Debbie Johnson - Final Cut

Debbie Johnson shares her story of moving to Florida and starting her fitness class called Synergy Fitness. She talks about her experiences with Jazzercise and her passion for motivating and bringing joy to her students. She emphasizes the importance of positivity and creating a safe and fun workout environment. Debbie also mentions her role model, her father, and the impact he had on her life. Welcome to the Open Forum in the Villages Florida podcast. In this show we talk to leaders in the community, leaders of clubs, and interesting folks who live here in the villages. I'm thrilled to share our passion project with you. A podcast that brings joy, knowledge, and inspiration. This is Mike Roth on Open Forum in the Villages Florida. I'm here today with Debbie Johnson. Debbie, thanks for joining me. No problem. Debbie, why don't you tell what our listeners what brought you to Florida from sunny California. Sunny California to sunny Florida. Well, I had previously been married for almost 25 years, found myself alone suddenly, and job for us for a single woman that her skills were being a homemaker and raising three children was very difficult. So I did my best, did a lot of different things, learned a lot of different things, and then I was laid off of my last job and said, Mom, let's go into Florida. My middle daughter was expecting her second child, so that was the destination for me. Never in my dreams did I think I'd be living in Florida. So your second daughter lives in Florida? Not currently. She's in Texas now. Okay. Her life has been interesting, too. A lot of people's lives have been interesting. Yeah. Okay. And Debbie, how long ago did you move to the villages? I moved to the villages in 2010. I had been on a dating site and met this man, and a year and a half later, we were married. So that's how I didn't even know about the villages. I was in Tampa doing my own thing, trying to, you know, I was just got hired to work at a golf course, which I thought I'd find me a rich golfer, but that didn't happen. So I met Bill, and within four months, I'm in the villages, and then six months after that, we were married. And I'm not kidding you, a week after I was moved in, I was teaching classes. So it was pretty quick. Got involved right away. Got involved right away. That's good advice for new villagers. It is. You got to try it all. Try everything you can to find what fits for you. Well, I think there's a limit. I will confess that the first year that I was in the villages, I joined 21 different clubs. You win. It was a big mistake. I enjoyed the clubs. It tied up my schedule and drove me crazy. Well, that's the thing. It's that I'm a homebody, even though it's as much of an extrovert that I am. I'm a homebody, and I can find chores all day long to do. I love crafting. I love cooking. So I don't want too many things to interrupt that, because that makes me really happy. Yeah, a lot of people like that. Mm-hmm. And I got a lot happier when I reduced the number of clubs. There you go. I was going to say, that seems like a lot too. It is, since I run three of them. Busy man. Yes. And then I took on the teaching of a course at the Enrichment Academy on podcasting. That's a big commitment. Yeah, well, three weeks at a time and three sessions a year, that's enough. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about the program or the club that you run? Okay. Well, I was still in California back in the 80s. I discovered jazz and was immediately hooked. I got all my friends hooked, and it was just, you know, a love at first class. After a few years, I decided, what the heck, I can do this. So I became an instructor. And when you are a Jazzercise instructor, you are a franchise owner. So I had my own business. Mm-hmm. Was really successful at it. Enjoyed it so much. And then... So Jazzercise is a franchise. It is. When you teach a class, you are now a franchise owner. So... Did you sign a franchise agreement? Oh, very definitely. And yep, they get their fee right up on top. And then, you know, so, I mean, it was a business. I learned a lot from doing that. And my mother became terminally ill, so she moved in with us. And then after she was gone, that's when my marriage kind of stopped. And I quit teaching, and then did various things. And then I re-auditioned again. Went back to it, because I knew it made me happy. Was teaching in beautiful Newport Beach, California. You couldn't ask for a better setting. Absolutely gorgeous. So... And then I stopped again, because I had to make another move. So I've moved all over in those few years. So then in 2009 is when I moved to Florida. And when did you start the Synergy group in the villages? Synergy just kind of happened. I was teaching with a good friend of mine, Rosie. When I first came here, we were at a Jazzercise class, and she looked at me. She was also a previous instructor. She goes, you're teaching with me. I went, oh, okay. So that's how that happened. And I taught with Rosie. She did Monday. I did Thursdays for about three years. And then things kind of happened. And I said, hmm, I think I want to be on my own. I want to be just me. Okay. And so I literally, literally sat up in bed one night, came up with a name out of the clear blue sky, designed my business card, had it ordered, all before the sun came up. And that's how it started. Good. Some of the best ideas happen when you're sleeping. Well, I don't sleep. So I'm working on two hours right now. Wow. I need seven hours. Oh, lucky you. I'm jealous. You know, my major supporter, Dr. Curtis, has a lot to say about sleep. Seven hours is usually pretty good. Oh, that's what they say, but it's not always the case. Yeah. Well, keep yourself in shape with this band Synergy. Group Synergy Fitness is what the name of the class is. And the format is very much like a Jazzercise class, because even though today I still believe in their format wholeheartedly, so I'm very careful that I don't do something that might hurt a novice that walks in. I'm very much aware of the people in my class, and I don't know what I'd be doing if I didn't have this to do. How many people typically come to a class? Currently, with, you know, we've got extra people in town right now. That was a nice way of saying it. Right now, I average between 80-90 students. Wow. Yeah. You must have a big room for that. Where do you teach? I teach Tuesday mornings, 8 o'clock at Laurel Manor, Friday mornings, Eisenhower at 9 o'clock, and then Saturday at Rohan, 9 o'clock. Now, my Saturday class is my powerhouse. We go an hour and 20 minutes. One solid full hour of aerobics, but I warm you up nice and slow, we get you cooking, and then I bring you back down, and then we do strength training. So, that's a long class. Yeah. They leave exhausted. Well, that's good. Just to tell you, my last Saturday class, I had 11 gentlemen up on stage with me, having so much fun. So much fun. And yesterday's class, Tuesday at Laurel Manor, I brought all my tutus that I own, which I have a gazillion of them. Everybody had on a tutu almost, and pom-poms, and we just have fun. Well, that's great. That's great. If you're not having fun... What's the point? Why do it? Exactly. What was your biggest role? My role model? Yeah. I thought about that. My biggest role model was probably my father, and if I start tearing up, I'm sorry. He's been gone for three years now. After I lost my mom, my dad was kind of an absentee father. I mean, he was always there, and I knew his worth, and I knew who he was, but didn't contribute a lot, you know, to me. So, after that, we lost mom. He had to step up to the plate, and let me tell you, that man did. He's my closest friend, my confidant, my everything. Every pass, I have to tell you, his wife found a folder. Every single clipping article, newspaper thing, I sent him the physical copies all the time. He kept every single one. So, when this picture came out last week in the paper, I went, oh man. So, I held it up high, so he could see it from heaven. That's great. That's great. What do you aspire to bring to your classes? Oh, this is a good one. Well, just for instance, after class yesterday, a little lady came up to me, and she said, they all know that I was going to be doing this today, and they said, Debbie, make sure you mention that you are biggest motivator, that you motivate us. Every class, you bring joy, your enthusiasm, because I mean, I'm always trying to instill them with positivity. I say, negativity does not belong in this room. Check it. It doesn't come in here. So, that's, and of course, a good workout, a safe workout. You know, my favorite line is, don't make me come down there, because I will, because I'm up on a stage, you know. And I love getting down on the floor with them. It's just, I said, you're not my students, you're my friends, and I feel really important about that. I mean, that's really close to my heart. I know almost all of those people's first names, and I address them by their first names, and who doesn't like to feel special like that? You have them wearing name badges? No, I just memorized them. You memorized them? Mm-hmm. That's real good. Yep, been doing this a long time. But you're memorizing first names always? Well, yeah, I mean, I mean, I do that association game right away, where I look at them, and you have to look at the person intently, and find something that you can associate them with, and then you got it. Yeah, that's an old Dale Carnegie routine. I think it might be. Let's take a quick break and listen to a Alzheimer's tip from Dr. Craig Curtis. Dr. Curtis, what can someone do if they know that they have Alzheimer's that runs in their family? So, there's a lot that they can do. So, published actually in the Journal of the American Medical Association in February of 2024, so this month, this was a study done primarily at Rush University in Chicago, looking at those with brain amyloid, so those people that already have amyloid, can a healthy lifestyle protect them from developing dementia? And the answer was yes, by following these five healthy habits that were tracked, and those were they did not smoke, they did moderate exercise for at least 150 minutes a week, they kept their alcohol consumption to a minimum, approximately one to two drinks a day, and they regularly stimulated their brain by reading, going to museums, etc. And the final category was how well they followed the MIND diet, or a Mediterranean-type diet, and they used autopsies. They actually used approximately 530 autopsies to prove that those that followed those healthy lifestyle habits, or had those healthy lifestyle habits, actually had less amyloid, it correlated, those had less amyloid in their brain. With over 20 years of experience studying brain health, Dr. Curtis's goal is to educate the Villages community on how to live a longer, healthier life. To learn more, visit his website, CraigCurtisMD.com, or call 352-500-5252 to attend a free seminar. Debbie, what are the first words that you say to your group from the stage when they're ready to start the exercises? Words from my father, let's do her manure, that's what I say. Do her manure. Do her manure. My father had his own language. Really? Yeah, cowboys aren't cowboys, they are kaboys. I mean, he just, he just had this flavor about him, it was so contagious. My maiden name was Smith, so he was known by Smitty to everybody. So, my dad was a character, he was a character. So, the students say, we need to make t-shirts that say that. Group synergy, let's do her manure. I think it's hilarious, but I guess other than that, I say, are we ready to do this? Are you ready to go? And they're already going, they're already, I always have background music playing before we start the class, and they're already dancing. I just brought in a new hip-hop routine for them, digging it big time. So, that's, you're shaking your head at me. I will admit that I don't get hip-hop, and when I'm presented with it, I usually hit the fast-forward, or get up and leave. Well, I am like-minded, but because Usher was doing the halftime show, so I brought in an old Usher song, made it real simple, three moves, and it's just got, I make them do the stank face, you know, and they got the attitude going. So, it's just playing, we just have fun. We'd never do hardcore or anything like that, but, you know, I make sure I play the clean version, because you have to really watch for that. Sometimes I get surprised because I missed a word or two, so then we sing over it, make up our own, our own words. It works, it's okay, you know? The lyrics are too fast. Yeah. I can't understand the words of most hip-hop songs. Well, and this one's only two minutes, this new one I brought in, two minutes, and it's a new song, so it's, it's real catchy, you know, real, real catchy, and it's not quite, it's not rap. Hip-hop is a little different than rap, so there is a difference. I guess I object more to rap. You do, I think- than hip-hop. Exactly. I was at the improv festival in Sarasota last summer, and the last show on Saturday night that I was in was, turned out to be a rap show. A rap fest. Rap hip-hop, and I wound up leaving. I couldn't understand the words. Yeah, we did, I brought in a really old Tupac, you remember Tupac? Yes, yes. And I think the song is like 20-some years old, and it was California, and because I was kind of representing my California days, yesterday's class, with the tutu and a shirt my father had made for me, and I was surprised how many of his seniors knew the song. But this was back when it was still relatively clean. It wasn't, you know, that kind of evolved through the years. I mean, I'm not an expert by any means. I, don't call me out on it, but- Yeah, I think he was the guy that was shot on the highway in Cincinnati. He was, and I guess someone had told me yesterday that they just now found out who was guilty of that. Yeah. So, amazing. Yeah, well, I lived in Cincinnati at the time he was shot. It was amazing. He was only in his early 20s, I think, very young. Now, you worked with the Orlando Magic. I did. You must have been in the senior dance team. I am. You still are. I still am, currently. I've been doing it. This is my ninth year. Mm-hmm. Started out as a Silver Star. I don't know if you're familiar with that. That usually has something to do with movies, in my mind. LA from here. No, there's, there's, no, no, none of that. So, I was teaching class, and a gal who was on the Silver Stars, because they had already been up and running for like six years or something, they were having their first open audition that they'd had in years. Sure, you know, what the hay, I'll go. You know, wow. I mean, I don't know how many people filled this room, but there had to be over a hundred of us. And we learned a routine, practiced, and then you auditioned. So, they selected 14, and I was, I was chosen. So, I did that for about six years, and then Orlando Magic decided they wanted to rebrand their entertainment. So, they shut everything down, rebranded, brought us, well, they didn't bring us back. We had to re-audition again. Now, it's, I'm a classic 407, which is a senior hip-hop team. When I was a Silver Star, the sweet bus would come and pick us up and take us to Orlando. So, nobody had to make that drive. Right. And it was awesome. It was, my husband used to go all the time. Now, he doesn't, because we have to get ourselves to Orlando for practices, you know, to learn the routines, and for game day. So, it's, it's a bit. How many times a month do you have to take the drive to Orlando? Well, we perform six times a year. That's one performance a month. We drive to Orlando for practice on a Saturday and a Sunday, and sometimes a third practice, and then back again on game day. So, it's not too bad. Yeah. And this is the court. We're only on the, out there on the court for a little over a minute, but it's worth every single thing. I mean, it's so much fun. We get so pumped up. We run off to the court, and we're going through the tunnels back to our locker room, and we look at each other and go, did we just do that? I want to do it over again. I don't remember. Because you don't. It's so fast, but it's so much fun. And they love us. The crowd loves us. Are you on the same team with Mark Wentz and his wife, Bridget? Oh, I absolutely love and adore those two. They have brought so much joy to this team, I can't tell you. Yeah, they were in our improv club for about a year. Right, right. Yeah, he and I talked about it a little bit. And yeah, they, in fact, cute story. Sorry, Mark, but I'm gonna squeal on you. He was gonna drive his wife down to Orlando, or up to, or whichever way it is, over there for the audition. And I looked at him, had never met them before, and said, I'm sorry, you're auditioning too. He goes, no, I'm not. Yeah, you are. He was a natural. Yeah, he was. Yeah, he's a natural. They both are. Oh, she is so talented. So, and he's very well known in the community for all the good works that he does. Very, very giving couple. And I love them dearly. So, what are your passions in life? Oh, my passions. I have so many. Of course, my grandkids are number one on the list. Even though I don't get to see them often enough, they're coming out to visit me sometime during the summer break. So, I'm real happy about that. They're coming from Texas. And see, I love to cook, okay? My husband has no taste buds. Zero taste buds. Wow. He would eat a chicken sandwich every single day and be a very happy man. Okay. He now eats different foods, because I just try it. Just like a two-year-old, just take a bite, you know? And he's discovering different things. But he's, you know, no green, no veggies, no nothing. And so, what I do is, I cook enough, I'll have a little bit, and then I give it to my neighbors. Mike, who is my class manager, he's single. Ladies, he's single. And he gets, in fact, he's got food in my refrigerator right now waiting for him for Friday's class. So, that's one of my joys. I paint. I'm not an artist by any means. People say, oh, you're so artistic. No, I just try. I mean... Do you sell your paintings? No, no, no, no. They're not. I'm very amateur. It's always Grandma Moses. Like, I found an old chair at Goodwill. It doesn't look anything like it did when I started. One of my friends brought me a little side table. Her friend was going to throw it away because it was broken. She goes, oh, no, no, no, no. Let me give it to Debbie. She is going to make something. And I did. I put it together and painted it a sunflower. One leg is green. It's just adorable. And I paint bottles. I take off the labels and I do floral designs and give them away as a gift. I put little twinkle lights inside. Very cute. I didn't have one. I was going to bring you one, but I didn't have one ready to go. Okay. He's like, good. I've got enough stuff. Enough stuff. Most people do at this age, don't we? Right, right. I gave away a whole bunch of Mercedes stuff that I can't use on my cars anymore. And I felt real good about it. And then a guy came over and said, could you help me with my rib nuts? And I said, what the heck is a rib nut? And it's a combination of a rivet and a nut. You know, we won't know what pop rivets are. Yeah. Okay. But this rib nut has a thread on it. And I said, well, where does Mercedes use rib nuts? And he says, oh, it's to hold the license plate on my car. And three of them were broken and my license plate rattles. Sorry. Yeah. So he had to buy about a hundred dollars worth of tools and rib nuts. And the other day, we took off the broken rib nuts, which was a pain in the tush, and put in the new rib nuts. His license plate no longer rattles. So he's leaving. And I said, why don't you take the tool? It's yours. He says, no, it's yours now. Oh, so now you're the proud owner. Now I'm the proud owner of a rib nut tool. So if anybody needs it. And everyone's license plate with a Mercedes is rattling. If you've got a rattle. We've got a cure. But in a strange way, that was fun. Just fixing the rib nut. Oh, absolutely. I mean, those are the things, you know, just you say passions. It's like, sorry, guys, but I do like to say this a lot. I don't need no stinking man. Because I mean, I was single for 17 years. I learned how to fix things. I learned how to make things work. Like, oh, your curtains are too broad, isn't long enough. I figured out how to extend it on my own. Just by using things around the house. You know, don't look too close. But it worked. You know, I love doing stuff like that. Figuring it out. I'm very tenacious. I won't stop until I've got a solution. I love watching YouTubes. YouTubes are fabulous. I mean, I had no idea what a rib nut was or how to use it. We're back to that, are we? Are we back to that? I must have watched 10 rib nut spots on how to put them in, repair them, fix a broken one. And that's how I figured out what tools we needed to get the bad ones out. It was amazing how accurate the videos were on YouTube. They're such a good tool. Just, you know how when you pick up your phone, and their phone can automatically rotate? Okay, well, mine had gotten turned off. And it was driving me nuts. My daughter says, I don't know. I said, Oh, I am not going to edit hit this. No, there's there. There's a button. I found it. So I sent her the solution. Yeah, mom, yeah, I subscribe to a something on the web called Android Academy. It costs about 100 bucks a year. And every week, there are two Android tips on how to use your phone to get the most out of it. Because we don't, we don't get the most out of our phones, by a long shot. I've had people in my improv class, who tell me the only time they use their phone is if they're in the car, and there's an emergency. Other than turning it on and off and making a telephone call. They don't use it for email. They don't use it for texting. Hey, some people are too set in their ways to set in their ways. But you know, but it's like, this is another thing I I'm still in my class. I may be right in the middle of teaching a routine that they've done a million times. But my brain doesn't stop. I'm always four beats ahead of what we're doing. And I'll change it just to see their faces. And they're like, No, no, no, I go. Yes, yes, yes. Today, we're going to do it like this. So just forget about it. You know, and it makes because it makes them use their brains. I said, we get so used to doing things the same way all the time. I think it's great. Change, change where you stand. Back row come up front, you know? Because I think it's really good for us to stimulate our brain. Right. That's one of the things we do in improv. We tell people to say the first thing that comes into their mind. That's dangerous for me. It's fun. Well, it's fun. You haven't said anything so far. I'm being very contained. None of you do well on the improv. That's the first four Mondays of the month at Rohan, from 630 to 820. And then we have a social hour over at Paisano's. Yum. Yes. Great sandwiches, food and pizza. Yeah, I've been there. It's good. Yeah. So do you have any closing remarks and remind our listeners how to... Do you have to sign up in advance for your classes? No, no. We're all volunteers here in the villages. So, you know, that's the cool thing. And so just to come to class right now, I advise you to be there at least at least a half an hour, at least half. I have some ladies I ask them, where's your cot? I know you sleep here. Because they're there an hour and a half ahead of time because they really want their place, right? And there's a group and they have great social time. I call it the stitch and bitch, you know, and that's what they do. And that's fine with them. So, but right now we have such high volume classes that you need to get there early. And so, no, you don't sign up for anything, you just show up. I do put people on mailing list if you would like that, because sometimes I get bumped out, especially at Rohan. And I've got like 350 people on an email list. So if they want to get on your email list, how do they do that? They contact me through my email is at gmail.com. Debra's is my nickname from my dad, I've been called that my whole life. So it's Oh, Debra's real easy, or it's listed in the daily paper under group synergy fitness, my name and email and phone number and don't ever hesitate to call me or contact me. Thanks for being with us, Debbie. Thank you, Mike. Remember, our next episode will be released next Friday at 9am. Should you want to become a major supporter of the show or have questions, please contact us at Mike at rothvoice.com. This is a shout out for supporters tweet Coleman, Ed Williams, and major supporter Dr. Craig Curtis at K2 in the villages. We will be hearing more from Dr. Curtis with short Alzheimer's tips each week. If you know someone who should be on the show, contact us at Mike at rothvoice.com. We thank everyone for listening to the show. The content of the show is copyrighted by rothvoice 2024. All rights reserved.