Gina Harris | Fitness Instructor & Destination Manager

From USA & Philippines // See Gina’s classes on the Club

What is your role in the Salty Souls Experience?

I lead FORM classes on the Salty Club app and host Salty Experiences in our new retreat destination in the Philippines. My goal, both in class and in retreat, is to help women find the confidence they need to live life in the biggest, truest way.

What’s your background and how did you acquire those skills?

I was a dancer growing up and found that moving my body was the only way I felt truly alive. Movement helped me calm the noise in my head, gave me the confidence to push myself in new and challenging ways, and try without fear of failure. After a serious injury, I stopped dancing, went to university and dove into a marketing career. Many years and a few moves later, I burnt out big time. Started dreaming of another kind of life. One day, I decided it was time to live it.

I bought a sailboat, sailed halfway around the world, learned to free dive, meditate, surf baby waves and fell in love with a different pace. With a different me. A truer me. I decided to take all that personal growth and create a retreat space in the Philippines, my motherland, where women could come and recalibrate, without having to do the 180 degree pivot. All you need is 5 degrees, one week, one meaningful experience, and your life is set off in a completely different direction. Our retreat space allows me to share that. With you!

Biggest challenge within the Salty Souls Experience?

Not getting to meet all my Salty sisters in person (yet)! I feel so honored to be part of an incredible team of women all doing life in big and bold ways and can’t wait to actually be all in the same place at the same time!

Ninja super skill people don’t know you possess?

An old boss told me that I was the secret weapon to combat her shyness within our team. What I later learned she meant was that I am a very good bridge-builder. I genuinely love helping people connect, find commonalities with people they might not otherwise befriend and create communities in unlikely places. Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet, right?!

Favorite place in the world?

Ooh this I cannot tell you…I’m pretty sure it is not on an ordinary map. But I will say this: the coral is vibrant, the sharks are plentiful, the people are generous, smiles are genuine, the internet is non-existent, the palms have a sultry, slow sway and you never, ever need a wetsuit.

But at this moment the place that really stole my heart is a little village in the North of Spain, where the mountains are kissing the ocean and the people in the village feel like family. I’ve been working there for 5 summers now and every time I come back there I have this strong feeling of coming home.

What gets you the most excited in life?

I absolutely love being around people who love what they are doing…or are ready to find out what lights them up. Connecting with people who devote themselves to their own kind of crazy, believe in their passions and are serious about enjoying their lives.

I have had the opportunity to rebuild my life many times over and each time I thrive in the knowing that it can be done. You can make your life anywhere. And you can make it how you want it. You can do the big, scary, impossible thing. And everything will. be. o. kay. Even when it’s not, it eventually will be exactly as it’s meant to be. Riding that roller coaster and holding on for dear life…that is my jam.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Hmm…well there was that one time I rescued Polynesian fisherman from an uncharted island. Yeahhh. That was wild! Oh, and becoming a mama to an adventurous beach baby. That s**t is craaay. IYKYK.