Working for a corporation has its ups and downs. On the plus side, insurance, raises and unlimited office supplies are a package deal. On the flip side you have a cubical, a set time to clock in and out and worst of all, a never ending steady stream of emails. Deleting, replying, forwarding and printing off emails takes a large part of my day. Thus, I sit down in front of a computer screen for hours on end. In a moment of clarity I created a 2pm alarm on my phone called “Move and Groove”. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects that sit on their butt with poor posture and a neck ache tend to be grumps. At 2pm I get up and dance or move around by my desk, one of the highlights of my day.

Flash forward to January of 2015 and the email that changed my life for the better. “Live Healthy America Corporate Wellness Challenge”. Our corporate office emailed thousands of employees encouraging everyone to compete and obtain a healthier lifestyle. There was a captain position and you can create a team and have a interesting name. There were daily challenges combined with the overall challenge to record activity time. This was the best email corporate had sent me yet!

Thankfully my department was willing to participate, but in need of a leader. As a known former Dance Captain and President and Founder of my High School’s Spirit Club, it was an honor to be elected Captain of the team. After inspirational research for the perfect name I went with what I love, 50 Cent’s album Get Rich or Die Tryin. Change one word and the best team to ever compete in the challenge was born… Get Fit or Die Tryin.

By mid challenge, we had a slick groove going… literately. Every afternoon I taught an aerobics dance class to the team for 30-45 minutes. We met in the gym, warmed up and danced. As a gal who loves routines each week, we learned a routine to Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” Featuring Bruno Mars. Practicing a routine five days a week for over 10 weeks… it was pretty good. Taking into consideration that I was the only one with real dance experience, my team absolutely blew me away.

It wasn’t’ until we received the Captain’s Challenge to video tape ourselves dancing that we really showed up to win the competition. Only out of a need to reach our goal of exercising one hour per-day did we meet as a team to be active. By a dance obsessed chance, I decided to teach a routine. Now the opportunity to perform was on the table. This was a dream come true.

I should mention that everyone on my team works in production or creative services. We are the brains behind commercials and TV shows airing on our stations. When I read the challenge, my first thought was music video. Sharing with the team my idea resulted in the best response I have seen to any idea I have ever had.

Thank you Brad, Andy, Jason, Charlene, Vique and Ron for starring. Thank you to Luke for letting us borrow your photographer skills.

Please enjoy Get Fit or Die Tryin dancing to “Uptown Funk”.