On the Job: Dancing to Her Own Beat

You know those people who always seem upbeat, energized and continuously on the move?

They’re up hours before anyone else and already have a workout in before most people pour their first cup of coffee. Even if you try to visualize them asleep – or at least stationary -- it’s impossible. You have no proof it ever happens.

Well, Sonja Larimore is one of them.

Larimore is a 28-year-old instructor, and she’s got energy to burn. She’s been teaching several classes each week in Santee for the past four years. Currently, her classes are held at the on North Magnolia.

All told, Larimore teaches nine to ten one-hour classes per week in Santee and San Diego. The first is at 5:40 a.m. Others are in the early evening. On Saturdays, she sleeps in. .

“I have a lot of energy,” says the former field hockey, player at Serra High. “I have a happy, bubbly personality on stage.”

And this, mind you, is Larimore’s “other” job.

By day, the grad is the director of operations and compliance for Reilly Financial Advisors in La Mesa, generally working from about 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then, she dons her workout clothes and .

When does she sleep?

“I don’t,” she says, laughing.

Actually, she admits, she does indeed finally crash, hitting the pillow about 10 each night so she can get up at 5 and be .

It’s just enough time to re-boot.

Just like mom

It’s really no surprise that Larimore became a Jazzercise instructor.

Her mother has been an instructor for years – she still teaches, sometimes subbing for Sonja -- and Sonja used to baby-sit the children of students in her mom’s classes.

After Sonja graduated from SDSU with a degree in history, she decided to follow in her mom’s dance steps.

Every Jazzercise instructor is a franchise owner, allowed to pay the franchise fee after going through movement screening, classes, physiology tests and getting instruction in the business aspects of Jazzercise.

Now, as a teacher, it’s not only her own business, but it’s also her “me time.”

She looks forward to the change of pace from her office job, where she oversees paperwork, money transactions and helps make certain the company stays in compliance with financial regulations.

She says the people at Reilly Financial have been very accommodating, allowing her to adjust her schedule to teach. Once she’s out the door, she’s in her element.

“I go into my Jazzercise mode,” she says. “Even if I’ve had a bad day, I’m happy to be here.”

is a series of workouts set to music, incorporating dance, stretching and some weight work, a combination of cardio and strength. Larimore says a good hour-long workout can burn 600 .

For Larimore, it’s the perfect workout, either leading a class or taking one.

“The music is great,” she says. “It gets me happy. Like I said, it’s me time. When I exercise, I like to be around people. I like to engage with people. I can’t just go run on a by myself. That’s not for me.

“I’d rather talk to people and have conversations, try to make them smile.”

Still going strong

To some, the term “Jazzercise” might evoke a flashback to the ’70s and ’80s, to the days of big hair and leg warmers when it became part of pop culture, with references in movies and TV shows. Even recently, on a 2010 episode of “Glee,” character Sue Sylvester takes some ribbing when a tape of her Jazzercising to Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” is found and posted on YouTube.

Larimore, in fact, often sees a look of surprise on people’s faces when she tells them she teaches Jazzercise, because they think it’s faded away.

Not so. In fact, it’s enjoying a renaissance. Today, there are close to 8,000 instructors teaching more than 32,000 weekly classes globally, and it ranks as the No. 1 fitness franchise in the U.S.

Founded in 1969 and still headquartered in Oceanside, Jazzercise is doing just fine, Larimore says. It now incorporates new music and aspects of kickboxing, Pilates and yoga.

“It’s back on the upswing,” she says.

Is law school ahead?

When Larimore was going to college, her goal was to become a professor or an attorney. She’s still considering the possibility of practicing law, but at this point – with her busy schedule – she’s content with what she’s doing, enjoying both her work at Reilly Financial and Jazzercise.

“I haven’t decided if it’s something I really want to do, and if I can afford to pay for it,” she says. “But it’s still in my head.”

She says one side benefit to teaching has been adding another level of connection with her mother. She can talk to her mom about the things she loves to do – reading, movies, TV crime shows and on the weekends – but usually their shared passion for Jazzercise pops up.

“Oh, she loves it,” Larimore says. “In almost every conversation we have, in person or on the phone, it seems to involve Jazzercise. It’s brought us closer.”

When Larimore first started teaching in Santee, her classes were held at . About 1½ years ago, she moved to the United Methodist site. She averages about 10 to 12 students per class in Santee, with as many as 20 students per class at her other location in Kearny Mesa. In Santee, all her students are women. She has a few men at her other location.

The one thing she tells everyone, male and female, is “it’s a lot easier than everyone thinks.”

And, for Larimore, it’s her spark.

She can’t ever imagine not teaching – or at least taking – Jazzercise classes.

“I’ll do it as much as I can until my body says please slow down,” she says. “Then I can just take classes.”