Lez Get Fit – With Shawnee Harkins

One of the hardest aspects of getting into shape and beginning a workout routine is often simply finding the incentive and drive to get up and do it. A lot of us need motivation, guidance, and help when it comes to committing ourselves to a life of good health and fitness. Thankfully, more and more lesbians are discovering that needed inspiration and it comes in the form of the energetic, empowering, friendly, and focused celebrity trainer, Shawnee Harkins. Oh, and if Shawnee’s extensive knowledge about health and fitness and skill at personal training and motivational speaking isn’t enough to get you active, then simply use her as an example of what hard work and dedication can produce – she’s a gorgeous grrl with a banging body. Achieving her enviable physique and numerous career successes (from the reality show The Hydra Executives to regular appearances on Dr. Phil to a growing list of web and TV series) didn’t come easily for Harkins though, as a near fatal accident changed the course of her life at just 17 years old. Cherry Grrl wanted to learn more about the brave and dynamic woman who is using her story to help others reach their goals so we recently talked to Shawnee about her new projects, her impressive path in Hollywood, and more.

Cherry Grrl (CG): OK – so you definitely have a lot going on these days, and what’s particularly exciting is that you have two web series currently in production (Empower Me in 6 Weeks and Fit in the Streets). What is the premise for each one and how did they come about?

Shawnee Harkins (SH): Well, as I’ve been doing more producing and more media and more through the entertainment industry, as a health/fitness “guru,” I have branched out and started producing my own work. So how Empower Me in 6 Weeks came about was that the CEO of BodyBuilding.com did an interview with me as a celebrity trainer and it went really well and I formed a really nice relationship with the Body Building network and team and we wanted to work together again in some capacity. So I thought – hey, wait a second – let me present an idea to you guys. And that idea was basically that I work with someone for six weeks and empower them; giving them the knowledge, education, motivation, team, tools, and resources to really take care of their health and fitness. And they loved it. And I have done the Dr. Phil show where we worked with contestants who were marathon training, but we also worked with them for an extended period of time. So having taken my experience from just being a trainer to training on Dr. Phil, I thought what I want to do is not focus on marathon training or losing 100 pounds in five minutes, I want to work with someone. I want to give them their starter kit to their own health and fitness and then in six weeks, when we’re done filming and we’re done working together one on one, they’ve been empowered where they can continue this new lifestyle on their own. Because that’s one thing that I really pride myself on – really educating my clients. I mean, of course I’m going to get them to their goal, yes, but it’s better if they walk away from me – when they have met their goal or our training is discontinued – that they walk away with the knowledge to continue. And so that was the premise behind Empower Me in 6 Weeks – working with someone for six weeks where I am empowering them. And I am also bringing in experts in other health related occupations too; an executive chef makes a regular appearance on the show, I have had a massage therapist, I have had a boxing trainer… and this is just in the first season. So the first season is airing now with Lucia and it’s going very well. And for the second season we caught the attention of Jennifer Lopez and her personal assistant so the second season is going to air next month and I am training Arlene, who is a personal assistant working for a celebrity. She is someone with a ridiculous schedule and we are able to kind of enter into her life and see what it’s like to have a demanding schedule, little to no time for yourself, and still try to make your health a priority. So it’s fun because we go from Lucia, who is a business woman – self employed – who has the temptations of eating bad because she is in her studio where she can chillax and eat whatever she wants, so she was eating out of boredom, and then we have Arlene, who says she has no time to eat because she is trying to keep up with a schedule and has no time to work out because she works 18-hour days, working in the industry. So what I am trying to do is give the audience a little bit of everything, going into different people’s lives and still trying to say: “OK, I hear what you’re saying, but here we go – let me give you the resolution for that. Let me help you with that. Let me bring in a team who is going to help you and let’s do this.” And now we have been picked up for a third season and I am very excited about it and we are going to bring in a guy. So I am really jazzed… I am very comfortable in front of the camera and I love training people so it is just so much fun. And producing this is nice too because through the experience that I gained on The Hydra Executives, being on a reality show and being a contestant, and then going to being a fitness expert on Dr. Phil, I just really was a sponge and soaked up a lot. And then now where I am producing my own web projects, it’s really exiting.