By Mandy Holmes / Photos by James Patrick Harper Babin thrives on challenging herself with new opportunities 44 <strong>Scottsdale</strong><strong>Health</strong> 08/19
Life is too short to sit still. That’s the philosophy for Harper Babin, a fitness trainer and boxing program developer at BODI in <strong>Scottsdale</strong>. For Babin, she considers one role at one place of employment sitting still. In addition to teaching classes five days a week at BODI, she is also a host, reporter, emcee, producer for ESPN’s X Games, and the director of ISV Solutions for MiCamp Solutions, where she is involved in merchant processing and software. The fierce, sweat-loving overachiever started her journey into teaching and developing fitness programs via dance shoes. Babin grew up in the dance studio practicing ballet and tap, performing in recitals and competitions and on the Phoenix Coyotes’ Pack Dance Team. “There is no better adrenaline rush to me than going live in front of a crowd,” Babin says. “I craved that feeling of being in front of people,” she explains While attending Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on a full scholarship, she was faced with a critical decision: pursue dancing professionally or dive into broadcasting full time. She ultimately chose broadcasting, but it was not an easy choice. “I love dance – I will forever be grateful for the confidence it gave me to be on stage, to connect with people and the gratitude I hold for my body in the ways it can express, move and how truly strong it is,” she explains. During Babin’s senior year of college, she and a handful of other journalism students were covering MLB spring training. “I was hooked,” she says. “Not only did I want to cover sports, I wanted to work in baseball. I always had a love for baseball.” So, she sent her reel and resume to every MLB team that spring and she eventually accepted a position with the Colorado Rockies as an in-game host. After graduating college, Babin moved to Colorado and over the course of three seasons she worked in a variety of roles for the Rockies, the Colorado Avalanche (NHL), and the Colorado Rapids (soccer). And she did it while working full-time as the marketing manager of an Orangetheory Fitness studio. After Colorado, Babin took a role with a new show called TMZ Sports based out of LA. She quickly realized she didn’t enjoy her 12-hour days stuck at a news desk, and decided to leave. “Someone once told me to take a look at my day-to-day life and no matter what the job, you have to be happy with your life. And I wasn’t,” she explains. After returning to Arizona, Babin took a spin class at The Madison that led to an opportunity with Lululemon as part of their social media team. She continued looking for media jobs, and when an old colleague called and asked if she could be in Colorado the following week to work the Winter X Games for ESPN, Babin did what she always does: she said yes. Then, while Babin was working as a personal trainer, Nikki Metzger, owner of BODI, a <strong>Scottsdale</strong> fitness studio, reached out to talk to her about setting up a boxing program. Babin stepped in and developed the program from her own training as a student and through the Box N Burn Academy. Now, she teaches her boxing program and sweat and strength classes five days a week at BODI. “I like to describe my classes as HIIT boxing classes, incorporating core/cardio movements off the bags, along with on them,” she says. Babin is currently getting ready to host her 10th X Games, and is the face of her development team at MiCamp Solutions, an elite payment technology company. Looking to the future, she hopes to set down roots and get move involved with the community. “I am so in love with living in Arizona and finally feeling like this is my forever home. I’d like to find more ways to connect right here in my backyard,” she says. 08/19 <strong>Scottsdale</strong><strong>Health</strong> 45
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