The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Providing inspiration
Milan resident motivates people
By Austen Smith, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: March 29, 2007
At the age of 19, Patti Rukkila knew exactly what she wanted to do.
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And it took only one class.
"I knew from almost the very beginning that I wanted to be an instructor," says the 42-year-old Milan resident.
Rukkila discovered her lifelong passion for Jazzercise, an international dance and exercise program that boasts more than 5,000 instructors worldwide.
After establishing classes in Belleville, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Romulus, Adrian and several corporate classes over more than 10 years, Rukkila says she still is having fun.
"I remember when I first tried it out. It was really a lot of fun. I had a blast," she said.
Jazzercise is an hourlong exercise class in which participants exercise to music. Participants receive fitness training through Jazzercise, but the concept is more than just an exercise program. Rukkila says she tries to empower her class participants who have little time in their day-to-day lives for healthy and positive thinking.
"Exercise is one positive thing, but people want more than to just come in and take a class, they want to know that somebody knows their name and that we know they're here and are important," Rukkila said.
"Empowering women is so important, especially if they're at work all day or if they're with their kids all day. They need that interaction."
Although Rukkila says her classes are mostly populated with women, she does have a few men. She says one of her male participants has been taking classes for five years and another has participated for more than three years.
"And they're both awesome," Rukkila said. "We have a new couple, a husband and a wife, who just started, also."
Van Buren Township resident Joyce Gant has been taking classes from Rukkila for six years and has worked as a class manager for five.
Gant, who considers Rukkila her "unofficial mentor," says the classes represent much more than physical activity.
"It's a great fitness routine, participants are getting their bodies in shape, but there's also a psychological aspect and a very important social aspect," she said. "It's a positive, uplifting environment. We don't say negative things while in class, it's a very life-affirming situation."
After class, many of the women mill about the gym talking with each other. Many of the participants have been attending the same classes for a number of years and have developed a sense of community, Rukkila says.
There are several class managers at every session to make participants feel more welcome.
"That's why the class managers are so important," she said. "(The class managers) make sure everybody is welcomed and they are smiled at, especially if they come in late or are new. They're there to greet them."
It's that personal touch that has attracted hundreds of area residents to the Jazzercise program. Rukkila says that's the most significant difference between teaching a class like Jazzercise and just getting a workout.
"You can't get that from watching a workout video," she said.
Gant also says it is the social and uplifting environment that attracts participants to the class and, more importantly, keeps them coming back.
"For me, it's as much physical as it is mental. It beats going to a psychiatrist," she said.
"You work it all out. This is my workout time, I don't worry about everything else in my life.
"It is very much a mental release and I've made a lot of great friends there."
While Jazzercise represents a fun and interactive environment, don't be mistaken, because participants received a rigorous workout as well, Rukkila says.
The longtime instructor herself had to endure a demanding screening and training process before establishing her own classes. The process starts with a movement screening.
"(Screeners) have to make sure that you're on the beat and that you have some rhythm," she said.
After the screening, aspiring instructors will apply for a Jazzercise franchise; an approval process filtered through the organization's corporate headquarters in California.
Rukkila says aspiring instructors then will work with a mentor for two months to learn the routines and execute the various moves. The training culminates with an audition, in addition to a physiology exam and CPR training.
"(Jazzercise officials) have high standards for their instructors," Rukkila said.
"It's also important that when you're up there, you want to know what you're talking about as far as the exercises. When you tell (participants) to move a muscle, you want to be able to tell them how to move it right."
In the beginning
Before she was an instructor, Rukkila was a student. Taking an instant liking to the class environment, she says she wanted to buy a franchise, but was fearful.
"Owning your own business, that's pretty scary at 19," she said.
Additionally, Rukkila was working full time and had just gotten married. It wasn't long after she was married to husband David that she had daughter Emily.
It was five years later, just before Rukkila gave birth to identical twins that she decided to start on the rigorous path toward being an instructor and started the training while she was pregnant.
"I said to my husband, 'There's no doubt now I'm going to be an instructor,' because now I was going to be an at-home mom with two babies," she said. "Two months later, I was certified. It worked out well for us."
Rukkila's first classes were in north Ann Arbor, where she began to build her now extensive client base. She has had classes running in Van Buren Township for six years and classes in Ypsilanti for 10 years. Classes were held in Milan for a brief time.
The Jazzercise effect
For more than 20 years, Rukkila has been encouraging her participants to improve not only their physical fitness but also their lives. She has seen some dramatic and inspiring changes in people.
"I have had women from all walks of life take my classes," Rukkila said. "Women who are going through a divorce, women who have lost someone important to them, women who have had cancer.
"They just love the unity. They love the positive nature of the class, they love that they can go somewhere and they're important and that people will listen to them and will lift them up."
While Jazzercise can sometimes feel like a full-time job for Rukkila, she still has time for her three children - Emily, 15, and identical twins Samantha and Hannah, 10, and her husband. The couple will celebrate 19 years of marriage this year. All of the kids attend Milan schools.
"Emily is a cheerleader and softball player. She's an incredible teenager. Samantha and Hannah both play basketball, volleyball and softball," Rukkila said.
Austen Smith is an editor for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at asmith@heritage.com.
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