Magic Spotlight: Ariel Hoffman, Master Trainer

Here on the Little Scraps of Magic Blog, I like to spotlight special mamas & thought leaders who will inspire you, motivate you, & help you realize you’re not alone on this motherhood journey.

Meet Founder of Ariel Hoffman Wellness, Ariel is a wellness coach, master fitness trainer, entrepreneur and mother. She believes true fitness and strength can’t be measured by scales or by numbers. Perfection doesn’t exist. She helps you strive to find your own way to measure accomplishments based on what matters to you.

She is passionate about changing the way people – especially women – view and treat their bodies and themselves. Her mission is to help women who struggle with being enough, and who drive themselves too hard in the world to sink into the beauty and loveliness of their own selves. She helps you break your own glass ceiling because she believes that there are no limits — other than the ones you put on yourself.

Ariel's layered approach helps to build a wellness practice that leads her many clients to transformation, sustainability and life enjoyment. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and 1 year old son.

Follow Ariel on Instagram @trainxarielhoffman.

Ariel, as a wellness coach, you’re passionate about changing the way women view and treat their bodies and themselves. What are some of the ways that you drive this change with your clients?

I always start by addressing where clients are right now. It is so important to take this step because it informs what action steps you will actually be able to take, and ones that will actually be doable. It also helps people stop the comparison game of wanting to be who they were in the past, and trying to achieve something that isn’t possible.-  Another way is with re education on what healthy actually means, and what it is, from what you are eating, to what exercises you are doing, to sleep that you are not getting, all based on current research and science. A lot of people are still following very out dated rhetoric, which is leading to confusion, and dissatisfaction. Lastly, I help clients identify their “why” : as in, why do they want to change, what does it mean for them, what is it costing them, because if there is no reason attached, there will be no intention, and that will ultimately lead to lack of follow through in achieving their goals.

In addition to being a wellness coach you’re a master fitness trainer to Emmy award winners and elite athletes, an entrepreneur and a mother. How do you find balance and what have you had to let go of and release in order to “do it all”? 

Ha. I laugh because I think as a mother, you inherently never feel like you are really doing it all, which in a way, is what makes me a well sought after coach, because I can really relate. I am tackling a lot of the challenges that all of you mothers and entrepreneurs are facing as well. 

With my upbringing in competitive figure skating, and as a professional dancer in NYC, I have always been determined. No one showed me the way when I decided to move to NYC after college to pursue Broadway. I had to find my own way, and as a master trainer no one taught me how to teach, I was just determined to make it happen, and to always put my best foot forward. My core belief is that there is always a way though it may not be ideal or what you want exactly, there is always a way! 

Is there a specific event in your life that inspired you to create this career and start your own practice?

There was no real exact moment where I decided to be a trainer other than I wanted to do something else other than wait tables to earn a living while pursuing my dance career and those two things naturally went together. As a dancer, my agent would send me on fitness calls,  and I ended up getting cast in fitness gigs so that also felt like a natural fit. Only after I had been working for other studios, one of which i help build from the ground up for 7 years, and then upon getting severely injured (resulting in surgeries)  and a traumatic departure, was when I decided that there had to be a way that I could help people in a more meaningful way, and one that didn’t solely rely on my physical self as the only value people saw. So I guess my injury was the moment that served as the catalyst for me deciding to run my own health coaching practice.

Any tips for mamas out there who are at the beginning stages of dreaming up their own business or side hustle?

Stay positive, get hyper focused, and never lose sight of why you started in the first place. Also know what you are grateful for in your current state, no matter what phase of start up you are in, and lastly, put your blinders on: do not compare yourself to others, and cut out anything that does not serve you.

You are mama to sweet Jaden, who just turned one. What’s been the greatest challenge in motherhood thus far? How about the greatest joy?

The greatest challenge for me has been working through the fragments of time that I have as a business owner and a mother. At times, it feels nearly impossible to grow my business while also being a mother with no help, and I often times find myself singing my own mantra as mentioned earlier: There is always a way! And accepting that nothing feels ideal for the time being. I also know that this time is temporary. There will be a time when I will have more time to work again, so each day, I try to be as present as possible watching Jaden grow. Which brings me to my greatest joy: watching him turn into a real person has been the most humbling, and most joyous experience. Each day is full of something new, and I love staring at him. Funny, because I do not consider myself a baby person, but now having him, I get it. I understand how special creating a human, and being a human really is, so I try to soak up all I can. My favorite time of day with him is bath time, and getting him ready for bed because we have our thing.

Little Scraps of Magic is about the intersection of so many different things-- the beauty and hope that’s scattered all around us, victories in the face of grief and defeat, overcoming obstacles and searching for the rainbow. It’s about looking for those little scraps of wonder that exist around us and gathering them up to create your most true, messy, yet marvelous  life. What are some little scraps of magic in your life?

The little scraps of magic in my life right now, is just being grateful for the simple things, for the moments I get with my son and my husband, we are healthy, we have food and shelter, I get to choose what I do for a living and it’s rewarding on many levels. That this time, though challenging, is such a gift.

And a quote that pretty much sums it up for me at the moment is from a song by Jack Johnson: “Banana Pancakes”: “We got everything we need right here and everything we need is enough.”

Get your ticket to the LSOM event Ariel is leading 9/10, 8-9pm EST here.

We will learn how you can start implementing fitness and wellness habits into your life right now, no matter what the circumstances are. Ariel will address some of the most common obstacles women (especially postpartum) are facing when it comes to reclaiming their bodies, and then will equip you to do it yourself. She will tackle where you are in life right now so that she can properly guide you through which aspects of fitness and wellness are most appropriate for you to start focusing on first, and then which ones to layer on once you have some key basics established.

One lucky LIVE attendee will win a FREE Deep Dive Consult + 30min workout with Ariel which is a $450 value! Another attendee will have an opportunity to win a free 45 minute mentoring session with Stephanie!

Playback available to registrants who cannot make event live upon request.

Registration open until 7:45pm day of the event.