Emma Price, founder of FitHer, Australia’s largest women’s health and fitness expo, is on a mission to create a space where women of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels can come together to prioritise their well-being.
After launching FitHer during the challenging days of the pandemic, Emma saw the need for connection, support, and face-to-face interaction in the health and fitness world. Now, with FitHer expanding to Melbourne, she’s reflecting on her journey, the impact it’s had on women across Australia, and how she balances her own health and wellness with running a business and raising a family.
In this interview, Emma talks about the challenges of launching a fitness expo, her passion for empowering women, and what’s next for FitHer.
Emma, it’s amazing how FitHer came to life during such a challenging time. What was the moment when you realised that women needed this space to come together for their health and wellness?
The pandemic was incredibly challenging and isolating for everyone across the country, and as we were starting to come out of this, I realised how much connection had been lost during that period. Working out with friends, being able to shop in person and try things on and connecting with products and services wasn’t a possibility.
After working in events for a long time, I decided to bring the connection back and give women a safe space where they could interact face-to-face. It was what I wanted, and I hoped it was what other women were looking for too.
The idea for FitHer grew from there. I wanted an event that would bring together live workouts, inspirational and educational talks and give women the ultimate health and wellness experience to explore new brands and offerings.
You’ve been involved in planning so many events, but FitHer is unique. What were some of the biggest lessons you learned from organising your first FitHer event, and how did your team help make it a success?
I’ve planned and executed dozens of events, but FitHer is incredibly unique and the first of its kind in Australia (and globally) based on the breadth of categories we cover and the diversity of the women attending.
There were a lot of learnings from our first Sydney event – we were definitely figuring it out as we went! One of our biggest challenges was securing brands to be part of the event. As it was the inaugural event, we had no imagery or video to show them and we had no idea how many people would turn up!
Fortunately, I had an incredible team who lived and breathed the vision for what we wanted to achieve, and they were able to communicate that well and we ended up having fantastic support from more than 50 brands at our first show.
It’s so refreshing that FitHer isn’t about being the thinnest or fastest, but about being the best version of yourself. How did you shape the event to reflect this inclusive and empowering message for women?
Making the expo inclusive for all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities has been at the centre of creating and planning each of the events.
We ensure all of our workouts cater to all levels, that presenting experts have an inclusive approach to training, that our main stage line-up is varied and covers a range of topics, and also that the brands cater for everyone regardless of whether you are an avid gym goer, an occasional walker or someone that wants to start.
We’ve tried to manage our event messaging and imagery so that we present the diversity of those attending and ensure every woman feels welcome to attend.
You’ve mentioned that health and fitness have been a constant in your life through many ups and downs. How do you personally prioritise your own wellness, especially with everything you juggle between work, family, and running events?
I think like many women it’s a juggle. I have two companies that I run quite hands-on and we run seven expo events across the country each year collectively, so I’m away from home for almost seven weeks each year, along with my husband who works in the businesses also.
This makes it really challenging with two young boys who are 13 and five with very busy schedules. I miss them a lot when I’m away so it’s FaceTime every night and if I can take them to an event I will.
I’m really lucky to have family support to help us make it all work from a logistics point of view. That said, it is sometimes hard to keep my health and fitness a priority when I’m constantly in hotels and don’t have the luxuries of home to keep me eating well and keeping my fitness consistent.
The balance has slipped a little this year, and it’s something I need to re-prioritise, but I try not to be too hard on myself. I love running and try to get out and run three to four times a week, even if it’s just a quick one, or I’ll pop my earphones in and walk/listen to a good podcast (mostly always entrepreneurs and their stories for some inspo). I generally eat quite well and try to take my vitamins/greens, but as I said, I try not to be hard on myself – there is always tomorrow to make up for it.
You’ve launched FitHer in Sydney, Brisbane, and now Melbourne. What has the feedback from women attending these events been like, and how does it feel to know you’ve created a safe and inspiring space for them?
Honestly, I’ve been blown away by the feedback. Our team interviewed many of our attendees and we also asked for their feedback in our post-show survey. I was overwhelmed hearing what they had to say and was a little emotional to hear how much of an impact the event had on them.
Many commented on how safe and confident they felt in the space, we had girls and women from five to 65 at the event, and all shapes, sizes and ability levels, which made it a really inclusive space for everyone.
My favourite feedback was how empowered and inspired they walked away feeling, ready to conquer their goals, prioritise their health and put the spotlight on their health and wellness. This is exactly what we set out to achieve.
Starting a new event, especially during a pandemic, comes with its own set of challenges. How did you build such a strong audience and get Australian brands on board to support FitHer from the very beginning?
I think having such a unique brand and event has really piqued women’s interest, and with more women looking for health, wellness and fitness options they are seeking opportunities to explore new things. So, our timing to launch has been good off the back of the pandemic.
As I mentioned earlier, I think women are looking for ways to get that connection and getting back face-to-face with other women and our event is filling that need.
In terms of building an audience, we have worked with some incredible fitness trainers, educators and influencers in this space, which has certainly helped in building our audience.
We’ve had some of the most accredited trainers and personalities including Kayla Itsines, Kic’s Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw, Chontel Duncan, Tiff Hall, Katie Martin, Cass Olholm, Libby Babet, Shona Vertue, Leah Itsines, Georgie Stevenson, Chantell Otten and so many more. It’s been quite the line-up across the shows so far, including Melbourne. We’ve had such incredible support from these women because they all believe in our vision and what we are creating for women.
You’ve got such a clear vision of empowering women to prioritise their health and fitness. What are your hopes for FitHer’s future, and how do you see it continuing to grow and evolve in the years to come?
Our vision is something I feel so strongly about and something that won’t change over time – I’m sure this will still be in place in 10 years’ time as that is fundamental to everything we do.
As a start-up about to hold our third event, I’d like to see our events grow in terms of audience and brands involved with the event. It’s already starting to happen and will even more so as we return to each state again and have an established presence there.
I think over time our concept will evolve as we listen to our audience as to what they want. We have some great ideas around activation zones that we are excited to work on for next year – we’d love to involve more education sessions on more topics important to women and there are a few offshoot events from our main events that will be on our radar over the coming year or so.
I’m so excited for the future of FitHer. We’re off to a fantastic start and I can only see it growing and evolving into a real movement for women’s health and wellness in Australia, and maybe elsewhere in the future.
