The Woman Behind L.A.'s LEKFit Workout Craze

Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who've made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode will give you a direct line to women who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on iTunes, and stay tuned. We'll be releasing new episodes on Mondays.

Los Angeles has seen its fair share of fitness crazes take off over the years, but few have a reputation for being as fun, effective, and successful as LEKFit. Founded by celebrity fitness instructor Lauren Kleban in 2016, LEKFit is a musically driven, dance-based, full-body workout consisting of two class types: Bounce (utilizing trampolines) and Sculpt (utilizing mats). (And if you're not in the L.A. area, digital classes can be streamed for $20 a month.)

As is always the case with Second Life, Kleban didn't initially set out to create L.A.'s next big fitness obsession. She started dancing at a young age but ended up leaving that path to move up the ranks at Abercrombie & Fitch. Eventually, Kleban was figuratively bitten by the dance bug again when she started taking burlesque dance classes. She moved to Las Vegas to pursue her passion for dance again, working as a showgirl, which lead to choreographing shows.

Kleban's next move was to Los Angeles, where she worked in nightlife and danced professionally before eventually teaching classes and developing her signature Bounce class. The first incarnation of LEKFit, which Kleban self-funded, was out of her garage. Now, just three years later, she's opening a 6000-square-foot flagship space this summer, boasts a devoted client base (which includes celebrities like Busy Philipps and Emmy Rossum), and has plans for expansion.

Head to iTunes to subscribe to Second Life and listen to this episode to hear all about Kleban's riveting career path. Scroll below to get a glimpse into the LEKFit world.

Next, the best career advice from the founder of Paige.