Tasha Franken: Inside the Architectural Shift to Democratize Home Fitness and Build a Sustainable Wellness Brand

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tasha Franken.

Tasha Franken is a Spanish model, entrepreneur, fitness enthusiast, certified health coach, and Pilates instructor born in Spain on April 17, 1991. Tasha has spent years in the modeling industry, appearing on the cover of Vogue Magazine and having walked in fashion shows for major brands such as Tom Ford, La Perla, Vivienne Westwood, and more. Now, Tasha has paved her own path in the health and wellness space, encouraging a balanced and healthy lifestyle for her 97K+ devoted followers across her social media channels (@tashafranken). Here, she shares her personal success stories with inspirational content ranging from Pilates based workouts to healthy recipes, mindfulness and beauty tips. Most recently, Tasha launched her passion project, an online Pilates subscription site and app T — F STUDIO, in order to provide unique & dynamic, feel-good mat Pilates workouts for EVERY BODY. Tasha’s workouts are quick, easy, and effective and aim to strengthen the mind and body and help those around her feel their best inside and out.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I had been modeling for 12 years and tried every fitness class and trainer around the world to stay in shape for my job. I was always underwhelmed with the results and decided to get certified in Pilates at the beginning of 2019 as it was a form of exercise that felt the best for my body and delivered long lasting results as well as long term benefits. Right after I did my teacher training course we went into the pandemic, and I started recording workout videos to share on YouTube and my Instagram as I realized there were no online workout classes I actually liked to do at home. Fast forward a year and I launched my own fitness app to create affordable mat Pilates workouts for everyone to do at home using minimal space, time and equipment.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Launching a business all on your own really does take a lot of late nights, motivation, and resilience. But it’s all worth it when you’re waking up and doing something that feels right. Modeling can create a lot of insecurities and low self-esteem, so the moment I started working for myself I found a new sense of self-worth and confidence that made it all worth it.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I made so many mistakes when I first started! A lot of stupid mistakes while recording videos, like leaving shoes in the background and forgetting to connect my mic…One of my biggest mistakes was showing up to a zoom meeting in my robe in a dark closet. It’s a long story but it was the only room I could use, and I still cringe at the whole situation.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes, I’m so grateful to have supportive family and friends by my side. The first person I’m grateful for is my boyfriend who taught me everything related to filming. He set up my studio, the lighting and taught me how to talk on camera. The second person is my friend Mitra who encouraged me to start my YouTube channel and helped me understand social media. I had no idea how anything worked before her.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

Firstly, women are still making less than men, so that’s the first disadvantage. While I am really excited to see more female founders there’s still a long way to go. Particularly for tech driving industries, it’s hard to imagine yourself founding a company in a male dominated industry where you don’t feel represented or seen.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

I think we’re seeing improvements, but we’ve still got a long way to go! I think an easy start would be to support female founders by buying from female owned brands, as well as offering help or investment. Offering support and promoting these brands on social media as well.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder, but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

I would say that the number one thing holding us back is fear and doubt. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and scared to take the leap, especially if you’re comfortable in your current job or situation. However, there is no better feeling than being in control of your own life and career that you can keep growing and adapting as you go!

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

I’m not really sure of the “myths” but I will say that being a founder doesn’t mean you know exactly what you’re doing at all times or that you’re the best at what you do…What you have is courage and drive. Some days I have no idea how to do certain tasks, but I’ll do whatever I can to figure it out.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I think you can be whatever you want and set your mind to. I think being a founder or employee are equally as important and there’s a role for everyone. We all have different strengths, goals, aspirations, and opportunities. The moment you start your own business you have to be willing to give up a lot of fun/free time and have a strong sense of motivation and passion for your business. It’s not an easy path but it’s extremely fulfilling.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Be organized and keep track of your expenses. Being organized will make everything so much easier. There is nothing more time consuming than looking for things due to being unorganized.
2. Hire a good accountant — you want to make sure your finances and taxes are done currently!
3. Always hope for the best but prepare for the worst — Sometimes things don’t go as planned, so I’m always prepared to take over at any moment if necessary.
4. There will always be more to do — Even when you finish a task or reach a goal, there will always be the next project or goal to reach, and you rarely have days off.
5. If you’re not good at something, hire help. I learned how to do every part of my business, but I noticed certain tasks I wasn’t particularly good at or simply didn’t enjoy so I hired help to take over those tasks so that I could spend my time more valuable on the things I am good at & enjoy.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

My business is all about providing affordable, effective at home feel good movement to strengthen both mind and body. I share my method in the hopes to empower people to move, breathe and feel their best.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

My biggest goal is to inspire people to feel good. We live in a society where we are constantly told how we should workout, eat, dress, look…My goal is to provide a safe space for everybody to feel their best by creating a workout that feels good and strengthens both your mind and body.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Sara Blakely! I love her story on how she created Spanx from a simple idea and turned it into a billion-dollar business, despite having no previous experience! An ambitious, self-made female entrepreneur.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this

Thank you!

@tashafranken || www.TFStudio.tv