Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Selby.
Hi Melanie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I am a Birmingham, AL native who graduated from Auburn University in 2001 and moved to Franklin, TN. I have been here ever since! As a kid, my parents signed me up for dance classes at a very young age, and I quickly fell in love with it. I danced at a competitive dance studio in my hometown, joined my college dance team, then continued taking classes into my early adult years. Life moved fast for me after I graduated from college. I met and married my husband, got a full-time job in the steel business, and had 3 beautiful children by 2010. At this point, I quit my job to be with my kids, but the love of dance never entirely left my mind. I taught young kids creative movement at a local dance studio. I loved sharing dance and musicality with young children and encouraging them to love the gift of movement! This evolved into teaching adults fitness classes which I have been doing for the last 6 years. In 2019 an old dance friend from childhood introduced me to Functional Range Systems and ignited a new passion. This is a movement enhancement system based on science that keeps joints healthy whether you are young or old, an athlete on a sports team, or you play a sport as a hobby. I work with people privately and also do group classes. I love that life has led me to be able to help people move better, feel better and age better!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Graduating with a business degree was a great accomplishment, and I learned a lot in my job through the years. However, it was not what I had always wanted to do. I did not desire to climb up the corporate ladder. I began to contemplate how I could go back and do something with dance, and then life started moving in a direction that would lead me to do just that. When my kids were young, my husband traveled a lot for work, so I started part-time work to be home more. Those years were hard and long, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. During these years, my dedication to showing up to teach began to put me on a trajectory to where I am today. I wake up each morning with gratitude and consider myself blessed to be able to balance mom’s life with doing my mobility work with clients outside the home.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am certified as an FRCms (Functional Range Conditioning – mobility specialist) and Kinstretch instructor. My work takes people through an evidence-based mobility system; Joint-specific training sets a person up to have strong, healthy joints in everything they do. This includes sports at a competitive level or a sport as a hobby. Often, people think they do not move well or start feeling achy because they are aging. Or, people think they will always struggle because old injuries keep returning. The truth is if you don’t use it, you lose it. That is where I come in. I teach individual clients how to take every joint through its full range of motion and work on flexibility and strength, so they gain ultimate body control. This starts with an assessment of where they are compensating with neighboring joints. We want each joint to function like it is supposed to function. When clients put in the work, they benefit in many ways, including; increased body awareness, mobility, tissue resilience, and strength and flexibility. This all leads to injury mitigation and better quality joints. Kinstretch does all this as well but in a group setting. This joint training is set apart because it is a prerequisite for general movement. For example, people show up to a fitness class, and their wrist does not function as a wrist should, but they load their body weight on a plank forcing the wrist to bend in a way that will eventually cause injury. I would take that person through the process of gaining the proper flexibility and strength to be able to do a plank. When I work with a client, people will have different goals, and I want to help them meet them. When an instructor or coach demands something, you can do it safely and not deal with as many injuries throughout life. Strong, healthy joints will lead to faster healing if an injury occurs (because life is often out of our control). If someone has recovered from an injury through PT, I will work with that person to gain strength beyond what they had pre-injury to help stop the same injury from recurring. The best part of my job is watching people improve, meet their goals, and start feeling better. I love helping people get to a place of a better quality of life and move how we are intended to move!
Alright, before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work, collaborate, or support you?
I will always respond to emails and DM’s to schedule a private or teach a group class; I can work with an individual, sports team, or any group interested in joint mobility. I teach my privates out of Free Flow Yoga in Berry Farms, located in Franklin, TN. Kinstretch classes are currently held at Resilient Heath and Performance in Brentwood, TN. I can also travel to your facility and teach classes in the Nashville area.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @melanie_selby_fitness
- Facebook: Melanie_Selby_Fitness
