Carmel’s Julie Voris finds the job she was meant to do
By Mark Ambrogi
Julie Voris began her career as a high school English teacher. That turned out to be not the exact fit she was seeking.
“I segued from a classroom with a chalkboard to a classroom that is a gym, which is a whole lot more fun,” Voris said.
Voris moved to Carmel with her family when her husband, Jeff, took over as Butler football coach in 2006.
Voris is a group exercise instructor, master trainer and a Beachbody coach. She serves as a consultant for the health and fitness products that Beachbody offers.
“If you find the thing you’re supposed to do with your life, it doesn’t feel juggling,” Voris said. “None of it feels like work to me because it’s what I’m doing. I say I wear a lot of different hats because I teach live classes, I teach future instructors to teach classes and build a Beachbody business. ”
Voris became a fitness instructor after she give up being a school teacher at the time to stay home with three young children when her husband got the Carroll University head coach job in 2001 in Waukesha, Wis.
“I joined the YMCA and we were there a couple of months and the instructor said to me ‘I think you should be teaching classes,’” Voris said. “I started teaching three months after we joined. That was one class that turned into two classes, that turned into three classes and then more classes. That turned into applying to be a master trainer and to be a Beachbody coach. It all kind of came from one conversation in the lobby of YMCA. One conversation can change your life, if you let it.
“Six months into it, I woke up and said ‘Oh, this is what I was I was supposed to do with my life all along,’” Voris said. “Teaching is really what I love. I need to find where I am supposed to be. Both my husband and I are doing the thing that we were put on this Earth to do. We get each other and what we’re doing, professionally as well as personally.”
Voris said they offer advice to each other.
“We try to be a sounding board for each other,” Voris said.
Voris said she started from scratch when they moved to Carmel to find someone to hire her to teach fitness, but she is well-established now.
“We are very connected to Carmel, to Butler and to Indiana,” Voris said. “We’ve lived a lot of places. But this is the first time we’ve felt like we were home.”
She has appeared on some workout videos and has been a regular contributor’s on Fox 59’s Fit on Fox segments on the morning news for the past year.
“It’s challenging to find ways to bring fitness and health to people,” Voris said. “There is so much information out there if we can find ways to make it simple and digestible. I feel like it’s my job when I’m on Fix to keep it simple and give you something you can use today. Live TV is fun. I was nervous the first couple of times. But now I’m like ‘mic it up, let’s go.’”
Meet Julie Voris
Personal: Age 45. Jeff and Julie have three children, Jenna, who just finished her freshman year at Butler. Josie will be a senior and Jessie a freshman at Carmel High School.
Education: Voris competed in dance, gymnastics, track and field and volleyball at Oakwood (Ill.) High School. Graduated from Eastern Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Website: julievoris.com
What makes her stand out among other fitness gurus: “I work to create an inspiring, motivating and empowering community for those in my classes and online challenge groups. I believe everyone is stronger than they think they are. I believe we can all do more than we think we can do. Being able to connect with folks, whether one-on-one or in a room of 100-plus people in my classes at the Fishers YMCA, is what I thrive on. It’s my goal to empower others to believe in themselves, do more and live healthier lives. Once we can train our brains we can train other parts of our body – but it all starts in our heads and our hearts. If we can push harder in our fitness, we can push harder in our lives.”
Tip for business and financial success: “Steve Jobs said it best, ‘The only way to do great work is to love what you do.’ Find what inspires you, what makes you tick, what connects with your heart is my best success tip, no matter what your industry.”
