We love featuring our everyday GORGOgirls that are inspiring us to crush life and a balanced approach to fitness.

Meet Stephanie Tell.

Tell us about yourself!

I am a visual/backoffice associate at my favorite store…Athleta! Born and raised in NJ! Hubby and I are planning on selling our house in northern NJ this Spring and getting an apartment in NYC for the next 5 years or so. We have a beach house at the Jersey Shore that we are going to keep (that’s where I grew up) so I still get visit my home state very often. My husband and I met when he was 17 and I was 18, this year will be our 25th wedding anniversary. We have two boys that go to college in Boulder, CO…one is a sophomore and one is a freshman. It’s hard to have them so far away but at least they have each other.

Tell us about your fitness life.

Right now, I am doing Val’s Gals with Val Solomon and I am loving the program so much! It is 3 days of strength and then added bonus of whatever we want to do. It’s been a while since I did dedicated strength training workouts and I totally forgot how much I love it! I am having a ball rediscovering my passion for it and my strength! I love checking in with the gals from the group and gathering more strength and determination from them. Other days, I attend Bar Method classes, which I truly love! It is SO very different from anything else I do, or have ever done and it is so challenging. In the classes we use muscles that I didn’t even know I had! When I am at our beach house, there is an amazing studio that I go too. Their focus is more on cardio…truly amazing spin and cardio barre classes. They truly kick my butt!!!!! I am not a cardio junkie at all…but those classes I adore and wish I could do them more often.

Do you have Any hobbies?

My favorite one is traveling with my family! We’ve gone on many wonderful vacations..and on those we’ve mountain biked, went rock climbing and repelling, white water rafting, ice climbing, horseback riding, snowmobiling, ATVing, etc. We LOVE active vacations!!!

Any Struggles:

My struggles are that I love to eat and I love my cocktails! Thank goodness I love to workout…otherwise, I’d be in a whole head of trouble. One of my goals is to cut back on my cocktails because I know the alcohol is affecting my progress. It’s so nice at the end of the day to chill with a couple of glasses of wine, or a cosmo, or maybe a glass of wine and a cosmo! I know I need to cut back…its just a matter of doing it.

Fav Quote that inspires you right now in your life?

“You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” - The Wizard of Oz.

This one resonates with me because I have always had the power. I forget every now and then and have to be reminded…honestly, the GORGO community totally reminds me of who I am and who I have the power to be!

Do you have any message you feel called to share about where you are at in your life right now to encourage other GORGO GIRLS?

Make time for yourself. It is not selfish. Whether it’s working out, attending Camp GORGO, having lunch with your girlfriend, meditating, sewing, reading… whatever! Self-care is SO important! There is always something else that we could be doing…because we women do it all! LOL! It is imperative that we make ourselves a priority. It is so important for our mental and physical health.

What do you love most about the GORGO community?

The camaraderie is amazing! The GORGO community is such a safe place for us to share very personal things. There is no judgment. There is understanding, advice, virtual hugs, and kisses, shared tears, etc. It’s such an empowering community!

CAMP GORGO: Thoughts about your experience?

I had been wanting to go for the last few years but honestly didn’t have the courage. I used the age of my kids as an excuse… I couldn’t possibly leave them! Well, I didn’t let that excuse fly this past summer…my boys were 19 and 18 and perfectly capable of taking care of themselves for a long weekend. In fact, they were rather overjoyed when I told them they’d have the beach house to themselves! I wanted to attend because I’ve “known” Val, Christie and Dani for years through social media. I had purchased all of Val’s online workout programs and really loved them!

I was definitely intimidated and wasn’t sure if I’d fit in at camp at all. I thought everyone would be so much more fit than I was and they’d all look down their noses at me. I couldn’t have been more wrong! There were all different ages, shapes, sizes, abilities, etc and it was such an amazingly inspiring weekend! It was so much more than a “fitness” camp, it was very spiritual and I did a whole lot of soul searching that weekend. I had really awesome workouts, and a blast at field day… but the best times when we just sat in small groups and talked. We laughed, we cried, we shared… I let other ladies “in” and I don’t do that very often.

I re-learned that weekend that I am a strong mentally and physically, that I have a right to love myself and to treat myself kindly. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way! I can’t wait to go back next year…I won’t be a newbie, won’t be so nervous and will hopefully be able to make newbies feel welcome and accepted like the Queens did for me last year.