Meet Courtney Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Johnson.

Hi Courtney, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am from a small town on the border of Illinois and Iowa, Morrison, IL. It has a population of less than 4000 people and my high school graduating class had about 65 people for reference. I take pride in being from such a small town with minimal culture, diversity or opportunity because it has shaped me into the person I am today. I realized I wanted to study recreation after my first semester at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and ended up completing my B.S. in Recreation, Sport and Tourism with a minor in Leadership studies. I also worked at the student recreation center, began teaching group fitness and really started to dive into the field early in my college years. After I graduated, I continued my education at Arizona State University where I was accepted as the Graduate Assistant for Fitness Programs at Sun Devil Fitness where I continued growing as a young professional while completing my M.S. in Community Resources and Development, Parks and Recreation. My advisor introduced me to the wellness tourism industry, where I dialed in on fitness tourism specifically for my thesis research. I was able to visit a few different resorts and sites that offer retreats and programs within a tourism context and I quickly fell in love with the idea of traveling for the purpose of enhancing one’s fitness or well-being. My journey continued to take me to another new state, North Carolina in 2017 where I worked as the Fitness Coordinator in the University of North Carolina System.

While I loved my job, I just didn’t feel complete in my environment and setting in NC. I eventually made my way back to Arizona where I now work as a Parks and Recreation professional full-time and have been able to start my passion hobby and personal business, FitWell Escapes. In 2020, I decided I wanted to help other women, like myself, who had moved to Arizona find friends that were interested in exploring the beautiful state, supporting each other’s dreams and goals and also wanted to partake in activities that bettered their health and wellness. I knew my long-term goal was to host fitness and wellness retreats, but I also knew I needed to create a community first. I started organizing local meetups, hikes and charity yoga classes in the Greater Phoenix Area with the hope of establishing a solid group of women who would be willing to travel to other places for a weekend retreat. So far, I have hosted three successful and sold-out retreats: Vegas Venture, Desert Dream in Joshua Tree, and Mindful in Malibu. It’s crazy to think back on my graduate studies and how I had no idea this was a thing – and it’s even crazier to think back to my small town roots and see myself hosting transformational weekend adventures in places like California, a state I had always dreamed of just visiting in my lifetime. I am appreciative for all my moves, career opportunities and education because they have molded me into who I am today and given me the skills to organize activities with FitWell Escapes! My passions truly exist within fitness, wellness, the outdoors and traveling, and FitWell Escapes combines everything into one with an added women’s empowerment component.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey has been far from smooth and a lot of figuring things out along the way. This past weekend I hosted my third retreat, Mindful in Malibu, and led a session titled “Dial your Dreams” on the first night. I talked about “Diving Board Moments” in my life where I had to take risks and trust myself that I would either land on feet or I would pick myself up off the ground. I also discussed how dreams aren’t always clear and they might form throughout your journey and shift as you grow over the years. I had no idea I wanted to lead weekend retreats for women, but given all my past experiences, good and bad, I have realized I want to create healthy and impactful communities that provide a space for supportive relationships for women. Through my journey, I’ve lacked support and mentorship (especially being from a small town) so it’s really motivated me to try and help others who share the same or similar struggles. It’s also been really challenging and tiresome to start my own business while working a full-time and demanding career, but it’s completely possible and I’m so happy I have persevered through the challenges. My financial struggles throughout my younger and college years taught me how to work multiple jobs, get good grades and maintain a social life and that has really translated into my current years where I am able to accomplish multiple things at one time, such as running my own business while working full-time. It’s always been a hustle and grind for me and truthfully, I get bored when I don’t feel like I have a million things to work on! I enjoy it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work full-time as a parks and recreation professional. I’m also a faculty associate at Arizona State University and the owner and founder of FitWell Escapes. I would say I specialize in fitness and active recreation as my goals have always revolved around creating healthy communities. I’m a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor and Wilderness First Responder. I have a variety of specialized fitness certifications and used to teach classes. FitWell Escapes has been a great way for me to combine my love for the outdoors and fitness because I’m able to get people moving without them necessarily realizing they are working out! Hiking is challenging and provides a great reward at the top if there’s a view which I think is one of the best ways to move the body. I’m definitely most proud of my journey and my full-time career, I love that I work in a position that I went to school for and feel that it aligns well with my interests. I’m also very proud of myself for starting FitWell Escapes, I truthfully never envisioned myself as an entrepreneur and I don’t have a desire to quit my full-time job ever. I love keeping FitWell Escapes as my passion hobby. My motivations are not fueled by money but simply from following my heart! I think the most success is found when you put your health before wealth and if you have a hobby with an expertise in an area that you can monetize, all the better! For me, it’s really important to remember life should be fun. I love author Gabby Bernstein because she recommends measuring success by the amount of fun you’re having. This is so true and is easy to do when you follow your heart!

Any big plans?
My plans for the future, specifically for FitWell Escapes include expanding to other neighboring states. I would love to find solid representatives in SoCal, Utah, Las Vegas, New Mexico, etc. to lead day hikes and adventures in their communities and then we can all come together for larger fitness and wellness retreats a few times a year. I am also looking into buying or renting a space for FitWell Escapes to host workshops and classes. I envision it being a little out of the city but having property for fitness and yoga classes as well as a place to store business equipment (my one bedroom apartment is getting a little crowded haha). I plan on staying in Arizona as I’ve finally put down some roots after moving around the country a few times. I’m excited to see the continued growth and success of FitWell Escapes because it’s already been so great after only a year of existence.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@fitwellescapes.com
• Website: www.fitwellescapes.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/fitwellescapes
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/fitwellescapes
• Other: www.instagram.com/therealcpj

Image Credits
Rachel Fischer Visuals Rachel M Leva Jack Dalten