As we continue our Influencer Interview series, today’s spotlight is on Sarah Louise Rector, a fitness expert and trainer, model and dancer! Rector is currently living in Los Angeles where her love for fitness really began to bloom but she is originally from the U.K. Since then, she has gone on to develop her own business called SLR Life where she helps others looking to get more into putting their health first and taking care of their body!
When Sarah is not working on her business or helping clients and being on the go, she spends time with her husband, friends, and her dog! It can be hard sometimes to balance it all but Rector has worked very hard to get to where she is now and only has more plans for the future. Read on for more about her journey, go-to skincare secret right now, how her SLR Life Fitness program can be beneficial to anyone, and much more.
Head over to our Instagram @glamourandguide and let us know your favorite piece from this interview and who you’d like to see next!
- Can you tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you’re from, your career, etc.)
- S: I’m originally from the UK where I trained and worked professionally as a dancer in my younger years. I then went on to work as a model doing photoshoots, catwalk shows and working for some great well known brands and still to this day have myself in the industry. My main passion and focus is Fitness and helping others feel good with my popular workout method The SLR LIFE. I moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to be with my American husband, and this is where my Fitness career blossomed and I can definitely call home!
- Since our blog is called Glamour and Guide, what is your favorite beauty secret or go-to beauty brands — whether it’s clothes, jewelry, makeup, skincare, etc.?
- S: My beauty secret is FRE Skincare. The brand is targeted to people whose skin sweats a lot and being a fitness trainer I can safely say that happens to me daily!!! Their products are super clean, cruelty free and really do feel like you’ve had an amazing facial just by doing my usual daily beauty regime. I’m such a fan of theirs that I became an ambassador for them so have a little discount code for you 🙂 SARAHR
- When and how did you first get into the world of fitness, and what is your story to how you transitioned to start taking more care of your health?
- S: Fitness became more a career when I relocated to LA! I was introduced to a boutique fitness studio called ModelFIT and became one of the LA studios founding trainers. This opened up a lot of opportunities for me in the fitness scene in California. I was scouted through my social media for a new fitness app called omFIT where I went on to create fitness courses for their sister company DailyOM selling hundreds of thousands of my courses worldwide!! Being in the fitness world every single day you want to not only encourage others to feel good but also work on yourself. Which is how taking care of my wellbeing became more of a priority. I am so thankful that I am regularly connecting with so many other health and wellness professionals allowing me to gain more knowledge and education for my wellbeing.
- With summer coming around the corner, what is some advice you would offer anyone who is looking to start getting into shape, or want to exercise more regularly?
- S: First of all I would say START NOW! You won’t regret taking care of your body, when you feel good in what you are doing everything else flows naturally. Summer can be a bit of a daunting time for others and feeling the pressure which is why once you get a fitness routine going it becomes part of your lifestyle and the pressure of the “Summer Body” won’t be a thing as you will always be ready to hit the beach. Make sure you find a workout that you look forward to as opposed to “having” to do it. There is a huge difference in the results from your workout if you are enjoying being in it, so try out a few variations of workout methods like dance cardio, yoga, boxing to name a few. Also, don’t feel the pressure to have to do an hour long workout, some of the shorter workouts can be just as effective and even more achievable at times when you might completely choose to skip a session!
- What’s your favorite store or brand when you’re shopping for a workout set? What makes you feel most comfortable and confident before taking on a workout?
- S: Working in the fitness industry I’m constantly dressed in activewear… Wearing perfectly fitted and styled outfits always help encourage me to feel good and perform the workouts even better. I love the brands Michi for their high end fabrics and prints, Fabletics for their affordable styles, PE Nation always have great athleisure street style and Reebok have the best sneakers. Lay out your fitness attire the night before so when you get up your ready to go!!!
- Can you tell us a bit about The SLR Life Fitness Program, what it is, and how it can be beneficial to anyone reading right now who would be interested?
- S: The SLR Life is a combination of high energy Dance cardio aerobic style workouts that are easy to follow along to and great for anyone needing cardio in their lives but want fun at the same time! I also offer Body Toning Sculpt workouts that are low impact, help increase the mobility and flexibility in the body as well as strengthen and tone in all the right places. All of the workouts can be done without any equipment, but I also offer workouts with light hand and ankle weights, resistance bands, gliders, pilates ring and lots of fun mat exercises. There is literally something for everyone, if your schedule is busy and you only have time for a short workout then there are the 5 – 20 min options and if you have more time then there are 30 minute and over videos. I really like to create a sense of community so I also offer live zoom classes where clients can receive a personal training style workout in a group environment whilst working out with friends or new friends in the very popular at home style class! I always love to sit down with everyone at the end of class and everyone engages with each other’s experience or fitness journey.
- Did you ever have doubts or second thoughts about yourself and your fitness journey into being your career? Was there another route you were thinking of taking before you decided to become a fitness expert?
- S: At the start of my journey I would say I was constantly exhausted!!! I have always been fit and athletic but I was teaching around 10 classes a week and would be performing full out 90% of the class… I remember questioning if I could keep doing it or was my body going to burnout, but I just loved the clients and the workouts so I never gave up.I am so thankful that I became more aware of self care like cryotherapy and infrared saunas and really appreciating “me” time as these are all the things that kept me going. I considered pushing myself more down the road of “TV Hosting” which I still love even to this day, and even realized most of my fitness filming is all host related so I definitely have it in me to pursue but as a fitness expert I get to workout for a living and look after not only myself but others too!
- Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? Is there anything you want to improve on for yourself or goals you want to achieve?
- S: I definitely want The SLR LIFE community to keep growing and growing. It’s still early days and I’m so proud of what I have achieved so far but I really want to share it with even more people and grow the brand even more. I am excited to host some event classes in sunny California (maybe even worldwide!) fitness health and wellness events have always been something I have been previously part of and would love to collaborate with some of my favorite brands to bring an event together… and the idea of having my own fitness studio is definitely a possibility, a safe friendly workout studio where clients love to attend for the workouts and the social aspect of it. Watch this space!!!
- Do you ever have stressful days where you find it hard to balance your personal life, work with clients, social media, and more?
- S: ABSOLUTELY! It’s a known thing in our household that I am a workaholic! I’m very organized when it comes to scheduling work and things that need to be done but I do sometimes find it hard to switch off completely. I try to give at least one day a week off from any work related things and spend time with my hubby, dogs, and friends but being a business owner and even more so when you’re the face of the brand you kind of always need to be on!!! I feel social media is even more of an important asset to a business nowadays so having that so easily accessible to continuously check your account definitely has me in work mode 24/7 so it is an area that I need to step away from from time to time so I can focus on other things.
- Is there anything in the works right now for the future of The SLR Life Fitness Program or something that you’re looking forward to adding towards the expansion of your business?
- S: I just want to keep sharing the workouts, growing the live classes, there’s talks of some fitness wear with my branding on as well as getting the event classes going hopefully on a rooftop very soon!!!
- What is your most memorable moment in the industry you’re in right now? Whether it’s something that has motivated you to keep going, positive words from a client about your services, etc.?
- S: Pressing “launch” on my SLR Life on demand site. I am so proud of how far I have come in the fitness industry, if it wasn’t for everyone’s motivational and kind messages I receive daily about how my workouts helped them recover from an injury, or how I motivated them to start working out and even more so help others during the pandemic… There is so much online workout content out there so knowing people are choosing to use my platform puts a huge smile on my face.
If you love Sarah’s content and would like to see more, check out her Instagram down below: @theslr_life
If you’re looking to work with Sarah and want to learn more about her services & fitness training, visit her website right here.
Thank you so much for reading!
Feel free to leave to leave requests in the comments or on any of our social media. Use our #glamourandguide to tag us in your posts. New posts on our blog daily!
Disclaimer: All photos not mine are given credit to their owner/source. Photos which are mine will be included in a caption.
Join the official Glamour and Guide Facebook Group here for behind the scenes content, upcoming posts, meet other bloggers, and more!
Glamour & Guide 