Redmond Life: Living Our CrossFit Journey
Redmond Life has always been more than just the products we create. We’re a community committed to promoting health, wellness, and living our own personal journeys. These values are embodied in Redmond, Inc.’s mission statement:
“We want to live in a world with people who are eager for self-discovery. Where those intentional and aware individuals come together to form exceptional teams. And where those teams come together to pursue what’s possible and to make contributions that really matter.”
To support this mission, Redmond Life sponsors many different groups for employees that cover a variety of interests. One of the most successful and most active groups is our CrossFit group. This is the story of how Redmond Life’s CrossFit group began and how it grew to embody these values.
Meet Coach Erin
Erin Nielsen, a Redmond Life social media team member, fell in love with CrossFit at age 13 when a friend invited her to a workout. Erin said she was hooked from day one, “I didn’t view it as working out. It was just a fun way to move my body, connect with my friends, learn new things, and feel accomplished. That’s how I started and I fell in love with it.”
In CrossFit, Erin found a community and a feeling of belonging she hadn’t felt in other sports—the cheers, friendships, and constant challenge of pushing her body in new ways energized her. She discovered that she was thriving and growing with every workout. “Looking back, [starting CrossFit] is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and it’s shaped, in a lot of ways, who I am,” she reflected.
Her dad, Jason Nielsen, Redmond Life Business Unit Leader, was already on his own fitness journey, so it was easy for Erin to talk him into joining her at the CrossFit gym. They enjoyed it so much that they got their Level 1 CrossFit coaching certifications together, and eventually, Erin started coaching a kid's class at her local CrossFit gym. Looking at how far she’s come, Erin said, “All the people I’ve met through CrossFit, the relationships I’ve developed, I wouldn’t have had them otherwise; I’m really grateful for that.”
The Beginning of Redmond Life CrossFit
The CrossFit group at Redmond Life began when Erin and Jason’s coworkers noticed their passion for CrossFit and wanted to try it for themselves. “A lot of people came up to me or my dad saying like, ‘Oh, I really wanna try CrossFit,’ or like, ‘I see you guys doing it. That'll be so fun.’” With so much interest, Erin and Jason had the idea of starting a CrossFit group right at Redmond Life.
They hoped a fitness group would help the company promote its core values and strengthen employee connections. As luck would have it, a small gym across the street from the Redmond Life Heber office, called IronBacks, had everything they needed to get started. Jason and Erin negotiated the use of the gym twice a week and announced to employees that they were starting a group.
As the word got out to employees, many were excited. “I just went up to Jason and said, ‘Hey, how do I join this team?’” shared Genevieve Knight, Quality Control Lead at Redmond Life. Her story resonates with many of us looking to kick-start our fitness journeys. Genevive had a mixed history with health and physical fitness. She had recently focused on improving her eating habits before hearing about the CrossFit group. She spoke about her journey, “It was the right timing. I was mentally ready.”
Genevieve’s Journey
Genevieve, mother of three, was ready to make a life change. “I had gone through a bunch of different journeys with health,” she said, ”I finally found a good “why” for myself. A “why” I wanted to get healthy and “why” I wanted inner health more than just the looks of health.”
She was inspired to join the new CrossFit group partly because she had watched CrossFit documentaries with her daughters. At the time, her youngest was just six years old, but her kid’s enthusiasm for fitness inspired her. “We really enjoyed just watching these athletes and the strength that they had and some of the movements they were doing, and we were kind of in awe. Then my girls would set up little CrossFit stations around the living room!”
Genevieve described her first experiences with Redmond Life’s CrossFit group as both intimidating and inspiring. “It’s intimidating because you are working with some people who have been doing this for a long time and who are really strong, and at the same time, I felt very inspired by everyone around me. And after that first workout, even though I was incredibly sore, I knew I wanted to come back because it wasn’t just my body that was getting stronger. It was my mental capacity. It was the friendships that I was building with people.”
Genevieve’s journey with CrossFit shows the amazing changes that come when someone commits to living their journey by improving their physical and mental well-being. With perseverance and support from her fitness community, she went from being barely able to do a few push-ups to performing a full range of movements. “I'm doing a lot more pushups at a time, and I'm doing 5 burpees at a time, and I'm doing, you know, heavier weights as we lift. And it's really cool!” she said.
Diversity and Unity
Redmond Life’s Crossfit group has been going strong for almost two years, and they welcome employees of all fitness levels to join them. The group celebrates diversity and emphasizes that workouts don’t have to be competitions (though we do enjoy a healthy competition once in a while). Instead, the focus is on competing with yourself, setting personal goals, and supporting and encouraging one another to meet and surpass those goals. Genevive shared that Coach Erin often gives this advice during workouts: “Meet yourself where you’re at. Do your best. Don’t worry about comparing yourself to others.”
Community and Strength
For its members, the Redmond Life CrossFit group has come to mean more than just weekly workouts—it has come to be a community that supports and encourages one another. Fitness accomplishments are celebrated, photos and stories are shared in a group chat, and coworkers compete together in races, marathons, and other athletic events outside of work hours.
Erin sees the benefits of the group reach far beyond the gym walls. “There’s something about going through hard things with people that I feel draws you closer…I feel like it’s the mortar building, team building things that make you feel comfortable with somebody and feel like you can rely on them and in turn, work better with them.”
Genevive agrees, “It's nice to meet people from so many different teams. I work with a lot of different teams in what I do at Redmond, but I don't always get a chance to work with, one-on-one, the people that I get to see in the CrossFit arena. And so, to be able to see them in the office and know who they are and say hi, or if I get a message or an email, I'm like, oh, yeah, I know them. We CrossFit together. It’s really cool.”
Towards Wellness
The Redmond Life CrossFit journey is a testimony to what can be done when a group of people unite with a shared goal. The group supports personal fitness and creates an amazing community where personal accomplishments are celebrated.
With help from experienced CrossFit enthusiasts like Erin and members like Genevieve, who embody determination and strength, the CrossFit group has become a valuable part of the Redmond Life experience. At Redmond Life, it isn’t just the products we create; it’s the way we strive to live, the relationships we form, the personal growth we experience, and the journeys we share that we value most.
An Invitation
Are you ready to live your life with more intention? Genevieve encourages everyone to give a fitness group a try. “Trying something new can be scary. But when you have a team who has your back, no matter what, you're gonna succeed. And I think that's what you find here in CrossFit, and that's what you find here at Redmond. I really think that everybody should join CrossFit because you're gonna find something great. You're gonna either find a great social circle, or you're gonna find some great friendships, and you are gonna be sore the next day. And, in the end, you're gonna be happy about it.”
