooling down period, but your body is still kind of warm. It's just gonna taper off slowly, so you burn extra calories basically over the next day if you're able to get those 12 to 20 points. Now, the points are based on how many minutes you spend in our orange and red zones. There are five zones. You've got gray, blue, green, orange and red. Orange and red being kind of like your anaerobic zones. Think of it that way. So we're asking you to work about 12 to 20 minutes anaerobically in the one hour. Now, like I said before, my first class was 40 points. I know that there have been times you've probably gotten well over 20. And the idea is we don't want people to think that more is better. Because sometimes, more is just more. And there will be days where the template design is going to be really high intensity, and you probably will get outside that 20. 

But not every day is meant for you to work anaerobically at that high of a level. Science has proven that optimally. If you work at least 12 minutes in your anaerobic zone, your body is going to kick into overdrive, and you're going to burn some extra calories over the next day. So 12 is really where we want to live now. That also being said, there are some days where the design of the workout, maybe there's a lot of transitioning around the room, there's a lot of walking recovery. We might do a lot of core work where we're laying on our backs and our heart rate just doesn't elevate when we're laying down. There might be days where we don't get 12. Like today, I actually did a 90 minute class today and I got nine. So I didn't even get the 12. However, it was a great workout. I burned a ton of calories. I feel great. It's just meant that there is a marker for you to give yourself something to work toward every single class. Are you working toward the troll? And some days that's not the case. Like some days I go in and I'm like, I'm just literally trying to survive. Today, I am tired. But I want to be around my people so I'll go and I'll take it easy, and I won't get any splat points. And that's also okay.

Heather Nelson: I want to come back to mental health, working out and stuff too. But talk a little bit about, if someone doesn't know what the program is, as far as tread row floor and what those workouts tend to look like. I'd have to say to somebody who is listening and hasn't been literally, this is why I love it. I have no idea what my workout is going to be. I show up and they're like, cool. Well, you're going to row for 14 minutes straight. And you want to run out of the room, but you can't. You're there. That's what I really love about it. It's like, you have no idea. Well, supposedly you can hear about it, but I don't want to know. I want to show up and you tell me what to do.

Heather Camacho: It's probably one of the curses of being a coach. Because I agree with you. Before I became a coach and I was a member, I loved not knowing. Because I can very easily talk myself out as something that I do not want to do, like rowing for 14 minutes. But you know that you need to be doing those things. There's a reason that it's challenging for you, and you should be doing them. So yes, we design our workouts on three different physical emphasis. Endurance, strength and power. So each of those things have a different meaning in the workout. You want to think of endurance, just like an endurance run for long periods of time sustained effort. Then you got strength. For us at Orangetheory, oftentimes that means on our treadmills. We'll go uphill to fight a little bit of force. And on the floor, we try to go a little heavier, and then power that's all explosive. You think burpees? Do you think sprints? You think just that type of stuff when it comes to power, and we blend those sometimes. But everyday looks a little different. 

So each part of our workout, the treadmill, the rower, and our weight floor will have one of those emphasis. It could be power training on the treadmill, strength training on the rower, and a more endurance, muscular training on the floor. And then tomorrow could be totally different. It could be even like on the treadmill. You're gonna see actually all of those things, endurance, strength and power. So that's kind of the cool thing about Orangetheory. You walk into the same room, the same equipment, same people, and maybe even the same coach. But it is always going to be a different workout. It will. Never feel the same. And the playlist is always different too. The playlist should be different. We talked about it as I used to dance to musically driven people. As coaches, we really try hard to match the tempo and intensity of the music to what is going on. So if you ever pay attention, strength days, hopefully the coach is picking maybe something that's a little bit slower because it's not about speed. It's about going heavy. On endurance days, it's probably something more steady, maybe even the music you can kind of sing to. Because let's face it, when we're running for long distances, we want to hear music. We can sing along to forget what we're doing. And then power day is usually just fast paced stuff, just stuff that makes you want to go fast.

Heather Nelson: Is there a way to get the playlist? I don't know if I've ever asked like. Sometimes I leave and I'm like, I want that playlist.

Heather Camacho: We use a special app that we partner with. You can't get the app. Orangetheory has its own from that brand, but that app that you can download is called Fit Radio. I had it for a long time before Orangetheory decided to go with Fit Radio. All those playlists are expertly mixed. It'll tell you exactly what the beats per minute are if you want to. Use that for a running cadence outside. It's great.

Heather Nelson: How to ask that question.

Heather Camacho: Yes, that's the secret in our sauce. It's great though.

Heather Nelson: Yeah, I love power days. Power days are definitely my favorite, especially when there's 14 all outs. I'm like, bring it, that's what I love. Going really hard and then being able to walk for a minute.

Heather Camacho: I agree with you. I agree with you.

Heather Nelson: So you were a member of Orangetheory, and then how long were you remembered till you're like, I want to get on this mic, and I want to motivate everybody else. What was your reasoning why you wanted to be a coach?

Heather Camacho: Man, probably only four months, because I joined at the Santa Rosa location. They knew what I did for a living. They were like, do you want to coach? And I was like, no. I still own iCandy in Rohnert Park at the time so I wanted to be my escape. But two months later, one was opening in Rohnert Park right down the street from where my studio was. I walked into their pre-sale office that they had, and I'm like, I don't really know if I want to do that. I don't know yet. I kind of want to check it out. What does it look like to get onboarded? Obviously, that was history. They had a corporate trainer come out, and they were there for five days, and there were a handful of other coach candidates. We had to audition for this job. By the way, I wasn't just given this job. I had to audition for five days. So in front of other people. Everything is timed at Orangetheory. So not only is there brand specific language that we are expected to say. You guys that are listening might not know. You might know because you hear the same stuff all the time, but there are certain things that we had to say at certain times, and it had to be within a certain amount of time. So that was kind of where the audition piece came in. But they wanted to see you to be able to do that and show your personality, which is already hard enough. You're learning all of this new stuff, and you still have to be used somehow.

Heather Nelson: I've kind of always been interested. Obviously, I do podcasting. I enjoy the public speaking side of it. But then I was like, it's hard. You have to time everybody. Everyone's on timing, and you have to call people. It's just crazy.

Heather Camacho: Even with public speaking for some part of that, and when you're in presentation mode, you have to be somewhat concise at times. Is of the essence with everything that you say. I noticed that there were different elements when it came to the audition part. Could you be concise and not minimize your filler words? And then, could you be clear? Your instruction has to be clear. Are you also fun, energetic and motivating? Are you also staying on time? That was so much to think about. I'm pretty sure on day four, I shed some tears. It was overwhelming. It was everyday for about eight hours that we were in there learning how to do, how to coach a class.

Heather Nelson: Is that how it is if you become a coach?

Heather Camacho: Pretty much. Not quite as intense as it used to be, but yes. So when you get on board as a new coach, you have to go through three days to four of training and kind of like on the mic practice, but there's really only one audition at the end. But when you go in to be an Orangetheory coach, you're not guaranteed that job because we look for a certain type of person. There's got to be some of that fun performance aspect in somebody.

Heather Nelson: You want people to show up at class. You want to be like, I cannot wait to go to Heather's class today, which is why you're always sold out because people want that energy. They want that fun vibe, which is why most people go to these kinds of classes.

Heather Camacho: Exactly. We get a lot of people that are really great knowledge wise. They're personal trainers that have been in the industry for many, many years, and they've got such great knowledge. But then we get them on a mic and their personality falls flat, or they can't see that many people all at once. They get really focused on one person to help them with their form, which is not a bad thing. But we have to still see upwards of 24 people at a time, and you got to be able to be quick because somebody else also needs your help. Whereas, in the personal training world, you can spend like 20 minutes talking about one move with somebody, or we get the opposite. We'll get somebody that is a group fitness instructor that has been for many years, but then we have to tell them like, we got to squeeze you also in this kind of box because we're a brand. We need you to stay in these timelines. There are certain things you have to say, and that really throws them off. So it isn't always easy for us to find the right fit for a coach. If you spend the time, if it's something that anybody that might be listening to your podcast wants to do, I do think that anybody can do it. I think it takes work, though. It didn't come naturally to me right away. The performance part did, but the technical pieces didn't. So that was what I truly had to work on as a coach. But if you want it and you actively work on those things, I think anybody can do it. It's a great job too. I've been begging the head coach at Rohnert Park, I'm like, please give me some classes. I want to coach so badly because it's so fun.

Heather Nelson: When is the new studio opening?

Heather Camacho: The construction has been pushed back a little bit. Initially, it was going to be the first week of October. I think now, the aim is for mid November before Thanksgiving. I'm very, very excited. It's going to be a bigger space. Obviously, everything is going to get refreshed. We're not adding any additional stations. So we're going to keep the amount of stations that we have in Rohnert Park, which is 12. So we can add a full class, 24 people. And rather than opt into more equipment for more people to be in there, we're just going to spread things out a little more to give everybody a little more space, so it's going to feel more spacious.

Heather Nelson: Some classes are more than 12 per station? I thought that was normal.

Heather Camacho: 12 is kind of the standard. But, yeah, some of the bigger locations can have up to 16 stations.

Heather Nelson: How many studios are there in the US?

Heather Camacho: I don't know. We have studios in every single state. We are actually worldwide, so we're International. I don't know the number off the top of my head. I feel like I should, but I don't know the number.

Heather Nelson: That's the one thing I do love being a member. Not that I've taken advantage of it. I tried, but then I ended up not going to the class. If you're traveling and you go to a town that has it, you can go to those studios too. You don't have to stay at your studio.

Heather Camacho: It's a traveling membership, which is great because some branded boutique fitness out there doesn't have it. And for the most part, you can find an Orangetheory pretty much wherever you're going. It's probably like the middle of the US that's our least dense as far as studios. But you go anywhere, West Coast and East Coast, Carolinas, Midwest, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, those are the states that have very minimal. But, yeah, pretty much every state. In Chicago, if you ever go out there, there's like 60 in ono small, yeah, they have more actually in the Chicago area than we do here in NorCal.

Heather Nelson: I'm going to ask a burning question, because I've been asked and I'm like, I don't know the answer to this. Are they opening one in Windsor?

Heather Camacho: That, I do not know, because Windsor is actually owned by a different ownership group than I work with. I feel like it's been talked about, but I have not heard anything set in stone.

Heather Nelson: It's like 10 minutes, it was nice having Rohnert Park so close. Obviously got in a coach, because you got in, how long were you a coach? And now, what are you doing? Because you're a coach, but you're not coaching.

Heather Camacho: How long was I a coach, from 2016 up until I got this new role. So all the way through 2020 which was a wild time to be in group exercise when you couldn't even breathe on people or be in groups. My whole job felt like it was impossible. I coached up until, when did I get this job? Hang on, 2022 when I took this role in October. Yeah, so I'm coming up on my two year mark soon in this role. But yeah, I was head coach in Rohnert Park for a really, really long time. Post pandemic, I kind of started dabbling on both sides. So I did both the sales and operations side, and then also the fitness side. But I always had help on the sales side. Somebody led that team where I still led more of the fitness side. And then my role with Orangetheory headquarters out in, we call it the Grove. It's Orange Grove out in Florida. So that's the fancy name for our headquarters in Grove. So yes, I work on the franchise relations team, and my current role is now Fitness Support Specialist for that.

Heather Nelson: Do you have a certain territory? Literally every day, you're in a different city.

Heather Camacho: It's a lot though. I span across all four time zones. I go out to North Carolina's probably the furthest out east I go. And then I go as South as New Orleans, and I have like a teeny, tiny, little bit of Texas on the very, very bottom of it. It's like the border of Mexico.

Heather Nelson: Basically, you do have set studios that are kind of like yours.

Heather Camacho: There are four of us in my role. We're kind of spread out also. So there's myself and one other person that kind of, I think west of the Mississippi River, and we break that up amongst each other. And then the other two are on the east side. The East is very, very dense, and you think like New York, Florida. So they break up that side of the US.

Heather Nelson: What makes you get up every day? What makes you get up at 4:00 AM to get to a 5:00 AM class to coach? What is the secret? Why do you do it?

Heather Camacho: I don't know. It's literally my soul. It fills me up so much. Rohnert Park is a small studio. There aren't that many members. It's a decent sized member base, but it's not a huge amount. There are some studios that have 500, 800 members, and Rohnert Park is less than 500. It just feels like family to me, and I live for those moments. Even prior to Orangetheory, just when I became a group fitness instructor, I found that that was the thing that I love the most. Those moments where you could see somebody realize that they did something that they've never done before, or they did something they truly never thought they could. And sometimes, it has nothing to do with fitness. When people are walking in and you say hello to somebody by name, and maybe it's like one of the only times in their day they're going to get acknowledged like that. I just love getting to know people, and I think that fitness is just kind of a bonus, truthfully. For me, it's not just about the workout. I feel like I've built such strong connections with all of the members. 

I'm pretty transparent. I don't have any separate social media for work and for myself. Who I am is who I am, and everybody is more than welcome to share in my life. And I love that members are willing to share that right along, or right back at me. I know when someone's kids' birthdays are, I know when they have the big moments. We just celebrated two of our members. They just went and got married, and we did a whole Bachelorette. I got a bouquet, and she threw a bouquet to the crowd. I played their wedding music. Just stuff like that. For me, that means a lot because it's community building. I think after the pandemic, we needed it more than ever. I still think we're rebuilding a lot from post 2020, and I do think it's what people come for. Like you said, it's a great workout, but you come for so much more. You come for the coach that remembers who you are and what you did the day before, and knows to challenge you a little bit more today. Or the coach that just sees you, or the music that rocks your world at 5:00 Am, and they're smiling, and they're having a good time. For me, it's just fun. I don't know. For me, it's fun. I don't I don't look at it like work. When I get to the coach and I'm laying out my uniform the night before, I'm bouncing around. I'm looking at music. Even my boyfriend's like, you're coaching tomorrow aren't you? You're way too excited. I get so pumped about it.

Heather Nelson: Your energy, I'm telling you, I wish I had her energy this early in the morning, but I will get there by the end of the workout.

Heather Camacho: But that's not your job to come in with energy. It's OUR job to give that to you, and let you feed off of that. That is the one thing that we're supposed to do for you, so you don't have to worry about coming with energy. I will help with that.

Heather Nelson: It's cool to see people's fitness journey, wellness journey. I think I went longer than just a year, maybe I was there for like two years. I felt like I was there for a while. I would never have done that had I not got my body into shape. Again, I stopped going because I got pregnant and the pandemic happened. And then literally, one of my clients was like, we're doing a group thing at Orange. You want to come with us? And I was like, sure. I haven't done it in like years, but let's do it. I immediately signed back up because there's something about it that just fuels your soul. But it was cool to go back to and see people who I used to work out with, and how much their body has changed. Just seeing those, I feel like member to member is really cool to see.

Heather Camacho: I agree. There's something timeless about Orangetheory to me. There are a lot of fitness concepts out there. There are so many things you can choose from to do for workouts. I'll be honest, I do a lot. I have like four memberships at places I do. I love to do yoga. I need that for my body. At my age, I need to stay mobile. So not just train hard every day. I have to think about mobility a little bit more. Things are not working quite the way they used to in my 20's so I've got to be mindful of stretching and mobility. I dabble in CrossFit, I do a lot of different things. But the one thing that I know I could do literally every day is Orangetheory. And I think it's because of the versatility. You get cardio, you get strength. You stay long enough, you get mobility at the end. But it's kind of what we like to call it as a multivitamin. It has a little bit of everything for you. And not every day is going to be the same. Not every day is a heavy weight day, not every day is a super long run. Some days it's more about like, let's run fast for a minute, and then we're gonna walk. You know what I mean? And even the rower, some days it's a long rowing day, some days it's not. It's just short bursts of rowing. So truly, it is a workout that is so versatile that you can do it every day. Every day will look different, but you can do it every day whereas there are other things out there that I personally can't see myself doing every day and feeling like I got something that was well rounded. It's just very well rounded.

Heather Nelson: I do have to say to those people listening who say it's really expensive, we just gave you 5000 reasons why it's worth it. And I do think it's expensive, but here's what I think is great. It holds you accountable for going. So you're gonna spend all this money on a gym membership. Well, you better bet your ass. You're gonna show up everyday, or whatever. I'm there five days a week. But for me, that makes the money worth it. And you get charged if you don't show up. To me, I'm like, shit. I don't want to pay this much to cancel. I better get my butt up and go. So I think that it's worth every single penny.

Heather Camacho: If I'm ever caught on the other side, what we call the other side of the glass in Orangetheory world. Because there's the inside, where it's the studio, and then the front of the lobby where the sales happen, quote, unquote sales. But whenever I am part of that process, when somebody's taken their first class and they're really debating whether or not they want to do this, and then you know it is. It's a little sticker shock when you see how much it costs right out of the gates, because you're paying for your membership. And then we encourage you to get your own OTB wearable, a burn, in order to track your progress. You've got to remember how often you're probably going to come. Most people come about three times a week. So you break that monthly membership into three and you've got to think, when you go and take a dropping class, anywhere right now, it could be upwards of 30 bucks. And a class, if you're going three times a week with the amount that a membership is equaling out about 16 bucks a class. It's really not that much when you think about it. And most people don't just come three times a week. Most of them come. 

I'll be honest with you, I go damn near seven days a week. I do this almost every day. Just some days I don't go hard. And there are different types of classes now, which wasn't the case back in the day. Now, you can also take a strictly strength training class where you don't do any cardio. So for anybody that's listening that doesn't want cardio in their life all the time and really wants to focus on lifting weights and building muscle, which is great, especially depending on how old you are. The older we get, we know that building muscle and bone density is really, really important. So the industry has even shifted away from tons of cardio to lose weight, to more like, let's focus on strength. We offer an option for that. Now, if you also are a marathon runner, you're a cardio junkie, that's where you want to live. And you sometimes just want to run and not be told what to do. We also have a treadmill class where you just are on the treadmill for 50 minutes.

Heather Nelson: No, thank you.

Heather Camacho: Bless you. Yes, I do it once a week. I do it once a week on Sundays, that's in one day. I allow myself to do that. It's not something I do often, but it helps me mix things up. So your membership now gets you more than just the traditional class that we offer that we've always had. You could choose from three different types of classes if you want. And again, the breakdown per class, I'm telling you, is worth it. We have a guarantee. We tell you, if you sign up for unlimited because we know you're going to want to come three times a week, and you try us for 12 classes in that first month. And you were like, nope, not for me. I tried 12. I don't like it. We give you money back. It's really that simple. We're asking you to give us a shot for 12 classes for one month. You don't love it, won't be the case.

Heather Nelson: I know one thing we didn't even talk about is not even just the physical behind it, but the mental health. I know the days that I don't go to the gym, Mondays I cannot go. I always cancel Monday. So now, I just don't even try to sign up because I'm funky on Mondays. But I need it for my mental health. I literally, truly work out mentally. I want to feel good about my body. And yes, I do, but it's really mental health.

Heather Camacho: There's scientific evidence behind it. Exercise gives you endorphins. It's true. It really is true. I'm a firm believer. I think it's one thing to know what your optimal days are. These are the days for me I know are good to work out, or I have the time. I have the mental space to clear out a chunk of time to go work out. That's important for you to know that creating a routine is a big deal. But really, I don't know that there really is such a thing as a bad workout. At Orangetheory, you really are allowed to set the tone for your workout. Yes, there's guidance. There's a coach, but you tell us, I am just here. We will respect that boundary, and we'll even check in on you and be like, are you still feeling okay? Feeling good with what you're doing? We want you to feel good about it. And I bet you, you'll walk out feeling even better than what you thought you would when you walked in. It's a big deal. I think movement is medicine. Even on my worst, worst days, even if I don't go to Orangetheory, but I'm having just one of those days. You're just not feeling anything even just going for a walk. Just keeping your body moving is so important, and it's so good for you.

Heather Nelson: Talk about this forever, but I do want to touch on your love for Disney. We have Disney days, and Heather is just nine.

Heather Camacho: I go 1,000% in. I put a fork in my hair and I sang my lobby intro to part of your world, but I'll change it to Orangetheory things. I'm all the way in.

Heather Nelson: The best is when you missed the day and Jack had to sing, priceless. That was worth it at work. You or Kate missed it, I don't know, but Jack had to.

Heather Camacho: I'm all about a theme. First of all, I love the theme. I will come dressed to the nines for any theme day, and I theme everything. I'll theme my lobby intro. I will theme my music as much as I possibly can. My outfit is themed. Everything is themed. So Disney, that just stems from when I was little. And I think that truly though, Disney actually creeps into my work life. Not literally how we're talking, but I'll tell you a minute. But I just think Disney is magical. There's this thing about it that is some of my best family memories growing up, because families are crazy. We all came together, and it just felt magical. And when you walk, for me, even now walking into a park, I think I'm in awe of the engine. Mirroring behind it. I can be in one place and literally not know anything else is going on outside of wherever I'm at. And they've designed it that way. You don't even know where you just left because you can only see what you're seeing, and the smells are just the experience aspect. And I am big on experience. 

Like I told you, I love moments where you can create a magical memory for someone. And Disney has always done that for me my whole life. So I actually use a lot of that when it comes to the way I provide service, with the way I provide customer service, and the way I coach. You get the privilege of being part of someone's day for just one hour, and you want them to walk away from that one hour just feeling amazing. They want to talk about it to somebody, or we did something cool in the class. That was because it was someone's birthday. I live for celebrations. I live for moments like that. And I think Disney has always done that for me. So being able to translate that a little bit into my work life is great. I love that.

Heather Nelson: We didn't even go in like, sometimes there's themed, it was a dri-tri that we just did a few months ago. We were all rooting for each other, and I'll just remember that there's a girl that was like, she was the last one. Itliterally brings me to tears. It was so cool to see her family come in, her little kids were like, oh, mom. I was just like, wow. People are there to really, truly change themselves. And yes, I literally get tear eyed because I'm like, how cool would it be if my kids came in and were proud of me to see me through that journey. So you guys really do a good job at creating that moment. You become like a little family, even as members. And I just never met in Santa Rosa yet.

Heather Camacho: Like I said, that's one of the things I just appreciate about Rohnert Park. It's smaller and a little slower, so I can really get to know everyone. But I'm gonna say, Orangetheory does that really well. It's not just your daily workouts. There are different types of events that happen. We try to do something every month, if not every other month, to help keep you accountable. We just wrapped up marathon month, where your goal is to run a total marathon distance, but over the course of a month. We don't expect you to do it in a day. So you track your distance every day, and it's kind of exciting to get closer and closer to that final number that you're reaching. And then you get there and you're like, how much further can I go? And you're still motivated to go further. DriTri's coming. That's actually this month's challenge. September 21 is the one in Rohnert Park. So it's like our indoor triathlon. You start with a long distance row. Then there are body weight repetitions, 300 repetitions you have to do on the floor of various exercises. And then it ends with a 5k. I have to tell you, until I was in this role that I'm in now, I was at every single dri-tri for all of my years being head coach in Rohnert Park. And every single one of those was just, I was moved in a different way by different people every single time. And I used to do a recap email sent out to everybody congratulating all the first timers. Like, thank you to all the people, your veterans, you've done it before. And then every coach would provide a highlight of their favorite moment. 

And there was one for me. It was a gentleman. He was a little more overweight. He was older, but he was really into Orangetheory, and we convinced him to try dri-tri. And yes, he might have been the last person, but every single person that was in his heat got back on the treadmill and ran with him to the end. And he cried, I cried. He gave a little speech to everybody. He's like, this is something in my life as a bigger man, I've just never thought I could do anything physically like this. And to know that no one left, and everyone stuck around, it is so amazing. So good. But, yeah, this is the best time of year because we've got dri-tri, then we're going to have Hell Week. The biggest event of the entire year. In October, it is the biggest kind of horrific event.

Heather Nelson: I survived one. I have a shirt somewhere.

Heather Camacho: We're living to tell the tales, but they are like eight straight days of the most challenging workouts designed for the entire year. You have to do four out of the eight, and you earn a shirt. And I'm telling you, when you're out at Target and you're wearing the shirt and someone else is wearing the shirt, you just lock eyes and you're like, we know.

Heather Nelson: But except just to get this shirt, I think the biggest thing is when people come, or they've come as a guest or something, they're like, well, I didn't die. You don't die on these workouts. You might not be able to walk for two days after, but I swear that you're not gonna die.

Heather Camacho: It really is fine. They're meant to be fun. We end the year really big. And then last December, we had 12 days of fitness, which is kinda hell week. But it's still challenging for the first 12 days of December. But yeah, we have tons of events that keep you engaged and motivated, and give you some good markers to just track your progress along your way.

Heather Nelson: Is there anything else in your journey, your health journey, in your career journey that we didn't even talk about? I'm sure if there's any little hidden secrets in there.

Heather Camacho: I feel like we really talked about all of it honestly. That's anything in life, but the journey is never linear. Whenever I get asked these questions, I'm like, oh, my god, we're gonna go left, and then we're gonna make a hard right, and then we're gonna do a huge turn, and then we're gonna have to go through the roundabout. The journey has been a very exciting one. It's been a very fulfilling one. I don't know. I love everything about what I do. And however I landed here, I'm just thankful. When I'm in the studio, I am surrounded by the best people I have met, some of my closest friends. And that's the cool thing too. The members meet some of their closest friends that they didn't know before they started going to Orangetheory, and now they go to brunch. If you decide you want to go to Rohnert Park, we have this whole Mimosa squad that on Saturdays and Sundays, they pop the trunks open. And literally, if it's a birthday or they're celebrating, she'll decorate her car with birthday balloons and stuff, and it's a real thing. And she invites everybody. And I'm like, don't invite the people that are coming in for the workout. Invite the people that are leaving, because we'll never come back. No, you have to invite them on the way out. Crazy Lady. It's a really good group of people. And I could not be more thankful. I can't even imagine. So I live in Santa Rosa, walking distance from Cottington, but I do make the drive down to Rohnert Park because that's my home and my heart.

Heather Nelson: My husband's like, you are moving to Windsor because you don't want to commute anymore, and now you're gonna go and commute to go to the gym. I'm like, okay, you're right. So I am gonna try and get down there on a weekend. Here and there. But I do need to go back down there because I truly miss that team.

Heather Camacho: We miss you too. We really do.

Heather Nelson: I miss it, but I will get back there. That's why I wanted you on just because I know you had your own health journey. You're super inspiring as a coach, and I really wanted people to learn about Orangetheory. Not only like what I participate in, but on a greater picture of what you're doing.

Heather Camacho: A workout brand, it's strong. And I think there's a reason for that. We really focus on community. We really in a group setting, try to help you to be an individual and to be okay with where you individually are at, which is really hard to do in a group setting. And I think that works. You won't lose anything by giving it a try. You really should. It's amazing.

Heather Nelson: Most of the people who come with me end up signing up, so you should try it. But you got to get a bit like two times. Like I said the first time, you're going to be like, what the heck was that?

Heather Camacho: I don't understand anything really. Just for your first couple classes, just take it in. Have a good time, move your body, and don't be afraid to ask questions. The coaches are there to help you feel comfortable with it, and we get it. We've all been to our first class before where we did not know anything. I literally didn't understand. The coach is telling me to push, and I think I was walking, and then she'd say all out, and I was basing like, you're gonna learn all the lingo over time. So just allow yourself to be new and to learn, and it's okay to be confused a little bit. Everyone is.

Heather Nelson: It's worth it, though. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for telling us your story and inspiring us. And I promise I'll be in Rohnert Park soon.

Heather Camacho: Okay. I believe you. I know the next time I coach, I will let you know that you have to try to figure out how to be there.

Heather Nelson: Well, thank you, my friend.