Get to know, Husband-Wife Students - Garth & Jenny Andrews

It is with great pleasure that I present to you a new feature of Zumba Contra Costa.com, Student of the Month. In creating this community feature, my goal is to get people to learn more about one another, since there’s not much time to chat during a Zumba class. Lasting friendships are often made in Zumba class because it’s so much fun, it’s like a party!

I am pleased to introduce to you Garth & Jenny Andrews, my first husband-wife Zumba students. As you can see below, Garth & Jenny like to do things together and with their hectic lifestyle, which includes four daughters and all of their activities, it is difficult to find time to do things together as a couple. Zumba in Walnut Creek fit the bill for Garth & Jenny. They can be together and get a great, fun workout.

Tell me a little bit about yourselves, such as how long married, how many children, career, hobbies, or other interests.
We have been married for twenty years and have four daughters, ages 16, 15, 11 and 10. Garth is a managing partner of an Internet marketing company, One Compass. I am a retired flight attendant, and now stay home full time to take care of my family (someone’s gotta drive all those kids around). We love doing things as a family. Tae Kwon Do is another physical activity that the family enjoys and plan to introduce Zumba to the kids as well.

What attracted you two to Zumba class?
Garth: It looked like something that we could both enjoy as it combined a high energy workout with something we both love to do, which is dance.

What is your favorite thing about taking Zumba?
It’s exercise that is actually fun and something we both enjoy, which means… we’ll stick with it!

How did you hear about Zumba, and specifically how did you hear about Janice’s class at Tice Valley Gym, Walnut Creek?
Jenny: In searching for a Zumba class, there were a couple of things that were required; I wanted to make sure the instructor was a qualified licensed instructor in Zumba Fitness, and the class time had to be convenient for both of us. We found Janice on the actual Zumba website.

Have you done Latin or any other dancing in the past?
Jenny: I have absolutely no Latin or any other dance background. Garth has a background in dance dating back to his college days. We both enjoy dancing leisurely and love the rhythmic Latin dance steps in Zumba.

What is your favorite Zumba step, Salsa, Cumbia, Meringue, Reggaeton (Latin hip hop), Belly Dance, or Bollywood?
Garth: My favorite Zumba step is Salsa because I feel it epitomizes the heart of the Latin beat.   Jenny: Too hard to chose, I like them all.

How do you feel after taking a Zumba class?
Happy because it’s a fun experience and it’s a good workout.

Garth, for men with no dance background and who are intimidated by going to a group exercise class such as Zumba, what advice or encouragement do you have?
Most people like to dance, but I think that men are usually more self-conscious.  The atmosphere and energy in the Zumba class is pretty infectious and you are constantly moving without really having time to think about what you are doing or how you look doing it, you just have fun.

Since the writing of this interview, Jenny enrolled one of her teenage daughters in Zumba as well.

Zumba® Fitness at Tice Valley Gym’s beautiful exercise studio meets every Tuesday night at 7:30 pm.  If you would like more information about this or any Zumba Contra Costa class, simply email me at: Janice@ZumbaContraCosta.com