Meet Kathryn Benko of Sole Fitness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn Benko.

Hi Kathryn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
What started as a seemingly harmless desire to get healthy and watch my calorie intake soon turned into an addiction to weight loss, body image, and years of an eating disorder. This battle ultimately took me down a long path of self-destruction… but also a spiritual awakening. After finally admitting that I was struggling with disordered eating, I decided I needed a fresh start! I moved from Dallas, TX, to Wilmington, NC, 10 years ago to heal and seek that fresh start. As I began to meet new people in a new town, I would hear from other women that I was certainly not alone in my shameful feelings and negative actions towards my body. This sparked a passion and purpose in me to help other women who might be going through those same shameful experiences by rewriting the narrative around health and fitness. Instead of punishing our bodies through restriction and exercise, we, as women, need to celebrate our bodies and our strength through movement and community! 

I am determined redefine the narrative around fitness by celebrating the inner & outer strength of the women I coach. In 2016, I launched Sole Fitness, which started as a completely free workout in parks around town. After years of growth and impact, Sole is now a full-time studio offering both group classes, personal training, online training, and a podcast! 

Sole Fitness is a community of women striving to live a full life through health, fitness, and shameless living. Through nourishing our souls and seeking the source of our identity, our goal is to strengthen our hearts, minds, and bodies together. Through group fitness classes, personal training, online training plans, local events, podcasting, and community engagement, our hope is that we would own our worth and walk empowered towards truth together through shameless living! 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not! Anytime you enter the world of launching a small business, there will always be roadblocks along the way. From finding a space to valuing my services to getting to a place where everything financially made sense, the world of entrepreneurship is always an uphill battle… that is totally worth it! 

We’ve been impressed with Sole Fitness, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sole Fitness is a fitness studio for women in Wilmington, NC! We offer HIIT and Barre group classes, personal training, online training, local events, and a podcast called Heart + Sole. What sets us apart is our community and our vulnerability! Our slogan is “Shameless Living,” meaning we are an environment where women can feel safe, loved, enough, and unashamed of the skin that there in and the stories that they have. I am most proud of the way Sole has united women, built real friendships, and freed women from the pressure that society puts on us to look a certain way! 

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Vulnerability and authenticity! 

Pricing:

• Online Training: $29.99/month
• Group Class Memberships ranges from $60-$150/month
• Personal Training ranges from $30-$60/session
• Private Events are $100
• Podcast is FREE!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.solefitness.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sole_fitness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/solefitnessilm/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOZuHSK1pAkCzubP81fN1EQ
• Other: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heart-sole–5900708

Image Credits
Chelsea Allegra Photography
Kelsey Yokovich