The past year has seen us pivot our daily routines to suit a life in lockdown, and someone who has aced the challenge is fitness influencer Hollie Grant. As a Pilates expert and personal trainer, she was used to commuting between Oxford and London to teach classes, run her business and juggle a busy home life with a two-year-old. We caught up with Hollie to discover her top tips for a healthy work-life balance, and how technology has played a huge part…
“In my career I live, breathe and sleep all things fitness. I’ve worked in the fitness industry for the last 10 years, creating courses (The Bump Plan) and writing a book (The Model Method) and now run a private Pilates studio in London. My ultimate goal is to help women learn to love exercise.
“Before lockdown I’d commute to London to teach clients face-to-face, manage my instructors and online offerings and record my podcast. When it was announced that all gyms were closing, our main source of income vanished overnight, and our clients were left without an alternative. After researching methods of training online, I created a live class schedule booking system and conducted sessions over Zoom. One year on this is still a huge part of our business, and I now teach 2-3 live classes a day using the LG gram, and have built an on-demand library of over 200 sessions.
“I also got to work creating The Bump Plan – a project I started when I was pregnant with my daughter, Freya. This required me to be tied to my laptop for months, assessing branding, giving feedback on website designs, hosting focus groups and testing the finished product.
“The LG gram has been indispensable – whether I’ve been teaching, editing, emailing clients or creating social media, it feels as though they’ve thought of everything. It’s important I can edit, share and transfer video content with ease and the new larger screen size has made a huge difference. It also integrates seamlessly with Alexa for voice commands (my unofficial PA!). It is noticeably faster than previous laptops I’ve used and when you’re juggling so many tasks this makes a huge difference!
“One of my concerns with the laptop being so light and portable is that it would easily damage when I’m on the go. But it is really well made – surprisingly light, yet durable. I take my laptop everywhere – my office and recording studio are at the end of our garden and I’m always moving my camera, microphone and laptop back and forth to the house – so anything that makes that easier is ideal.
“During lockdown, I’ve struggled to switch off from work, given that my husband is also part of the business, and we both work from home. So, in my (limited) free time I watch gardening shows and spend time on Zoom with friends. It’s so easy to pull the LG gram out and watch a quick tutorial or gardening show whilst sowing seeds. Catching up with friends remotely has really kept me sane during lockdown.
“I have lots of 1:1 clients that I train over Zoom. I can see them perfectly, on a large screen, which is really important when I need to assess their technique. The laptop speed means I can run various programmes at the same time with no reduction in performance, and the battery life means I’m never without power. Since lockdown I have seen more people ‘online’ than ever before and this has been vital for my business – and my mental health.”
The all-new LG gram for 2021 has been repackaged with a professional display, productivity-enhancing design, and upgraded performance to heighten productivity while maintaining its lightweight body and long battery life. Prices start from £1,149 available in 14, 16 and 17 inch screens. Visit www.lg.com/uk/laptops to find out more.