FITFLOPS - Marcia Kilgore

WORDS: LIV MORGAN

Marcia Kilgore, founder of the celebrity-swamped Bliss Spa in New York; creator of beauty product ‘Soap and Glory’ and inventor of the FitFlop – the what?! The FIT-Flop – it looks

like a flip-flop but don’t be deceived. This little beauty works your muscles as you walk

and while it’s set to reduce thighs and bums by inches it is guaranteed to increase

Marcia’s purse size considerably!

This Canadian lady is not quite a rags-to-riches story but not too far off either. Marcia grew up in the little town of Outlook, Saskatchewan, with a population of 2,000. She started doing nixers from her early teens and made a point of always having her own cash to spend.

“I didn’t have to depend on somebody to put something on my plate after the age of

12 or so.” Marcia is very matter of fact when it comes to speaking about her natural grasp

of business. “I knew I didn’t want to have to struggle with my electric bill. It’s about common sense. I’ve had common sense from as far back as I can remember. Then I have high standards so I expect a lot because why not do things well?!”

Getting the right foundation
She was destined for brighter lights than Saskatchewan and ended up going to New York University (NYU) part-time. She paid for her tuition by working as a personal trainer in a local gym. The job was exhausting and Marcia found herself getting up at 5am just to get to her first client at 6.30am. For every 50 training sessions she did she could pay for one course in NYU. Eventually realising she couldn’t keep up this gruelling schedule she did a crash course in facials. “I thought I can at least sit down doing that!” This would eventually lead to her first high profile delve into the business world and to what she’s known best

for – Bliss Spa.

Read more about Marcia Kilgore in the August | September 2008 issue of WMB, on newsstands now