Milso Owned Small Business: GlowBody PT

Hi friends!

How is it already May?! I’m starting to get excited – May not only will bring Mother’s Day, but will be bringing baby number 3 to my family any day now. As I write this, I’m having Braxton Hicks and staring at my calendar, daydreaming about what my daughter will look like.

Ok, I just had to keep that intro because I think it’s so ironic that I was talking about Braxton Hicks and joke was on me – they were real contractions and Ella came that day! Whoops! So here I am, on June 3, finishing this blog. It’s oh-so-timely because I actually started the Postpartum Plan by Ashley this week! More on this later.

But enough about me, today I’m here to share with you another amazing Milso owned business – Glow Body PT with Ashley Keller! I’m SO excited to share her business with you, as I personally own all of her plans and have completed most of them (I’ll be coming for you, LFSC postpartum!)

Let’s start from the beginning though. Ashley is a West Point graduate and Army Veteran herself. She met her husband while attending West Point and got married immediately after graduation.

Ashley recounts her love story,

“I had a crush on Luke who was my next door neighbor when we were cadets at West Point...he was the guy shaking out a camping tent and ropes in the hallway, ruggedly handsome, adventurous, and athletic. Pure infatuation. I was an underclassman and it was forbidden for us to have a relationship until I was a sophomore, so he didn't give me a second thought.

Come year two, we started hanging out and semi-dating. Until I was showing him my family/where I grew up on Picassa. You know, that old program that automatically uploads and organizes all of your photos by date? He sat at my desk, scrolling with the mouse and BAM. There he was, shirtless, on a horse in Egypt, from the *YEAR PRIOR.* I had made it my computer's wallpaper for about 24 hours the year prior, then deleted it in case someone would spot it!

I grabbed the mouse and scrolled as fast as I could to "show him something," hoping he didn't spot the image, but he did. Nudging my hand away he found the image himself. I thought that was the end of us. He laughed at me and poked to tickle at my waist, pointing out that I looked like a complete stalker. 2 dogs, 3 babies, (plus baby 4 on the way!) my dreamy neighbor gave me a chance, and now he's my forever-man and best friend for life.”

Aren’t they just the cutest? I’m basically obsessed with their story. (I mean, who wouldn’t be?)

Ashley and Luke have built such a beautiful life together, but it hasn’t always been easy. Luke has deployed 9 times in 12 years. Ashley deployed herself while serving for 9 months as well. Once she became pregnant with her second son, Ryker, she decided to transition to the role of supportive milspouse after 5 years of service. It was then that she started to pursue what she was very passionate about – women’s health and fitness.

When asked about her business journey, Ashley told us,

“When I was pregnant with Gavin I was frustrated by the lack of challenging prenatal workouts available online. They were all too easy and slow....or intense but NOT pregnancy safe. There was nothing for women who were active pre-pregnancy and wanted to maintain a high level of fitness throughout pregnancy and in preparing the body for labor. So I loads of research, got all the certifications, and vowed to do better my second pregnancy.

I started GlowBodyPT with a cheap camera propped on my kitchen countertop, aimed with a stack of index cards and uploaded the prenatal workouts I was doing onto YouTube when I was pregnant with Ryker. Even if it helped just a few, like-minded women, it was worth it. I did not intend for GlowBodyPT to turn into a business, I thought I'd be working crappy hours for a weak wage at a gym on someone else's schedule.

But my free Prenatal Workout Schedule grew in momentum (now over 28,000 women have it!) and soon there was a strong demand for "what do I do postpartum? what about after a c-section? what exercises can fix my stomach pooch? how do I heal Diastasis Recti? I need a plan with videos from you Ash!" Out of the DIRECT NEEDS of my audience is how my 12 Week Post Pregnancy Plan, they wanted it, so I made it. After testing it for 3 months on a group of 50 motivated trial women the entire program was updated based on their measurements, results, feedback, and body types so that the current 12 Week Post Pregnancy Plan is designed SPECIFICALLY to restore the core postpartum for vaginal and c-section deliveries, aggressively addressing a stubborn pooch no matter how far postpartum you are. It is not for women who prefer stretching/breathing routines. It is for women who are willing to work hard, sweat, and get results on 4 x days per week, 30 mins/day with follow-along full length videos where I coach you through everything from home.

Now I serve the same audience I wanted to reach in the first place: Motivated women who want highly effective, targeted training that gets results fast with full-length videos to save time so your workouts are in the best order and eliminates the procrastination problem of not having a plan all figured out for you.

Unlike most fitness programs/trainers out there in white a recording studio, I'm a Jesus-loving, busy mom, and milspouse, who GETS THE LIFE. I coach you from my living room, to yours, kids and dogs sometimes showing up in videos, and my NUMBER ONE goal is your success. My team and I spend a lot of time in our private Facebook groups for each paid plan to ensure that every woman is confident and supported in order to maximize your personal success.”

Now, I’ve added in some very personal photos below: they’re my personal before & after from the GlowBody Postpartum plan after I had Otto (baby #2!). I love that you get to keep the plan to keep reusing – I cherry picked favorite workouts after my pregnancy loss last year, and started the plan up again this week post baby #3 (Ella)!

Ashley has this advice for other MILSO business owners:

Every single of us has purpose. If you have an idea, a passion, a dream, that you just can't stop thinking about, GO AFTER IT! You have unique gifts that can serve the world vibrantly. I started with a camera on index cards, not even knowing what a thumbnail image was for youtube. Now I have lights, a wireless microphone, and a team. Go in with the mindset that you can teach yourself anything. Literally anything! Nothing is too big for you to learn, and if it is, you can pay someone to help with that task.

To my current MILSPO small business owners: I know you're a hard working go-getter, because it takes a lot to be a milspouse and run your own biz. I always remind myself that if my entire business were gone tomorrow, I'd choose my husband and kids. I would miss my business tremendously, but it wouldn't pale in comparison to losing my spouse. So cherish your spouse by setting boundaries. You can't work 7 days a week for months and years on end without conflict of interest. You deserve time off, your spouse deserves to look into your eyes, and planned seasons of rest will fuel you to stay in it for the LONG HAUL and not burn out. I am sincerely, deeply rooting for you, fellow business owners!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ashley’s philanthropy. Ashley frequently takes the profits from sales and donates them to program that help rehabilitee young women and other organizations such as Save the Storks foundation. Overall, she’s just an incredible human being.

You can find Ashley on Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, here are two of her free products to try!

FREE Prenatal Program

FREE 8 Minute Workout Challenge

Brittany