Prose and Kohn: Riverview High grads' dreams are working out

The next time you're feeling stuck in a workout rut, you don't need to turn to expensive personal trainers to break a good-feeling sweat. 

You can just fire up your Instagram app and look at the Rosey Times Two fitness account, supporting a fast-growing Sarasota brand in the process. 

Amanda Rosenberg, 23, and Ashley Thompson, 29, are sisters, Riverview High grads who played tennis at the school. (Their mother, Kathy Rosenberg, is still the school's tennis coach.) They started Rosey Times Two in September 2019 after co-workers at the pair's real estate job would ask them for recommendations on workout routines and healthy recipes. They had a posting plan and they thought their posts could potentially be popular if they were smart about it, following trends and working within Instagram's constantly changing algorithm to maximize their reach. 

They were right. In the two years since, the sisters have built their Instagram account to have 63,000 followers — including "Riverdale" and "Hustlers" actress Lili Reinhart, whom the sisters said first followed the account when its reach was only a few thousand. The brand focuses on promoting balanced lifestyles, they said. That means eating ice cream and drinking beer are not discouraged, as long as they are in moderation. Counter those things with consistent workouts that build function strength and a healthy meal plan and you're on the right track. 

Thompson said the majority of their income stems from advertisements. Brands such as Bombas, a trendy sock company, will pay the sisters to show off their products in videos and still photos. The sisters also created two six-week workout guides that people can purchase for $45.99 as well as a food prep guide that people can purchase for $9.99.

In the future, the sisters plan on releasing a product line, though they can't yet say what those products will be. Thompson and Rosenberg are making enough money from the venture that Rosenberg was able to quit her real estate job to focus more time on Rosey Times Two. Though Rosenberg said the decision to leave when she did might have been a bit hasty, it worked out: Rosey Times Two is now a "six-plus figure business," they said. 

"I would spend all my hours at our corporate job working on the Instagram, whether creating content or reaching out to brands," Rosenberg said. "I was so invested in it. Because I was so invested, I knew I could make something happen. I moved back in with my parents so I didn't have any expenses. If I couldn't have done that, it wouldn't have worked. But it was the right time (to take the risk)." 

While both sisters still do other work on the side, the move to make Rosey Times Two more of a focus did pay off. Four months ago, when Instagram started putting an emphasis on Reels, its TikTok-like short-form videos, the sisters took advantage, posting a slew of them. Some, like a July 1 video showcasing the sisters' outfits dedicated to each day of the week, have upwards of 1.8 million views. 

What sets the pair apart from other social media pages in the fitness and wellness fields? It's a crowded marketplace, as the sisters concede; Yet Rosenberg and Thompson are managing to make a name for themselves. Part of their success, Thompson said, is that fact that they're sisters. People like fun facts like that, and the duo's chemistry is clear whenever they are on-screen together. That's not all, though. Rosenberg said their respective ages and positions in life appeal to different groups of people: Rosenberg to the fresh-out-of-college crowd and Thompson, who got married in March and is pregnant, appeals to the mom crowd. The combination of those two groups gives the sisters' content a wider target audience than most. 

Another benefit of the business? It's helped with the sisters' relationship. 

"Growing up, she (Amanda) was my annoying little sister," Thompson said with a smile. "She used to spy on me and stuff like that. When she went to college we got a little closer, but now we don't go a single day without seeing each other and having 25 phone calls. We're much closer than we used to be."