You Talked. Someone Listened.

That 'someone' is the husband and wife team of Jeffrey Kippel and Mindy Blackstien who are also the visionaries and founders of the FAME World Tour, World Natural Sports Organization (WNSO) and Body Proud Community.

For over a decade their organizations have been leading and innovating the health, fitness, and competitive physique industry. With a brand new decade upon us,  they are ready to do it again! This time by way of an evolutionary paradigm shift via standardization through a comprehensive, cutting-edge point and reward system for all who are Body Proud.   The world of health and fitness as you know it is about to change...Forever!

How did this come about?

After the World Natural Sports Organization’s (WNSO) 10th Year Anniversary celebration in 2007, Jeffrey and Mindy decided it was time to step back and reevaluate all aspects of the industry that they love so much.  They used the FAME World Tour events, as well as those from other top-tier organizations, as their guide. 

[The timing was perfect because new promoters (such as Sean Everingham, one of FAME's first junior competitors and its youngest ever promoter; James Erndt, also a FAME
competitor who worked with FAME's corporate Graphics-Marketing Team;
and Daryl Gazey, FAME's first-ever Director of Operations who learned
and grew with the organization), emerged, who together with FAME even during its downtime, kept the industry growing]. 

 

Thus Jeff and Mindy began their research, which lasted 3 years. They researched the entire industry, not just FAME, and spoke in depth with industry representatives: competitors to spectators; business consultants to sponsors; model/talent representatives to leading photographers;  magazine publishers to television broadcasters; and more.

What they uncovered was eye-opening AND totally changeable: 

JUDGING:  Athletes compete in shows and are not entirely clear on what the judges are looking for.  They also feel that the judging is sometimes not consistent year to year; show to show; and between organizations. Overall, they would like to feel more confident with the judging - award system, and not feel as though they have to target their physique to emulate 'last year's winner' or 'that organization's champion'.

TITLES:  "Fitness model", "Fitness Athlete", "Natural Bodybuilder" and "Figure Athlete" seem to indicate anyone who has ever competed in a competition, regardless of placing or stage readiness.   This understandably dilutes the significance of such a title and somewhat takes away from those who are Elite and Pro athletes.Plus with so many category options which seemingly differ amongst organizations, either by name or judging requirements, competitors don't even know what to call themselves!

AWARDS:  With such diverse category options and sub-options (height, age, weight, level etc), sometimes a category only features one competitor, who automatically is given the win, whether or not they are even properly representative.  In instances when there are a full complement of competitors and it comes down to announcing second and first place, both are kind of overshadowed by each other.  Meaning, if 2nd place is given their recognition, 1st place loses their 'moment' and vice versa.  See the Prize Announcement Here.

"COMPETITION READY":  Competitors sometimes 'freak themselves out" thinking that they may not be ready on time.  For that reason they opt to not register in advance (even though it's cheaper to register early and the commitment of signing up actually serves as incentive to stick to the plan), often losing focus which causes them to not be "Competition Ready" once the show rolls around.  This is very disheartening to many since they can no longer participate and it may be a year away until the show returns. 

"EYE ON THE PRIZE":  For those whose main goal is to "compete to win", the overall competition experience is not as enjoyable... especially if they don't win.   In fact, many competitors whose focus does not include the overall experience and/or personal challenge aspect often miss huge perks of competing: new friendships; strong bonds; mutual support; respect for others; and personal growth and development.

MY STORY:  Competitions always focus on the 'after' and not the 'before' and/or the whole transformation process.  The fact that "everyone has a story" is missed and, thus, so is the opportunity to attract media attention and/or inspire more people who could relate and become inspired by those competitors to also become body proud.

RUMORS?:  Whether or not they are valid, the fact that rumors are out there means that they must be dealt with.   For years now people have speculated, for whatever their reason, that judging is sometimes biased, based on favoritism, sponsorship contracts, inside deals and/or organization politics.  Plus certain organizations purposefully don't talk so well about other organizations which actually impacts the industry as a whole and takes away from the overall experience for the competitors.

DRUGS:  There are many shows which promote themselves to be for the Natural Athlete, yet don't do any form of drug testing or screening.  In fact, someone who tested positive at one show may compete, with out question, at another show - and may even win. 

TRAINERS: Trainers who train competitors for competition go way beyond the usual trainer-client relationship.  Trainers are there for their competitive clients at all times; some even travel with them to shows, prepare their meals, and are there as their biggest cheerleader and source of support... Yet, they often go unnoticed!

FEES:  Competitors would love to see competition entry fees lowered.  Who wouldn't?! :-)

 ... and those are just a few!

So What Did They Do?

They brainstormed, brainstormed and brainstormed...until everything just 'clicked'.

By far the boldest move that they made came right at the beginning when they first reexamined what "FAME" meant for them.  They looked inside their hearts and with a move many would call, 'not-so-business-savvy" and despite obvious monetary and industry-gossip ramifications, they restructured their entire infrastructure, beginning with the people behind the scenes as well as the sponsors on the forefront.   They put new policies in place which meant that this organization was to be led from the heart - and thus the Body Proud Community was born!.  They said "no thank you" to certain sponsors who did share their same passion in promoting the natural health and fitness scene.  And, at the same time, they fostered new relationships with the right businesses, publications, radio shows, government officials, TV producers, charitable organizations etc who understand, appreciate and are in alignment with Body Proud's mandate and message. 

Partnerships were created, tight business bonds and joint ventures were formed which stretch acrosss North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, and Australia.

Now, 3 years and much brainstorming, white board sessions, long distance telephone & skype calls, the "new FAME" is ready to be unveiled.  With this new FAME, comes an entirely new structure; a new REWARD system to encourage and motivate people to reach their personal goals; new prizes including Porsche Boxsters and $100 000 Contracts; new partners who have spiritual, heart centred backgrounds and business savvy, such as Julie Woods, a real-life shaman, who is also a Harvard graduate and actually trained trainers at the Pentagon; and Sylvia Brookman-Polite who is a "who's who" business woman in the business, finance, entertainment and fashion industries AND who is also the founder of Rescue Runaways, Inc.,a cutting-edge organization that works directly with the Federal government to get young people off of the streets and foster their personal growth so that they can live their best life. 

So.. What is the "new FAME"?  What 'Clicked'? 

NEW JUDGING & AWARDS: