In The News
2006-11-05, The Edmonton Journal
Global Woman of Vision: Alexandra Senkow
Lesley Macdonald, Canwest, Edmonton Journal
Founder of Personal Training Studio Runs on Fast Track
Busy growing her family and her business
Alex Senkow has the body of an elite athlete. Her legs are long and muscular, and her large brown eyes shine with confidence and good health.
At 29, this young entrepreneur is running a fast track, raising two very young children and growing a successful company.
Alex has energy to burn, and a burning desire to revolutionize the fitness industry. Defining Eve is Canada’s first women’s only personal training studio.
Her philosophy is that you don’t have to be an athlete to be active. And it comes from personal experience. She grew up thinking that athletic people had different skills, and that she didn’t have that skill set.
“I really focused on academics in high school and got lots of notes to miss gym class.” Alex laughs. “I was probably picked last for most sports teams.”
She studied four languages and was in the IB program at Ross Sheppard High School in Edmonton, then decided to travel. She ended up working on a Kibbutz in Israel.
“It was very, very challenging work, physically, and when I arrived my body wasn’t up to the challenge. If we were picking avocados, I could barely carry a bucket that was a quarter full.”
Alex developed chronic back pain and couldn’t walk up a hill without running out of breath. But all around her she saw people 60 years her senior running circles around her. “They were capable of doing 10, 20 times more. I suddenly realized that they weren’t doing specific fitness programs and they weren’t playing on any sports teams. But they were very fit and healthy. That really made me interested in improving my own level of fitness and to improve not the way I looked, but more the way I felt.”
Alex returned to Canada and started riding her bike to work. Then she started going to the gym. Still, she found it very challenging. “The first day I think, I ran on a treadmill for 30 seconds, the same starting point that a lot of our clients experience.”
She stuck with it, got her group teaching certificate and started teaching fitness classes. Then she went back to school and graduated from the NAIT personal training program.
Alex was self-employed when she met her partner Dave. While she grew her client base they strategized on building their own business. “We started to develop Defining Eve back in 2003. We wanted to create a brand that people would fall in love with.”
Alex was three months pregnant when they started running the mobile version of Defining Eve. It started with her MINI Cooper, driving to clients’ homes and to businesses to work with them one-on-one. But very quickly, they realized that they were going to need more trainers and their own space. On Sptember 1st, 2004, when Alex’s daughter Natasha was just three months old, they opened their first studio in Garneau, launching innovative programs like Bridal Boot Camp, Boxing Boot Camp, ski and snowboard conditioning classes, a specialized Pilates program, and pre- and post-natal classes. Soon they needed more space.
On September 1st this year when Alex’s son Ollie was just three months old, they opened a second studio on Lessard Road in southwest Edmonton. They now employ more than 20 staff.
The key to the success of Defining Eve has been filling a niche market that wasn’t being catered to, giving busy women flexibility to fit their busy schedules, and customizing their training to help them reach their goals. Alex and Dave have also excelled at marketing their brand. In the fall of 2005, they launched their own Defining Eve Magazine, a free glossy publication to give women in Edmonton a reliable resource on fitness and health. Alex is the editor and, along with her staff, writes most of the articles. Dave does the layout and design.
“I think that goal-setting is really important, having short-term, mid-term and long-term goals, the company vision, so to speak. We are constantly revisiting that. We look at what we’re doing now, at what we’ve accomplished. We take about five seconds to pat ourselves on the back and look again at what we’d like to accomplish down the road, the next three months, six months, one year, and five years.”
Alex says that the partnership is the driving force behind their success.
“I think I have a lot of energy, but I don’t think that is sufficient on its own. Together we have the drive. We have this vision that we share.”
Right from the very beginning they knew that vision included building a big company. Expanding Defining Eve across Canada is one goal, although Alex remains vague about the details, saying “I can’t disclose trade secrets. There’s still competition in Edmonton you know!”
Despite the master juggling, Alex says there are wonderful moments of magic and accomplishment watching her family and business growing.
“We feel so passionately about what we are doing. Bringing (our services) to as many people as possible is the most rewarding work we can do.”
Leslie MacDonald is the producer/host of the Woman of Vision seriesabout women who inspire us. The stories air at 6 pm on the first Monday of every month on Global Edmonton.
