Judi Sheppard Missett

Founder & Executive Chair, Jazzercise

Judi Sheppard Missett is a fitness and business icon, having grown Jazzercise, Inc. from a class of 15 women in 1969 to today’s largest franchised dance fitness company globally, with cumulative gross sales topping $2 billion. Dancing since age 3, Judi turned her passion into a successful career as a professional performer and choreographer. At age 25, however, she discovered her purpose — blending the art of dance and the science of exercise to make dance fitness accessible and fun for everyone. Five decades later, Judi and her daughter Shanna Missett Nelson continue to manage and motivate 7,400 Jazzercise franchisees to achieve their dream of independent business ownership, inspiring millions of customers worldwide to live happier, healthier lives through fitness. In addition, Judi created Jazzercise Apparel, a division that manufactures branded studio-to-street apparel, and JM DigitalWorks, which produces award-winning video content for Jazzercise media. In 2018, Jazzercise launched its digital fitness platform, Jazzercise on Demand, and followed with Simply Plated, a nutrition program.

As Founder and Executive Chair, Judi’s daily routine still includes contributing choreography and teaching the program she invented, inspiring her corporate employees and franchisees. In addition to two previous best-selling books — Jazzercise: A Fun Way to Fitness and The Jazzercise Workout Book — Judi has produced seven gold and platinum workout videos, and three best-selling fitness albums, and her latest book, Building A Business with a Beat, Leadership Lessons from Jazzercise — an Empire Built on Passion, Purpose, and Heart published in 2019. She and her fellow Jazzercise instructors have raised over $33M for various charitable organizations.

Judi supports other female leaders through her contributions to the Committee of 200, Women Presidents Organization, Enterprising Women, and the Women Business Collaborative. A renowned advocate and exercise pioneer, Judi has received numerous national awards and recognitions, such as the Harriet Alger Award for Entrepreneurship presented by Working Woman magazine, a U.S. Presidential Commendation for Top Woman Entrepreneur, four Fitness Hall of Fame inductions, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the President’s Council on Fitness and Sports, Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the National Foundation for Women Legislators and Empowered Women, the IDEA Lifetime Achievement Award, the Committee of 200’s Entrepreneurial Champion Luminary Award, the President’s Award from Women Presidents Organization, and the 2024 Business Icon Award from Enterprising Women.