- May 9, 2024
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From educator to business owner.
What began as a way for Larissa Maloney to livestream her workouts to her students at Father Lopez Catholic High School when schools were closed due to COVID-19 soon became an online fitness and wellness platform serving over 100,000 children ages 3-18. With the help of 10 coaches, Maloney's program "Active Kids 2.0" now offers families, schools and corporations classes on cardio, strength, karate, yoga, boxing, dance and more through its subscription service.
And recently, the Seabreeze High School alumna won the $50,000 grand prize on "2 Minute Drill," a TV show hosted by entrepreneur David Meltzer, an experience that Maloney said was not only fun, but will have a great impact on Active Kids 2.0.
"It's absolutely going to be huge for Active Kids 2.0 and all the kids and all the teachers that we work with," she said. "It's going to allow us to bring in new content ... Fifty-thousand will definitely benefit them in such a great way."
Maloney, a former professional beach volleyball athlete and former coach at Father Lopez Catholic High School, has been mentoring and coaching children for over 15 years. A mother of three, after she had her son in June 2021, she knew she wanted to prioritize her family. So she made the choice to resign from Father Lopez and make Active Kids 2.0 her full-time job.
She learned about "2 Minute Drill" from a friend, and seeing as she had recently won $10,000 from a previous pitch competition, Maloney decided to give this one a go as well.
Maloney appears on season 3, episode 6 of the show — available on davidmeltzer.tv — and said winning the grand prize validated her feelings toward her program.
"It really just motivates me even more just to get that approval, that sign that somebody else believes in your vision as much as you do, and they want to see you succeed in return and result in seeing kids around the world living happier, healthier lives," Maloney said.
She definitely didn't see Active Kids 2.0, which began with her workouts for students on YouTube, becoming what it is today. And it all started with Maloney wanting to do the best for her students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It was a priority for me, and it really is still shocking and surprising that this has all come from it, but it's turned into something beautiful and so rewarding as well," she said.
Her next big goal? Maloney aims to impact up to 3 million children by the end of 2023.
"I'm a big dreamer," she said. "I dream big and things like this happened because I dream big."
Season 4 of "2 Minute Drill" begins filming in July. To apply, visit dmeltzer.com.pitch
