Lorena Gimenez was the first female franchisee to join TRIB3 in Spain. Her store, TRIB3 Goya, opened in August in the midst of the pandemic yet her determination has driven her store to break even, less than three months after her initial launch. The amount of women choosing to start their own business through franchising has been steadily increasing over the last few years and we’re so glad that Lorena joined our family as a founding franchisee.

This International Women’s Day, we sat down with Lorena to learn more about her background, how she got to where she is today, and what International Women’s Day means to her.

What did you do before becoming a TRIB3 franchise partner?

My entire career I have worked in the financial sector, working with multinational companies. I undertook different roles throughout my career, starting out with a junior position and finishing off as a member of the Board of Directors as Data & Analytics Director. I decided to quit everything as I wanted to have my own business and I felt I was not as happy as I would like to be. I've always liked fitness so there’s nothing better to me than combining my passion for this industry with running my own business.

What does International Women Day mean to you?

International Women Day means progress and recognition. It’s the result of the fight women have been having for equality for many years.

This year’s theme is #ChooseToChallenge, “We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.”. What does that phrase mean to you when it comes to your career?

We should celebrate women's achievements as we also celebrate men’s. It's not a matter of giving more recognition to women for the sake of being a woman, it's just a matter of giving them fair and true recognition for their achievements, as we do with men. If we need to assign more merit or effort to a women on their professional career because they are also mums, we are definitely doing things wrong. The change comes from our families, from our environments. If things are well distributed at home between men and women, the double effort to balance work and family should come from both parents. I don’t have more responsibility and more work because I am a mum and a woman. Except from giving birth, the rest should be distributed equally between men and women. Until we get to this point, we will never see women and men the same way, as it should be.

Where and how have you felt empowered before?

I feel empowered every day when I wake up as I have fought to be where I am today. I continue achieving more and more each day because my daughters consider their parents as absolute equals. We distribute the responsibility based on common sense according to our availability. We both try to develop our professional careers the best we can to obtain a work life balance that makes us both happy. Since I was little, my mum always told me "Never depend on someone, look for your own independence". She told me this in reference to depending on men, and although this stigma has changed since then and will hopefully change even more, I am striving for a future where this advice will no longer apply. Women are changing as men are also changing. Progress and feminism need to come from both genders.

What do you think is the biggest challenge today when it comes to women in fitness?

Honestly, I don’t think there is any different challenge in fitness when it comes to women, why would there be? Women represent the 70% of clients nowadays in gyms and fitness clubs, we organise our lives to be able to stay fit and to feel good.

What would you like to say to other women in the fitness industry to help empower them?

Managing a fitness studio is managing a business, no matter the industry. Stay focus, love what you do, and keep it simple. Remain always passionate for what you do.

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