Wellness

Charlotte Shirey of Richmond, Va., has been an advocate of the KW Wellness program since its inception. “I heard about the KW Wellness program at Family Reunion. I met the wellness manager, Alex Garland, and became a wellness ambassador for my market center.”

Recently, Shirey traveled to Austin, Texas, for Franchise Systems Orientation (FSO) and did something amazing.

While there, Shirey and KW associate Catherine Ham organized to take in the city of Austin by way of bicycling as a part of their wellness initiative. The ride was approximately 8 miles round trip.

Shirey says planning to bike to FSO was simple with the help of Austin B-Cycle. Shirey and Ham rented bikes and mapped out their course to and from their hotel. They even added some of Austin’s sites along the way.

On the first day of FSO, Ham and Shirey say they left the building feeling tired from working all day, but when they got on their bicycles and saw the scenery, their energy changed. “We went over to The University of Texas at Austin (UT) campus and toured it,” Shirey says. “While peddling up those hills, I was pushing myself harder than I would have had I been running on a treadmill.”

Shirey thought Austin was a very bike-friendly city and felt safe with the abundance of bike lanes.

Even more impressive was that Shirey and Ham were not avid riders you would expect to bike everywhere. This was a health commitment they made together. “You never forget to ride a bike, but you get a little rusty,” Shirey says. “By the end of the three days, I was riding with no hands – that’s what I used to do as a kid. It was so fun to ride my bike and have all my skills coming back to me.”

“Wellness is more than just food and exercise,” Shirey says. “This was my big aha after riding to and from FSO. I discovered wellness is also spiritual and financial.”

Are you feeling inspired to get on a bike and see where the road will take you? Here are some important bike safety tips to remember: