Latest / Tone It Down / How Tone It Up Trainer Ariel Belgrave Went from Corporate Burnout to Climbing Mountains & Living Her Dream

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How Tone It Up Trainer Ariel Belgrave Went from Corporate Burnout to Climbing Mountains & Living Her Dream · Tone It Down

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  Toned up was my first experience of being in front of the camera.
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  And it was absolutely toned up who introduced me to that confidence that I didn't know I had.
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  My friends, welcome to Toned Down.
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  It's Karina and I am sitting here in Palm Springs, California, looking at the set
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  of where we just filmed your new Toned Up Fitness Challenge, Radiate and Rise.
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  And I just got home from Manhattan Beach.
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  Just drove home with Bobby and yes, my seven palmarines.
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  Because yesterday we had the most beautiful live event at the point in Manhattan Beach.
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  Over 200 of you RSVP'd showed up and it was so incredible.
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  Don't think there was a dry eye in the house.
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  And what I've learned is that we all want more and more personal in-person connection.
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  So shout out to you all who signed up, showed up, made friends.
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  That's probably not this week but next week or the next we're going to have that live podcast
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  here for you all to hear the incredible stories of everyone. We had so much fun.
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  But as you know, if you are an app subscriber, Radiate and Rise started yesterday, May 4th and
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  it's four weeks of fitness with China and Christina Ernest and your girl Ari who sat down with me
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  for this podcast. What a beautiful conversation that we sat here in my backyard.
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  So y'all know Ari Belgrave, aka Jim Hookie. We sat down during the filming of the Radiate
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  and Rise challenge and Ari shared her incredible journey from D1 Rugby out to corporate
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  burnout at JPMorgan to becoming one of the most energetic and beloved fitness coaches in the game.
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  And I'm serious like when she steps in a room, her energy is like, I need that.
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  Always a smile on her face and just coming and showing up with such love and profession and
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  energy and joy. Ari really opened up in this conversation and a conversation that we had never
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  talked about even though we've known each other for so many years. But she opens up about being
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  adopted, meeting her biological family, training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for her 37th birthday
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  and launching her new podcast sweat and equity. So you definitely want to go check that out.
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  This episode is a full body yes and a reminder that you are capable of so much more than you think.
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  Enjoy the episode, give Ari some love and don't forget to check in when you work out.
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  Welcome to Tone It Down. We have Jim Hoki aka Ari here. I'm here and I'm so excited.
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  And Palm Springs, California filming workouts for your Tone It Up app.
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  What? There's so much. First of all, I keep taking notes as we're like talking
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  and then the dining room. But let's just start. How do you feel being here
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  in California filming workouts? This is a full circle moment and I haven't shared this with you.
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  It's full circle so I feel excited to come back full circle and I say full circle because I joined
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  Tone It Up in 2018. 2018 Ari, I started my fitness journey in 2015 but Tone It Up was my first
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  experience of being in front of the camera. Really? Yeah. And I remember I was so shook so originally
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  I started in the back as the extra the extra in the back. And I remember I was challenged.
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  It was like, okay, Ari, I think I think it's time for you to lead a workout and it was a very big
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  deal to like lead a workout on camera and it really prepared me. I'd say for the next level
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  because then we had the pandemic being on camera and being virtual was very important and it was
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  absolutely Tone It Up who introduced me to that confidence that I didn't know I had in front of
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  the camera. I was just stirring up podcasts with Christina and the same thing because you came from
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  the Facebook world. That's right. Corporate and not that everyone needs to like leave their corporate
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  job and do fitness but it's so interesting to hear these stories of how you take that lead. That's
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  right. So I was still working in corporate when I joined Tone It Up. Yeah. For two years.
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  Wow. I left in 2020 and went all in on fitness. Well, I just want to let you know that when I was
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  like, what triggers do you want back? You were like, Ari, Ari. I'm here and I am honored
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  truly. Like it wasn't truly a great kickoff to like new levels for my career. So I will always
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  think Tone It Up for that. God. Okay. I have like all these notes like we've like really been
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  deep diving today talking with everyone in China and Christina. Yeah. Let's just go back to
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  that career change and coming into fitness. Like why fitness for you? So I think I could bring
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  it back to me being an athlete. So the D1 rugby athlete went to Boston College and when it was time
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  for me to go on to the real world as I say it. So not becoming a professional athlete going into
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  the real world. I started in banking JP Morgan. I realized a, I was working 80 plus hour weeks.
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  I was dealing with burnout, mental health, all of it. And while I was looking successful in the
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  outside inside, I was struggling and taking care of myself. I wasn't getting much sleep.
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  And I share this for context because I realized at that point in time that I knew how to be an
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  athlete. I grew up as a multi-sport athlete. I knew performance, but I didn't know fitness. I
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  didn't know healthy eating. And it hit me differently when I entered the real world where I'm like,
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  I don't know how to take care of myself. So it was actually my own journey that opened the doors
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  into the fitness and wellness re we see today because I was struggling when on my journey
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  figured it out. And then I invited other women on my journey for it. So if you're talking to a
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  woman listening right now, who's got the nine to five, she's struggling. And she's like,
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  how can I feel better mentally? How do I create a program or a schedule where I can move my body
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  but still do my job? Like, what would you tell her? I would tell her what I did. I kept it simple.
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  So I, one of my mindset shifts was initially me thinking I had to be a 60 minute workout or
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  I didn't matter or 30 minute workout. And I was like, you know what? Something is better than
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  nothing. So I would do 15 minutes. I would do 20 minutes. And I was like, your girl is back.
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  She's here. I love it. I call it workouts now. Yes. That's right. And I love it because
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  sometimes it's very intimidating to be like, I have to dedicate an hour. And back in the day,
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  I would dedicate our literature. But now I got 10 to 20. Let me do it. And I feel so good. And I
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  actually feel in shape and confident and just like smaller workouts and workout snacks.
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  That's right. I think that's something that we've come into realizing we don't necessarily need
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  to work out for an hour or two. And that's permission we have to give to ourselves. So I feel,
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  I don't know. Like, it allowed me to be the most consistent to be honest, right? So like,
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  60 minutes, I'll be lucky if I did that once a week. 20 minutes is like, girl, you can.
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  20 minutes, scroll on social media. We could squeeze in.
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  It's okay. We lost a note. It's fine. In the hot tub.
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  Yeah. I know that's like giving yourself permission of like not necessarily having to be like
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  the all or nothing, but like the in between. Yeah. And it felt good. It was like, okay, we're
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  going to do this. And I felt the most confident in my body. I felt like I had the most control
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  of my schedule. I don't know. It did what I needed to do. And now you go from corporate to under
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  armor athlete. Yeah. For many years. Yeah. Since I've known you. Yeah. That was another example of,
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  I was actually under armor athlete while I was working in corporate. I was living in double life,
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  y'all. Not to say it's easy. But I felt like I was in my super courageous. Why not?
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  Honestly, I like that. The why not era. I think we all should be in the why not era. I'm
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  definitely in that era. I know. I'm definitely in what do I have to lose? Why not go after what
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  feels right for you? What your dream is? What you want to do? Like why not let the naysayers
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  who cares? Do what feels like your intuition and your heart? So for you, what was that feeling
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  within that you wanted to make the shift? I get that question asked a lot and I feel like
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  it was moments of putting myself in environments where I saw people who were doing it. So being in
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  the corporate world, just being around corporate people who are like not to say anything wrong with
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  the love corporate people. Listen, yeah, corporate skills paid bills as an entrepreneur. But I will
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  say there's a different audacity. There's a different courage that comes with entrepreneurship,
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  right? Entrepreneurship has its ebbs and flows. But for me, I'm like, man, I want to work toward
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  like freedom and building generational wealth. It was being environments with other entrepreneurs
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  that opened up my eyes because I didn't have any entrepreneurs in my family. So it was a very big
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  bet on myself that I would be taking. And I just knew security. I knew W2s. And it was literally
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  hearing from other women who are badass women doing their thing. And I'm like, there's possibility.
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  I think I think I could try that. There's possibility. And you talk about generational wealth. And
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  you are adopted. Yeah. Family from Trinidad. Yes. Yes. And to take you as a little girl and what you
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  went through, you can share whatever you want, how you were birthed. Yeah. And to be, I mean,
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  there's probably people listening here who are adopted as well. Like share whatever you can
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  to those who listening or like I came from that too. Yeah. So being adopted, there's so many
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  statistics. And for me, I often heard the story of like it not being so good for adopted, right?
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  Like I went to college. There were just so many things that went right. And I was in a place where,
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  so for sharing that what I knew the story to be, it was my mother being raped. And I will result
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  of that. I didn't know that in the very beginning. But I did always know that I was adopted. So
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  growing up, I never saw another adopted person. So I'd say while there wasn't shame, there was
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  literally thoughts of more of abandonment. More of like man is, I'm so different. I don't want
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  anyone to think something's wrong with me. Now as an adult, I'm like leaning into that. I was like,
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  heck yeah, I was adopted and I turned out pretty damn well, right? I agree with that. Because
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  I overheard you talking to, was there schizophrenia in your family? Yeah. As you know, I had a
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  schizophrenic mother and overcame so much. And it's that like you can come from whatever would
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  be considered the bottom and lead your life into something great and create an amazing life
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  for yourself. That's right. That's right. Tell me your journey. Yeah. So I would say for me,
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  even meeting my mother for the first time and what you had heard me sharing was like there may be
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  schizophrenia, bipolar can't label it, but it's just more of like patterns and behavior. I don't
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  think is by accident that I establish a relationship with her more as an adult because I have a different
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  understanding. There is more empathy. There is more willingness to listen. And I don't think the
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  version of me 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I would have made it more about me than about the other
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  person. And I think having patients with it, I do still have to set boundaries. I will say because
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  I'm still learning how to navigate that type of mental health challenge, but I also want my mom
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  to be seen heard and heard. Were you ever scared of getting schizophrenia or a mental illness of
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  your own? You know, not really. Yeah. But you know what? I say no. And probably because this is
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  like later on. And I'm like, well, is it like a gene or is it there's more knowledge? I think I
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  have to learn. And you probably have went deep into the research on it. Is it genetic? Is it?
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  So when did you find out your mom had schizophrenia? I would say within, and I don't know if it's
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  a lie. I say, I just see the behavior. So I'm just keen on like labeling. However, I would say
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  within the past 10 years, all to you. 37 now. So 27. So I grew up with it. So I have that
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  fear set in me at such a young age that my grandfather and schizophrenia, my mother, and I thought
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  maybe like the unknown is like you not knowing. I think so. Ignorance is bliss. Exactly.
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  Skip to generation, skip to generation, which is wild. Like I literally thought I was going to end
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  up like my mother. So that's why I just have to life off for like a decade. Wow. Yeah. So when I
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  see my mom's situation as well, what I know is given the circumstance, I don't feel like she had
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  support. And every part of me wonders, I'm like, that wasn't always a story, right? Like it wasn't,
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  she had displays behavior for schizophrenia. It was like she was this ball of energy ray of sunshine.
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  So for me, I'm like, was it something that was developed because she given the circumstance
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  that was not a healing, right? Which is why I put some like, is it genetic? Is it, and there's
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  so much more I have to learn. And maybe that's why I didn't necessarily connect it to myself. It was
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  more of like just understanding what it is. But like the behavior is next and that level one that I
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  can't even explain where I'm like, can help help this. Yeah. That'll be a discussion for the big
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  silence. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's deep. So you meet mom. Yeah. How that relationship
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  goes. Yeah. Honestly, I always heard that she was this ball of energy and meeting her we look,
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  we look alike. So it was like a mime. And there were just different things like what some people
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  may take for granted when they have parents that they grew up with their biological family is
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  like being able to compare yourself. Like, oh, my gosh, she has my nose. Oh, she has simple things.
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  And meeting her was first things first. Like, so you'll see I have a gap in my teeth and quickly
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  learn that that is a very, very strong gene in my biological family. Like everyone has a gap. My
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  grandmother on uncle cousins and growing up so badly, I wanted to get braces to close it.
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  And my doctor mom was like, you don't need it. You have perfect teeth. Like that is just part of
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  your immature yarn. I'm so glad that I didn't. But meeting my biological mother, she was very open.
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  It was like, I thought there would have been awkwardness or any of that. But I think my energy
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  played a big part in what forgiveness can look like or just understanding. Because again,
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  I mentioned the word abandonment. And it's easy to be like, well, I have a sister. She wasn't
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  given up for adoption. Why was I? And it's easy to compare. But completely different circumstances.
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  Have you met your sister? Yeah. Yeah, we're really close. Really?
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  We're really close. So we're 10 years. She's 10 years younger than me.
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  Yeah. So there's a Florida. We've had, since she was, I met her when she was 13. And I was 23.
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  And we've been close since then celebrating holidays, communication. Yeah. So much. Okay.
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  You think you know someone and we met in 2018. And you're just a ball of energy and positivity.
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  But like when you deep dive in, like really get to know someone where fitness brings us together,
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  I always say like fitness brings you together. But the conversations before and after the workout
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  are what really bring you together. Yeah. That's right. I mean, we're here because of fitness.
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  Wait, we're just we're just working out here. We got China back there. Look at her.
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  She's crushing it. Doing her workout. Look at my shadow. But I don't want to, I don't want to mess her up.
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  She's she's crushing it. She's crushing it. But let's go back to fitness. So
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  you love working out you in January a few months, a few months. It's a smart second. We're
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  recording this. And this is coming out closer to summer. But you hiked Mount Kilimanjaro.
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  I sure did girl. What the hurricane? That's what I said. What got into your mind where you're like,
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  I'm going to do this. I want to know every detail of like the training because you know,
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  I used to do trathons and have Iron Man's and why? This is a great question. I'd like to say call this
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  the millennial midlife crisis. Right? Like we all do like crazy. Crazy. We're 40 or 40 and above.
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  We're like, I'm going to do something. Listen, it happens. So I will say just even for further
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  context, I feel like I've spent like the last year and a half trying to get in the most
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  alignment and figure out what's next. And what I pride myself on is being this like routine
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  girls like, you know, I got things on lock. And in the past year and a half, there was just more
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  questions of like, what's next? Who is Ari? What matters to me? And it led me to climb in a hole.
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  Can I swear on this ass mountain? I'm in a whole mountain. And for me, I was in a place where I'm
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  like, you know, I want to be a beginner again at something. I want to be bad at something. I want
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  to be curious at something. I know strength training. I know fitness. I know that very well. But like,
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  I've never hiked more than a day. I've never camped more than a day. And maybe it's a little extreme,
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  but I want to go through the motions of like being bad at something and needing to seek help
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  and not have all the answers. I like that. Because that is being bad at something is going into
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  something and like trying something new and being okay with failing. That's right. But that's
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  like living and experiencing something like, I'm going to do this. I may not make it up to what?
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  19,000, 9,341 feet. I may fail. I may need to turn around, but I'm going to do it because I know
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  I can. And there's so many decisions in life that I've done. And you've done where it's like taking
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  that risk, but it makes you feel alive. Oh my gosh. So let me tell you imposter syndrome was on a
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  hundred, right? Like I knew that not anywhere near hiking is not part of my like routine. I hike,
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  but like when it comes to doing seven days, not even close. And I had to give myself permission
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  seven days. It was seven days. So five to go up. Two to go down. Okay.
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  Do you all see this? Well, the longest hike I've done is across that mountain.
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  It was like 18 miles. Yeah. But it was I didn't spend the night. Okay, let me tell you it was cold.
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  There were a lot of things. So let's talk about the training. Okay. There were things. I will
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  tell you the top things that I was most anxious about. One, me and the cold, we don't we don't
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  really vibe. I'm a Caribbean girl at heart. And that was like the number one thing. This is not
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  not even close. That was one thing that I was most nervous about because like yes, I grew up in
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  Boston and the cold, but like this is sleeping outdoors in a tent. There's no heaters. There's no
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  I don't know. Like he did you have like the footprints that you like break and like they
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  heat up your hands and your feet. So I used them for my hands. Okay. And I think this is a good
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  segue too because what I had to learn was the power of like layering. So I just knew that it was
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  going to be cold. Part of my training and learning was like layering. It's a whole thing. I never
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  had to learn about that. And I had to shop for hiking boots that would keep my feet warm,
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  that were waterproof. And it sounds so simple, but I walked into Ari. I remember I walked to
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  Ari. And I'm like, where do I even start with like looking for a hiking boot?
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  You want them to be cute too. Yeah. Okay. That part. Can I just go into Tadja here? Yeah. Okay.
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  Listen, when it comes to fitness, I love a cute outfit. I love cute shoes. So I walked into the
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  camp in store. Ari. I with like just the thought I had looked them on Instagram. I'm like, oh,
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  these are cute. These are cute. These are cute. Almost find me. I'm gonna look real cute on this
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  mountain. And let's just say a couple things made the list shortened by a lot. One,
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  I got big feet. I wear size 10. She's a 10. I'm a 10 and a half. And how tall are you?
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  I am 5'5 and a half. Holy moly. Yeah. I have big tests. It's also does the size 5'7 and she's
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  a 10 and a half. Big feet. But I'm 5'10. So I deserve these big things. I'm 5'5 and a half.
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  And I got big feet. And I have very long limbs too. So when we stand up, I'll show y'all that
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  like my hands come really like it was like I was meant to be tall. But I just did my biological
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  mom is tall. But you know how like you spread your arms and that's supposed to be like how tall you
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  might as longer than the average. Yeah. So it helped me in sports though. So when I played rugby,
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  it was like, oh, okay. I have a very long, I have a longer wingspan than the average for that.
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  But yeah, hiking boots. Big feet. I also have a bunion, which makes my feet even wider on my
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  right foot. So I went into REI thinking I was going to have these cute shoes. And when I was
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  brought the first pair, I was like, oh, yeah, those, it's comfortable. But like, now I want to look
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  at all these these other ones. Listen, the way I ended up with that first pair and I'm so glad I
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  did at this point, I'm like, oh, fashion over function. That was rule number one learned in the
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  hiking world. And as someone who has tense grooves in a metal plate and my left ankle, I really
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  had to worry about my feet. Okay. And why? This is embarrassing story. You know, at this age,
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  I wish I could tell you I got bit by a shark or something. But let's just say in college,
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  are you familiar with them with the dance of the jerk? You're a jerk. Yeah, you're a jerk. Okay,
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  it was a Cali boys is a California thing. Girl, it was dancing. It wasn't rugby. Most people
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  thought it would be a rugby story. Your girl was in college, sophomore year, Halloween. I was a
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  little lit. Hey, all good. That'll do it. And I started doing like the break dancing move and
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  I went down. Didn't come back up. And I shattered my ankle almost led to an amputation. Yeah. But
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  it saved my life. I do like to share because I was playing rugby at the time. And because I had
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  this major surgery, I found out that I had a blood clot that was traveling to my heart. And if I
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  did not have that major surgery or accident, I wouldn't have known that there was a blood clot
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  traveling to my heart. Okay. Yeah. It was something what happens once you are getting surgery and they
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  find the blood clot. It was probably the toughest one of the toughest in my life. I had to be put
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  on like the most extreme blood thinners because the blood clot, they needed to uncloth to say the
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  least. Was that like a genetic thing? No, it was. So me playing, I mean blood clots people can get
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  them in different ways. But because I played a physical sport, it's assumed that like that played
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  a part like there's bruising that happens. I played rugby, right? As physical as it gets. But
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  the teenager college version of RE didn't pay attention to a lot of things. I was a sports girl who
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  was just like, Oh, okay, that may feel uncomfortable. I'm going to match your story of the jerk.
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  The past eight months, I've had a foot injury. Okay. And I haven't been able to like get my steps in
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  or hike. I hike for the first time two days ago. But I was at home at 4 a.m. about to catch a flight
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  from Austin to LA. And I was wearing these sandals that had no fruct like grip on the bottom.
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  And I slipped on some pomeranian pee. Bobby was there. I slipped to twisted my foot, fell on my knee.
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  And then I was like, Bobby's like, Are you okay? I was like, Yeah, totally. I get on the plane
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  and my foot swells up. I still have like an injury eight months later. Oh my god. Did you break
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  anything? No, it's just my tendons, which it and healing looks a little different as we get older
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  to wait till you grow old. Healing takes a long time. I was wearing like a air boot for a while. I
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  couldn't work out even when I was in New York for strong New York and Christina. I was like,
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  Christina, they want me to teach her workout, but I can't work out. Yeah. Yeah. Can you walk on
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  so how was it come? Can you walk on it? Okay. Now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, the reality,
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  as we get older, the way healing is different. So although my injury was this happened in 2009,
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  the way I've had to care for it. It's like, it's never going to go away. Yeah. Same. It's a constant
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  like, okay, is it stiff? I got to make sure it's mobile, like even preparing for the hike.
• 26:53
  I had to do next level, like learn next level ankle mobility because I had to make sure that my
• 26:59
  ankle can endure seven days of climbing. Okay. Let's go back there. So back to the training. Yeah.
• 27:10
  So training. Okay. This is going to be a good message because I think it's so easy. I will
• 27:15
  scream this from the mountain top. And I think this applies in so many parts of life in business.
• 27:20
  What have you? But when you'll know the point in time, we're like, you don't know what you don't know
• 27:26
  and you got to seek help. And although I'm a trainer myself, I've never trained to climb the
• 27:32
  tallest mountain in Africa. Okay. Tell us about in Africa. So I invested in a mountaineering
• 27:38
  coach because I started on my own. And I'm like, I don't even know if what I'm doing is the most
• 27:43
  effective lunch and I work on, I'm assuming lower body. And I'm so glad I did. I invest in
• 27:48
  a mountaineering coach and there was so much I learned that I absolutely would have missed my mark
• 27:52
  on when it comes to how to prepare my lower body for what I was taking my body through for seven days.
• 28:00
  I also learned that I as someone who encourages others and takes so much pride in doing so,
• 28:07
  I needed encouragement. So much I agree. I need encouragement to work out. I needed it. I mentioned
• 28:16
  in pasta syndrome. That was an all time high. There were things I just didn't know about the world
• 28:21
  of hiking. And while the most exciting part was being curious and being a beginner again,
• 28:26
  it's also the scariest. It's like, I don't know this. Am I going to fail? Am I going to make it
• 28:31
  granted? I did make it to the top, y'all. I made it to the top and I made it to the top.
• 28:35
  I had my Trinidad flag. I was waving it. I was like, oh, yes, she here.
• 28:41
  Yeah. So how many people were in your group? There were a total of five of us, three guys from
• 28:47
  San Diego, one woman from Dallas. I was the youngest. I'm 37, but youngest by like,
• 28:53
  well, you're saying like everyone is like does this journey in their 50 years? Yeah. So the average
• 28:58
  Kilimanjaro climber is 55. So I think the range outside of myself was like between 47 and 56.
• 29:08
  So I think that was, it was just really dope to also see like, I'm like, that's goals to be
• 29:14
  past in your 50s and like climb this. I'm 37. I'm like, my body can, I had to train my body still,
• 29:19
  but like, it was very encouraging. And also a reminder that like, our body's capable of so many
• 29:24
  things. And that's what I learned about mine for sure. What is the the moment that stands out
• 29:32
  the most while you're climbing? The one time that I was ready to give up, right? So for context,
• 29:40
  Kilimanjaro, it was, for me, it was a total of seven days. Some people do 10 days, but I like,
• 29:46
  team extra over here. I'm like, we go, we go, we go need to get to the top and back down. We
• 29:50
  would try to be efficient, but it comes with that is like the level of intensity. So it takes five
• 29:56
  days to go up two days to come back down. Day five into six is what they call summer day. So this
• 30:02
  is where it is known to be the toughest day because that is you coming climbing to the top. So I
• 30:08
  actually felt the most prepared day one to five. I did not deal with like, altitude sickness,
• 30:13
  the things that would like cause someone need to turn around and not get to the top. I feel
• 30:17
  incredibly blessed. Were you scared about that? Like people told you like, you could get altitude
• 30:21
  sickness and like, up you, getting your heads, like a migraine. Oh my gosh, you're good. The people
• 30:27
  who I know, I have friends who did it, like, it was a struggle when it came to like altitude. It
• 30:31
  was very common. I'm like, man, the way my body set up is extreme. I don't really struggle. I'm
• 30:35
  really sick. Yeah. So I did take measures to make sure that like, I wouldn't get to that point.
• 30:43
  I drink more water on this trip than I think I have in mind. I was averaging about five
• 30:47
  liters a day hydration. So important. The company that I went to actually has a 98% success rate
• 30:54
  for the hikers who do trek or summit. And that's because we had to go slow. Like, let me tell you,
• 31:01
  as someone who was like, let's do this. We have to go very slow. And it's the pace that makes people
• 31:08
  deal with altitude sickness very quickly. Which you can take that into life too. Like
• 31:12
  so many people are like, let's go, go, go, go, all are nothing. Like go, but take it slow.
• 31:18
  Take it to the peak. That's right. So what we heard over and over again, there are two words in
• 31:22
  Swahili. It's called poli, poli. So that means slowly, slowly. And it's the words every time we
• 31:29
  passed another group or we were just on our own, they'll always say poli, poli. Because that is
• 31:34
  truly the key of making it to the top. And it's funny. You say that because when people ask me what
• 31:39
  is one of my biggest takeaways, I'm like, it's just that as someone who goes and moves. And I love
• 31:44
  to move fast. And I look, I love to be efficient and get things done. Hence the seven day versus 10 day.
• 31:51
  That was a reminder that like, it was like the, you know, the story, the tortoise in the hair.
• 31:54
  Oh, yeah. Yeah. Where it's like, the, the hair is going hella fast. And next thing you know, the
• 32:01
  tortoise ends up passing the hair because the tortoise is going out of pace that is reasonable,
• 32:07
  that is consistent. And the hair runs out of breath, right? And who's the end? Who ends up winning
• 32:12
  the race as a tortoise? And that was absolutely the case. So day five, there was a point where I
• 32:19
  actually thought it was the end. So it's called stellar point. And I'm like, you know, this is so hard.
• 32:24
  Like I, it was hard. My quads started to give up and started to spaz. And I'm like, I just got to
• 32:30
  get to this point. So I'm looking up. And I'm like, think of climbing. If you ski climbing up,
• 32:36
  what would be a ski slope for seven hours is a lot. That was what it was. That was absolutely what
• 32:42
  it was. So when I got to the point that I thought was a final point. And I found out that it was not,
• 32:49
  I just collapsed. And I teared up. I didn't even cry when I shattered my ankle. I cried. And I'm
• 32:54
  like, I don't think I can do this. I really don't think I could do this. And this is where the power
• 33:00
  of the people around you mattered. So I was at this point, I had become so close, very well acquainted
• 33:06
  with the other summators. And there was like, all right, we got this. Mind you, we're all struggling.
• 33:10
  But like, I was definitely on the struggle bus. There was one thing someone said that was like, okay,
• 33:15
  you have to do this. And he was like, think about your why? Why are you here? And I started tearing up
• 33:20
  because I realized that this was bigger than me. There was a message. My husband to surprise me.
• 33:27
  I climbed for my birthday, my 37th birthday. I was on the mountain. And he surprised me with messages
• 33:32
  from my closest friends, my closest family. So I can play while I was on the mountain. So it was
• 33:38
  words of encouragement. And the one that stood out, they all stood out. It was what I needed. But my
• 33:43
  niece was nine years old. She was like, oh, Auntie, like, you are absolutely going to do like,
• 33:50
  I'm not going to tell you good luck because I know you're going to climb this. And I can't wait
• 33:54
  to climb a mountain like you one day. And I'm like, I got to do this. Like the bar is set.
• 34:00
  As a black woman climbing, I realized I'm like, this is bigger than me. This is representation.
• 34:05
  This is courage. This is audacity. And I do want my niece to think that like, I actually belong
• 34:10
  in that mountain too. And I can do it. And you did. And I did. But tears came with that though.
• 34:16
  I'm actually getting chills under my yoga pants. It's kind of like, why do we do the things crazy
• 34:24
  like that? Even like a half iron man, I remember crying, pushing myself up a hill where like,
• 34:32
  men were walking their bikes up in San Diego. And I was like, I'm not getting off this bike. I am
• 34:39
  peddling. I'm peddling and I'm pushing through. And then I'm pushing through. Like, I will never
• 34:45
  pee on myself. I peed on myself. He did. Because you don't want to stop. And then I was by myself.
• 34:54
  I cried. I screamed. I sang. And it's like that you will not stop. You will not quit.
• 35:02
  Like, what is that mentality in us? And like the lesson that comes out on the other side of
• 35:09
  I could push myself that far and through all of that. And then for me, it was like, I can do anything.
• 35:16
  Yeah. Yeah. For me, I was literally an hour away. I was an hour away. To that point where I found
• 35:24
  where I was like, I can't do this. And tears came. I had an hour to go. And by this point, I was
• 35:29
  five hours. Like, it would actually been ridiculous to not try. And I, it's just at this point,
• 35:34
  this is where, yes, there was physical pain. I was my, my quads were spazzing. But mindset
• 35:42
  comes in. And I realized that mental resilience, like, we use the word is thrown around a whole lot.
• 35:48
  Mental resilience, like mental toughness. But I would say that is where I experience it full
• 35:53
  fledged, where I had to separate the physical. Have you been able to take that lesson into something
• 35:58
  and to everyday life now? Yeah. I actually feel like, so I, to date, I climbed about two months
• 36:06
  ago, a little short of it. And how I've been navigating the world is I, it was a reminder
• 36:13
  of audacity and my why. So coming off the mountain, I had a lot of time to think. So when you're
• 36:18
  seven days walking through all types of environments and not having access to like social media and
• 36:24
  technology, I thought a lot. And for me was like, okay, Ari, part of this was like you were being
• 36:32
  reminded of like, how fricking audacious you are. Where did that go? How courageous you are. And
• 36:39
  like, there are things that you've wanted to do. And you've been, you've created excuses for whatever
• 36:45
  reason. And like, girl, no, do it. That energy came off the mountain where I'm like, listen,
• 36:53
  if anybody got anything to say, I just climbed like Mount Kilimanjaro. If I can do anything,
• 36:57
  you can do anything. But I realized I needed that, which is why I'm like, yo, this is,
• 37:01
  this was so much bigger than climbing a mountain. This like had to remind me who the freak I am.
• 37:07
  It really did. It did. And I'm like, she's here. She's back. Let's do this. I love that. And I
• 37:13
  feel like so many people don't take a risk. Like, I don't know if I want to call it a risk in life,
• 37:19
  but like something they're so scared of. And you just do it. Someone listening, like,
• 37:26
  what could be the smallest kind of risk or quote unquote, smallest and to the biggest? And how would
• 37:32
  you just, what advice would you give someone to just do it? I mean, everyone has their own reasons
• 37:39
  of whatever it looks like to not move forward with something. And something that's helped me is,
• 37:45
  there's why not, but there's the what if. And I don't want to live a life of regrets.
• 37:54
  I think not choosing something, not choosing to try, setting me up for a possible regret.
• 38:00
  In a perfect world, we want to do something that we can be good at. We want to do something where
• 38:05
  it can have a positive outcome. We want, we want to do something where we could show the world on
• 38:09
  the ground that we did it. And we're winning. And a win is also a learned lesson. If you don't get
• 38:15
  to the point where it could be defined as a win, the win is being proud that you actually tried
• 38:20
  and you did something. So for me, it's what's the worst that could happen. I either I can regret it
• 38:25
  or I could shout for the mountain crops, mountain tops that I tried. And I also love the messiness of
• 38:32
  it, like not being afraid to fail, but then pushing yourself and like being a little messy is okay.
• 38:40
  That's right. And I think so what you're saying here, it just reminds me of like the pressure we see
• 38:44
  on social media, right? Let me tell you, if you are someone who is struggling in any means of like,
• 38:50
  you know, there's comparison, there's all these things actually being your authentic self and showing
• 38:57
  the journey of like you trying, if it worked out, if it didn't work out, like that makes you more
• 39:03
  relatable, that makes you more human. Part of me even being open about training for Kilimanjaro,
• 39:08
  so I'll tell you the version of me would have, while I share on the internet, I had to share
• 39:14
  that I was doing it with the possibility of not making it to the top. And be okay with that.
• 39:18
  And be okay with social media. It is just so good to like feel like everything has to be perfect
• 39:25
  when like your story, your journey is probably one of the dopest, sexiest things you can do on the
• 39:30
  internet today. I agree. And those like sharing the journey, how has that experience been
• 39:36
  for me, being on a lot of social media and sharing everything? How has that been? Because a lot of
• 39:42
  people struggle with it or there's judgment or have you experienced any of that and how do you
• 39:48
  manage it? This is an interesting question because like what was like playing in my head was,
• 39:53
  I had a moment, so this applies to me even just being a fitness trainer. And when I first started
• 39:59
  training, I felt like I was my truest, most authentic self. And as I developed in my career and I
• 40:07
  started like the boutique fitness studios, I felt like I had to shift who I was or how I presented
• 40:13
  to like cater to the audience. And I quickly realized that I'm not about that life,
• 40:18
  as for starters. And I share this because it has been so easy to be myself. I am the trainer
• 40:25
  who is turning up, torquing a little something in the middle of a workout. And that has been the most
• 40:30
  embraced dance and tone. I hope you're ready for it. Oh my gosh. No, we were here in the house
• 40:37
  like moving our hips and like doing your moves. I cannot wait to do that workout. Yes. But that's
• 40:42
  an example right of like what does it look like to bring? I think for me, I love bringing fun,
• 40:47
  vibes, energy, greatness to the workout in this part. I find environments who embrace that.
• 40:53
  And that's when it has become easier for me. You know, I love that because you're so confident
• 40:58
  when you're teaching a dance or you're teaching a workout and you're having so much fun. Okay,
• 41:04
  so also during this workout, like she has an air pot in with the music play. So from the outside,
• 41:12
  you're just like getting down by yourself and silence, but you actually have music playing in
• 41:17
  your ear, your butt. That's right. And you know, so funny. I joke that like when I think about some
• 41:22
  of things I did growing up, I was like, I was prepared in these moments of just like dancing to
• 41:26
  myself and just like hoping whoever sees sees I was like the child who used to play like school.
• 41:32
  I used to have my like teddy bears lined up and I used to be in front and have an audience. And
• 41:37
  it's funny to joke about it now. But I'm like, listen, I was I was destined to like, I have an
• 41:42
  audience to a imaginary student. And I would like to like, yeah, yeah. Okay, I want to talk about
• 41:50
  what you're doing now because you are coming out with the sweat and equity show. Tell us about this.
• 41:55
  I'm so excited. So this is coming off of Kilimanjaro where I did have to think about
• 42:02
  where I wanted to have more audacity in the industry conversations that I wanted to have. And
• 42:07
  something that I've been deeply passionate about. If you talk to me, you know, I love business.
• 42:11
  I love learning the stories of those in business. I feel like there are so many women, so many
• 42:18
  people of color, everyone like who have done such incredible things in the fitness and wellness
• 42:23
  space. And I knew that I wanted to create a space to give voice to that. I feel like there are
• 42:28
  so many people who get into the fitness and wellness industry and it starts as a passion. And we
• 42:33
  get certified. We know how to serve people. But creating a business can be very hard when you start
• 42:39
  this as a passion and service. So I want to not only share my story and give the tea, no gatekeeping
• 42:46
  on how I've built my business across different business models. And I've had incredible success,
• 42:51
  but also just authentically doing so, but also sharing the stories of some of my favorites in the
• 42:57
  industry, including you Karina. I was going to manifest you to guest. But stories of what it
• 43:04
  looked like to build and turn something you are passionate about into impact and income and equity
• 43:10
  and ownership and leverage. And like talking about that is something that excites me. And I want
• 43:15
  others who are in the industry and fitness or wellness to feel that they can be in this space
• 43:21
  and have good success beyond just loving what you do. I love that. I mean,
• 43:26
  not everyone for what they do for work has to be their passion. Yeah. But you do have the
• 43:32
  opportunity to put good into the world and make the world a better place, a healthier place.
• 43:38
  There's a lot of conversations around like, well, you're charging for this. Are you making money
• 43:45
  for it? But that's your talent. That's right. And you should be paid for your gift. That's right.
• 43:52
  And so that was something that as someone who started with service. So when I started fitness,
• 43:57
  I was teaching group fitness classes at local community centers in Brooklyn where they didn't have
• 44:03
  access to certain types of fitness, the fitness that we see like the equinoxes and the barriers.
• 44:07
  I'm like, it was very fulfilling for me to be that person. But when I jumped ship and this was when
• 44:11
  I was in a corporate salary. So I was like, you know, it's fine. I still can pay bills with
• 44:16
  a corporate salary. But when I jump ship, listen, reality hits where it's like, I got bills to pay.
• 44:21
  I'm passionate about this. But how can I make a profit from it? And I needed to shift where I have
• 44:27
  to not believe just because I wanted to serve the world that I couldn't also want to build generational
• 44:33
  world wealth or I couldn't make an income from it's like impact and income in the same sentence
• 44:38
  is a vibe. Yeah. It's possible. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So when is your podcast launching?
• 44:45
  Oh, okay. So I think it's probably out now when this comes out. That's right. So I have been in
• 44:52
  the early stages. I'm done solo episodes is officially launching next week. So I'm excited
• 44:57
  to bring it to the world. I'm excited to not only have my own voice, but elevate the voices of
• 45:02
  others and learn their stories and just share behind the scenes. I feel like and I'm curious if you
• 45:07
  feel this way. I feel like oftentimes we see the same stories like represented. It's very male
• 45:12
  dominated, very white male dominated. So I'm like, okay, well, what does it look like for me
• 45:18
  to create conversation across the board? I feel like it's by no mistake that God has placed me
• 45:24
  in this environment where I have a network black, white, orange, yellow woman man like and I love
• 45:31
  it for me, but I also want to show what it can look like to have great representation. I love that
• 45:37
  and you're going to do amazing with your podcast and we'll put it in the show notes and how to
• 45:43
  follow you Jim Hockey on Instagram and all the other places. It's so interesting too because like
• 45:49
  we've spent time together back in 2018 and so and just taking the time to sit in our room
• 45:56
  today even or even reaching out to you and where you just learn people's stories and I feel like
• 46:04
  for so long for myself, I was scared to share my story, but then I did and I learned about
• 46:11
  other stories and like we are all so dynamic and beautiful and broken and thriving and all the
• 46:19
  things and I just appreciate it all and I appreciate this. I appreciate you and I will say
• 46:26
  I know there's tone it down there's also the big silence and you are a reminder that us as
• 46:33
  fitness and wellness experts are humans too because I think we get the pressure of showing up
• 46:38
  for others and we're strong like I could recall so many days where I could be having sad day crying
• 46:44
  and I walk into a room just at ball of energy knowing that I just probably had the past hour that
• 46:50
  was hard for me and what you're reminding the world and even other fitness and wellness experts
• 46:56
  is like gosh we're human we are we are human and everyone has a story yeah we're human and we are
• 47:04
  doing our best and working out makes it better yes it does let me tell you it's show does
• 47:14
  I love it here I love it thank you thank you for everything thank you for your workouts
• 47:19
  you're gonna love it in the tone it up app the energy that it's bringing like all the workouts
• 47:24
  in the programs and so happy that you are here in beautiful Palm Springs hanging out thank you
• 47:29
  thank you for having me thank you for your audacity and getting us here to film and this is
• 47:37
  crazy because like I'm the most shy person would you probably wouldn't know yeah but yeah
• 47:43
  but you you kill in a game and I and you're why we are here is a reminder of like you hear me say
• 47:49
  audacity and it's like stories like you're like I just truly hope you understand what you've done
• 47:54
  and what you're doing thank you back at you all right tone it down and tone it up
• 48:06
  you're shaking it