Feature Friday: Jess Hibbert

written by Lacey Roy, freelance writer

As kind as she is fierce, Jess’ genuinely beautiful smile and laugh is instantly a warm welcome. Through honest conversations and life lessons, Jess’ openness of her life journey and lessons are encouraging and inspirational.  Often seen in her favorite shirt “Boss Babe”, the first shirt she co-designed for Club Fitwear which she co-owns with her husband, Jess brings real life, dreams, and motivation together.

Being raised in the military lifestyle, Jess took difficult situations as a kid and addressed them head on, later in life looking back at moving every couple years as practice for a much needed life skill. “Being the new kid, the tallest kid, the kid with the worst haircut… I learned how to integrate into different groups and talk to people in all situations.” Working with, and managing, other people was a learned skill though, not something she was born with.

Believing that all born leaders aren’t necessarily managers, Jess honed her skills through trial and error mixed with experience. Starting in direct sales with the intent of meeting other women locally and having time outside of the house when her son was born, she learned managerial basics while recruiting other women and helping them with their own businesses. Taking the next step to managing within the corporate finance world, Jess learned how to direct, interact, and teach a myriad of different learning styles and personalities which helped her in the fitness world managing an entire studio. When Jess looks back at pinnacle moments in her life, she immediately jumps to learning how to stand up, advocate for herself, and not run. Speaking up unapologetic can be intimidating and unnerving but, “How am I going to change anything if I don’t speak up?”

Creating and managing Club Fitwear with her husband has given her plenty of time to realize balancing work and life isn’t always the true goal. Balancing each other, Jeremy tends to be the long term visionary which has brought Jess, a process-oriented individual, the encompassing feelings of inspiration and motivation to make those visions happen. “Balancing each other as individuals takes precedent over balancing work and life, after all, what’s life without your partner?”

Running her own business alongside her husband Jeremy, Jess has truly embraced the meaning behind her favorite shirt design, “Boss Babe.” “It’s a very empowering shirt to me. Boss can mean so many different things to so many different women. You can be a boss at being a mom, be a boss in the work place, a boss at the gym, a boss in so many different areas of your life.” Jess can be found checking email at 6am and responding to each email personally. Looking through their Instagram account, it’s clear that real people are who they relate to. “You are going to see the mom of 3 working her ass off, figuring out her own way of life and getting healthy. Real people in progess.”

“In progress” is a recurring theme that threads itself through everything Jess does. Never complacent, even though content, growth is key. Whether looking at her Club Fitwear designs and followers, chatting with her over coffee, or checking out her Facebook page, consistent growth is not just seen, it’s simply inspiring.