Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Marshall.
Hi Caleb, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small, conservative town in Indiana feeling very uncomfortable with all aspects of my identity. I didn’t like my body, I didn’t like my feminine traits, and I didn’t feel like I was ever enough. After seeing an infomercial on TV for Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time album, a light bulb went off in my head. I started practicing her move in the bathroom mirror and dancing to her music and suddenly I felt like I had transformed. I was able to shed my insecurities and embrace myself though movement and dance. When I started teaching dance fitness classes in college, I had another light bulb moment. Once I put on that fitness pop star mic, I heard the gay angels sing and the spirits of Richard Simmons and Britney Spears enter my body. I was able to give others the same confidence that I felt when dancing alone in the mirror. I wanted to give everyone a chance to unleash their own inner pop star, even if they weren’t the best dancer or met society’s impossible standards of beauty.
I realized that YouTube was the quickest way to spread my passion and message to others and began uploading in October of 2014. Eight years later, and with my two best friends from high school and my Backup Booties and my fiancé as our manager, we’ve amassed more than 8 million followers on social media and over a billion views. We have been on a handful of world tours, we have our own activewear company that offers every piece in sizes 5X-XS, and we have a subscription service where members can do full-length workouts with us on livestream every week.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been the hardest but most rewarding journey. I spent the majority of my journey not making any money and not being able to pay my friends who were helping me. The first five years we were scraping by, pushing forward because we believed in ourselves and our mission. There were so many times when it seemed like we were naive kids chasing an impossible dream. Leaving our hometown of Indiana and moving to Los Angeles with no money, no family, and no guarantees was one of the hardest times. Also building a business from the ground up was so tricky. We started all of this to spread joy and do good in the world. The money was never something we considered until afterward, so it was a long journey to understand how to build a business from a passion. Every venture we have pursued has been us learning from trial and error. We began by taking our fitness classes on the road and touring every weekend. Learning how to book venues, travel, and put on full-scale shows with no additional staff was a massive challenge.
When we began our activewear brand that took years of research, meetings, and testing to finally launch a product we were proud of. The first few years we had all of the products shipped to our two-bedroom apartment. One room was taken up by our backup dancer who was living with me and my fiancé, our bedroom was filled with boxes of clothes and our living room was where we recorded all of our workout videos. We also had three dogs living in that apartment which was a blessing and also chaos.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create easy-to-follow dance fitness workouts that are meant to give an average, everyday people a space to unleash their inner SuperDivaPopStar. I hope to help people fall in love with moving their bodies and tapping into their self-confidence and passion for life.
I am known for being the anti-fitness instructor. We don’t focus on calories or changing our bodies. We are all about improving our mental health and being the healthiest versions of ourselves.
I’m most proud of the lives that I have been able to be a part of. The internet is a very isolating place and sometimes you forget that views and subscribers are real humans. Being able to read emails and meet fans in person who have been positively impacted by the channel and what we do is by far my proudest accomplishment.
I hope we can be a space that welcomes people who felt like fitness excluded them. I want people to see themselves represented on screen. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and set ourselves apart by treating our members like friends instead of cadets in a boot camp.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
If you want to join in on the fun, you can head to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/thefitnessmarshall for hundreds of free 3-minute dance workouts. If you want longer 30min and 60min workouts you can join our YouTube memberships for the full Booty Army Experience.
Our activewear is available on activebooty.com and carries all pieces in sizes 5X-XS.
Pricing:
- Booty Army Elite Membership – $19.99
- Active Booty – All items under $65
Contact Info:
- Website: Activebooty.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/thefitnessmarshall
- Facebook: Facebook.com/bootiesatattention
- Youtube: YouTube.com/thefitnessmarshall
- Other: Members.thefitnessmarshall.org
Image Credits
Sharayah Sherry David Avalos
