I just got off the phone with the wonderful Molly Galbraith and I immediately had to start writing because there were so many awesome things we talked about that I wanted to share with you all.
The questions I asked and other comments I made are in bold.
—Melissa Gleisner
***All Star Intern
1) Molly, what is beauty to you?
There are so many different kinds of beauty. But in our gym, women come to us for outward beauty. We encourage the outward and inner beauty. We want women to train because they love their body not because they hate their body. Women are so hard on themselves so we encourage them to give themselves a little bit of grace.
Our goal is to make women feel better and live the life they want to live.
2) How have you gone about being a respected representative for females in a male dominated industry? How do you personally represent yourself in a positive way without being too provocative?
It’s hard. I’m a very outgoing and flirtatious person so I have to watch myself. I have been a lot more aware of how I dress in videos and how I come across to people. I have big boobs and a big butt. I know that. I don’t want to have to hide it though. I would never purposely sexualize myself.
It depends on the look that someone might be going for though. If you’re goal as a gym is to make women look great in a bikini body then you’ll probably have to post pictures of yourself looking great in a bikini. The pictures that I have posted of myself are put up for a purpose.
On that note, I did an article on fat loss a few weeks ago and that article had a picture of me showing off my abdominals. I had a purpose and a reason to why I was posting the pictures.
Lastly, demanding respect is key. Don’t let people talk negatively to you.
For more on this please read Letters to All Beautiful Girls http://www.dieselsc.com/letters-to-all-the-beautiful-little-girls-part-1/
3) How have you dealt with trolling on the internet on different posts, pictures, and videos you have posted?
I deal with them in different ways. I am respectful and I usually thank them for posting on my page and taking the time to post, and that usually makes them feel stupid. When people make negative comments on my pictures or videos I try to ignore the comment and that takes their power away.
4) Molly, how have you dealt with women who you work with who are afraid of strength training because they say they don’t want to get bulky or develop a “manly” looking physique?
First off, never tell them their belief is stupid. It will make them shut down and it will make the rest of your answer seem non-validating. Respect their belief and talk with them about why they feel that way. Ask them questions about where and why they have developed that belief.
I try to explain to them that this myth is a scare tactic from other people in the industry to get you to buy their product or something of that nature.
You can also get into the hormonal discussion and explain that women don’t produce enough testosterone in their bodies to get “big and bulky.” Explain that if done properly, strength training combined with good nutrition can help you lose body fat. If they happen to tell you that they gained weight in the past when they had done strength training and are afraid that will happen again, ask them what their diet was like. Ask them what does bulky look like to them.
Ease women into strength training slowly so that they can get accustomed to it. Lifting won’t get you a bulky body, it will give you the best version of the body that you have.
Lastly, when women say they want long lean muscles I tell them they need to get new parents.
5) Molly, I understand that you were a business major in college but started getting into the fitness world during that time too. What first sparked your interest in the industry?
I felt like shit about myself. I felt like my body was out of control and I hated it. My body image was affecting my relationship with others and I let people treat me poorly because of it. Because of this, I decided to take action and made it a point to start exercising to feel better about myself. My boyfriend and his friends in college sparked my initial interest in power lifting though.
6) Since your focus is on power lifting, what advice do you have for women that are interested in it and are considering getting started in the sport?
Learn the basics of power lifting and build a strong base before you really get into it. If you can’t do a good goblet squat, you shouldn’t be squatting with a barbell yet. If you can’t do a good hip hinge with a kettle bell, you probably shouldn’t be dead lifting yet. Once you achieve this, find a supportive group of power lifting people that can help you excel in the sport.
7) What advice do you have for someone in my position about networking and getting started in this industry?
You have to put yourself out there. You have to find a good mentor and have a good background of information. Once you have this, start posting free information for your friends or family. Post notes on Facebook and ask other people if you can interview them to build a base of contacts. I started by posting YouTube videos of myself doing different exercises and got noticed through those.
8) How has your life improved since you started doing heavy strength training?
My life has seriously improved. I learned that my life actions have a direct correlation with my body and that we have direct control of our bodies. I started to feel empowered by exercise and developed confidence and respect for myself.
9) What do you use as your primary motivation on days that you feel unmotivated or down on yourself?
It always helps to have an army of friends that encourage me. However, if I need a ton of motivation I probably should not be training. If I’m feeling like crap one day, I might just do my warm up or some light conditioning. It always helps me to turn on good music and go through my warm up and I might get motivated to do the rest. I went through a hard period within the past year with the loss of my father and a breakup. During this time I did a lot of walking. Although I wasn’t doing any heavy strength training, I was still active through the walking and the time spent being outside helped me.
10) Molly, what are your goals for the future of your gym, Girls Gone Strong, as well as your own training?
As far as my own training goals, I am training for a power lifting competition where I hope to achieve my raw elite total. I want to successfully do a 90 pound Turkish Get Up too.
As far as goals for the gym, we want to become the premier training facility for females in the world, the whole universe, in the Milky Way! We want to empower them.
For Girls Gone Strong, since it’s more of a conceptual website, we want to continue to encourage women to post their successes on it. We want it to be a place that women can come together to congratulate each other on new personal records and motivate one another. We want to continue to produce good information and inspiration for them.
11) Where can women learn more about you at?
They can go to my website MollyGalbraith.com, GirlsGoneStrong.com or our gym’s website J&Mstrength.com. Jim and I are hosting an event in May called Train Like A Girl Seminar. It’s all filled up as of now but you can go to the Train Like a Girl Seminar website to join the wait list or to learn more about it. It’s going to be a great event and Jim and I are really looking forward to it.
I just wanted to say thanks so much again to Molly for taking the time to talk with me. It was so exciting to have the opportunity to talk with her about her past and current experiences. She is such an inspiration to me and I love the message that her and the other girls from GGS as well as Jim Laird are spreading to women. I will be in attendance at the Train Like a Girl Seminar in May and I couldn’t be more excited for it!
As always,
Live Light Lift Heavy
Melissa