253: Asking for Help (with Kristin Andrus)

You’re listening to the Vibrant Happy Women podcast, episode number 253. We’re talking about asking for help so you have more time to do the things that make you feel amazing. Stay tuned.

Hi, I'm Jen Riday. This podcast is for women who want to feel more vibrant, happy, aligned, and alive. You'll gain the emotional, physical, and spiritual tools you need to get your sparkle back and ensure that depression, anxiety, and struggle don't rule your life. Welcome to the Vibrant Happy Women Podcast.

Hey my friends welcome back to Vibrant Happy Women, Happy New Year again. And I’m so excited about our guest today, Kristin Andrus. She’s a mom of six who has a following on Instagram and YouTube where you can watch her doing some really amazing workouts. She started out sharing recipes online. And now she has a following all about spreading light and giving back, and making the messy things in life fun and laughable. And I am so lucky to get to interview her today on the show. So without further ado let’s go ahead and dive into my chat with Kristin.

Kristin: Hi. My name is Kristin Andrus. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am a mother of six. I have four girls and then ended with surprise identical twin boys who are four and the light and light of my life. I say that I love them more than my four girls combined, which I’m teasing but kind of not. And my husband runs Traeger Grills and so I’m really involved with that.

I do YouTube workouts for moms who are home, and especially right now during Covid, can’t make it to the gym. They’re free. They’re hard. They make you sweat but we totally party and have a fun time. And so I really enjoy doing that. I always say it’s my love language is getting people sweaty and mad at me. But then in the end having endorphins and being so happy that they did it.

And I cook a lot. I share a lot of recipes. We all have to cook dinner every night for our families which can be drudgery or we can make it fun. And so I do love to cook, I love the art of it. And so I love sharing recipes, easy weeknight meals.

And then I also do a lot of community service. I give back at our schools, and homeless shelters, and food banks. And philanthropy has kind of become my hobby I guess you could say. What I love about it is I feel like I’m more of an organizer than I am – I’m never talking about sending checks into an organization. I’m talking about how to get people to help others. So we just did 500 holiday bags for a local school. And we did 75 Sub for Santas and the list goes on and on.

And I didn’t spend a dollar doing that, I just organized the people in my community, friends, family, friends on social media to get out there and serve in the community, so that I find a lot of joy and satisfaction in that.

Jen: Cool. Thanks for that introduction. So my friend, Courtney messaged me one day on Instagram and said, “You need to follow Kristin Andrus and have her on your podcast.” And I was like, “Who’s Kristin Andrus?” And I went over to your Instagram and you were doing a workout with Christmas boxes, trying to balance Christmas boxes on your feet. So tell us about that and how you came up with that idea and everything else you’re doing.

Kristin: Yeah. Okay, so this is how this happened. So I wanted to get into a class. Here in Utah we’re a little bit more open than most. So we have fitness classes going on. And I didn’t get in. I was third on the wait list and I was so bummed. My kids were in school. I really want to go see my girl friends and sweat and exercise with people right now. We’re all just feeling that big time. So then I go downstairs, I’m like, “Okay then I’m going to do a YouTube workout and I’m going to give back so that other moms who are home just like me can do a fun Christmas workout.”

So I got some Christmas music and I thought, “I’m going to throw on a bow. Why not? This will make people laugh and it’s kind of silly.” So I put on this big green, lime green bow in my hair. And I had red spandex pants on and I was like, “We’re just going to dance, and have fun, and sweat, and it’s going to be awesome.” So it also really lifted my mood, which I had that choice. It was like I can either just be bummed out all morning and go start doing what I had to do around the house or I can make the choice to be happy about it and make something out of it.

And so I did a YouTube workout, it was a 30 minute, it was the 12 days of Christmas and so it was really fun. It was this countdown workout. And then I was like, “Oh my gosh, I have got to put a reel up.” Because I look like an absolute crazy lady with this bow in my hair and these red spandex pants.

And so I went in front of one of our Christmas trees and I did a little reel, which if you’re on Instagram, you know that those are kind of popular right now, just introducing saying, “Hey, my Christmas present to all of you moms out there that follow me are these free at home workouts. And this is, you know, we’re going to do them all in 2021. And I love doing these for you; it’s my language of love, Merry Christmas.” And then I just had little silly things of me with presents and wrapping paper because once again it’s like I could choose to be serious or I could choose to laugh and have fun with it.

And I always choose to laugh and have fun. So then I had to share some outtakes because I think sometimes people are like, “Well, you do it all!” So I had this present, I tried to do this balancing move and so I just showed me on my stories looking like an absolute fool. And I think that’s what people love about me is I can laugh at myself. And I’m the biggest idiot, we all have those moments that we just have to laugh at ourselves or cry. And I choose to laugh and make fun of myself but all in good fun.

And so, so many people messaged me, was like, “I love that you showed those outtakes because sometimes I see the videos and I’m like, “I could never do that.” And then I see your outtakes and I’m like, “Oh yeah, I probably could.””

Jen: Yeah, the behind the scenes.

Kristin: Behind the scenes.

Jen: Not the front, yeah. That’s good. That’s good. So how did you get started with your Instagram channel and desiring even to make a difference like that?

Kristin: When my husband and I bought Traeger Grills it was a no, no, I don’t even know if you guys know about it in Wisconsin. But it’s a pellet grill company, it was up in the Pacific Northwest, no one had heard of it. It was tiny. And we moved it to Utah. We were doing this commercial for Traeger and I thought you know what? If this is going to be out there a little bit in the public, I probably don’t want people coming onto my personal Instagram and so I’m going to create a recipe Instagram.

And so if you look, the first year or two which is five years ago, of all of my photos are pure, they’re terrible photos of food. But I shared recipes and that’s all I shared. And then a couple of years in a friend of mine said, “You have this crazy fun family. You guys do all this stuff. You need to share a little bit more of yourself.” Because I was gaining some traction with recipes and whatnot, so then I kind of started sharing little things about my family, or my kids, or motherhood, or marriage.

And that, talk about a pivot, now all I do is share motherhood, marriage, service, exercise, really trying to help women in their lives. I’m an open book and so it’s very easy for me to share my life, communicating with women, hearing women’s stories, trying to help them as a total amateur and in all ways. But it’s a really cool way to connect with other women, especially as a stay-at-home mom.

Jen: That’s great. And did you grow up with a mom that was similar?

Kristin: Yes, that’s a great question. Obviously no social media, but yes, very outgoing, had a ton of friends, very active in our community. So yes, I would say she was a really great example of that. It’s harder to be an open book when you don’t have social media. But yeah, I’d say in that time she probably was.

Jen: Yeah. Well, the giving back part, you really like to give back. And I find a lot of people learn that by example from parents, any connection there?

Kristin: Yeah, always doing something in the community, always – and she, like I said, because it wasn’t as loud, she was always bringing dinner to people. She was always doing things probably in a little bit more of a quieter way. But yeah, she absolutely, and she still does to this day. She said, “I took, I’m buying her groceries because she can’t go”, you know, so she’s still doing that in a quieter way for sure.

Jen: Yeah, that’s great. Well, tell us, you know, we see the front side like you mentioned, and people love your outtakes. Tell us about a time when you found life to be hard and tell us that story of how you made it through that.

Kristin: This is an interesting one because it may not apply to everyone. But I think you could relate in a lot of different ways. And so one of the hardest – this is kind of a funny thing. But my husband came on Skullcandy, have you ever heard of Skullcandy, they’re the headphones?

Jen: Yeah, my kids know about it.

Kristin: Okay, yeah. He was the third guy. We moved to Utah because of that company, he was the third guy there. We ended up growing it, taking it public. And now we have Traeger and we’ve really grown it. And so my husband’s had a lot of success in business. And so as a stay-at-home mom, although I have a lot going on, a lot of hobbies, a lot of kids, it’s been really hard for me. And there were a lot of years when he was gone all the time.

He was traveling constantly, working constantly. And I just felt like, “I am all alone in this. You’re out with accolades and getting awards or this, or a paycheck and I’m just sitting here raising these little kids and I’m dying inside.” I found it really, really – we got – I had my first child at 28, so not young, not old. But I was used to being a working woman. I’d made my own money. I had my own thing. I had a great life. And then we got married and I started having kids and I felt like, “What’s happening to me? What does this mean to me? Yes, this is great for our family and you’re doing really well, and I’m happy for you, and I love you. But I feel like this shrinking person at home.”

And so one thing that was hard was to understand what can I do for myself? How am I going to make myself happy? One thing that I talk to women a lot about is I cannot look to my husband to fulfill me. I cannot look to him to know what I need.

So for instance, I have a three month old baby and I’m literally – it was so – coming from being a working woman and all that, it was really, really difficult for me to be home. And I remember calling him, he was coming home from Hong Kong or some place and I’m like, “I can’t do this.” I had one little child which was actually harder than six, which I have right now. And so he said, “I’m going to come home. I’m going to take her.” He took her on his business trip and I just at that point thought I need to let him know what my needs are.

I need to let him know what I need, when I need it, because he’s not going to guess them. And I found that throughout time I think as, you know, there’s probably a lot of working women that are listening to this as well and I think you could relate that as well. Hey, I’m out at work all day. When I come home, these are the things I need and I have to have.

And I think telling those around you, maybe it’s your team, it’s your village, it’s your husband, it’s your spouse or whoever that is. “These are my needs and this is how I would like to see it done. This is what I really need in order to be the mom, to be the wife, to be the human, the woman that I need.” As soon as I feel like I’m starting to lose it, and I feel that happening again I think am I stating my needs, not in a selfish way, but just in a, if I want to be this amazing mom, and amazing wife, these are the things that I need in order to be that.

But I find the more that I’m aware of my needs and what that means, and there is a season for everything, right? So sometimes our needs aren’t going to be met and there’s sometimes that there’s compromise. But I think understanding yourself and saying, “Hey, hun, this is how I’m feeling and this is what I would love to have happen.” And then vice versa, “What do you need? How can we help each other?”

Jen: Team work.

Kristin: Team work, absolutely. I have a story that when my husband was doing Skullcandy and I had little tiny kids, every time he told me he was traveling I cried. Every time he was home late I cried. It was like this disaster. So he sat me down at dinner one night and he said, “I cannot do this without you.” He’s an entrepreneur. It was not a nine to five job. He said, “I can stop and I can get a nine to five job, if you want this for our family and we’re going to go for it.”

I mean he wasn’t getting paid. It was this big huge risk, “If you’re with me I can do this. And if we’re a team I can do this. If you’re not, I can’t. And at that point…

Jen: Wow.

Kristin: Yeah, he meant it, he absolutely meant it.

Jen: Yeah, that’s really cool that he respected you enough to put it that way and didn’t sugarcoat it, yeah.

Kristin: Right. And I remember the restaurant, it was an Italian restaurant, I remember everything about it. And in a very kind way he said, “This is our choice.” And from that moment on I said, “This is now my choice.” And that makes such a difference. It’s like this is Team Andrus. This is not Jeremy’s thing. This is our family’s thing. And it has really become a family oriented thing because now I feel like this is our choice, not his. And that made a tremendous difference on my outlook because it’s all about expectations and attitude and it really turned my attitude around.

Jen: And him saying, “I can’t do this without you.” Letting him know, he needed you on the team, you had a place then, you understood the vision. It’s so good.

Kristin: Right. And I still do. And I think that conversation started this new way of doing things in our marriage, and in our family, and in the companies. I’m not a full-time employee. I never have been at any of them. But I feel very included because he talks to me about it. We talk about employees, and issues, and his job is important to our family and I know that and that’s helped a lot.

Jen: That’s so cool, that’s cool. Well, so you essentially were in some ways while he was getting these businesses going and thriving, you were in some ways like a single mom lots of the time I’m guessing, any truth there?

Kristin: Yes. The only caveat to that is I once said – I have quite a few single mom friends. And I once said to a single mom, “I’m a single mom for the weekend.” And she looked at me once again with very kind eyes and she said, “No, you’re not.”

Jen: That’s true.

Kristin: She said, “Because guess what? He comes home on Sunday. And I have no one that comes home on Sunday.” And so that really stopped me and I’ve never used that phrase again because she really put me in my place. And I thought, you’re right, he comes home on Sunday. I can call him and talk through issues or things like that.

But yes, I was alone most of the time for many years in the early stage of mothering. And you know what? It actually really made me who I was. I ended up with a village of women around me who I will say their husbands were home at 4:30 or 5:00. It wasn’t like there was a bunch of us and all of our husbands were gone. It was like no, their husbands are all back and I’m feeling envious. But I have made the choice that that’s what we are going to do. I made really great girl friends. I don’t know if I would have had he been around a lot.

Jen: Yes, for sure.

Kristin: I was running a Curves Fitness Center. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of that, it’s like a women’s fitness center. So I was doing that up until I had about three kids and that was so much fun, really cool to see women reach their goals. And so that was a really great business, and a hobby, and a way to fill my cup. And then I also asked for help. I had a grandma in my neighborhood that literally when that call, “I’ve got a three month year old child” and I was having a breakdown. I found a grandmother in my neighborhood and I said, “Can I pay you a little bit?” She didn’t want money but I said, “Just a little bit to watch my daughter a couple of times a week.”

And I brought my little baby over to her house, so I had that freedom that I knew I would have a couple of times a week, which as a mom, home alone a lot I really needed. And just with my personality I needed. And so I started asking for help very early on in my mothering.

And now I actually have full-time help, assistant, nanny, everything, she does so much for us because once again to be everything that I need to do and get done, everything I need to do and to do all this stuff, I invest in that. And so early on I realized if I can invest in this time, and for many years it was just a couple of hours a week, it made a lot of difference just in my emotional and I was a better mom because of it.

Jen: I love that you chose the word ‘invest’. I think there’s still a thought pattern that doesn’t really serve us collectively that we should do it all on our own. And how were you able to let that go?

Kristin: You brought up my mom earlier and my mom had like a mother’s helper who came in and actually lived with us. And my mom owned it. No one else in our – I’m from California — no one else had that, we were the only ones that did. She never hid it. She never tried to ignore it. She just owned it. And so when I started doing that and I said, “You know what? I’m having a hard time. I’m dropping Audrey off at Marlice’s house a couple of times a week.” All my friends were like, “Really?”

And then as I had three kids I was like, “You know what? I have someone coming in a couple of times a week in the afternoon so I can get a break.” And I owned it from the minute I started, which I think I saw in my mom, she modeled that. And I still do. I get full-time help and this is why and it makes me – my husband’s so happy about it because it is an investment. But it’s an investment in our family. It’s an investment in our marriage. And I’d rather put aside money for something else and invest in that.

And so I’ve just owned it from the beginning. And when you talk about yourself and you say, “Hey, friends, family, social media world, this is what I do and I don’t care what you think. It’s so great for me.” People, they can’t talk about you because you’ve already talked about yourself.

Jen: You’ve owned it, yes. I’ve heard people, influencers say, “Don’t ever tell anyone you have a nanny or they’ll crucify you.” But you put it right out there so they can’t. That’s great.

Kristin: You know what? I put it out there and I – and these women and girls have added so much to our lives. My kids have been in their weddings. They still come by with their babies now. I mean they come to the soccer games. They add value, they add love. They do nothing but add to our family. They do not subtract at all. And so I believe that in my heart of hearts. And so I have no qualms about that. By the way I had a post about getting help. Have you read Rhonda Rhimes’ book?

Jen: Year of Yes?

Kristin: Yes.

Jen: Yeah, Shonda.

Kristin: Shonda, I’m so sorry, Shonda Rhimes. So she motivated me, when she talked about her nanny, I love that chapter. So I did a whole post on it and you should have seen the people that were like, “Thank you about saying, ‘I get help.' This is what I do. This is what she does.” People were like, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for telling us.”

Because it’s that whole – she talks about the wig and she says, “For my whole life I didn’t know that Whitney Houston wore a wig. I tried to get my hair right. I tried to get my hair like Whitney’s, I tried and tried. And tried as I could my hair never looked like Whitney Houston’s.” And she said, “At 30 years old, someone told me, ‘No, Whitney had a wig, that wasn’t her hair.'” And when Shonda said that, she said, “I don’t want other people feeling like trying to do all that I’m doing and that’s how I feel without knowing it’s a wig.”

And that’s how I feel, I’ve always been really open about it, but my wig is that I have a lot of help. I have a village; I have a team around me that really helps. There’s no way I could do 10% of the stuff I do without the help that I have.

Jen: And with Shonda, thank goodness she got that help or she wouldn’t have created Grey’s Anatomy which we all love.

Kristin: So true.

Jen: So I mean the same with you. So there’s probably people listening saying, “That’s nice for Kristin, she can afford it.” What would be your advice for those who have the mindset right now listening, I could never afford that?

Kristin: Yeah, I think, think about what you do spend money on. And I’m not saying anywhere near full-time help. But if it’s even hard to get a babysitter, for me I would rather offset drinks, I’d rather offset dinner out with my husband and go find something that’s a little bit more – I would save the money and offset the money in different ways. I’d say put it in different ways where I would have that. Now, once again, you may not feel the need to get away from your home. I’m not a homebody, that’s something that just as a human being I need that break from my kids.

If you don’t feel that, that’s amazing, I’m actually so envious of you. I wish I could sit home and be so happy at home but I have to be on the go. So maybe it’s an hour a week, maybe it’s a girl friend that you and her switch every Wednesday, you take a Wednesday, she takes a Wednesday. Maybe it’s somebody picks up from preschool on a Thursday and you take turns doing something like that. Maybe it’s getting up early in the morning and having that time to yourself. There’s different ways of doing it.

Maybe it’s saying to your spouse, or partner, whoever it is and saying, “Hey, guess what? On Wednesday from six to nine I’m going out. You go cruise the mall, I’m going to do this, I need this and I need it at least once a week. How can you help me get this goal?” And so it doesn’t need to be paid help necessarily. And like I said, it wasn’t for a long time for me. It was a grandmother in my neighborhood, that’s what we could do at the time. We weren’t making money at that time. But here’s the thing, where there is a will there is a way. And I will tell you, I found that way.

And then I even – we even kind of offset where I would help Marlice cook her dinner sometimes and then she would take, you know, so there’s ways of doing that that’s not too expensive.

Jen: And you decided that’s it, I’m doing it; this is part of who I am. I need time to myself. You formed a strong belief there and you made it happen. And I see more and more women doing that and I think we’re making progress, so thanks for your example in that area. I think it’s so important. Now, you’re really good at consistent exercise, I have gathered. For those of us, we’re approaching the new year, what advice would you have on making it consistent, what has worked for you over the years?

Kristin: So I have grown to love exercise. If I don’t do it I don’t feel okay. And that’s more mentally probably than physically. So for me it’s an outlet, sometimes during my videos something will be really hard and I’m like, “This is amazing. This is amazing that you took 20 minutes out of your day for you.” And I think when you look at it, it’s how grateful am I that I have 15 minutes to move my body. What a gift that I’m able to do some squats today or lift a five pound dumbbell. And there’s so many women out there, I will tell you, so many that can’t, meaning physically, meaning mentally.

And so if you have the wherewithal to be able to move your body and do that, it is truly a gift. And I think if you look at it like that, it becomes that and you’re like, “How can I find and make the time to do that, because what a gift I give myself.”

Number two, start super small. I talk a lot about mini habits. You want to do something, maybe it’s every day you put on your shoes and your workout clothes. And I’m not even saying you have to lift a weight or do a workout video. But every day you put on your shoes and outfit, and then you put on your shoes and outfit, and you put on your shoes and outfit. And then maybe next week you do five sit-ups, and you do five sit-ups for a week.

And then maybe the next week you do a five minute walk. And you just walk around your circle and you come back, you walk around your circle and come back. And then you go, “You know what? I’m going to go for a little bit longer because I actually kind of like this.” Because I know I have my shoes and outfit on, that’s covered, I’ve done that for weeks and that’s no problem.

So find a habit that you cannot fail at. It’s that little walk, it’s taking the dog on a walk every day, every day, every day until you’re like, “Wow, I went for 20 minutes today.” And you know what? I actually liked it. I actually went for 25 minutes and it was so great. If we’re in cold climates, maybe it’s turning on a five minute exercise video or doing five push-ups or sit-ups or whatever that is. But find a mini habit that you cannot fail at. And do it until you feel like I’ve got this. I actually want to do a couple more minutes.

Jen: So for you do you workout every day? Do you have a schedule? Do you have, you know, or do you just keep the workout clothes on until it’s done? What works for you right now?

Kristin: Yeah. So I do, do it as soon as I get my kids dropped off to school, I do it. My kids are all in school right now. Before I would get up before school and get it done. To me, if it’s not done – for my life, if it’s not done before noon it won’t happen. And that’s the thing is find what works for you. Maybe it’s after work at 5:30 you can fit in that 15 minutes, or maybe it’s at 6:30 in the morning is the only time you know it’ll happen. Try and work your day around that. For me, if I had to work out at 5:00pm every day there’s zero chance it would happen, zero.

And so I know for me I have to get it done first thing. So I literally drop my kids off at school, I’m already dressed and ready to go. I’ve taken my pre workout, I walk in the door, I go down in my basement and I start my workout. I don’t answer texts, emails. It’s like if I don’t get started now it’s not going to happen. So find that time that’s hard for you to miss, mornings are for me. But it could be 10:00pm; it could be 6:00am. 6:00am for many years was the only thing that worked for me.

Jen: So you mentioned a pre workout, tell us about your entire morning routine because we all want to be a fly on the wall in each other’s lives, so this will be our chance.

Kristin: Yeah. So I get up normally around 6:30 or so, I do lay in bed for a couple of minutes, I pray. I kind of try to pull my thoughts together. I try to, you know, mornings are really, really hard. I actually was thinking this on dropping my kids off after school. I thought I did a really bad job this morning because I just was kind of on edge the whole morning. I’m constantly chirping at, “You’re not ready. You’re not ready. Where are your shoes?” And I thought I just need to shut my mouth.

So I try to lay there in the morning in bed before I get on my phone, before I wake-up the kids and kind of get my mind right. I wouldn’t say I meditate because that’s not true, I wish I did. But I do just try to pull it together, start happy. Choose joy. Choose that I’m not going to get mad at my kids this morning. I get up I get my workout clothes on first thing, brush my teeth. And then I make the rounds, wake-up all my kids.

I have a 32 ounce hot lemon water, I don’t drink coffee and so that’s kind of my coffee I’d say, but I love it, it’s really good for your digestion, it’s alkaline, it just has a lot of health benefits, so whatever that drink is. But I love to get hydrated really early in the morning. So it’s like by 8:00am I’ve had 32 ounces of water and I’m just feeling really good. I don’t eat breakfast, but if you want to eat a little bit of something. I just take a caffeine supplement, I take half of it. So it’s like – I don’t know – 40 or 50 milligrams of caffeine. That takes about a half an hour.

And then once I drop the kids off I kind of have a little bit of that caffeine boost to get me going in my workout. And that’s Monday through Saturday. I do take Sundays off.

Jen: Do you do strength training? Do you alternate? Do you do any yoga?

Kristin: Yeah, I alternate it. I love strength training, that’s the one thing that I think, if someone said, “What is the secret to your fitness success?” I would say, “Weight training.” If I could choose one thing to do for the rest of my life it would be lifting weights. And when I say lifting weights, it’s not barbells. It’s five pound weights, five pounds.

Jen: Really?

Kristin: Yeah, three pounds, 10 pounds is the heaviest I go. That has absolutely changed my body more than anything, any cardio I could do. I could run every day of my life and nothing would change my body like weights do.

Jen: Do you do long reps then?

Kristin: Yeah. So I’ll do lighter, kind of like I try to build lean muscle is a lot of my workout. So I have a popular workout called Death by Five Pound Weight, death by five pound dumbbell. So you don’t need heavy weights to build muscle. And that’s like when I owned The Curves I saw women coming in, they took walks every day. And then they came in and started doing resistance training. And the inches they lost, not only the pounds, but their bodies transformed because they were building muscle.

And so yeah, I switch off, I do Peloton strength training three or four times a week. I do yoga once a week. And I switch off days between cardio and weights.

Jen: Yeah, I have their app, it’s fantastic.

Kristin: It’s fantastic, yeah.

Jen: My girls even love it.

Kristin: That’s awesome.

Jen: Yeah, it comes right through Apple TV so you don’t even need to use your phone, we didn’t realize, we just found that out.

Kristin: I didn’t know that.

Jen: Yeah, you can add the Peloton channel through your Roku right onto your screen or through Apple TV.

Kristin: Oh gosh, that’s awesome, thank you.

Jen: Yeah, thank you. So that’s amazing. So you would say, we all think cardio is what’s going to lose the weight, but you’re saying it’s the small weights training and you do 45 minute sessions?

Kristin: Yeah, today I did 30 minutes. But I’d say anything. I have on my YouTube channel, I have five minute workouts. I have 10 minute workouts. Yes, if you can even just – it’s building that habit. So even if I have five minutes and I’m in my underwear, I’ll do a quick five minute, I’ll do some push-ups, some sit-ups, a plank and then call it a day. But it’s building that habit of just not missing, and maybe sometimes it’s going for a walk with a friend. It’s moving my body is the goal. And so sometimes it’s 10 minutes. Today it was 30, hopefully tomorrow it’s 45, but it doesn’t really matter.

Jen: Yeah. So you’ll do a full strength training, one day cardio, the next day you’ll work all the muscles if you can?

Kristin: I will because I’m not doing heavy weights I don’t do a leg day or an arm day. If you see any of my workouts they’re a lot of compound moves which means we’re moving our legs and arms. For me as a mom, as all of us busy women, it’s like I want the best bang for your buck. And so what does that mean? That means I’m going to get in some cardio and some weights and I’m going to do it as quick as possible and just get it done.

Jen: Yeah, that makes sense, that’s great. So if people want to check out your workouts, I’m going to find the Death by Five Pound Barbells or whatever you said it was. Are those on your Instagram channel?

Kristin: Kristen Andrus on Instagram would have links to my YouTube channel. And by the way, it’s all free. I don’t get anything from this. The only thing I get from this is the satisfaction of knowing that thousands and thousands of women are doing my workouts every morning. It makes me so happy, yeah.

Jen: That’s fun. And it’s accountability for you, you can’t stop now, we’re all waiting for your next workout.

Kristin: Yeah, just my name on YouTube, I do link various workouts on my Instagram, but YouTube’s probably the best place for it.

Jen: Okay, awesome. And last question, what is one of your goals or intentions for 2021?

Kristin: I mentioned a little bit earlier, but philanthropy and giving back and serving in my community has really become important to myself and my family, and our family culture. And so we make it just a part of our weeks, our months. And I want to continue that through the year. And I think one thing to think about because people hear philanthropy and they think of the Gates Foundation. And philanthropy is really doing what you can with what you have. And so that’s what I want to remember throughout the year is giving back is not just around the holidays, not just around certain times.

But philanthropy is a year round endeavor and it’s doing what you can with what you have. So if I have little kids at home I’m not going to be able to do some of the stuff that I would if I was just on my own. But I really want to make and continue the service and the giving back that we do throughout the year.

I’m already planning something for February right now because I want to have something on the calendar that my family knows is coming and it’s a way to give back. Because all these people that we’re helping through the holidays and through different times are still there and still need our love and help. Maybe that’s neighbors, who is that in your life? But try to remember that throughout the year, that’s kind of what I’m thinking right now for 2021 is thinking outside of myself, looking outward.

If I’m feeling down, or grumpy, or whatever it may be, having a bad day, who can I go and help? Who’s out there that needs some sunshine, some love, a drink, a snack dropped off at their door just to let them know that I’m thinking about them. But that’s really important to me.

Jen: That great, definitely, you’re spreading light, that’s wonderful.

Kristin: Yeah, it is.

Jen: Well, Kristin, I want to thank you for being on the show. You definitely are doing great things in the world. Everyone go check out her workouts, they’re fun and I think they keep you coming back for more, that’s my take. So thank you so much for being on the show.

Kristin: You’re welcome.

I was really inspired by Kristin and I want you all to hear what she said, “It’s okay to ask for help”, especially the help that allows you to have time to do some of the things you love. And maybe it’s that workout, Death by Five Pound Dumbbells or maybe it’s getting a job you love or spending time just thinking, or journaling, or writing. And I want you to think about how you can make that happen this year. Maybe it’s swapping with a friend. Maybe it’s asking a neighbor to watch your kids. Maybe you have a kid that’s old enough, like I do, who can watch them.

Whatever it takes because as noble and awesome as it is to be a mother or to be an employee, we must create spaces in our lives for these things that let our hearts sing, that help us feel rejuvenated, and joyful, and happy. And Kristin is a great example of that. So think about that, ponder on that, and I will be back again next week talking about some other great stuff. Until then, make time for yourself so you can make it a vibrant and happy week. Take care.

If you enjoy this podcast, you have to check out the Vibrant Happy Women Club. It’s my monthly group coaching program where we take all this material to the next level and to get you the results that will blow your mind. Join me in the Vibrant Happy Women Club at jenriday.com/join.