Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Sophia is obsessed with three things: Food, Beer and Fitness.
It wasn’t always this way for Sophia. She’d been obese since childhood, but she knew that the girl on the outside didn’t match the one inside. After many failed attempts, she vowed to make a real change. With some help, and a positive shift in her mindset, she was able to lose over 70 pounds and has kept it off since.
Sophia’s Fitness Ideology
“Make Yourself Proud.” is her mantra. Facing her fears head on and blazing past them is what made her truly proud of herself. She has done 2 Tough Mudders and an Urban Mudder and that’s where she learned the value of cooperation, community and teamwork while facing fear of heights, falling, failing and electric shock (LOL, it wasn’t that bad).
Her Passion for Beer
During her fitness journey, Sophia founded a food blog called “NY Foodgasm”, where she wrote about some of her favorite food creations. Her most popular recipes included beer: the love for local craft beer was growing inside of her. Later on, her writing and photography work from NY Foodgasm got the attention of a local magazine editor. To her surprise, she was asked to write for the publication about Long Island craft beer and its’ community. The love she already felt, bubbling in her pint-glass, exploded into a fully formed obsession with local craft beer. This lead to her becoming a “Craft Beer Expert” for BlogHer and the Presidency of Long Island’s Girl’s Pint Out and involvement in the Pink Boots Society (a society of female brewers and beer lovers).
More than the beer, it was the people that drew her into the local craft community. In meeting and interviewing local brewers, brewery owners and their families, she fell in love with not just the beer, but the passion all of these men and women have for their craft. She would go on to find out that the brewery life isn’t all hops and rainbows. People assume that, if someone owns a brewery, they must be financially successful. The fact is this is just not the case at least 80% of the time. Many local brewers and brewery owners have full time jobs so they can afford to live the dream.
Founding Beer + Yoga and the Beer Fit Club
In hindsight, kinda like Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech, she Connected the Dots. Her love for local beer, fitness, community and small business is what inspired her to found the Beer Fit Club, a business that is built upon a “win-win” strategy that means income for the brewery, and amazing experiences for her community. The Beer Fit Club isn’t just events, we’re a community of like-minded people. The #BeerFits, as opposed to misfits, we love beer, but we also like to stay fit.
Favorite Post-Workout Beer: There’s nothing like a balanced Pale Ale or IPA after a workout!
What no one knows about her: When I was a toddler, my dad was invited to join the mafia. Long story of what happened after…
