Jazzercise News Releases

Sweat and Family Tiers Lead Fitness Icon Into 35th Year
On the 35th Anniversary, Two Generations Reflect on the Making of the Jazzercise Name

CARLSBAD, Calif. (Dec. 9, 2004) — When Judi Sheppard Missett taught her first “just for fun” dance class in 1969, she had no idea it would grow into an international fitness dynasty that she would be leading with the help of her daughter. Personal fitness was nearly unheard of at the time, not to mention women serving as CEOs and business owners.

But just three decades later, CEO Missett and daughter, executive vice president Shanna Missett Nelson, are celebrating Jazzercise’s 35th anniversary with the company’s best year ever.  The family’s multi-million dollar fitness business isposting record revenues for the third consecutive year and maintaining Jazzercise’s worldwide leadership position.  

According to Missett, who still teaches classes and runs the business every day, the milestone represents two of her greatest accomplishments: a program that has helped millions of people and a successful business relationship with her daughter.

“My own mother was a great inspiration and helped me get to where I am today.  She was passionate about helping me to dance and sacrificed so much for me to take lessons,” Missett says.  “As Jazzercise has grown, I’ve been able to channel that same passion and creative energy into helping people take charge of their well-being. No one understands that legacy better than my daughter, Shanna.  She shares my vision, and having her as a business partner and successor is invaluable to me.”

Passing on the Legacy

That legacy of passion and integrity has been key to the long-term success of the business, according to Missett.  From the first class to today, she says she has relied on both to remain true to the founding principle:  fitness should be fun and it should help empower everyone to lead healthier lives. 

For Nelson, who grew up with Jazzercise, the vision was shared from the beginning.  But she admits she didn’t really grasp the enormity of what her mother had created until she was a junior in college in the late 1980s.  Though she had joined the Junior Jazzercise performance group when she was 7, and had spent her teen years witnessing her mother’s first workout album rise to gold certification status, it took moving away to college for Shanna to realize just how popular Jazzercise was outside of Southern California. 

 “I started going to Jazzercise classes in Tucson and saw the district manager and other participants get really excited about the program,” Nelson says.  “At that time, I became a certified instructor without my mom even knowing, but I never thought about going further with the company.  It wasn’t until my mom suggested I come home to teach at the Corporate Jazzercise Center that I really knew this was what I wanted to do.”

Nelson later worked her way up to lead the Junior Jazzercise program, international operations, and eventually join her mom in guiding the company into its prime. 

“Everyday I watched my mom get excited about her job and I couldn’t help but share her passion,” Nelson says.  “Jazzercise has been more than her life’s work.  It’s something she truly believes in and has used to motivate thousands of people everyday.  When it came to identifying role models and a career path for my life, both were very clear to me.”

Lessons for Success

The two now run the multi-division company, developing new choreography, organizing large-scale annual events for thousands of Jazzercise faithfuls worldwide, promoting the Jazzertogs line of fitness apparel and fundraising for charities. Together in the past year, they’ve led the company to a record $70 million in systemwide sales, released a new line of fitness DVDs and joined their instructors and customers in raising more than $500,000 for a variety of causes. Both say they anticipate continuing that momentum because they’re able to draw on each other’s strengths. 

 “We bring different perspectives to the table,” Missett says.  “We talk through new ideas for the brand and the choreography, and that collaboration generates something even greater.  We complement and challenge each other to remain cutting-edge without going to extremes.”

For Nelson, her CEO mom has taught her that it’s often the simple things that help to sustain a growing business. 

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Jazzercise, created by Judi Sheppard Missett, is the world's leading dance-fitness program with more than 6,800 instructors teaching 30,000 classes weekly in the U.S. and around the globe. Since 1969, millions of people of all ages and fitness levels have reaped the benefits of this comprehensive program, designed to enhance cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility. For more information, go to jazzercise.com or call (800)FIT-IS-IT.