WILMINGTON — On maternity leave for her first child, Jody Springer sat on her couch watching the Today Show. During the pregnancy, she had no intention of leaving her position as a marine biologist at UNCW’s Center for Marine Science. But a week postpartum, something changed.
“I thought ‘well, I’ll just have a baby, take maternity leave, and then go back to work,’ not realizing how much I wasn’t going to want to do that after he was born,” Springer said. “It didn’t take me very long, maybe a week or so, I started to realize ‘how am I gonna leave him?’”
In that episode of the Today Show that aired 10 years ago, Springer saw her chance to be substantially involved with her son’s childhood. The episode’s guest was Lisa Druxman, founder of Fit4Mom Stroller Strides. Druxman spent the segment promoting the “mompreneur” business.
Springer had always been involved in fitness, so she researched how to get involved with the nearest Stroller Strides group in our area. After discovering there wasn’t a chapter in Wilmington, Springer decided to start one. After a vetting process involving several training courses and tests, Springer bought the Wilmington franchise of Stroller Strides.
Five years into Springer’s ownership, Stroller Strides was rebranded and named Fit4Mom, inviting the participation of mothers outside of those who had babies in strollers. Now, Fit4Mom Wilmington offers stroller barre, run club, and Fit4Baby classes.
Fit4Mom has a key focus on exercise, but Springer said providing mom-friendly workouts isn’t the overarching mission.
She said, “We want to cater to moms from a fitness aspect and help them get back into shape after having kids, but also help them connect with each other and find themselves again after being wrapped up in motherhood after however many days, weeks, months or years.”
Aside from fitness, the program helps mothers connect through children’s playgroup sessions, moms’ night outs, and volunteering at a local diaper bank.
Springer is a strong proponent of the “it takes a village” mentality and truly believes that this mindset is strong in the Fit4Mom community.
The unity surrounding the village mentality radiates even during the not-so-happy parts of motherhood like postpartum depression, miscarriages and infant illness.
Last year, the doctors discovered a heart condition in Springer’s youngest. The illness forced the family to bring the newborn baby back and forth from Wilmington to Atlanta for multiple open-heart operations.
For several weeks, Springer dropped everything outside of helping her baby get better and left Fit4Mom in the hands of her trusted instructors.
“When we got home from surgeries, there was food showing up and people coming to clean our house. It was so vital. I just can’t imagine parenting without a community like that around me,” Springer said.
Now that her youngest is doing much better, Springer said she finally feels like her head’s above the water and she can focus on the franchise again. She has planned for the Fit4Mom 10-year anniversary celebration to be celebrated the same weekend as Mother’s Day — Saturday, May 12.
The “mamabration” celebration will be held at Battleship Park. There will be bounce houses, giveaways, workout classes, and more.
The event is family friendly, but mothers are also welcome to take some time for themselves by going solo or with friends.
In fact, Springer said it’s reassuring when she sees members of the Fit4Mom community growing their friendships outside of the programs of the organization.
“I love social media for that reason, because I can see two moms going on a vacation together and they maybe never would have met 8 or 9 years ago if they hadn’t come to Stroller Strides. And now their kids are best friends.”
Every mother is welcome to join the village, no matter her fitness level or age. To register for a class or to get involved, visit the Wilmington Fit4Mom website.
