Bravo rings in the new year with two new faces of fitness — Katrina Hodgson and Karena Dawn — who have taken the web by storm with their website ToneItUp.com. These fitness divas have created a exercise revolution that have resulted in more than 1.8 million unique visitors per month and over 600 tweets per hour! Not only are they business partners, they are also best friends, roommates and crazy funny together.
Katrina and Karena!
In full acceptance of each other as well as their own selves the women have created an exercise phenomenon that many fitness pros envy because they used street smart and tried things that were unique to the fitness world by creating a web-based exercise program that is unlike anything else out there! They created their own branding that reflects exactly who they are from their quirky sense of humor (speaking in their special language of “meows”) to sharing and discussing self-acceptance and self-love, food and recipe creation and products (debating the merits of bug propellant) these two have created their own fitness fanbase and now about to ratchet it up a few notches with a new cable TV docu-series on Bravo starting tonight at 10:30 ET/PT !
Using their online fitness website as the jumping off point, Karena and Katrina give a sneak peek behind the scenes within the reality show context. Lots of it is true to the women, other parts illuminate the craziness of these two women who are besties as well as business partners — like being roommates and the Karena’s boyfriend often feels left out. This is a trio that will show off the difficulties of running a business, being best friends + being engaged while the three live together. All this and lots more is seen in this series.
They even give you fitness tips and tricks along the way! (What reality show ever did that?)
Review
I saw an unedited screener of Episode 1 and it was pretty funny. It shows off what some would call the California girl syndrome. These women are smart and business savvy in a unique way of thinking outside the box, but the series initially shows them off to be air-heads who only have great bodies, fitness moves and some very cool ideas & innovations that got them to this point. Hoping that the business side of things allows them to show off their smarts, because Victoria’s Secret Sport is working with them on a campaign as well as they have their own swimwear and jewelry lines!. The most interesting part of all this is that it is truly shot in So. California- some in areas that I know quite well. One sequence in the screener was about an event they did in a beach town where I have lived for a long time and used to hang out there quite a bit. While one has to wonder how they managed to pull this off with some major glitches in reaching out to their fitness fan base and particularly since they changed the location at the last minute and failed to tell their event guests until right before the event was to start. Mistakes are made but this is what happens when events occur and the women are doing all the social media and event PR themselves. Also the screener showed some scenes that I thought were typical reality TV attention-getters versus “docu-series” moments. (The spin on the lack of a public restroom at the event was unnecessary and the public restrooms weren’t 200 yards away but a short walk away!). However you do get to see the women together and Katrina and her boyfriend who were living together when Karena had to move in. There are issues and that’s going to get interesting. However to keep this series going, they need more than their current fitness fan base to keep it going, they need new eyeballs who really want to get fit and also have some fun interacting with these women. I think they can pull it off as long as they don’t allow this to turn them into the next “buddy comedy” show.
Karena and Katrina’s Message:
“Our number-one rule is to take care of you first,” says Katrina. “As women, we’re naturally nurturing and catering to others, but if you can work out in the morning and become a morning person, it really does kick off your day on the right foot. You’ll be more consistent and happy.”
On the other hand, if you find that you aren’t able to get to the gym one morning, the key is not to beat yourself up over it.
“With life events, friends, parties, and more, you can’t expect to be perfect all the time, so learning how to bounce back without being too hard on yourself is valuable to achieving a healthy and happy life,” says Karena. “We recommend working your booty off during the week, and if you want to have your favorite treat or go out with your girlfriends on Saturday, it’s okay! Life is too short and too much fun not to celebrate it with loved ones. So be ‘imperfect’—it actually spells ‘I’m perfect.'”Echoing the positive reinforcements that are central to their business, Karena also discusses the most important tip for maintaining a healthy body image. “Be kind to yourself,” she says. “Tell yourself how beautiful you are every morning, that you can make anything happen, and that today is the first day of the rest of your life to accomplish your dreams. Any time you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself, stop and say something so fantastic about yourself that you may blush.”
Definitely check out this show if you need motivation for working out, healthy eating and just getting yourself in perspective with the world. These women can help you with all three! (PS. If you find that the players aren’t playing, it’s not me- it’s BRAVO! So please refresh the page a couple of times. I have plugged these videos in several times to make sure these actually work!)
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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those two girls are way too fit for their own good!!!
I know but I just realized that I need to get fitter!