Meet instructor Laura McDyer, who launched Coventry’s first ever Turn’d Up class!

 

How did you hear about Turn’d Up Fitness?

Do you have a dance background?

How was the first class you attended?

What was instructor training like?

I had a friend help me, we looked around for venues, and once that was secured, a launch date was decided

We then planned backwards on a calendar what we needed to get done and by when.

A two-month deadline was set, which was a realistic timeframe to plan and learn all of the routines for the first class but to also challenge us to get up and running sooner rather than later.

I then set up a social media page with the logo and a bio about Turn’d Up. Then we practiced a minimum of three times a week, sometimes more! It was hard work but fun. Once the whole class had been learned, I would put the playlist on shuffle to challenge myself a bit more with the routines.

On the build up to the launch date, I posted on social media every day and did a countdown for the week before. We also flyered to shops and businesses in town and around the venue and asked if they could be left out for customers or popped into staff rooms. I also set a little competition for people to tag a friend and share any of our posts to have their name put into a hat for a draw to win a goody bag on the launch day!

Describe your first class…

My first class was Nervo-citing!! It took me back to that feeling as a child when you invited all your friends to your birthday party and they said they would be coming and then you had to wait and see if they would turn up or not! 🤣 It was a massive deal for me –  I’d had an Exercise to Music Qualification for ages but was too scared to ever use it.

I found Turn’d Up (or it found me…) and I just knew that, even though I was SO nervous about that first class, I was going to take that leap of faith and just do it anyway. I knew I was prepared, I knew what to do, I had been practicing non-stop. So I just had to try and quiet my busy thoughts and have some fun with it!

Ever since I was a child, I was exactly the same, getting nervous and fretting but then going on stage with a smile and performing it out. Sometimes winning medals!! So over the years I’ve learned that if it doesn’t challenge you, it wont change you. There is no pointing fretting over the ‘what ifs?’, you’ve got to picture yourself achieving the outcome you want and just go for it anyway. Nerves are a good thing, it means you care!

How has being an instructor changed your life?

I have been running my classes since November, so around three months. You could say I’m still quite new to it, but I have definitely come into my own. Turn’d Up was the exact type of class I’d hoped to be running for myself. I used to be of the opinion: ‘What gives me the right to stand up in front of people and say “Hey! Follow me!”, even after all of my experience, studying and training?!’

But Turn’d Up has transformed that opinion and helped me to ignite my potential and grow in confidence. I am kinder to and more accepting of myself. I have noticed that people who do and don’t know me, will say to me that I’m always happy and optimistic. It’s taken some work and practice to get there, believe me! But through finding Turn’d Up Fitness, I’ve been supported and encouraged to have love and gratitude in my heart, whilst helping other women to have it too.

To help others have more self-confidence, self-esteem and love for themselves whilst being active, having fun and meeting so many more new and exciting people… I can definitely say there has been a hugely positive change in my life in such a short space of time!