Not Another Influencer Fitness Program

Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Sophie Torba and coming up on today's show, Mummy Blogger Sarah Kerns is facing criticism after unveiling her plans to release a fitness program. Steph glare Smith's shot pregnancy.

News the first.

Matt Sakowski's ex, Genevieve Ward, has broken her silence just weeks out from her former boyfriend's wedding to Tammy Henbroke Hate.

Can you tell us what's gone down?

Well? Jen has been silent thus far, but she has come out swinging in defense of podcast at Megan pisetto.

So As We Discussed.

A few weeks back, Megan released an explosive expose on Matt Sakowski on her podcast So Dramatic and in the episode, the journalists claim that Matt was a serial cheat who auditioned for Love Island UK while dating Jen, and she also accused Matt of cheating on Jen with.

Tam Now in the episode, Meghan said that she got the information from Jen's friends, but I have a feeling it was really from Jen herself.

Yeah, late last week, Megan revealed she was forced to remove the episodes about Matt. She wrote on Instagram, My Matt T. Sakowski episodes have been taken down by the powers that be. If you would like to listen to these episodes in the time being until I sought things out, you will have to listen to them on Patreon. Now this is where Jen comes in, because Jen commented underneath the post, trying to silence you like he did me, he knows I have the print screens, and she added

I would have thought that.

They would have more loyalty towards So Dramatic. You'd like to think, so, I mean So Dramatic rates higher in the charts than Anna and Matt's podcasts. I wonder if it's the Tammy Hembro effect, though.

I definitely think it is. Maybe they're trying to get Tammy on board to do a podcast with Nova. I mean Tammy recently appeared on Matt's podcasts. They're clearly trying to boost ratings. I think it's interesting to hear the sort of behind the scenes because I think people don't

So we made sure when we signed our agreement with AARN because essentially they help us get sponsorship deals. They don't actually own our.

Podcasts, they don't help us produce it, and we have spoken about other talent who have podcasts on the same network, but we've never been told that we're not allowed to.

Even Carl and Jackie.

Oh remember we had that big run in with them as well, and they're obviously an AARN podcast and the biggest radio show. It would be different if ARN owned our podcast, and I think with Nova they probably are some podcasts that they produce in house, so the legalities around that would be different. Well, hopefully we won't have to wait too long. I feel like Megan is going to bring out an expose very soon. Oh, she would be raring to go.

Good morning.

I've just been chatting with a brand that I work with all the time, and I just was like giving her a bit of pep talk, and I was like, you know what, I think everyone could use his pep talk.

Divisive mummy blogger Sarah Kerns is facing criticism after unveiling her plans to release a fitness program called Project Glow. The influencer, who has no qualifications in fitness or nutrition, is you ueeing her recent weight loss as a motivator to sell the program. Days out from the launch, Sarah's former business partner weighed in slamming influences for undermining experts

Yeah, that's why this thing is just so confusing. So she and her husband Brad Kerns are better known as dad Mum now. The couple's parenting content really started gaining traction after Sarah was admitted to hospital shortly after having her son Finn, and Brad had to step in and be the mum and look after their kids while she recovered.

Was it that type of content where the dads say that they're babysitting their own children.

I hate that sort of stuff.

It's like, you're not babysitting your own kids, you're actually just looking after you Ken.

It's all, oh, what a great dad, Thank god he's stepping in and raising his own children.

But it's also that the hopeless dad.

Yeah, I hate it.

Now.

They live on the central coast of New South Wales and to me they.

Come across as you're typical Ossie.

Battler's I mean, their content isn't that aspirational content, it's that relatable content, and they generally play into all of the old tropes about you know, the old ball and chain, and you know, they take the piss out of each other.

Can I ask you, do you think the term ball and chain is offensive? Because Deya was telling me the other day that he had this meeting and this girl was saying that she found the term missus offensive, but she thought old ball and chain was okay. I think old ball and chain can be sort of jokey and comical. I mean, I wouldn't really like to be referred to I would not be thrilled to be referred to the

I think that's the issue with so colloquials.

It's a bit bogan.

That's what I said to Dale.

I said, I'd be less offended by missus than the ball and chain.

Yeah, I just don't like either.

Now, Sarah doesn't have a particularly large following. She has around ninety thousand followers, so it's interesting that she is.

Releasing a big program.

Like this while she doesn't have a massive following. I feel like a lot of people are engaged with her content because she's for the wrong reason.

Yeah, there's a.

Lot of hate following, I think going on because she is a massive topic of discussion in our group. Now. Over the past few months, followers have noticed that Sarah has lost a lot of weight twenty five kilos to be exact.

She's been doing a lot of body checks and I feel like whenever someone loses a lot of weight, suddenly you see a lot of mirror selfies.

And she said that she has.

Been inundated with messages from followers asking her how she's lost the weight and what her secret is.

So this was really the catalyst to launch her own fitness plan.

I mean, there's not enough on the market, is there, Particularly run by Influence. This is a very unsaturated market. It's not really something that ties in with their brand normally, is it.

Yeah.

Well, she said that she really wanted to help her followers find their glow, which I have to say, in twenty twenty four is.

Code word for lose weight.

So I'm just so sick of these fitness programs that are marketed as, oh, we're just trying to help you find your glow. It's not about inside, it's not about weight loss, but you're also trying to lose twenty five kilos at the same time as Galowie. But to be fair, if someone was to put out a marketing campaign that was literally saying, oh, this is how you lose x amount of weight, it would be heavily criticized. I mean, it'd be kind of refreshing. At least you know what

Well, Jennifer Aniston recently brought one out that was exactly like that. It was like, you can look like me if you do X, Y and Z. And yes, it's very old school, but I think that as consumers in twenty twenty four, we kind of can see through the bullshit now and how do we get a copy of that guy?

Like Jennifer Adiston.

What I didn't like as well is that she kind of acted like she was a hero for helping everyone out. She's like, I just need to help my community. So that's why I'm releasing the guide. I mean, it's not because she wants to make a lot of money off it. It's because she wants.

To help people.

Do you think a lot of influencers who have recently lost a lot of weight are keen to actually push that they're doing it in a healthy way because there's so many rumors about ozenpic flying around. Yeah, well, it's funny you say that, because a lot of people who are like, oh, she's just onpic. So I do think that there is an element of wanting to say I actually worked hard for this. Yeah.

Now, the initial promotion around this.

Workout guide was really odd because there was very little detail about what was actually on offer, and this led to a lot of confusion. So she announced the program through a real which included phone vision of her working out in the gym, as well as a before and after selfie. Now over the vision, she wrote, at the start of twenty twenty three, I made myself a promise.

It was my time. It was hard.

I wanted to quit more than once, but I worked on my mind, body and my self love. I received hundreds of messages asking for help, so I created a six week journey to arm you with the tools and techniques you need to make lasting changes in your life too,

Sarah was quite vague when it came to who was actually involved in setting up this program, So she mentioned that there would be trusted practitioners on board, but she initially didn't specify what their qualifications were. It doesn't make sense to me why she wouldn't have included these so called experts in the early marketing collateral, because I would think that they would be a big sell. Yeah, it kind of seems like a second thought. And maybe she's

And what made it even more awkward was that the text was riddled with errors.

I just found it a really odd move because for someone like her who's built a following out of with her audience. Wouldn't it be better for her to actually jump on her stories and talk about the effect that this weight loss and also this mind shift has had on her.

I'm guessing it's because she wasn't that confident to talk off script about it, because health and fitness is a really touchy subject. I mean, we know that she's already coped some criticism for the way she's marketed it, so it shows that she's not ultra confident in the messaging that she's putting it out.

Well, it was really emphasized how quickly this was thrown together in one of the slides, because Sarah wrote, this won't be one of those drip feed releases. I've mentioned it was in the works a few times and kept you all waiting. So we all systems go. Subscribers will get access to join tonight. Then I'll open up to the masses asap. There are very limited numbers. It's interesting that she keeps harping on that there's only limited spots.

Could add it to their cart.

So it shows that she is expecting to have large numbers sign up.

It's not this.

Limited, very exclusive program that she's acting like it is. Yeah, because making it sound exclusive gives off the impression that she's going to be heavily involved in supporting the community. But if there's ten thousand people doing it, it also.

Makes it sound like there's a live element to it and maybe they're doing live workouts together.

Well, what is it?

Is it an ebol?

It's so confusing, So it's not an ebook. It is that they've got film, well pre recorded workouts that Sarah is doing with a pt And then there's a community element, I assume, which is a Facebook group where people can connect with the experts and talk to them.

It's a pretty expensive program. I mean it's a six week program for two hundred and forty nine dollars, and when you compare it to Kick or even Sarah's Day's plans, it's very price. It is expensive. I am a Kick member. I have been for probably five years now, and I think I pay like one hundred and twenty dollars for a year of scrip, so for only six weeks, that

I also think it's not very clear what you actually get for the two hundred and forty nine dollars because there were just a lot of vague references. There was no real key messaging, and it's hard because she just seemed focus on telling everyone to sign up before they really.

Knew what they were getting.

What I found jarring about the promotion of this plan was the clear before and after photos Sarah chose to you, so she had two mirror selfies side by side showing just how much weight.

She'd lost over the past year.

And this kind of marketing it's very twenty tens, particularly if you think about Kayla Estinus Vibes. Well, we were talking just a little bit earlier about how why can't people be more transparent about what they're trying to sell? And that obviously worked for Jennifer Aniston because her whole image has always been based on what she looks like. Obviously she's a brilliant actor as well, but everyone wanted

But I think what was extra jarring is the fact that she's using these before and after photos. But then she's going on to claim that the program isn't about weight loss, it's about finding yourself.

It's a contradictory marketing.

Yeah, so she wrote, this is not a quickly lose weight by depriving and punishing yourself.

This is a toolkit to help you live your.

Happiest lives, to find your glow by working on your mind, body, and nervous system. I just think by using it before and after photo, it totally goes against any of that. Yeah, as we were discussing, either go full bore and say this is what you get. This is all about looking really good about looking like Jonffer Andison, or you go the other route where it's all about mental health and

What before people have done it?

Yeah, like, despite the fact that the project hasn't actually launched it. So she wrote, I have just had all of these positive reviews flooding in and her heart could burst that she's so happy about it.

And some super slues have pointed out the some of the reviews appear to be written by her close friends. It's got Mitch Awvil, tiny trucks vise remember all of those weird reviews.

Now this is where Sarah Kerns's former business partner, Sarah Willis entered the chat and she weighed in on the program.

Now, it's quite interesting because.

The two Sarah's first cross paths when Sarah Willis was running a gym called w Tribe on the Central Coast and Sarah Kerns was a gym goer.

So that's how they formed a friendship.

Now, it is important to point out that Sarah Willis is a qualified personal trainer who is now also a psychologist. And it's pretty incredible because she was completing her degree while she was running her gym. Now, Sarah Willis ended up shutting down her gym as a result of COVID and also so she could focus on her study. And she moved to the Hunter Valley and took over Glen Eden, which is in a state where she hosts wellness to retreats. So she is very experienced in what she does. And

No Reikie no.

Now, a unique element of the program was that you could earn points for every workout you did and if you reached nutritional goals.

It sounded like a pretty cool program. It didn't last long, though, and neither parties divulged what went wrong.

They both just said things didn't work out and that they didn't align.

So actually launched but just fizzled out.

Yeah, so the program ran, but they just didn't continue it.

To me, it seems like the program didn't really get enough people signing up to it, so maybe Sarah Kerns doesn't have that star power pulling people in. Now.

Sarah Willis has a pretty large following on her own, so she goes by the handle the Traveling Psychologist and she has a community of forty three thousand people on Instagram.

I said, maybe the fitness program shut down because there weren't enough people wanting to be a part of it, but it sounds like maybe there was a friendship breakdown to Yeah.

Well, the thing is, the Kerns are known for sending out legal letters, so I think that Sarah Willis in particular wanted to cover herself.

We've popped one before. Well, yeah we have. That might come as a surprise to people because I don't think we actually spoke. Oh do we speak about it? I can't remember about it, but yeah.

So she covered herself by saying that she was speaking about influencer run projects generally, and so she said that she would be addressing the issue of influencers in general releasing programs or products in areas they're not qualified in. Now, she touched on the impact that these types of fitness programs can have on vulnerable consumers and how they undermine experts who have spent years training in those fields. Let's listen to some of what she said.

I guess one thing that's really important to note is just because you do something or experience something in your life does not make you an expert to teach others about that process in their life. You can, of course be the expert on your own weight loss journey or your own birth journey or your own parenting journey. But it takes a lot more than just experiencing that to have the skills and qualification and credibility to teach others.

I think she just articulated what everyone is thinking. And it's kind of awkward because we've had Sarah Kerns promoting this fitness program who doesn't seem comfortable or confident to even come on her stories and speak about the program, and then we have Sarah Willis perfectly articulate the issues

It wasn't long before followers began comparing Sarah's old workout guide with the new one. So a follower wrote on her post, I did the challenge with you and Sarah w twice. Is it the same kind of thing now? Sarah Kerns responded totally different. This is not a weight loss challenge. This is the result of the lessons and learnings I needed to go through to finally hit my

And mindfulness, to pathology testing. It's a huge amount of content and support. Should I love this bullshit? It's like, I really just want to help my followers. If you want to help them, then why don't you just share about it for free? Why is it everything like I need money? But also, as Sarah W said, what works for one person isn't going to necessarily work for another person.

It then got to be odd, so she included Sarah Kent, who is a raiki master and intuitive healer, and then Nicki Reeves, whose claim to fame is a DIY queen.

So but DIY, how does that relate to the fitness industry. I have no idea.

I do not know why you would lead with this, because she's obviously inferring that she's going to introduce more experts along the way, like this.

Is how you make your own tread. She's trying to.

Prove a point, and she does have genuine experts on board. Why didn't she lead with a nutritionist or a psychologist, particularly when she's talking about, you know, this program isn't just about losing weight, it's about working yourself and glowing from the inside.

It seems like she's doing a massive ring around trying to find some professionals, Especially if you're leading with the DIY queen. I'm surprised she doesn't have a professional spray tanner for the.

Glow that she's promising everyone.

I mean, I don't want to share on people's job titles, but it does sound like she's made half of these job titles up because she also recently touched on the fact that she has.

A menstrual coach involved in the program.

I mean, shouldn't it be a GP or a gynecologist? Like, I mean, I'm sorry, are these people actually qualified? My craving star I precancy was basically all of my comfort foods as a kid, so like just cubs and I was fine with it.

I went with the flow.

Now, this wasn't the news I was expecting from Steph klas Smith, particularly off the back of her controversial podcast topic last week.

She has revealed that she's.

Pregnant with her second child. And I want to know who is organizing her podcast episodes at Listener because last week she spoke very explicitly about having a vibrator get stuck up her backside, and then this week on her podcast she announced that she's pregnant. Was it the conception story? Is that maybe what we were leading in with?

In all seriousness though, it was really lovely news, and I really like the way that they announced her on Instagram.

So they had this photo shoot I assure was a professional photographer.

It would have to be because it was this black and white shot of Steph was in bikinis and she had her belly out and you could see all of Harvey's hand, Josh's hand, and also Ari her dog's hand touching her pregnant belly.

It really shocked me, though, because only just last week she posted her selfie in bikinis and she definitely did not look pregnant. I don't know if it's that optical illusion where she's standing front on I think so.

It really didn't surprise me that she had a whole episode dedicated to discussing her pregnancy and that she held off from talking about a lot of those details on her Instagram story.

Listener must have a huge deal with them.

Because they are holding off to tell all of those personal details on that podcast, they must be getting paid a lot. So they're details that I would actually want to tune in and hear, as opposed to some of the other click baby stuff they've been talking. Because I really enjoyed the episode, and I think it's because Steph actually felt comfortable talking about.

Those details because it wasn't about their sex lives, which.

Didn't feel forced like they'd been told you have to come up with some scandalous story.

Yeah. I mean they did have that rather awkward segment before the big news talking about plucking each other's chin heads, which again felt forced, like Oh, let's try and be as relatable as possible.

As you said.

Though, this was a good episode in terms of the segment about the pregnancy because Steph did drop some interesting titbits about it. So she said that they're not going to find out the gender of the baby. She said that Harvey wants a sister, but he thinks it's going to be a boy. The reasoning behind it was interesting because she said that she wants Harvey to, i mean, not be the focus of the pregnancy, but to feel included.

Or whether they even want another child.

Yeah, and she spoke about how Josh was actually on the fence about wanting a second child, particularly because last year they were dealing with a lot of behavioral issues with Harvey, so it was really Steph that was pushing to have this second child. It is interesting because Josh plays the part of the stay at home dad, and.

So he'd have to be on board.

Well, they've only recently just put Harvey in daycare, so Josh has some time to return to work and do other activities, so it's going to be a big change for him.

Yeah, well, Josh would.

Definitely need to be on board with this decision, considering that he is the primary care while Steph is out work.

Now.

Steph did speak about the first trimester, and she said it's quite different because when she was pregnant with Harvey, they were in lockdown, so she could sleep a lot during the day and it didn't really affect her work. But now she's actually at work, so she's been feeling a lot more tired. And she spoke about how she's

Out of the car.

And then she's like, oh, I was in a new G string at the time, so I didn't want to get out. But there was no context to why she was just wearing a G strings. Imagine driving by and seeing Steph Claire Smith vomiting on the side of the road in a GC reckon.

That even happened.

I feel like the listener producers were like, make the pregnancy announcement sexy, like include something about a G string we can cut up in there. You meant to be more nauseous if you're having a girl. Oh, I think all of that's bullshit. I was interested, though, to hear what her food cravings were, and she admitted that the only thing she's been feeling like at the moment is chicken two minute noodles.

Oh. I had a craving for those when I was pregnant too. I totally relate to that. I mean, if we're going to be guessing the gender, I think more salty snacks are mean. Boy. I know we touched upon it at the start, but I just find the timing

A lot of discussion around that.

Did you notice yesterday though, that she was sharing the face of her brother's child, her nephew. Yeah.

I mean, I wonder if her stance is she's happy to share babies faces because babies changed so much.

I just it's all very confusing.

I was surprised to hear that she included audio of Harvey finding out the news.

It was a very cute reaction.

But I'm just getting confused about what she feels comfortable and what she doesn't feel comfortable. Yeah, it is rather confusing, and again it's obviously her decision what she shares, and it makes sense to me to put this marker of Okay, well, I've already shared his face before, so going forward, I'm not going to continue to share it because he's going to grow. But then I was listening to an episode

Oh really, I don't know that.

I just yeah, I would have thought you might change that, considering it's a promotional material.

Look, I think it's going to go all out the window. I think that.

Steph is a real overshareer, and I think that's what makes her a good influence.

So I love hearing about her life.

I enjoy hearing about her children, and I'm fascinated to see how this pregnancy goes.

Well.

I think that's all we have time for today. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode. If you have enjoyed it, it would absolutely make my day if you could please leave us a review.

Thank you so much. Of those who already have.

I also really enjoy it when people share where they're listening to the podcast from So if anyone's doing any Christmas activities, I know a lot of Christmas trees are going up at the moment, please share that with us. This episode was recorded on the traditional of the Ghana people of the Adelaide planes. We pay respect to elders past and present

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