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Jun 26

Marple Newtown All-Delco Julie Sebastian turns passion for softball and fitness into thriving business – The Delaware County Daily Times

Fitness Comments Off on Marple Newtown All-Delco Julie Sebastian turns passion for softball and fitness into thriving business – The Delaware County Daily Times

Julie Sebastian had no idea what to do with herself upon graduating from Elizabethtown College in 2012.

Finding a career doing something she enjoyed was no simple task. Her career as a four-year college pitcher was complete. She would soon find her first real job and stuck with it for a year, but she wasn't feeling it. She was bored and unhappy.

Sebastian had bigger goals for herself, which she couldn't attain while sitting in an office chair working the standard 9-to-5 shift five days a week.

The Marple Newtown alumna and All-Delco pitcher knew she needed to make a change. She missed softball ... and wanted to get back in the game.

"I was lost and felt like I was walking around with my head cut off," Sebastian said. "I wanted to do more, so I started giving pitching lessons on the side for fun. A couple months later it grew to a couple more girls, and then a couple more girls, and then before I knew it there were a lot of girls I was giving lessons to. I thought then that I could turn this into something real instead of just a hobby."

For the last six years, Julie Sebastian Softball and Fitness Instructions, LLC, has been a home for young softball players aiming to become better players. Sebastian has turned her hobby into a thriving small business in Delaware County. Her facility, located in the Newtown Square Shopping Center, will re-open on a full-time basis when Delco moves to the green phase of Pennsylvania's re-opening plan Friday.

Sebastian, who is American Counsel of Exercise certified and a coach at CrossFit Delaware Valley in Broomall, implores her students to take fitness seriously. That's why she feels it's important to incorporate strength and conditioning to her pitching and hitting lessons. Her resume as a fitness trainer obviously makes her uniquely qualified to help young girls get into the habit of exercising on a daily basis.

"Some girls just want the pitching, but I definitely make sure that during our lessons I am telling them how important it is to make sure they're exercising, building strength, and improving their conditioning. And also eating healthy, that's super important," Sebastian said. "I try to get an idea of how the kids are doing, how their fitness is coming along during the week and if they're fueling their body, if they're drinking enough. It definitely plays a big part."

Sebastian has offered virtual lessons during the pandemic. Her client base includes roughly 50 young players searching for ways to improve their skills, on and off the field. Sebastian brings the whole package. One of Sebastian's pupils is Cardinal O'Hara All-Delco Maggie Loomis, who will pitch at Alvernia next spring.

"Since I do have a physical space I, unfortunately, had to shut down my facility like all the other small businesses. It was very nerve-wracking in the beginning, but luckily we have FaceTime and Zoom," Sebastian said. "I threw out the option that I was going to start offering virtual pitching lessons during the hiatus. I would say about half of my clients took me up on it, and over the three-month period, I had half of my girls stay with me for virtual pitching lessons. It was amazing to be able to keep in touch with them ... and it was so nice to see them virtually and be able to work with them. "I do fitness instruction, but not as much as the pitching lessons."

During the COVID-19 shutdown, word spread around that Sebastian is pretty good at what she does for a living. Coaches for the Delco Chaos tournament team reached out to her about teaching lessons to their players, who are dedicated full-time to the sport and aspire to play at a high level in college.

"The kids did the session, they liked it and they asked to do it twice a week. I put a post up on Facebook and it spread like crazy. Within the next two weeks I had about 10 different teams reaching out to me, asking for the same thing. By the end of the three-month period, I was working with 10 teams during the week doing the Zoom sessions, which were amazing," Sebastian said. "It was so much fun to be able to switch gears and help them stay in shape during the time off and I also think it was great for them to bond with their teammates during the down time."

Sebastian's self-made attitude has resulted in a few accolades. In March, she earned the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce SCORE Small Business of the Year award. SCORE Chester and Delaware Counties, which provides free professional advice for business entrepreneurs such as Sebastian, presented her with a similar award in 2019.

Not too bad for a 29-year-old who admitted to feeling "lost" not too long ago.

"My grandfather (John) was a SCORE volunteer. When I was really little I remember going with him to his office and sitting there in the background while he met with aspiring entrepreneurs to help them start their business," she said. "He was the inspiration. He's not with me anymore, but every time I got an award from SCORE, I thought he would be so proud of me. Just making that choice to go out on my own and try to build this thing from nothing, the fact that I have so many people in my corner is the best feeling ever. That's the reason why I've been successful. It's all the people that have helped me along the way, from coaches to all the parents who have trusted me to work with their girls, the people from SCORE, and my friends and family who have always believed me. It's a great feeling."

Sebastian is taking necessary precautions to ensure her students are safe while working out at her facility amid the coronavirus pandemic. Her instruction lessons are intimate, with no more than five people in the space at a given time.

"Luckily my space is big enough that I'm able to have a safe distance between the catchers and pitchers," she said. "I have eight-foot plastic barriers to separate the catcher and the pitcher, along with the divider nets that I have, so that creates even more separation. I have no-touch Purell dispensers and soap dispensers. We are always cleaning the softballs. It's super controlled. Keeping things a little more contained will prevent some things from happening. It's a safe place to come work out and play softball."

You can find Sebastian's business on Facebook and at juliesebastianpitching.com.

Read more here:
Marple Newtown All-Delco Julie Sebastian turns passion for softball and fitness into thriving business - The Delaware County Daily Times

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