Since opening CrossFit Seymour in 2012, RaeAnn Mellencamp and her staff have worked to improve the lives of their clients in the community through fitness programs.
While Mellencamp’s business has grown exponentially over time, a few years ago, she started to feel like a gap needed bridged.
People grinded at CrossFit Seymour to get stronger and healthier, but other needs weren’t getting fulfilled.
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After assembling a staff last year, she opened a new business: REinvented, a health coaching service at 209 E. Second St., Seymour.
“It started three years ago with just the thought that we train everyone at CrossFit Seymour, but there are so many other components to our lives that need to be addressed as far as relationships, career, fitness, nutrition and spirituality,” Mellencamp said. “We just really wanted to broaden the spectrum on overall health. I did some research on health coaching schools and decided to just go for it.”
Mellencamp said she kept herself accountable through Facebook, and some of her friends started wanting to jump on the venture.
“I saw Tiffany Bruce the next day and she wanted to go along the journey with me,” she said. “Shortly after that, Lindsey (Montgomery) came and said it was something she wanted to do, too. We decided to create this team, this army for our community. We just all plunged into this together. We knew we were super passionate about it.”
Bruce, a full-time instructional teacher who said she has been friends with Mellencamp since middle school, said the business offers a variety of services.
“True health and happiness starts with core things like relationships and self-love,” Bruce said. “What we bring to the table is all a little different. RaeAnn is a trainer, and Lindsey is doing that, too. I’ve taken clients grocery shopping and taught them how to read food labels. It can really go any direction. It just depends on the client and what they need.
“What’s great is that we’re a team, so we can all pull together. If there is a concern for a client we aren’t familiar with, we have a team that can bounce ideas off each other.”
Bruce said many clients come asking for nutritional and fitness advice but end up working on other parts of their lives.
“When you really delve into it, there is a lot more than (nutrition and fitness),” she said. “It’s relationship, career, home life — the chaos. You don’t really how much that interferes with your personal goals when you can’t even organize your to-do from one day to another. It is never just nutrition and exercise. You peel back a lot of layers.”
Montgomery, who teaches third-graders full time, echoed Bruce’s sentiments.
“I had a client that came to me initially because she wanted to get into nutrition and things like that. We started a sixth-month program and are now on our second six months,” Montgomery said. “We work a lot on relationships now. That’s the biggest piece of the puzzle she needs to rely on now.”
Montgomery said she met Mellencamp about seven years ago through CrossFit, and they became good friends.
“I enjoy helping people, and when I figured out this piece of the puzzle, I found that I had a passion for it,” Montgomery said.
After Bruce, Mellencamp and Montgomery all became certified in health coaching, REinvented added another employee.
“We wanted to broaden that spectrum even more with self-care, which is when Mackenzie (Bowles) came into my life,” Mellencamp said. “She was already in massage therapy school, so we waited for her to finish and get her proper license and certification. Once she did that, she started doing massage therapy at REinvented. Right now, we are looking for one more person to occupy our fifth office.”
Among her many services, Bowles offers deep tissue, cupping, hot tones, prenatal and Reiki massages.
“(Mellencamp) approached me when I was in school,” Bowles said. “She stuck with me through all the ups and downs with school and getting my certification. I feel like I fit in really well here.”
One of the goals of the REinvented staff is to work together — inside and out of the office — to help try and solve complex problems.
Mellencamp said the team has worked in conjunction with doctor’s offices.
“None of us know everything, but together, we know a lot,” Mellencamp said. “We take pride in incorporating everyone’s knowledge to help make every single person better. We love being able to call another profession to bring them in on a case, and then we all learn together and is better off for our client. This little hub of health is getting stronger and stronger. We have all been born and raised in this town and want it to get better. I think we’ve made a significant impact with our clients over the past year.”
The service is open to women and men of all ages.
Thus far, most of REinvented’s clients have been women between ages 30 and 40, Mellencamp said.
She wants to see the business continue to grow.
“I would like us to be so needed and beneficial to our community that we all are full-time health coaches,” she said. “Right now, all three health coaches have full-time positions and are health coaching part time. We are all new and being patient for what we’re supposed to be. My vision has always been networking with each other to help all of our clients.
“I think we will get there when the time is right. We have a lot of doctors now wanting to carry our pamphlets in their offices because we are here to bridge the gap between doctor and clients. The doctors are fixing part of lives that we can’t. We’re building relationships with our professionals in the community that can resource us. I would love to see us to reach out to every person who needs us without it being a financial burden.”
Right now, REinvented takes appointments through its Facebook page and via phone calls at 812-569-0261. REinvented offers a free health history consultation, and prices on different plans vary.