- [Announcer] This program is made possible through a grant from the Greater Peoria Leadership Council, a coalition of business and civic leaders working together to shape a stronger, more connected region through the Choose Greater Peoria initiative.

(upbeat music) (audience cheering) - Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Good evening and welcome to "Vibe 309."

I am your host, Blake Wirth, and I'm excited to be back in the saddle, back in the WTVP studio, back on your screen.

We've got a terrific show for you tonight, so please, whatever you do, don't touch that dial.

You won't wanna miss a minute of what tonight's guest has to say.

She's one of those people where the more you hear her story, the more you want to know.

She's doing a lot of great things in a lot of different ways.

And she's not really the kind of person who's going to brag on herself.

So I'll do it for her.

She's a hardworking and successful entrepreneur.

She built an entire fitness community from scratch right here in the 309.

On top of that, she helps people find their dream homes every day.

She shows up for her community, raises money for St.

Jude every year.

On top of that, you find out she sings, she plays the guitar, the piano, probably the cello for all I know.

But what really stands out isn't how much she can do, it's how much she cares about the people around her while she's doing it.

And around here, that's what we call a vibe.

So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michy Maloof!

(audience cheering) How are you?

(audience cheering) Take a seat.

Please, have a seat.

What a crowd, what a crowd.

Who do we have here?

Who's in the crowd tonight?

- Well, my family, friends, real estate, and Sculpt Mode friends, just a lot of crew, the whole crew.

- We got a great crew.

We got the folks and your sister Markey in the front row here.

Can we get a wave from them?

Okay, thank you.

Well, obviously it's no coincidence this many people have come here to support you tonight.

You are a very special person.

I kind of gave a 50,000 foot view of what you do and what you're about, but tell me, who is Michy Maloof?

Let's start in the entrepreneurial space.

- Okay, so kind of how I started Sculpt Mode?

- Yeah.

- Okay, so I was 28 years old.

I had a full-time marketing position right out of college.

And I started early on with dance and movement and Pilates.

And I loved it.

It was more of a hobby.

- You were in people's crawl spaces to start.

- I... (chuckles) No, no.

- Oh, like living rooms?

- No, yeah.

So I actually, when I was, you know, I was working full-time as a marketing director.

I was in women's homes.

- Not the crawl spaces.

- Teaching... No, teaching Pilates and yoga and things like that.

So we would do in-home personal training, essentially.

- Okay.

- And then I just- - While you were doing the marketing.

- Right, while I was doing marketing, yeah.

So I just became obsessed with seeing how women's bodies were just not only getting fitter, but healing themselves.

Because I started to love movement because I was an injured dancer who found Pilates, found movement, after I was told by a doctor that I was never going to lift heavy weights.

I was just gonna get used to, just get used to walking on a treadmill, things like that.

And so- - How old were you when the injury took place?

How old were you when the doctor told you that?

- I was 16 and I had, I was a competitive dancer.

And one day I was walking into my parents' bedroom and I just fell to my knees.

And I wasn't able to stand up.

I didn't know what was going on.

I went to a chiropractor and he just said, "Yep, you have disc issues with your L5 "and you are never gonna be able to lift heavy weights.

"Just walk on a treadmill forever."

- Have you sent this doctor a Sculpt Mode care package of what we got?

We got just some good pictures and the swag.

- I hope he's still around.

But you know what?

- Picture of you squatting.

- But you know what?

I'm so grateful that happened because I think that was the first time I heard from authority and I just said, "Absolutely not.

"I'm not gonna take that as my truth."

And I pushed against that and I said, "You know what, I'm going to lift again.

"I'm gonna move my body because that's what I love to do."

So my mom had DVDs of Mari Windsor Pilates.

Remember Mari Windsor, anybody?

So she had DVDs and I was like, "You know what?

"I'm gonna put these in and I got some extra time.

"I'm gonna try this out."

And I was able to do some of the movements.

But if you know anything about Pilates, Pilates really focuses in on building your cylinder.

So your core, your back, all of the things.

So by building a stronger core and learning how to breathe and strengthen the innermost abdominal wall, you will in turn heal low back issues, a lot of low back issues.

And I did, I was able to do that for myself.

And then I became really obsessed with wanting to do that for other people.

'cause if I can find some healing from it, I wanna be able to provide that.

- Okay, I love that.

So you started small while you were still full-time working, but you had enough of the itch, the passion, people loved what you were doing.

When was the moment you were like, "I wanna leave the full-time job, the 401k, I gotta go for my dreams, I wanna be a businesswoman."

So you were 27?

- I was 27, 28, yeah.

- 27, 28, and you made the leap.

- Yeah.

- And how did that feel?

- So, this is quite a story.

So when I was working full time, I realized that I was able to completely supplement my income by how many clients I started to build just personal training in women's homes.

So I thought, okay, well, this could be something.

I think I have something here.

So I said, maybe I'm not going to leave my job until I can really supplement my income and maybe make more money than I'm making now.

And I was able to do that.

So I left my full-time job.

I jumped, I just jumped and I didn't know where I was going.

- That's what you gotta do, right guys?

- I really did.

- Just gonna jump, man.

- I was young and I said, if not now, then when?

And so I had the first bout of reality hit me right after I quit my full-time job, I lost a couple clients and then I got really scared and I said, what am I doing?

And then I got five extra clients.

So it was just that battle of, am I doing the right thing?

You know, and then I made a connection with a local business in town, Trailside Events Center, Trefzger's.

And my client base got so big that they let me have classes at Trailside Events Center during the week when they didn't have events going on in the weekends.

So, Sculpt Mode actually started at Trailside Events Center.

- Well, in the crawl space is where it initially started.

(audience laughing) No, it was the crawl space.

I knew a guy in college who worked out, his apartment was this, anyway, it was tiny, but he made it work.

And that's what's important, you gotta, with what the space you have, that's what you gotta do.

Okay, so fast forward, 'cause I know you were in the yard for a little bit.

And then I know now you are in an awesome location.

- We are, yeah.

- And tell me, where is that?

- So that is on Summer Street, so right off of Pioneer Parkway.

- So North Peoria?

- Yeah.

- Okay, and you have been in that space for how long?

- For about five years now, four years now, four years.

- Okay, we're gonna put a pin in that for right now because we actually, we'll check out Sculpt Mode in just a little bit in the episode.

I wanna transition to another space that you excel in, real estate.

When did you get your real estate license, 2021?

- Yeah, I got it in 2021, yes.

So when the world shut down and our gym shut down, I didn't know what the future was gonna hold.

So when Sculpt Mode, we had to close Sculpt Mode's doors, we were able to continue to have about 80% membership retention through COVID because what we did was we dropped membership rates down pretty low, but we still offered Zoom workouts.

And all of my coaches were able to coach during COVID and we would just upload those Zoom workouts to YouTube.

And we still have those today, which they look crazy.

but what we realized is we just miss connection.

We miss movement and that was huge.

But during that time, I just didn't know what the world was gonna be like and if we were ever gonna open 'cause they kept pushing it back month after month.

So then I said, you know what, I got some downtime.

I'm gonna get my real estate license.

I did the online course, took the exam and I didn't know that I would actually like it because my whole life I pushed against going into the family biz because I wanted to create my own way.

That was a big theme for my life.

And I realized taking the course that I just loved it.

I was really interested in it and took the course, got my license, and the rest is history.

- I remember I read, I was reading about your grandpa, Jim Maloof, of course, and he's a legend of the area.

And he said he's in the business of serving people.

So, and that applies at Sculpt Mode, that applies in real estate.

That is probably such a deeply rooted core value because of how you were brought up.

And another thing I read, you emphasize progress over perfection.

Does that also trickle into the real estate world?

- Yeah, oh yeah.

I mean, entrepreneurship, everything.

'Cause you're not gonna jump into anything knowing exactly what you're gonna do.

you kind of feel like you're flailing most of the time.

But- - Let me ask you this.

Like the thing at the used car lot.

Okay, I have my elevator pitch that I tell the people who aren't from here or haven't been here very much.

I know the things I say about Peoria that I love.

Like obviously, I love Peoria enough to build a show around it.

I think it's worth highlighting.

What do you tell people, whether it's in the space of being their real estate agent or just someone who isn't from here that doesn't know much about here.

What do you, how do you explain Greater Peoria to them?

- Well, it's really one of those things that you gotta be here and gotta experience it for yourself truthfully because the people are one of a kind.

The biggest hearts, it's the people, but truthfully, I mean, there's so much to offer.

It's not just affordability.

It has one of the, our park district, for example, Peoria Park District, one of the largest parks in Illinois, about 9,000 acres.

You know, if you like to be outdoors, this is the place to be.

We have a budding entrepreneurial scene, young professionals.

I mean, if you wanna be a part of something, you come here.

Because there's so much happening, so- - I wanna ask you real quick too, I know you may know about this, I don't know much.

I know there's talks of an amphitheater coming downtown, possibly on the riverfront.

I have to imagine that will draw even more people from outside who want to come here.

Do you know anything about that?

- I do.

- What do you know about that?

- (chuckles) It's happening.

- It's happening.

- It's happening, yes.

So I can't talk too much about it right now at this point, but it's all leading.

- What will that mean though for the area?

What does that mean for music lovers, for people who enjoy a live show?

What does that mean?

- I mean, there's so much to it.

So the businesses downtown, I mean, all the restaurants, they're going to be flooded with individuals who are coming in from out of town, the hotels, Airbnbs, it's a positive thing for Peoria.

- I love that.

- We gotta get it in here.

- I love that.

I think it's now time for my favorite part of the show, the rapid fire section part of the show.

We got some sawdust again, that's okay.

We gotta clean up the sawdust here, guys.

Okay, are you ready?

- I'm ready.

- Okay.

(clears throat) Favorite place to eat in the 309?

- Can I pick more than one?

- You can pick as many as you want.

- Okay, Ardor for breakfast.

Fantastic, and dinner, they have great dinners too.

If I'm out and about, I love Sid's Market and Queen of Squash, they have healthy options, grab and go, market, love that.

- Healthy, healthy?

- Yeah, they do.

And then, Brienzo's for pizza.

And then if you want the best steak salad in town, you gotta go to Jim's Bistro in Peoria Heights.

- Jim's Bistro might be my favorite restaurant.

Anyway, I'm not the guest though, so who cares.

All right, next one, favorite coffee spot in the 309?

I love CXT and Intuition.

- Okay.

- Those are my favorites.

- [Blake] I love Intuition, they have big tables.

- Yeah.

- I like a big table.

I like my computer, my, anyway, I'm not the guest- - It's a great ambiance- - It doesn't matter what I think.

Favorite view in the 309 besides that one?

- It's actually Detweiler Park in the spring.

- Okay, beautiful.

- It's my favorite park, yeah.

- Yeah.

- Take my dog there almost every other day.

- Detweiler's great.

- I love Detweiler.

- One local business you think deserves more love?

- I would say Love and Lavender.

It's a gorgeous children's boutique.

My friend Brittany Lavender owns it.

And it's in the Heights.

And they don't just have gorgeous children's clothing.

They have accessories, lotions, I mean anything you'd want for your kiddo.

It's awesome.

- Great shout out, love that.

- Yeah.

- All right.

Would you rather have a pause or a rewind button in life?

- Oh Lord, pause.

No rewind over here.

- Pause.

- We're not living in the past baby, no.

- Do you have any reason why?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

And you'd rather not disclose?

It's not for PBS programming, I guess.

- No.

- But we're pausing.

We like where we're at.

- Pause it.

- We love where we're at.

- Yeah, I do.

- Pause it.

If your younger self could see you now, what would surprise her most?

- Truthfully, I think I'd be surprised that I actually am a realtor in Peoria, both things.

Because I fought that so hard growing up.

Yeah, I was actually born in California.

- Oh, nice.

- And I lived there the early part of my life and I said, you know, I'm going back there after I graduate college and then it just, I couldn't leave.

- Sucks you in.

- It did, 'cause there's so much, it is the people, yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- What are three skills every human should master?

- Master?

Okay, three skills.

I would say communication is a good one, both being able to express yourself, but also be able to listen.

So those are both very important.

And then I would say self-discipline is a big one, because especially, you know, in anything you do, motivation fades quickly.

So being able to show up for yourself daily and show up for your business daily, you just have to keep up with that.

So I'd say self-discipline.

And I'd say maybe the, what's the third one?

Probably just being able to understand yourself, emotional intelligence, I'd say.

- That's huge.

- Because if you don't know yourself, you don't know what to align with, you don't know who to align with, so those three probably.

- I love that, that's good.

Okay, last one, you ready?

- Yeah.

- What's something you're still working on getting better at?

I know you're big into self-improvement and self-growth.

You gotta be working on something.

- You know what, I think- - Are you a finished product?

- No.

- Okay.

- Oh my, no.

If anything, I think I'm pretty hard on myself.

I think I just need a little to work on that.

A little bit of, you know, lifting myself up a little bit more because it's easy to pick out the things, you know, that we need to work on 'cause I do that a lot.

So I gotta be easier on myself, I think, a little bit.

- Well, I wish you would have been a little easier on me at our most recent workout at Sculpt Mode because it was one of the most brutal workouts of 2025, but don't take it from me, see for yourself, roll the tape.

(crowd chattering) (wind whistling) (groans) Listen, we take our fitness pretty seriously around here in the 309.

Doesn't matter what you're into, running, CrossFit, Pilates, yoga, Zumba, powerlifting.

We got it here.

But we know fitness isn't just about sweating reps, burning calories.

It's also about finding your people, your community, your support system.

And this morning we're at Peoria's Sculpt Mode Fitness, one of the best gyms in the whole region.

You don't just build muscle here at Sculpt Mode Fitness either.

You build confidence, you build lifelong friends.

And that, my friends, is a vibe worth checking out.

Let's do it.

(upbeat music) - And then repeat.

- We're doing all this in a half hour?

- Yeah, yeah.

(upbeat music) - I've been coming to Sculpt Mode about three and a half years.

I'd say foremost for me, there's a welcoming energy.

I feel like I belong here.

I feel like if you're super hardcore, you belong here.

If you're just starting out, it's totally cool.

There's encouragement.

There's a measure of accountability.

But it's very welcoming.

It's very, very supportive.

And wherever you're at, it's a really positive energy.

- My name is Elizabeth Steffen, and today is my first day here.

It was a great workout.

I'm actually a bodybuilder, so this isn't a normal type workout for me, but it is wonderful to change it up.

And I'll tell you, my heart rate was up today.

(chuckles) (upbeat music) - I moved from Columbia to here about 15 years ago, and I've been coming to the gym since 2022.

And I think the cool thing about it, it's that you don't feel judged because you cannot do like the same than other people.

It's just that you are on your own some, you know?

And the coaches really support you.

(upbeat music) - I know it seems a little intimidating at first 'cause it's a class.

You don't know if you're gonna be able to keep up with the others, but it's at your own pace.

You know, you're controlling that.

And yeah, I mean, here everyone's very supportive once you get your foot in the door.

- So I moved from Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, and I've always been really active.

So I joined the gym here after looking online for a gym that was kind of similar to what I was used to doing.

Signed up, started coming, and then I've just come every day.

It's a really fun community.

Everyone tries really hard, everyone's really supportive, really encouraging.

Lots of different fitness levels too.

Lots of different ages, but everything is kind of modified, you can make it as hard or as easy as you like.

- You never have to be afraid of anybody in the gym.

Everybody's here for the same thing and that is just to get healthier and get stronger.

(upbeat music) - So I come here at 5:30, 45 minutes locked in and that helps a lot.

So that's kind of like giving back to my body and you know, my mind.

- You know, you just gotta do it.

It's not gonna be easy, but it's gonna be worth it.

You know, I feel like once you're in here, That's probably the first battle, right?

Man, should I go, should I not go?

You know, it's intimidating, but once you're in here, you'll feel a lot better with yourself afterwards.

- It doesn't matter if you don't even know the forms or whatever, you have people here that support you.

The coach are amazing, and even the members, they are here to help you as well.

- I really love that Michy was very open to modifying things.

I'm a little bit older, I have some back issues, and she just kept cheering me on no matter what was going on with my body, so I really appreciated that.

- Just come, try, it's fun.

Everyone's really nice, everyone's really friendly, no one is watching you, that's the whole thing.

I think everyone thinks that everyone's gonna be staring at you, or you'll move the wrong way, or you do the wrong thing, no one cares.

(upbeat music) - Sculpt mode is a vibe.

- This is tough, guys.

I don't know how these people do this.

(audience applauding) Thank you.

Thank you.

We shot that segment several weeks ago.

And just, I think it was yesterday or the day before, my legs stopped being sore.

So I was really happy about that.

- You did a good job.

- I appreciate that.

I think you're just saying that because the cameras are rolling.

But anyway, yeah, I'm going to need to do more of that core stuff you were talking about, because my sciatica was flaring up pretty good during that.

- We'll work on that.

- Yeah.

But anyway, I need to do some bar.

Before we leave, you're a very deep, evolved human being.

So I want to ask you this question.

In 20 years from now, 30 years from now, what do you want people to say about you?

What do you want the legacy of Michy Maloof to be?

That's a really good question.

I think-- I mean, truly, at the end of the day, nobody remembers how many houses you're going to sell.

Nobody remembers, you know, the box jumps that you made them do, but maybe they will.

But I really want people to feel that when they were around me, they felt seen, they felt heard, and they felt like they mattered.

So that's pretty much what I want to leave behind, is how I made people feel.

- I love that.

That's a great answer.

And I want to leave you with something here.

Your brand new Vibe 309 hat.

- Let's go.

- Here you go.

- Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

- Good luck.

- Love it.

- Yes, you bet.

- I like the colors.

- Yeah, Michy, I can't thank you enough for coming on.

This region is a vibe because it has people like you in it.

So thank you very much.

I do appreciate it.

Everybody give it up for Michy Maloof.

(audience cheering) We spend a lot of our lives chasing stuff.

More money, better titles, bigger houses, nicer vacations, et cetera.

And don't get me wrong, those things are great.

They matter.

They motivate us.

And you should be awfully proud of yourself if you've obtained those things.

But the older I get, the more I realize that stuff doesn't define you.

I think what defines us is the effect we have on others.

There's this quote by Michelangelo, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

He said- - Blake.

- Yeah.

- Blake, it's supposed to be Maya Angelou.

- Maya Angelou?

- Yeah, yeah, that's who said it.

Okay, all right.

Well, Todd Fother, correct me in that we're all a team here at WTVP, luckily, we look out for each other.

Maya Angelou once said, "I've learned that people will forget what you said.

People will forget what you did.

But people will never forget how you made them feel."

And I learned that about as far from Peoria as you can get.

I served in the Peace Corps once upon a time.

I lived in Madagascar, the most impoverished part of Madagascar.

I had no electricity.

I had no running water.

I lived there for two years.

Tiny little village called Mbani Sadaka.

The people there, the Antandroy people, didn't have much to offer me from a material standpoint.

But man, did they make me feel welcome.

For two years, I was included in everything they did.

They always invited me to morning coffee at my mayor's.

I had no idea what they were saying, but we'd laugh.

Yeah, we'd laugh.

I was always invited to evening hangs where everyone would sing and dance around a bonfire.

I'd get absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes, but it was worth it.

They'd check on me often, but they also gave me space when I needed to decompress or recharge.

They welcomed me with open arms on my first day there, and they celebrated me on my last.

See, it was never scary for me to live in Africa, 12,000 miles away from my family and my friends, because of how the Antandroy people took care of me.

To that point in my life, that was the richest I had ever felt.

It had nothing to do with money either.

It had everything to do with how they made me feel and how I try to make other people feel now.

Because in the end, the stuff fades.

The numbers reset, the titles move on, but the way you make others feel, that's the part people carry with them.

That's the real legacy we all leave behind.

And that's my take.

So thanks for tuning in, ladies and gentlemen.

It has most definitely been a vibe.

(upbeat music)