BABE #351: ALYSSA OLENICK - Founder, Little Lyss Fitness
One bright, sunny day, Alyssa experienced her first-ever runners high during a workout—and the rest is history. Last March, she started her own coaching business, Little Lyss Fitness, where she provides women with running and lifting programs to help shift their focus from what their bodies are to what their bodies can do and become. Alyssa believes in a science-based, n0-B.S. fitness practice—and her business reflects that. When she’s not helping women feel their best, she’s working hard towards her Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology. This babe is practicing what she preaches, and preaching what she practices.
The Basics:
Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania
Current city: Athens, Georgia
Alma mater: Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; Western Kentucky University; University of Georgia
Degree: B.S., Health Science; M.A., Exercise Physiology; Ph.D., Exercise Physiology
Very first job: Ice cream server at 16!
Hustle: Graduate Student; Research Assistant; Online Strength and Running Coach, Little Lyss Fitness
The Interests:
Babe you admire and why?
Tatum Brandt of Brandt Creative Co. She is four years younger and one of my best friends and biggest inspirations. She’s young, tenacious, started her graphic design business right out of college, and is instantly killing it. She’s talented, gritty, hardworking (yes, very different things), and has years and years of growth ahead of her. What she’s doing at just 22 is incredible; at 26, I hope to be as badass and insightful as her as I age and grow.
How do you spend your free time?
I spend most of my free time running my business (since I am a full-time student). But when I’m not working I am currently training for my first 50-mile ultramarathon (my fifth ultra) or at the gym working out.
Favorite fictional female character? Why?
If you could combine Leslie Knope and Elle Woods into one person I like to think that would be my spirit character.
Current power anthem?
Anything Missy Elliot, ever, is my forever permanent power anthem.
What would you eat for your very last meal?
A giant burger and fries.
What’s something you want to learn or master?
Since I’m a PhD student, I guess I really do want to become an expert and “master” of human metabolism. I’d love to be looked to as a leader of female metabolic health and fitness one day.
What’s something most don’t know about you?
I’m actually way more of a loner than people would think. I’m very extroverted, social, and love people. But I do most things alone and spend most of my free time not with my boyfriend, instead alone, just doing my thing.
The Hustle:
Tell us about your hustle.
At Little Lyss Fitness, I’m a one-woman army, so do everything on my own. I am an online fitness coach who provides women no-B.S. lifting and running programs that allow them to remove the focus from what their bodies are to what they can do. I’m currently getting my PhD in exercise physiology and have spent over a decade lifting and running for both sport and as a hobby, so I have combined all of that into coaching services and online training guides. I do it all from creating social media content, editing photos and taking them with my tripod, my own branding and website, client programming, and the whole nine yards. It’s been a wild ride but I am really proud of what I have done just on my own.
Walk us through your typical day.
Since I'm a full-time student, I do research, and my business is my “side-hustle.” Usually I'm up at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. (unless I have a participant) and find my way to a coffee shop first thing to work before the rest of the world wakes and catches up. Then, I'm usually getting in my daily workout or first workout of the day sometime late morning or early afternoon, then doing more work the rest of the day, either writing, researching, or in class. At night I usually do most of my client check-ins, emails, updates, etc. My boyfriend and I are in the same program, so we usually eat a late dinner and unwind around 7:00, then in bed by 8:30 or 9:30 and up to do it all again. Very boring behind the scenes.
Tell us about Little Lyss Fitness.
I officially started my business last March. I had made a few passive PDF training plans in my Master’s, but never fully jumped into it. I had started my PhD at a different program in molecular physiology and left halfway through the semester because I had moved too far from the exercise components I loved. The week after I quit, I slowly and secretly started to lay the pieces of launching my own coaching business. I took on my very first client, who is still with me today. Six months later I officially changed my IG name and started offering coaching plans. Those PDF plans have actually now morphed into what I launched exactly a year ago, The Little Lyss Method (my baby), and what I’m super proud of. I always valued fitness and nutrition for how it could serve me, my life, and body—rather than the alternative women were always sold, of it being a tool to shrink or change your body. I was so mad about all the misinformation out there being targeted to women about diet and fitness and wanted to not only encourage women to demand better (something I say often) but I wanted to give them better. I’m good at combining strength training and running (my “niche,” and something women are told they can’t do). But more than that, I wanted my business to be built on women demanding more, celebrating their bodies, signing up for that big race, or pulling that big PR deadlift. I created what I wish I’d had as a 15-, 20-, 22-year-old girl. I wanted to give women what they have always deserved out of food, fitness, and their relationship with that. I hold those values, and that vision is incredibly important to me.
What has your own fitness and nutrition journey been like?
I was always active through gymnastics, cheerleading, and dance growing up. I then got really into lacrosse, and that was my “passion” when I was younger. I wanted to be the best athlete I could be in high school and play collegiately. I wasn’t a great natural athlete, but I knew I could be the hardest working player. I knew I could use fitness to make me faster and stronger than the other girls, and that helped make up for where I lacked in natural skill. I found myself the only girl after school running and lifting in the grungy high school gym with the guys, and researching nutrition and trying things out on myself (my first “experiments”). I got my first pull-up on a rusty pipe in the football players’ gym and would run sprints with the players. I also ran cross-country and indoor track in high school, so running was my “first love.” I used strength training and nutrition as a tool to become a better athlete, but when I quit lacrosse in college I needed that physical challenge. I wasn’t me without it. That summer, I joined a crossfit gym trial for a month, then started to lift on my own at my local Y. I ran my first Tough Mudder that summer as well. Since then, I have competed in powerlifting, Strongman competitions, run three Tough Mudders and a few trail races, including four ultramarathons. I have always loved movement, but have since become incredibly fascinated by the science of the human body. It was only natural to combine those two passions. I joked when I was younger that I wanted to go out and learn as much as I could about exercise so I could use it to help others, and I'm doing exactly that. I never knew any other path—this just makes sense.
In a generation that celebrates women’s health and bodies at all stages of their journeys, what is your approach to encouraging and motivating the women you work with—no matter their fitness level?
I do not think women need to be “perfect” or already “fit” to be ready for pursuing their fitness goals, no matter what those are. I love the Little Lyss Method because of the community it has created with the women in it. I wanted to create a space where women removed the focus on just their bodies. I will support and teach women the appropriate ways to gain muscle or lose fat, but like to shift the focus away from that. Those are very slow-moving targets. I find that getting women to believe in themselves, go into the gym, do the things that are “scary” or not the “norm” is the “gateway drug” to lifelong, badass fitness. If you can get women to zoom out and stop focusing their worth and on fitness being about their bodies, they can find more joy on what their bodies and health do for them. I love to encourage them to give themselves grace, realize they are humans, and to trust their bodies can do the work. There is no prerequisite to pursuing one's fitness goals, other than simply starting.
How have your past professional and academic experiences prepared you for the work you do today?
I’m a big believer in “how you do anything is how you do everything,” and that you can gain and learn from any and every experience. I’ve done a lot of weird research projects, internships, and jobs in this industry that were directly related to what I do now, but each gave me little nuggets of knowledge to build my foundation on. I’m more of a “teacher” naturally than a “coach.” I used to teach my friends in college before the exams, then tutor later on. I’m good at conveying information, but the coaching thing was not something my education prepared me for. That was very eye-opening. As a very straightforward person who naturally goes after things and is very logical with most stuff, realizing a lot of people don’t work that way and that coaching is far, far more than just “here’s a training plan and here’s why you do this,” took some time. Fitness and nutrition for people is so much more than not knowing what to do. It’s behavioral, habit, or mindset change. I had to learn very quickly how to add those skills to my coaching. Academia doesn’t train you how to do that.
How has being a woman affected your professional experience?
I spent so much of my youth stubbornly making space for myself as a woman in sports, in the gym, with men. I ran with the boys at cross-country, hung out with men in gyms, got into science and now run ultramarathons, which is a heavily male hobby, and am technically running my small (but own) business. So much of what I do as a woman is just existing as an anomaly in male-dominated spaces. When I got ready to graduate college, my advisor (a male) said to me before I left his office one last time: “Alyssa, you are a small, pretty, blonde girl. People are going to underestimate your entire life—use it.” I will never forget those words. Luckily, there is more of a push for women to get into STEM, weight training, and ultra-endurance sports. But I am personally a big believer in, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” I was so lucky to be stubborn and bold enough naturally to pursue all the things I do, but unfortunately so many women are trained to shy away from that level of self-confidence (something I try to fight again with my platform). I take a lot of pride in doing what I do and showing other women they can do these things. I think, especially in academia, more women are making a presence, but are still patronized for what they are. I want any woman reading this to know you have a voice, you can speak up. Women are spread more thin and expected to handle both academic and emotional loads compared to males by students and others. I also urge women to be more supportive and welcoming of other women in these spaces. We need sisterhood, not another catty jealousy match. There is more than enough success to go around. These spaces won’t get better if we cannot use our collective voice. I have yet to get a real paying job in my industry, but women, if you have a PhD, or education, or experience—speak up. You are smart and capable. Tell people what you are worth. Demand more.
What do you think the largest obstacle is for most women to stay “healthy” in their careers?
I think for many women they have to do a lot more mindset work when it comes to the reasons why they are working out or “dieting.” These are often the things getting in their way of making these part of their life. Food and exercise becomes a punishment or non-enjoyable. I think shifting how we think and talk about our bodies, food, and fitness makes a world of a difference. All my clients are incredibly busy students, moms, professionals, etc. I see once their mindset shifts and they learn to enjoy the process, the benefits of being aware of smart and adequate food intake in having energy for their daily life, rather than crash dieting, and making fitness fun it sticks more. It doesn’t become the dreaded thing you do at 5 p.m. after a long day because you “have to.” It becomes something you value, something you do. I encourage women to stop aspiring to be “healthy” or “fit people” and start viewing themselves as that. When you want to be “healthy” or “fit,” you’re saying you are not currently (but want to be) and hold less value or identity in that. But if you are a healthy or fit person, you start making choices based on that. A healthy or fit person trains with intention, feeds her body well, respects that she needs rest and some veggies, and [enjoys her] social life. These things are all important. We have to give them equal value because they are the full spectrum of health. If you start to believe you are these things, then you start to do what someone who is that does. And, ladies: I dare you to have a full conversation with your friends or coworkers that isn’t about your new diet or body. Talk about your next race, big goal, that PR you got. That’s where the conversation changes. Find friends who like to move in the ways you do.
Who are some women in your field you look to for inspiration?
The women who have inspired me and made the biggest impact were the ones I worked under when I was younger and needed that sort of impression on my life. They aren’t famous, or well-known, but they are the women silently doing the work. And for me, my friends in the fitness industry who are doing the work and using their voice to add to the collective good inspire me to keep pushing, to keep yelling louder than those who have awful fitness approaches but are screaming loud. They remind me that we have a voice and can make a difference. People who I love that inspire me, and are showing up and doing the work and are great women to fill your feeds with are: @amandahowellhealth, @jessiehoffman_phd, @taylor.eckel, @drstacysims, @stronglikeshelby, @lillyhfitness, @alessandrascutnik, @krissymaecagney, @katiewilsonfitness, @emmacowlefit, @dashafitness, @em_dunc, @bethanycorataylor, @vitaminphd, and @ditchthedietlife.
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