Learn - Grow - Lead

Learn - Grow - Lead is our focus for 2025 in the Oulaverse. We have decided to pivot from our traditional affirmations and focus on these tangible concepts to move Oula and each of us forward in the coming year. 

Let’s start with LEAD:

You may be thinking, I am not a boss so I don’t need to focus on leading. But if we really look at what it means to lead, we can see that it is vital for each of us to determine how we can lead in our lives. Regardless of whether you are in charge of a team of people at a job, or in a family, or making decisions for a group, the skills of leadership are so applicable in all we do–especially in Oula. 

There are many definitions of the word lead: 

• to guide someone or something along a way
• to direct on a course or in a direction
• to serve as a channel for
• to be first in or among

When I look at each of them I see a vision for Oula in the world. We are a fitness company that provides awesome workouts, but as we all know, that isn’t all. We serve as a channel for the opportunity to express our emotions. We guide others to push their boundaries physically and mentally to learn new choreography and to connect with each other in ways we may not normally do in a fitness class. We are striving to direct how people view moving their bodies–for the pleasure and joy of the movement and not as punishment or strain. Each and every one of us are leaders in Oula. Some in the traditional sense, but many lead just by embodying what Oula stands for. 

Now on to GROW:

We hear so often that there needs to be more Oula in more communities locally and globally, so how do we get there? How does Oula grow? If we think about what Oula values, it feels like a no-brainer that everyone would want to be a part of this experience and this movement. But it’s also hard to grow community, empowerment, connection, safe spaces, and being carefree, even though these are things we know we deserve. Remember the first time you stepped into an Oula class and now think about where you are today. What has that growth trajectory been like for you? 

For me, it has felt like a beautiful climb from the bottom of a valley up to seeing the view from the top of the hill. Looking back, the amount of growing that I have done has altered my life in ways I never thought possible when I was taking my first steps. 

So how can we bring that transformation to the rest of the world? How can we infuse the world with the Oula values? 

And that is where LEARN comes in:  

This is the foundation of it all. Taking the time to pause and dig into the unknown for the betterment of ourselves and our communities. Stepping into an uncomfortable space and being new to something… it’s what we ask people to do the first time they walk into an Oula class… to be a beginner again and to be okay with not knowing. And reminding them that we are all learning together–learning the new song or release, learning a new lyric, learning a little bit more about ourselves with every class. It can be scary but also exhilarating and empowering! When we push ourselves to learn new things–maybe it’s about body mechanics, troubleshooting the sounds system, cooking, knitting or Generative AI–it expands the boundaries of what we thought we could do yesterday and ignites us to keep learning more! Yes, I am an unabashed nerd for learning all kinds of new things. I am currently learning how to write effective prompts for ChatGPT and create automations for Oula along with experimenting with new fillings for my macarons. 

When we take the time to step into the new and learn, we inevitably create growth for ourselves and often our communities get to share that new knowledge in support of others, leading the way to more growth and success around us. And so that is how we will spend 2025 and beyond–learning, growing, leading–in ways to bring the Oula magic we all know and love into the world! 

We are looking for individuals to help Oula learn, grow, and lead! If you’ve got a superpower you want to share, reach out at hq@oulafitness.com to set up time to chat! We are looking for all kinds of expertise including project management, communications (written/ spoken), design, analytics, research and so much more! Let’s grow Oula together!

--Andrea, Oula HQ Operations