While it may be true that going from zero to one child is a massive responsibility, so is running your own business while feeding and schooling four. “What is great about my business is that it’s something I love," Lorenz says. “I’m super passionate about it and all of the people that work for me, and my business partner [Ariana Chernin] has kids, too. We all understand [that our kids are always around us]. There’s a lot of muting on calls—like ‘hang on one second’—and then we’ll go right back to it.” Lorenz and Chernin make balancing easier for the parents who wish to take classes at The Barre Code. The fitness franchise has over 60 national studios, many of which offer childcare in the building. This allows parents to workout while their kids cared for by babysitters in another room. “It’s just been a fantastic addition for our clientele, obviously,” Lorenz says. “It’s so hard to give yourself the time to work out. Moms—we usually put ourselves last. This gives us 50 minutes, and at the same time, your child has fun.” The founders are also focused on building a parenting network through their classes. “[Offering childcare] really elevates the experience and keeps that community vibe going,” Lorenz adds. “Some of our clients become best friends with other mothers, and their kids grow up together.” That said, you don’t have to be a parent to reap the benefits of The Barre Code, a program that offers barre, boot camp, and “Brawl” (a cardio kickboxing and strength-building class). Since the pandemic started, the online on-demand business has grown tremendously. The Barre Code virtual classes also feature “mommy and me workouts,” and kids’ classes ranging from four minutes to 20 minutes in length. The mission of the company is to be inclusive and motivating to “everybody and every BODY”—inspired by Lorenz’s own self-image journey. “I struggled with an eating disorder in college,” she shares. “I dove into fitness as a means to keep my mind and body healthy. [But] at most boutique studios, it was always about what women needed to lose—lose weight, lose inches, lose a size. I was on my road to recovery, and I had people telling me that I needed to lose more. All I wanted to do was find what I could gain—gain love and gain appreciation for who I was.” On the homefront, Lorenz is busy raising her clan. She charmingly describes her children as two camps: the “bigs (8-year-old, Verona, and 6-year-old, Lincoln) and the “littles” (2-year-old, Lyric, and baby Declan who turns 1 in July). Lorenz will be 43 in August and isn’t shy about revealing her age. She didn’t start having kids until age 36, and is open about a miscarriage she had after her first two children were born. “I had Lyric at 40 and Declan a month before I turned 42,” Lorenz says. “I hope to inspire women and let them know that they too can have children—healthy children—at an older age. We really need to stop putting fear into woman’s minds before the age of 35.” Follow along to learn what it’s like to be Lorenz for a day—how tackles everything from breastfeeding to running the “bigs” virtual school and even squeezing in time to meditate. Wednesday 7 a.m. I’ve been up since 6 a.m. I start my day with meditation—I’m really into meditation. Today, I meditate for 30 minutes and then head to my home studio for a HIIT workout from our Boot Camp class. From 6 a.m. to 7:15 a.m., it’s mom time. 7:15 a.m. My youngest wakes up, and I nurse him. By 7:30 a.m., my two-year-old is awake. I have the two little ones, and I’m doing the diaper changes and getting them dressed for the day. We start breakfast. All three of us have scrambled eggs. 8 a.m. The two bigs wake up and usually come down in their pajamas and then they have breakfast. 9 a.m. The older kids start school and the nanny arrives for the little ones. 9:15 a.m. My freedom starts again when the kids are settled. I work for about an hour, and then I go back to mom duty. 10:30 a.m. I nurse my youngest and put him down for his nap. 11:00 a.m. I’m back in my office. Every once in a while, I get visits from all the children. Sometimes it’s hard because I want to be really respectful. I want them to know that it’s an open-door policy where they can come in to show me something exciting since they are home. That’s the beauty of me being a mom. But also, I set boundaries. I’m trying to be really flexible because I love being a mom and I want to show them that work, for me, is life. I do this because I enjoy it. My heart’s in it, and it makes the world a better place. And they can be a part of that, too. 2:30 p.m. I nurse the baby and put him down for his second nap of the day. I can get a couple more hours of work in now. 5 p.m. The nanny leaves, and I start dinner prep. We make tacos all the time. I’m trying to be vegetarian—my business partner is—and I really kind of gravitate towards vegetarian meals. My daughter Is not really into meat, so we’ll make tofu. But my son’s really like meat, so I’ll also make ground turkey. Then we have a lineup of cheese, olives, tomatoes. Everybody likes different vegetables. But avocado/guacamole is a huge hit in this house! We have Mexican like twice a week! From 5 p.m. until the kids go to bed, I try not to work at all. My business partner and I are best friends—we’re really like soulmates and sisters and we’ve set really hard boundaries on family time. So unless there’s an emergency, she knows I’m not going to be available. People know if they need to get to me that they can text me. But I really try to stay away from work from 5 p.m. until bedtime. 6:30 p.m. I take guitar lessons with my two bigs on Wednesday nights—it’s so fun. It’s like learning a new trade. It really makes you stay young, I’m going to start taking singing lessons with my oldest son. He wants to be the next Bieber. It’s so fun, exploring all these new things with the kids. While I’m taking the class, my mother-in-law and my father-in-law visit, so that my husband has help with the little kids while I’m in class. We really orchestrate help with family and the nanny, and I have a couple of babysitters, too. So it’s a full house here. 7 p.m. We start our bedtime routines. It starts with the little guy first. So the first one up, first one down. I give him a bath, do the feeding. Then it moves to the second one, the two-year-old—bath and reading. Then I’m off to motivate the big kids to take their own showers and get ready for bed. Once they’re in bed, we tidy up. Usually, my husband and I do that together. At 9:00 p.m., I come back to my computer to see if there are any emails or anything that needs to be responded to that day, and I do the work I need to do. At 10:15 p.m., I usually do a meditation for sleep. Thursday 7 a.m. I’ve been awake for an hour. I want to get a longer workout in today, so I meditate for 10 minutes and do a 50-minute barre class from our on-demand offerings. Then I get the two littles ready for the day. 8:15 a.m. The oldest are sleeping in. I’m pushing them to eat, get dressed, brush their teeth, and get ready for school. Luckily, there is no commute, since we are still doing virtual learning. 10 a.m. I’m doing a phone interview when my 8-year-old barges in to show me something on her screen during virtual school. I mute the phone and let the nanny know I need 30 minutes without interruptions. 2:30 p.m. I nurse my youngest and put him down for his afternoon nap. He just started sleeping through the night. This is huge for me, so I feel amazing. I think because it’s my fourth and potentially my last, I was not pushing him or sleep training. I was just letting him do his thing and savoring every moment. But now, he’s sleeping through the night, and I feel like a million bucks! Ten million bucks, actually! 5 p.m. I start dinner prep. My husband has also been working from home. He’s a lawyer and he has an office downstairs. So we usually all come together around 5 p.m. for some fun while we dinner prep, and then I alternate who I play with. Having four kids, you know, you really want to give them each attention. So, I usually do the bigs together and the littles together. I’m loving it because right now my bigs are into outdoor activities, so we go biking or we go rollerblading. While I’m doing that, my husband’s with the littles and then we switch, which is great, The kids get time with all of us. And then we try to do dinner together as a family. 6:30 p.m. It’s pasta night! Everybody loves noodles and it’s a great way for me to sneak vegetables in, as well. I’ll throw some mushrooms or broccoli or asparagus in the mix. So I’m always trying to think of a way to get the vegetables in, the protein in, and the fun part, which is the noodles! 7 p.m. I get all four kids bathed and in bed, and quickly check on any lingering work emails. I haven’t watched a TV show once in 2021. I would attempt it and 10 minutes in, but I would just fall asleep. Now, I actually don’t even put the TV on. Meditation makes me happier. Getting things done and spending time with the kids gives more to me than a movie ever could.
