That Girl and Her Mom Phenomenon – ‘Better Together’

Terry deDiego and Cheryl deDiego-Carlson are a mother-daughter team who have been teaching fitness classes at Toadal Fitness, Live Oak, for the past sixteen years. Their lively, vibrant and playful teaching style has garnered somewhat of a cult following. They’re particularly renowned for their killer Barre and Zumba workouts as well as for their endearing, enthusiastic and unique mother-daughter combined approach to teaching classes.

“When we started sixteen years ago we were referred to as ‘That Girl and Her Mom’… everywhere we went,” Cheryl recalls, but “now we’re the ‘Dynamic Duo’. We love teaching together; we are just better together.”

Terry, the ever-enthusiastic athlete, raised her daughters in her world of workouts and sports activities. They moved to Santa Cruz from San Jose after Cheryl’s first birthday because Terry “loved the outside, the beach, taking walks“ making it “a no-brainer for me to move here and raise my kids”.   

Since the age of four, Cheryl naturally gravitated towards dance classes, including jazz, tap, ballet, point, hip hop, modern dance and lyrical. Throughout her attendance at New Brighton Middle School and Soquel High School, she traveled across California participating in dance competitions. 

Although Terry has been involved in fitness her entire life, she only began teaching after taking a Zumba class taught by Zumba’s creator, Beto Perez, which ultimately inspired herself and the 21-year-old Cheryl to become certified Zumba instructors.

Eight years later, the pair set out to design their own Barre class, which, according to Terry, “is a combination of ballet, pilates, yoga, strength training, stretching, and really small repetitive isometric movements” that are low impact but target muscles to tone and strengthen the whole body.

Terry and Cheryl prefer teaching together as a mother-daughter team because “we complement each other. We have two different specialties… [Terry] implementing more fitness moves and [Cheryl] pulling from her dance experience.” Their collaboration influences the structure of their classes, allowing both teachers to trade-off between directing the class and walking the room giving students hands-on help. 

The duo maintains a light-hearted rapport creating more approachable classes for students. One student, Sacha Manov, says that “Cheryl and Terry not only bring unparalleled energy and enthusiasm to classes, but play off each other in hilarious ways that have me cracking up during three minute planks. [It’s] The perfect way to sweat while smiling.” 

The two endeavor to make seemingly intimidating group fitness classes like Barre more enjoyable and accessible to all. Their classes are filled with students aged between 14 to 75 years old. Terry says “there is an absolute range of people in our classes from the beginner to the person that is super hardcore… It’s for everyone.” 

The duo’s adaptable approach to instruction was partially shaped by Terry’s childhood experience when, at the age of 13 years old, her mother was paralyzed. This life-changing event, in many ways, redefined her understanding of fitness. She clearly remembers the moment when her “mom could finally lift her thumb again,” and she realized the overriding importance of “doing what you can do and being thankful that your body can do it… it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you go further.” 

The pair pride themselves on their expertise of countless modifications, enabling them to help students of any level of physical ability participate. As teachers, they want their students “to have a good time, a good workout, and be more secure and confident with themselves… It’s exciting to see people succeed.”

Their students have become an extension of Terry and Cheryl’s family. They want to build relationships a
nd create a warm, safe environment where everyone feels comfortable to develop their own fitness limits while getting a killer workout. Teaching classes is Terry and Cheryl’s own personal release from their own hectic lives and full-time jobs as a court reporter and legal support specialist. As Cheryl says “We’re not here to make money… We just love teaching together… She’s my mom and my best friend.” 

Coming from a family where health and fitness has always been a central part of their family’s interconnection, both Terry and Cheryl emphasize the importance of parents normalizing working out and taking care of themselves, leading by example for their kids. 

“My mom taught me the importance of fitness and moving your body and we were always doing it together.” Now with a son and daughter of her own, Cheryl emphasizes that “children need to see that fitness is fun! Kids naturally want to move and groove, it’s important to introduce them to all kinds of exercise at a young age… so it becomes a norm.” She says her “kids love going to the gym,” and she often takes her kids to the children’s classes at Toadal Fitness, Live Oak. 

Anyone attending Terry and Cheryl’s classes can feel the mother-daughter duo’s contagious enthusiasm and passion for teaching. Seven times a week they share their love of fitness, accompanied by invigorating music and an ever-evolving repertoire of muscle-shaking movements that inspire students of all ages. Because, as they say: “We are better together!”.

Writer Elise A. Cline is a political science major and journalism and disability minor at U.C. Berkeley.