Fit Professional: Shard Financial Services President Margie Shard

How often do you exercise? Six to seven days per week
Brief description of your workout routine: Currently I do Tabata at 5 AM and then train with my trainer at 6 AM. I also run and love yoga.

Brief description of your eating habits: I’m trying to eat clean – low carb – mostly protein and veggies and calorie counting – entering it on MyFitnessPal.
Favorite Workout: Tabata is my new love.

Least favorite way to workout? I like to sweat – so if I’m doing a workout and not sweating at the end I feel cheated.
How does fitness affect you as a professional? When I am consistently working out I feel more focused, make better decisions and am more confident in my appearance. When I am in “Beast Mode” I find that I just make more things happen.
Would you be as good at what you do if you didn’t pursue fitness? I feel like I have more energy when I am working out and eating right versus when I’m not. I do what it takes to get my work done so I don’t believe it affects my quality of work for a client, but I do believe that it affects how many clients I can help, how much extra I can do to educate the public on finance and new things I’m willing to try in my business.
How do you squeeze fitness in on a crazy busy day? I live by a schedule. I have found that waking up and working out first thing is the best way for me to get my workouts in. I recently started getting up at 4 AM so I can start my workout at 5 AM and I surprisingly found that I love it. I feel like I’m ready to conquer the world when I workout first thing.
How do you fight the urge to skip workouts? I have a trainer to keep me accountable. I have a good friend, Sheila, who is my workout buddy and even when we can’t workout together, we send over workouts, etc. that the other person needs to do. I also have a gym buddy, Kristy, who lets me jump in during her trainer times and encourages me. I started a Facebook page called ‘Sisters of Sweat’ last year and we all post after we do our workouts and try to motivate each other. I also give my husband permission to kick me out of bed!
If you travel, what kind of workouts do you do on the road? I typically run or use a treadmill or

elliptical in the hotel gym.

Does your company offer incentives for exercising or eating right? If so, how do you take part? I have had a yoga instructor come teach classes for my team and myself in the past. We currently aren’t doing anything but we all encourage each other to eat right and workout.

Greatest accomplishment in fitness/athletics: I started running last spring and I completed The Crim 10 mile run in August.
Must-have training equipment: Good shoes and proper clothing!
Favorite training tune: Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
Favorite healthy food:  Salmon Sashimi
Favorite not-so-healthy food:  Mexican
Do you think fitness is a factor in being successful in business? Why or why not? I think that it can help accelerate you to the next level.
What fit professional inspires you?  Fitz! My trainer, Big Mike! My two friends, Kristy Cantleberry and Julia Carlson, who have both competed in body competitions. My friend, Sarah Carlson, who completed an Iron Man last year.
Advice for others trying to become more fit: The first step is the hardest. Just go do it!
Best piece of business advice you’ve ever received: You are only as good as the team around you. (That’s why I have the BEST team around me!!)