Susan Powter returns to Fitness NBC – Getty Images
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Susan Powter “90’s Stop the Madness!” The fitness guru is back in the spotlight after being out of the picture for more than 30 years.
She tells her story through her self-published memoir, “And then Em Died…Stop the Insanity!” Memoirs and upcoming documentaries.
“I know despair,” she said.
“You’re about to meet someone you’ll never forget,” the narrator says, and the live performance of “Stop the Insanity!” begins. Recording of a seminar recorded in 1993. “Her name is Susan Powter.” Today, this line feels ironic. The world has all but forgotten about Powter, the ’90s fitness legend who sold millions of motivational programs and then disappeared from the spotlight. After 30 “horrifying” years mentally, physically and financially, the 66-year-old recently told People that she’s on a mission to revive her brand and reconnect with her purpose.
If you don’t remember, stop the madness! It was a pioneering fitness program for its time. While the diet industry fed people restrictive shake-based meal plans and questionable weight loss drugs, Powter’s approach critiques the yo-yo trap and encourages people to get “healthy” with regular exercise. did.
In addition to live seminars, Powter’s company sells books and motivational cassette tapes, which she told People magazine generated $50 million a year. But that money quickly disappeared due to improper profit-sharing agreements with business partners. “In the ’90s, there were only lawsuits,” she told People. In 1995 she filed for bankruptcy.
After moving to Seattle and changing jobs while raising three children, Powter neglected to monitor existing funds from her success. “Someone else was handling it. I never checked the balance,” she said. “I should have asked. I fully understand that. I made a mistake.” And as she gets older, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain employment to make ends meet. I did. “I’ve never been without a job. I never thought I wouldn’t be able to make a living,” she explained. “But please find a job as a 60-year-old woman.”
Barry King – Getty Images
By 2018, life was “scary as shit,” she recalled. She was kicked out of the campground where she lived in an RV and forced into a weekly rental apartment complex in Las Vegas. She made a living delivering food through GrubHub and UberEats. “It’s very difficult. It’s terrifying and shocking,” she said of the experience. “I know despair. I walk home from the welfare office in desperation. I’m shocked, thinking, “And now I’m here?” How about in the name of God? ”
The 66-year-old currently lives in a low-income senior community and is recovering from a recent health scare that led her to apply for Social Security. “That $1,500 check really shocked me. Whoever said money couldn’t buy happiness was a lie. A liar. It wasn’t happiness. It was more than happiness. I “I took a deep breath,” she said.
That stability allowed her to turn her diary into a self-published memoir, and then met filmmaker Xeveria Newman last November, who suggested turning her story into a documentary. Ta. According to People, the movie Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter will be executive produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and is scheduled for release next year. Powter also plans to launch a podcast and exclusive live streaming content for subscribers when she relaunches her fitness brand this week, she told the outlet.
And just like that, the powder is no longer visible. Her dreams won’t stop. “It was healing and gave me the strength to live,” she said. “The money has been gone for 25 years. I’m not looking for a fancy life. I want to talk to the world, I want to write a book. I want insurance, I want a credit card, I want to pay my bills. I want a dentist. I want it. But if it happens, it will be managed properly. It will be passed on to my children, and it should be theirs. I want to give things back.”
She went on to say: “I’m going to go out and connect with women. I feel possible. I feel grateful and hopeful. And being hopeful makes a big difference in the world.”
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