#ShapeMeetTweet Recap + Tips & Tricks from Top Influencers

On Wednesday, Shape Magazine brought together 100+ bloggers and influencers at the Annenberg Community Beach House for a #ShapeMeetTweet day packed full of inspiring speakers and killer swag.

IMG_1595

Guests were treated to trendy fruit skewers and coffee to get things started and each seat was pre loaded with, of course, a Bluetooth enabled selfie stick. Shape Editor in Chief Elizabeth Goodman Artis said a few welcoming remarks once we all got settled and then the day continued with some amazing panelists.

While each #girlboss had their own story, I’m breaking it down with some tips and tidbits from each speaker.

Jen Widerstrom, trainer on The Biggest Loser

FullSizeRender-13Fresh off of filming and in limbo to her next shoot, Jen emphasized letting yourself off of the hook sometimes. Although there are days that she’s not excited to workout, she tries not to beat herself up about it. However, a majority of the time when she is uninspired, she challenges herself to just show up, do one more rep, run one more mile. And you know what usually happens? She does way better than she thought she would, sometimes even setting new PRs.

Noteworthy quotes:

“Pick a good front row.” –on the importance of who you are surrounded by.”
“How I treat my body in my 30s will effect it in my 60s.”
“A measureable goal + the power of your word + a sprinkle of trust = bulletproof motivation.”

IMG_1578

Dr. Katie Rodan, dermatologist and co-developer of Rodan + Fields and Proactiv (left)

My biggest takeaway from Dr. Rodan was the connection between sleeping positions and aging. She stressed that you should always sleep on your back because side or stomach sleeping crushes one side of your face into the pillow for six +/- hours a day, deepening natural lines. As a perpetual side sleeper, I need to personally work on this!

Noteworthy quotes:

“20% of how we age is due to genetics, 80% is how you live your life.”
“Less is more.” –when it comes to makeup and procedures.
“I don’t believe in trends, I believe in what really works.”

Sonya Dakar, creator of the A-list visited Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic in Beverly Hills (second from right)

Despite Sonya’s active upbringing, she experienced some medical set backs that caused her to gain upwards of 40 pounds. The weight gain made her realize that she needed to be an example to her clients so she started eating right and hired a personal trainer. After working out consistently six days a week, she eventually got back to her old weight and more importantly, her old wardrobe.

Noteworthy Quotes:

“You cannot sleep with makeup.”
“If you love your client, you should tell them the truth.”
“Without skincare, you lose the battle.” –on looking young while aging.


The panelists below spoke about growing your blog and online community, therefore their tips are focused more on branding and social media.

IMG_1585

Lisa Lillien, founder of Hungry Girl (second from right)

  • It’s better to have a small amount of content that appeals to a lot of people.
  • Be true to your audience and pick and choose products that you support wisely. You don’t want to be a sell out.
  • Change as the time changes.

Annie Lawless, creator of BLAWNDE.com and co-founder of Suja Juice (middle)

  • Interact with your followers.
  • Make sure your content is valuable.
  • Be creative and willing to evolve.

Sara Forte, author and blogger at Sprouted Kitchen (second from left)

  • Know your voice and make sure it’s clear.
  • Have a schedule and be consistent from the beginning.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask, the worst they can say is no.

IMG_1630

Karena and Katrina, founders of Tone It Up

  • On hard days, focus on why you got started.
  • Remind yourself to take care of yourself.
  • A quote Katrina loves, “I’m not interested in competing with anyone, I hope we all make it.”

As you can tell, it was hard not to leave the day feeling motivated and ready to take on the world. These women are all gorgeous inside and out and reminded me just why I started Sweat and Repeat in the first place—to inspire people to lead more active lives. It was also a nice excuse to catch up with fellow LA bloggers, Kara (Kara Runs), Whitney (To Live and Diet in LA), and Danielle (The Beauty Blender).

IMG_1609 IMG_1616

During breaks we had the opportunity to mingle with the incredible sponsors. I decked myself out in diamonds thanks to Hearts on Fire, nibbled on a yummy burrito from Luvo, and sipped on Ocean Spray’s new PACt cranberry infused water, all while wearing my gifted Ahnu sneaks that felt like I was walking on air.

Thank you, Shape, for having me—I’ll be devouring my newest issue on the plane ride east tomorrow!

One thought on “#ShapeMeetTweet Recap + Tips & Tricks from Top Influencers

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s