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I huff out a breath. "Well, he breaks the mold." I glance at my watch. "Can someone take Barley? I've got another class to get to."
"Do we have to wake him?" Honey asks. "He looks so comfortable.
"He's a baby," Dani says. "He'll go back to sleep wherever we put him."
Dani gently picks up Barley, and the kid snuggles into her arms. Immediately, I miss the sweet warmth of his little head. I wouldn't mind a day to snuggle with a goat, but I've got a business to build and no time to sit around. I push to my feet, roll up my yoga mat, and head inside.
With an hour before I have to teach Tai Chi downtown at River Run Park, I plop in front of my laptop and check for any increases in likes or views.
Nothing.
No one likes me.
No one wants to view me.
I edit and upload what I can from the goat yoga and, with the five minutes I have before I have to leave, I do the one thing I know will make me feel worse.
But maybe also motivate me to work harder and do better.
I scroll to the social media site of my friend, mentor, and worldwide fitness influencer, Ava. Like most iconic celebrities, she goes by only one name. In the fitness world, she's not only iconic but beloved. And even worse, she's younger than me. Only by three years, but in fitness, that's the equivalent of thirty.
Ava's pages and videos are slick and edited and gorgeous. She's posting about the same stuff I'm posting about - not goat yoga, but yoga and fitness tips and fitness gear - and she's got hundreds of thousands of likes and views on everything she posts. Her post about her spring-time allergies and how much she loves her Neti Pot has over seventy thousand likes.
With a groan, I shut my laptop, grab my keys, bag, and water bottle, and head out. I hit Ava's number as soon as I'm in the car and the line rings in my ear bud.
"Clo-baby," she shrieks when she answers. "When are you coming back to Cali?"
"I don't know. I'm thinking about getting out of the business."
Just as I knew she would, Ava shrieks in dismay. "No. You are going to be a star, Clover. I can feel it. Just give it a little more time."
Ava and I met when we were both teaching aerobics as fresh out of certification transplants to California. We shared adream, and she's made good on hers while I feel like I'm rolling backwards downhill.
"Ninety people liked my last post, Ava. I've had no traffic to my website in over a week. It's time I admit I'm failing."
"Youknowwhy, Clover. You have to work harder. Use filters and promote products. Flying Crane Yoga just sent me three new mats. I'll pass them on to you and send my followers to you for the product review. My followers love that stuff."
A product review I'll have to massage into something positive if I don't love the mats, because no one gets ahead by bashing products that can propel a career. Just the thought makes my mouth go dry. "You know how I feel about selling."
Ava snorts. "Get over yourself. Selling is the business you signed on for. You're already selling people that you're the fittest and can make them equally fit if they just follow your tips and take your classes. Selling products is the same thing, just on a bigger level."
To me, selling feels like conning people and, when I was ten, I swore I'd never con anyone ever again.
I shouldn't have to.
I'm offering people valuable information. I'm offering them the truths no one likes to talk about when it comes to fitness, like that it's hard work. Bodies are made in the kitchen, not the gym. And, even if you do everything right, you might still never get the body you aspire to have, because genetics are a bitch. Or, as I prefer to look at it, every body no matter shape, size, or form, is beautiful and deserving of love. Fitness should be about creating lifelong health, not an image.
Turns out, no one really wants to hear my brand of truth. People don't come to fitness influencers for that. At least, they don't come to me.
"I've got a new plan, Ava. I'm thinking of opening a gym here in town and getting off the social media hamster wheel."
"Babe," Ava says on a gasp. "There's no real money in that."
"Maybe not. But there's no money in what I'm doing." I park next to River Run Park. My class is due to start in ten minutes and I like to be the first to arrive. "I've found the perfect place, the only problem is the owner wants to sell it to some trainer who works in his gym."
"If that's what he wants, why hasn't he already done it?"
"My guess is the trainer needs to save up the money. I have a feeling the owner's just stringing me along until Asher can buy it."
