Experience Has Made Me Rich
Experience Has Made Me Rich
Interview with Fitness Coach Julia Shelley
This is the inaugural episode for Rich's interview series where he interviews the subjects of his drawings. In this episode, Rich interviews Julia Shelley, who is a former UN flight attendant, a professional fitness competitor and a fitness coach. Julia is the founder of Army of Angels, where she coaches women over 35 to live their fittest and best lives. Video of the interview is also available on YouTube.
From Julia's website:
"Julia Shelley is a dedicated coach, athlete, and adventure-seeker who thrives on bucket lists, bold challenges, and empowering women to live their best lives. Before founding Army of Angels, Julia built an incredible foundation of experience as a pro fitness competitor, USA fitness champion, and United Nations flight attendant, where she spent over 21 years traveling the globe and witnessing the transformative power of resilience, strength, and determination.
With certifications in PTS, PN1, PN2, and YTT400, Julia combines her expertise in fitness, nutrition, and yoga to create well-rounded coaching programs. She leads by example, inspiring her angels to embrace self-improvement, build strength, and unlock their limitless potential."
Hey everyone, how's it going? Well, it's definitely been a while, and if you're a regular listener, thanks, welcome back. This is Rich Dillon, and this is my podcast, Experiences Made Me Rich. So we're doing something a little bit different now. As some of you know, I do art. I'm an artist. I do a lot of drawings. And I've started a, I guess, a podcast series where I'm going to be interviewing the subjects of my drawings. And this is the first episode of that. So for this episode, I'm interviewing Julia Shelley, who's been the subject of quite a few of my drawings. Julia's fantastic. She's a former flight attendant for the United Nations, where she was deployed for 11 years to many different locations, many war zones, many war-torn countries. She's a fitness coach, she's a former fitness competitor, a professional fitness competitor, a fitness model, and she's really just all-round an amazing and inspiring person. So without further ado, let's start the interview, and I hope you enjoy it. Hey, so it's nice to see you. It's been a while since we've seen each other. For those who don't know, this is Julia Shelley, and thanks for connecting here.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thanks for inviting me to talk today. It's good to see you again. I know we've met in person a couple of times, which is pretty cool for people that meet over Instagram originally, right? So always awesome when you get to connect in person.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And we were just chatting before we started recording and we were talking about the first time we connected. And I think based on our quick research that it was November 2019, like before the pandemic.
SPEAKER_01:Right. So long ago now. I
SPEAKER_00:don't remember. So I did that. I did my first drawing of you and I don't remember how we connected. Was it through a contest, do you think? Because I did a few of those.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think you were having a contest. I just can't recall how I saw the contest or how I came to follow you or if you were following me already or I have no idea. But I just remember you had this contest and I I was like, oh, sure. I love Instagram contests. I'll do that. And funny, I've entered so many Instagram contests and it's been a lot of fun, actually. I went to the last one. I won burlesque tickets like a week ago off of Instagram. I won my Ninja Creamy off of Instagram. So, I mean, I love Instagram contests. They're great. But yours was probably one of the first ones I ever entered. And just for fun. I thought, how cool would this be to have an amazing artist draw me? You know, I've got lots of fitness modeling pictures. And I liked your work. I had only just kind of discovered it. And I was like, oh, this is beautiful. You draw a lot of amazing fitness models. And I'm like, yeah, let's give this a go. And to my surprise, I won. So that's how it started.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome. And I mean, we were talking before this. I started the recording and we were talking about that and also why I started drawing fitness models. And I mean, this interview is actually about you, but just to get our conversation back to where it was, it was really this evolution of my own background in being interested in bodybuilding and then finding out that women harder to draw than men and so i sort of said took on that challenge and and became quite good at it so i guess it's people like you who would be attracted to that kind of that kind of niche i mean you found me somehow
SPEAKER_01:We have to we have to go back to figure out how that was. But you know what, you've you've drawn some other girls that I know, like Stephanie Ayala, who was my coach at one point, Jack Codero. So maybe it's through some of the other girls might have been that
SPEAKER_00:way. Yeah, yeah, it could be. Could be. So another thing, I just want to change topics because, you know, it's more interesting. We were talking about body image and I guess we were just talking about, you know, for those that I got to figure out what my finger's pointing. It's this one. Okay. So for people who can't tell that's, that's Julia right there. That's the second drawing I did of you. And we were just talking about your abs in that photo. And I thought your reaction was interesting.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because you're like, yeah, A, don't have those year round. B, not sure how much I care. No,
SPEAKER_01:I really don't. But it's lovely to see them there. They look great. You did a good job. Thanks. Proud of it. Proud of I've achieved that. Quite a few times, actually, whenever I competed. But that's just not what I'm doing anymore. I'm still pushing myself. I competed last weekend, but in Olympic lifting. So I love to push myself in other ways that do not always include an aesthetic result. They might, as a byproduct, have an aesthetic result, but that is definitely not the purpose of the sport or the challenge or whatever it is. So, you know, this past... year and a bit, year and a half almost, that I've been training in Olympic lifting and had a specific Olympic lifting coach, not a CrossFit. And whenever people see me lifting, they think, oh, you're doing CrossFit. I'm like, no, no, I have a specific Olympic lifting coach. This is what we're going for. And it was really, really interesting to go down that path and to train in this way that was completely different out of my comfort zone compared to bodybuilding for so many years but it was so much fun too because there was zero um drive to an athletic or I mean an aesthetic result it was all about power and strength and um the technical movements and I cannot believe how hard and it is just to learn two lifts Olympic lifting is two lifts really but there's A lot of training and accessory lifts that can go into the programming. So it doesn't get boring. A lot of people would ask me that. And I'm like, it does not get boring. You have so much that you can do. But I loved that it didn't include that obsession over aesthetics. But I don't know anyone that Olympic lifts that doesn't have a great ass. So it's not bad for you, but it's not the concentration. Yeah. And I think that's really good for our minds as well.
SPEAKER_00:I
SPEAKER_01:think it's really
SPEAKER_00:important. I kind of want to ask a lot of questions about that, but let me try and organize my thoughts. So you were for a while focusing on the aesthetic. Yes. Let's back up. So what started that? At what age were you thinking, you know what I should do? I should really push this aspect of my... my physique?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I started bodybuilding, at least that type of training. I think it was, well, I would say I started that type of training, you know, right away in my 20s when I started, you know, working out in gyms. And I think that that was a time, a period in my life, just like many other, you know, guys and girls would go through where there's more of a, you're more drawn to just being attractive and sexy and maybe that's the reason that you want to work out and that that reason carries on through life for many other people. But I personally would only felt that as much in my 20s maybe early 30s a little bit and then just like anything, if you go to the extreme in something. it can kind of tire you out. And then you get that life lesson that that's not what it's all about, which I'm thankful for. I think it's actually really good that that's not the primary focus now in my 40s.
SPEAKER_00:But I'm
SPEAKER_01:thankful.
SPEAKER_00:I feel like just knowing what I know about you from us having chatted and from me sort of seeing your Instagram, it doesn't feel like it was ever fully the focus. Like, I don't mean to say that you didn't push it. Obviously, you know, you did.
SPEAKER_02:But
SPEAKER_00:you were doing a lot of prep for contests while in not very ideal circumstances, like,
SPEAKER_02:you know,
SPEAKER_00:on deployment in parts of the world where I wouldn't imagine it's so easy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think that kept my interest. If it wasn't for the UN and being on deployment during that time, like when I started competing... I was in my hometown in Guelph, not too far from where you are. And yeah, my first three shows happened with more like small regional shows before I started with the WBFF. So it was the OPA back then, which is like a CPA now. So that's how I started. And it was fun. But truthfully, I don't think I would have stuck it out as long as I did. And I don't think I would have ended up with the WBFF. if I didn't end up in Africa or the Middle East. I probably would have tried other types of sports or other types of training a little bit earlier, but when you're in those parts of the world, like different war zones and stuff, the basics that you can get Like eggs, if you're, thankfully, I'm lucky I'm not vegan because I don't know how hard that would actually be. I know it's absolutely possible to be a bodybuilder and to get completely jacked and have amazing results with a plant-based diet. But if you are in like war-torn countries and you are already limited with your resources, that would probably be very, very hard. So I was actually lucky that I could get eggs and chicken almost everywhere. almost everywhere in the world. Fresh vegetables, not always, depending. In desert areas like Sudan, it's actually kind of tough to have options that way. But we could make do. And bodybuilding-type workouts, I could also make do almost anywhere in the world. So there were many times that I only had cement to lift, and it wasn't proper gyms or weights or anything. But I still knew enough as a trainer and a coach what to do. I didn't have coaching at that time. I coached myself and I could make it happen. I'm also a fairly muscular woman. So even if I wasn't progressive overloading and building as much like I, you know, you hear a lot of fitness coaches talk online about going through these different phases. um that wasn't my objective like i was not trying to do things perfectly i was just trying to do it just enter and if i did well i did well and um i pushed myself as far as i possibly could but i just always accepted that you know i'm in a war zone i don't have as much here um but to be honest that pushed me even more so i did do quite well on stage i won most many of my shows um But I think that's more to do with the fact that the challenge of overcoming something like that was more enticing to me. I might not have done that well, even if I was at home in Canada with better conditions, I don't know that I would have done as well, to be honest.
SPEAKER_02:That's really
SPEAKER_01:interesting. Yeah, I think it's in my head. I think it's a little bit of a, I love a challenge. And then lo and behold, as soon as I was done with the UN, I stopped bodybuilding. I stopped that challenge. It wasn't interesting anymore.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm conscious of the fact that not everybody who's paying attention to this would know the conversation we just got into, how that happened. Because I knew you were working for the UN. You obviously knew. But you did that. You were a flight attendant for the UN. For how many years?
SPEAKER_01:Almost 11.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And so... This struck me about you. Honestly, as soon as I learned it, it was like she's doing... Because I did, when I was much, much younger, I did one show and I know what the prep is like. And here you were doing prep in war zones, in places where nothing could be easy. And you've just explained that that was part of what made it successful for you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. That was my like secret weapon. That's what made me successful. Cause it was actually, I had less distraction too. So a lot of people would write me and they would say things like, you know, I don't know how you're doing it. I remember during the Sudan uprising, that was a big one. I was prepping for worlds, which was that picture right there. So those, that picture on the beach with those abs, that was worlds that was in Bahamas worlds. Um, 2019. Yeah. And I prepped for that in Darfur, Sudan. So, and that was, that was my, that was, was my worst physique actually that year. That was the worst, that one right there. This one? That was the worst.
SPEAKER_00:That was your worst. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Not, not on the, not, you got to remember when we're walking on stage, we're not laying on the ground, flexing our abs. pulling them tight right it was a different situation on stage and you know how it is with bodybuilding every single thing counts right but that was my softest uh physique standing up walking I promise so um but it was also in Darfur Sudan and there was a an uprising at the time so there was a civil war going on of course that's why we're there with the UN um But a lot of conflicts with the government and the military and a lot, that's a whole other thing to get into. But anyway, at one point, I remember we were, you know, everything was good, relatively safe for a little while. We were out there, it was in April, was it? We were out on a cruise, I think on the, the Niger river and the very next day we were with our staff too. We brought them out, uh, on a cruise. We were all having the time of our lives, all the Canadians and Sudanese staff. And then the very next day, the whole city was on lockdown. And that was before lockdowns like COVID lockdowns. It was just more for safety. There were tanks rolling down the streets. Um, and, lots of people that were killed in that and where we were on that boat cruise there were I think 20 bodies pulled out of the water you know a day or two after we were on that cruise so it was like you know a big awakening um and that was that was the beginning of that tour for me so the way our tours went was I'd usually go in for two months at a time two months there and then two months off and um Sometimes I'd stay longer. A lot of the times it could be anywhere from two months to even nine months I would stay. But that was the beginning of the tour. Very safe, having a great time on the boat. And then it was the uprising started the next day and we were just locked indoors. So that was the beginning of that prep because I think we were the prep. I think World Championships was around August or so. And that would have been sometime in April. So we were just kind of beginning the prep. And all was good. And then this happened. So I had a weighted vest and a set of 10 pound dumbbells and some bands and a yoga mat. And that's what I did for the majority until we evacuated ourselves to Darfur. That was because we were in Khartoum. And then we evacuated ourselves to Darfur three weeks later. But yeah, the first three weeks, I just ran up and down the apartment stairs with my vest on. I would do HIIT workouts with my 10-pound dumbbells and bands. And I did pretty good. I did all right. I took a before and after of just what it looked like to do all of that. And it was quite a quite a change. Then we went to Darfur and we had a UN base gym. So it was safe within the base and we could go to the base gym. Had that for a couple of weeks. And then, and then I, I think I went to Thailand after that and just trained in Thailand. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So, I mean, we started talking about this period of your life where you were focusing on the aesthetic, but you just sort of outlined something I think that speaks a lot about well, it speaks a lot about a lot of things. Like, so basically you're, you're, you're saying, well, the challenge of making it work was a big part of why you made it work. But I, but I'm hearing shit. She made it work. Like, like how many people would have just said, cause this isn't, this isn't like, oh, you know, it's, it's my prep, but it's my anniversary. So I'm going to have a cheat meal. This is like, you know, you're, you're evacuating, from war zones and you're in places where conditions are ridiculous, I think there's not a person on this planet who wouldn't say, yeah, maybe you'd be okay if you just abandoned your prep, but you didn't. I mean, were you ever thinking that maybe you might?
SPEAKER_01:No, no. For what? is like what would go through my mind. People said that to me all the time. They're like, you're really going to do it now. People I worked with, family, friends, followers on Instagram, they're like, you know, and some people would judge it too. They're just like, you really think that's important right now? I'm like, so what should I do? Sit and be depressed? What should I do? What would you do if you were in a war zone right now? Would you just rock in a corner by yourself? What would you do?
SPEAKER_02:Do
SPEAKER_01:something good. Do something good for your mind. As I said, I showed up in the worst shape I had yet, which is not bad shape, but I'm just saying it wasn't what I would normally do for a show. I didn't care. I knew I was going anyway. It wasn't about that. I didn't care if I won or not. I was just training for these shows. Having a date and a purpose and something to work towards kept me focused and in hard times. So I started this, you know, the first three shows with the OPA back in the day, those were in Ontario. And it was at that time, only the first one I was in Canada for. I got hired with the airline that worked for the UN right before the second show. So I did that prep from Kandahar for the next few shows. So after that, it was only that first show was that was done from Canada and then every show after that. So seven shows in total that were, or maybe eight in total that were done from, you know, Afghanistan to Sudan, Congo, Mali, South Sudan, Uganda, like all over. And so I don't really know other than that very first show, I can't really say what it would be like, like in comparison because all of my shows were in wars and, So when people would say that to me, they're just like, is it really important right now? I'm like, but what is the alternative? If I wasn't doing this, what is the response I'm supposed to be having? I'm not armed. I'm not a soldier. I'm an unarmed civilian. I'm a peacekeeper over here. I'm a sitting duck. That's depressing. I don't want to be a sitting duck. I want to do something. And if I can't do something, you know, to defend in that sort of way. If I'm not out there, because that's not my position, that's not my job, that's not my training. My training is to evacuate and help the people that need to get out. And that's my primary. It's not like I'm giving that up to go to the gym. You know, I'm doing my job. But then when I come home from doing my very sad job that is, you know, evacuating people that are, you know, at the refugees or, you POWs we brought out. We brought out Ebola. We did the Ebola mission. We did a lot of political... like peace talks when you're bringing, you know, South Sudan, the, the ex vice president, when he left the country, I believe was hiding out in like Ethiopia or something for all when they were having peace talks to bring him back into the country. So a lot of tense situations and we'd fly these people and that kind of a, a situation, you know, I needed an outlet. I needed a good outlet. It wasn't like a regular airline job. You know, you'd come home and if we, and we couldn't go out and we couldn't do anything else. And when you're on a military base or a UN base, or even within the cities in, you know, Sudan or Mali, there's not much that you can do for expats other than go to like an embassy party. Like I could go drink. I didn't want to go drink. That's not going to be good for my mind, like my mental health. And I find that that's kind of an issue for some humanitarian workers and soldiers. I think that's a big issue. I think the military often, they do have a certain focus around fitness, but that's on a military base. But sometimes the humanitarian workers don't have that focus. And that worries me a little bit. Because a lot of the time they're in the same situation but unarmed. But what are they doing for their mindset? It's not just about our bodies. What positive outlet do they have other than an embassy party and drinking?
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Right?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, that's... Yeah, you're certainly giving me something to think about there. I mean, you shifted my perspective with your answer on...
SPEAKER_01:A very long-winded answer.
SPEAKER_00:Well, no, I mean, it needs to be. You can't just explain that with a soundbite. So I'm still impressed with the fact that you were able to manage this, but I'm also understanding a little bit better why you needed to.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I
SPEAKER_01:absolutely needed to.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and then... Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01:I wouldn't have... Many things would have been different. Like I said, I wouldn't have been in bodybuilding as long as I was if it didn't go with what I was doing, if I didn't need it for what I was doing. And other sports or training wasn't possible. Bodybuilding was possible and is possible anywhere. I think that's really important that people understand. They think, oh, I can't do it because I'm traveling. I can't do, I can't keep up with my routine because of whatever their reason is. It is the one thing that you can do. It doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to have a big global gym. You don't have to always be progressive overload person. like it with every single training, but you can do it anywhere. And that's why I did it anywhere. I couldn't do Olympic lifting or jujitsu or pole dancing or any soccer or hockey. You couldn't do those things because you needed the team or the equipment or the right kind of platforms. Um, the studios you need, like you can't do those things when you're, you know, in other countries, um, especially war zones. So there really isn't an excuse when it comes to, you know, your basic kind of hypertrophy training. Like they really, you can try, you can try your best, but there isn't one because you can bring bands with you anywhere. So,
SPEAKER_00:well, I mean, look, it is still a very impressive perspective. Like, like what you're saying and what you've embodied. I think a lot of people that wouldn't land, like they still would, they'd still be like, you're, you're, you're, you're superhuman and in a way you are, but like what you're doing is you're humanizing in a way that makes sense. And you also sort of contrasted that with people who wouldn't have that outlet who are in similar situations where there really isn't much to do. Like you painted that picture very clearly for me, you know, go to an embassy party and then go back to your room. So like your outlet is, is drinking and socializing and that's it.
SPEAKER_01:Pretty much. That's, that's, that's going to be. That's, it's problematic. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That's going to be pretty toxic for a, for a person's psyche, for their emotional state. Like it's, it's. Yeah. So, I mean, look, that's, that's super cool. Like I, that's, you've really given me something to think about it as well. Like I've, I've been in, in bodybuilding since my, Well, truthfully, since my teens, but I didn't really understand it until my late 20s. And I'm in my 50s now. And bodybuilding itself contains a lot of lessons, right? Like, as you said, when people start out, it's about looking good. It's about looking sexy. It's about, like, I want the abs. If you're a guy, you want those pecs. You want the shoulders. You want... And don't skip leg day. But... But if you stay in it long enough, that can't last. Pursuing the aesthetic can't last. It
SPEAKER_01:just gets boring. It gets so boring.
SPEAKER_00:Also, you learn what it takes. To have abs year-round, unless you have the exact right kind of metabolism for that, is... I'm not so sure that it's healthy. No.
SPEAKER_02:No.
SPEAKER_00:Like there are people who have a metabolism where, and you hate those people. They're just like, you know, they've had abs their whole life. They don't understand how you couldn't, but, but, you know, for, for people like myself, it's like, no, I, I don't, it's, it's, it's not healthy, but the lessons that you, the lessons that sneak up on you from bodybuilding sounds like a, you had a mind that was primed to embrace those. But also it's, You've taken that past it. It seems like you're applying those same lessons now to pursuits that aren't bodybuilding. Is that fair to say?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I guess so. I'm trying to think. Now I'm making the most of doing all the things that I couldn't do in those years. So my mindset now, I've been home for two and a half years now, which is crazy. It's just flown by. Yeah. which is the reason it's so crazy that it's flown by is because for that 11 years, that stretch, I had never had my feet on the ground in any one country more than eight weeks for 11 years straight. So to be in Canada for two and a half years now is just wild. Blows my mind. Blows my mind. In fact, I am... I am going to Costa Rica in two weeks. I
SPEAKER_00:have a friend there. I should connect you. We'll talk after.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Well, it's not a vacation still. I'm hosting a fitness retreat. So there is that. So we'll be moving around quite a bit. But anyway. Yeah, but the last place that I went was Libya. So, you know, it's wild now to me to think two and a half years later, I've been in Canada this whole time. The only place that I've gone is Vancouver, Toronto, a few visits. So within Canada, I have stayed. And yeah, and in both places, you know, I had good, like close friends and family to stay with. So it was very comfortable it was not at all like what I used to do so it's really interesting and we had all the amenities of course the gyms and all the things that you have here so it's been really cool to be home this whole time but I would say that I've embraced this time um this might sound like a really weird thing to say but I still kind of after 11 years of living in Middle East and Africa um I it took me a while to even know how to come home
SPEAKER_02:And
SPEAKER_01:I do feel that even though I am Canadian, I was raised here, I've spent so much time abroad. Cause it was actually a flight attendant for 21 years, but it was 11 of them that were like abroad. So the, before that, um, actually there was another year I was in the middle East too. So one airline I was in Abu Dhabi for, so let's say 12 years that I've actually spent abroad. And then the rest of the time, um, was flying a lot, always, always leaving. Um, So it is strange for me to be back, strange for me to be able to embrace this kind of lifestyle where you can join clubs and communities and take part in sports and
SPEAKER_00:be on teams. And get a dog.
SPEAKER_01:Get a dog, yeah. It's amazing. It blows my mind. So I know there's a lot of people that they struggle with their mental health, and I have too, especially. I left my job with... you know, with a diagnosis actually of PTSD. So I was dealing with a lot when I left. But like embracing all that is available to us and all of the options that we have is what, I don't know, kind of turns that around for me, what keeps me going. Like when things are tough, if I get any kind of movement in, I'm happy. Like when I was really struggling just to get out and go for a walk, That would make my day. That would be enough. No pressure beyond that. But once things start to shift and you can look at it, like if you've ever really struggled and you've been in a really tough time or you've traveled and you've seen what it could be like to live in other countries and then you come back with this mindset of like this kind of new immigrant to Canada mindset, I still have that. I still feel like a new immigrant to Canada and I'm going to keep that. I'm going to hold on to that. because we are so lucky. Like we are so lucky. It's ridiculous. And I just love to wake up and realize that every day and embrace it and make the most of it. So I do Olympic lifting and jujitsu and pole dancing and dance classes and all the things because we're so lucky we have them. We can. And not only do we have them, but we have free week passes. You can try them
SPEAKER_02:all.
SPEAKER_01:You could be that cheapskate. Try everything and then decide what you want. We have that here. So when people like, oh, don't try. There's just so much out there. I don't get it.
SPEAKER_00:You know what? Coming from... If what you had just said was coming from somebody who didn't have your, your, your life experience, it would sound like a cliche. Like you, you, you do hear people talk about how lucky we have it and living in a first world country. People will say that a lot, but I know from my own limited experience that you don't really understand what that means until you've really seen until you've really been in a place. that you think you're comparing it to. And so I spent, and you know this because we talked a little bit about it, I spent three weeks in Ghana. And I didn't know what to expect at all. But I have to say that my three weeks in Africa, in Ghana, which is like a good part of Africa, like it's...
SPEAKER_01:That was the very first place I went in Africa, too.
SPEAKER_00:So, I mean, so you know, it's like... But everything... it's so hard to explain it to somebody who hasn't been there. You have to be there for about a day before you realize that, you know, this isn't home. Like you're, you're not, there are so many things we take for granted living here that we don't even realize we take for granted, uh, until you're in a place like that. And I came back from my, my, my, so compared to your 11 years, my minuscule three weeks, I came back with this sort of perspective of holy shit. Like, Every day you should wake up and go, I'm glad I have a toilet to flushes. I'm glad that
SPEAKER_02:if
SPEAKER_00:I have a heart attack, I call 911. An ambulance will be here in minutes.
SPEAKER_02:And
SPEAKER_00:take me to a hospital where they're going to be able to help me. These are
SPEAKER_02:the
SPEAKER_00:things that went through my mind. So I get it. I guess what I'm saying is, I get it. I get what you're saying. But I love what it's done. Like, I love your, your sort of perspective now. It's like, well, I should, I should do these things. Like I should be happy that I can do these things and join these clubs. By the way, I knew you were Olympic lifting. I knew you were doing that. I knew you were doing jujitsu. And I want to ask you about that. Cause that's, that's, I've seen you rolling with guys and I wonder about that. But I didn't know you were doing pole dancing. I don't think you've posted anything like that.
SPEAKER_01:I did. I used to post it. I don't, I was doing gymnastics too. When I first got home, I did a little bit of everything. I tried that, but then I had to kind of narrow it down and pick what are my favorites and Olympic lifting and jujitsu are probably the two hardest of the ones that I picked that like to excel at. And my coach was just talking to me about that this morning. He's like, he laughed. He said, um, after we competed on the weekend, he said on the car ride home with another athlete from our team, he said, we were talking about you. I was like, what were you saying? And he said, we were laughing about how you literally picked the three hardest things to do all at the same time. And I was like, three? So funny. He just looked up my dog as I said that. He doesn't know what I'm going to say. He said, you chose to tackle Olympic lifting and Brazilian jujitsu and get a dog all at the same time. And when you hadn't had pets before and hadn't settled down, didn't, you know, like completely solo. And now you become like, you know, you've got this, this cute little pet, like dependent on you. And so you become a dog mom, which I don't think that's the hardest thing, but like compared, but it was, it was new for me, but he like all three, you started at the exact same time. So, you know, if you're ever overwhelmed, like we get it. Like, this is why it's like, Oh yeah. Right. It
SPEAKER_00:seems that you're thriving. You thrive on that, though. Like picking the hardest things doesn't surprise me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think it's a problem, actually. I think it's something I need to work on. And I'm realizing that more, especially being somebody that has, you know, struggled and talked openly about mental health, too. So I have, you know, seen a psychologist and ever since I struggled with it overseas. And, you know, the last time I did talk to a psychologist, we were talking about that. They're like, you know, you go for the hardest things, the hardest path always. Like, so that whole, your system is just in fight or flight and you do need, I do a lot of yoga, but I still choose the hardest yoga class. Right. So yeah, you know, my psychologist even said that they're like, it's really challenging for you to just sit still and read a book and meditate and do the easiest yoga class, like do a nice relaxing yin. So I've, I've realized that and thought, yeah, that's, that's exactly what I do need to do. But again, I just really enjoy doing the hard stuff. I do. So I just try to kind of give myself a little bit of that, you know, reflection time, whether it's journaling or meditating, um, maybe going to a, like a yin or restorative yoga class. Uh, I'm not somebody that can do those things easily at home by myself. There are some times where I can concentrate enough to, you know, journal, um, meditating without yoga sometimes, but not often. So usually I will just go to a class where I can do that, you know? Um, But I think those things are quite important as well, especially if you're somebody that struggles to do them.
SPEAKER_00:To do relaxing, like the less hard things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I don't enjoy doing less hard things. I do sometimes. I have to really be engaged, really be in the moment. And so I think it's worth it. I've found instructors that I really like. And so I will go to certain people Because I'm like, okay, this is the person I can listen to. But yeah, it is hard for me to relax. It is quite hard. Even read a book. I have a collection of books that I don't often get through just because I need to go do something active. Like all the time. It's interesting.
SPEAKER_00:Has it always been like that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I'm like, I wonder if it's ADHD.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I've literally been thinking about this all lately going
SPEAKER_00:hmm I
SPEAKER_01:should find out but even if it is I don't I don't care I kind of like it
SPEAKER_00:as as someone who's like I've been a teacher for most of my adult life and I work with kids and when you do that when you work with kids like teenagers and young adults you do become a little bit of a psychotherapist too
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_00:and ADHD is something that if you're an educator that's something that you're you're facing all the time and, and you sort of, and, and I'll tell you what I've learned basically is that, um, we sometimes our weaknesses create strengths and then you might realize that, well, why did I, why did I, why was I motivated that way? Like that wasn't a healthy motivation. Um, but here I am now with a superpower that was generated from an unhealthy motivation. And there sort of comes this moment where. It's like, well, I don't want the unhealthy motivation. That's not good. But I do like the superpower. And so how do I find this path where I get to still push and hone the superpower, but do it from a healthier place? Yeah.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I see, I see teens struggle with this and I see adults struggle with it and I struggle with it. It's like, I have a lot of what I'd call superpowers that didn't come from a healthy place. Like even, even if you think about it, bodybuilding is that.
SPEAKER_02:Yes,
SPEAKER_00:for sure. You just, you just want to, you just want to look great, right? Like you just, you just want, I remember the day that I realized I was, I used to watch soap operas with my mother and there was this guy, we're talking back, this is me back in the 80s. And soap opera males back then weren't bodybuilders. They were slim, good-looking guys.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But there was this one guy who had a chest. Like, he was clearly a bodybuilder. And I was like, that. I must look like that. So that women will look at me and appreciate me. And it's really such an unhealthy motivation.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But, you know, as a metaphor, I guess what I'm saying is... you reach this point where it's like, okay, but I like it. Like you just said, I like hard things. I don't want to not do hard things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. I like it. And I actually do think it's a bit of a superpower, but I do think like, for instance, I've had that thought recently going, you know what? This kind of sounds like ADHD, but anyway, I just thought, yeah, but do I care? No, I kind of like this about myself and I'm a go-getter and I think that's great. But what, you know, could help is, is just having a proper routine that you stick to, like a morning routine, like the CEO kind of morning routine, because that's what somebody with this problem needs. They just need to stick to certain things and then they can go squirrel after.
SPEAKER_02:You
SPEAKER_01:can squirrel the rest of your day as long as you stick to your morning routine and then you're like, check, check, check, done. And I think that's really all it is because I'm actually, I love it. I do feel like it's a superpower. It's just, yeah, concentration and focus can be hard. And that's one reason why I do really like taking part now in, you know, sports that are committed times like classes, jujitsu. I go at a certain time to jujitsu class yoga. I go at a certain time. Olympic lifting gives me some, you know, I, I, I can go whenever I want sort of thing, but my coach is only there at certain times. So it still gives me a little bit of structure if I do want advice from him, if I want him to critique my lifts. So that does help. But I really appreciate that having a structure and time blocking and trying to stick to a schedule as much as they can. It's not perfect. I try my best. I have everything color coded. I try so hard. You know, it's a very organized color coded. Oh, you can't see.
SPEAKER_00:You can sort of see it. That's me
SPEAKER_01:trying to have that CEO checklist. It doesn't work perfectly, but it helps. It does help. The rest of it does feel like a superpower and I'm happy about that. Motivation is never an issue. It's doing it all that's an issue. How do you do it all?
SPEAKER_00:That's a question that For me, it gets harder to answer as I get older too, where I've applied my– like I have this sort of laser focus that I can use. And when I apply it, I excel. But it feels like as I get older, I can't apply to as many things at once. Like I can't keep as many balls in the air. Do you find that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And it also depends. Yeah, maybe a bit as you get older, but also– For me, it's more, it could be other commitments that you have as well, right? So you don't want to sacrifice your time with your loved ones so that you can accomplish all these other things that you're trying to do. So just having that nice balance, that's a part of it. So different stages of your life, not necessarily getting older, but just different stages of your life that are devoted to other activities or other people as well. And then depending on, how complicated the tasks are. Like I said, with starting Olympic lifting and jujitsu at the same time, it just... it didn't make sense. So one did have to fall behind. So I let that be jujitsu. And I put Olympic lifting first, I kind of dabbled in jujitsu. And now I am bringing it a bit further up. So Olympic lifting is kind of taking a backseat for the next year in a bit, because I've just hired a new coach that I'm starting with in March. And he's more of a powerlifting coach. So we're going to have a different focus. But that doesn't that's not a new stimulus for me in the way that Olympic lifting in in jujitsu is so that I feel like, okay, that's fine. I have done that before, not competed, but I've done the lifts. Um, so I think I'm okay to, to kind of put jujitsu up there again. So I'm excited to see what happens there.
SPEAKER_00:That's, that's really cool. I want to ask you just a little bit about the Olympic lifting. Cause
SPEAKER_02:yeah,
SPEAKER_00:I know that. And again, it's just because I've, we've known each other sort of for a while and I know that you always were naturally muscular, um, which probably means you were naturally strong.
SPEAKER_01:Some areas,
SPEAKER_00:not all.
SPEAKER_01:Okay,
SPEAKER_00:so I guess my question with Olympic lifting is like, did you find that your strength increased quickly? Was it frustrating or was it rewarding or some combination? No,
SPEAKER_01:it's frustrating, if anything.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was very frustrating, very humbling, because I thought I was strong. And I was strong in bodybuilding type movements. And I could do things, you know, with proper form and move quite slow, like slow down the tempo. But moving fast and powerful was not my forte. And I thought I was very flexible and mobile because of yoga, but not in the exact same way, not in the specific way you need to be for an Olympic lifter, which is a lot of shoulders and hips. Like they are open, you know, more than like a gymnast. Like it's crazy. You're way back here and having passed, you know, shoulder injuries like so many people do. It's just, it was, that was challenging to work around. So I had my physio actually, who's on my team kind of working with my coach to develop my plan. So that was amazing. Yeah. And then that was initially to help the shoulders. I also, crazy enough, I put my back out pretty bad to the point that it was... ballooned up it swelled two weeks two weeks ago and I had the competition this weekend so I was going oh no it's not gonna happen um I'm I'm lucky I have an amazing chiropractor and physio and they're good friends I have a great relationship with both of them and they're both athletes like they they know that drive uh so yeah my chiro got me in took care of me really really well um and I you know, I, and gave me a lot of exercises just like my physio does. And so, you know, I just attacked that recovery just in the way you attack your training. I attacked that recovery and, and it worked. And to my surprise, I was better the day before the competition. So I couldn't train in the past two weeks leading up to the competition, but the day before, at least I was back to what I was at before. So I could, I could go. So that was really good. I think I got off topic.
SPEAKER_00:No, not really. I mean, we were, no, not really. We were talking about, I just asked you if you felt like you got stronger. And again, you know, you shifted my perspective. You shifted my perspective with your answer because now you got me thinking that really it was much more about technique than strength. And if you don't train for that specific thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Olympic lifting, it's so incredible to watch, you know, some of the other competitors, because I know what I might look like walking in to like to, you know, backstage. I know I'm very muscular. And that's the appearance I might have when I first walk in. So that could be intimidating. I know, like, I've had those talks with my coach. He's like, Oh, this is great. He's to our advantage. But it's not because I've only got just over a year in. And I think it's incredible because there will be women in lighter weight categories than me because we're in weight categories and age categories and everything. And I don't cut or do any of that kind of nonsense anymore for this. I just go as I am. And I will see ladies in the weight categories beneath me and lift way more than me. And I'm like, that's so cool. That's so cool. And you can't tell. They're tiny. You can't tell. You don't see this muscle popping out on them that people can see on me. And so I think it's amazing because you can shock someone. It's just like, you know, you run a race. It's certain sports. You run a marathon or a half marathon, and you'll see, you know, a 60-, 70-year-old grandma or grandpa, like, blasting past you. And you're like, what? What?
SPEAKER_02:And
SPEAKER_01:it's just, it's what people train for.
SPEAKER_02:You
SPEAKER_01:can't underestimate somebody that trains freaking hard at their specific sport. And here I am, squirrel, I do them all. So I do all the different sports, but that means I'm like, okay, okay at them, not the best at them. So it needs concentration.
SPEAKER_00:the intimidation thing, like the being muscular and that intimidates people. That's a funny thing. I wonder how often you've experienced that because you reminded me of a few times. I'm not a very good athlete. I just, I'm not that coordinated. Like we're talking about things like basketball or whatever, but I like playing. And I remember I used to go to this weekly pickup game and this was, I'd been bodybuilding for a while. And so I knew that when I And it would be like skins versus shirts. So, you know, you take off your shirt. And I knew that I looked more muscular than the other guys. What I never realized was that I was scaring them.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I was like, it's so funny because I'm the worst player here. Like all of you are intimidating me. And I didn't even know until somebody once said it to me. Do you find that? Like you get in a situation where you didn't realize it and then somebody was, you find out that you were intimidating just by the way you look?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've heard lots of comments like that before, which is always kind of weird when you're a woman, too, and you haven't, you know, I mean, yes, I've always trained hard, but I don't think, I know there's women that have embraced it in bodybuilding more, like, and taken it, you know, whether it's, like, with drugs or whatever. or just pushing themselves, natural or not natural, to go into physique or body, like pushing themselves further. I never actually wanted to. It was like, I was happy. I always wanted to stay in fitness. And fitness did turn, fitness and figure, I started in a figure actually, they both got more jacked. And I was fine. I grew with that as well. But I never wanted to go past that. I didn't want that. I was, you know, and I knew I could. you know, easier than some people could cause I, I could put on muscle quite easy naturally. But I was never comfortable with that. And so I getting those comments, you know, I've embraced them over the years and I'm used to them, but they are, it's funny how people are, I don't know. They think that you might want to hear that, but it depends on how it's given and how you receive it and how you're feeling at the time. So I just try to remember that because people will, when you look a certain way, and I think this all the time because I have friends that are basketball players and they might be close to seven feet tall and they get comments and it's like, but they know, but sometimes they just might not be in the mood to hear it.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, certain comments. And there were certain places I'd, if I was in a tank top and the reactions I might get, people think it might be a good thing, but it's not. Like, I'm not, you know, it's not always well received.
SPEAKER_00:I think I do understand. It's an interesting story that just happened recently. So because most of what I draw is female fitness models and even female bodybuilders who have taken it to the extreme, There's a Facebook group that I joined recently where it's just for artists who do realism, who do realistic drawings. And I posted a few and there was one drawing that I posted and I didn't understand the reaction. So it's a female bodybuilder. She's wearing jeans, but she's nude. from the waist up, but she's covering her breasts like this. And she's got the abs. I mean, in many ways, it's like the image of you there, except she's standing. And it's just, she looks amazing. Like she looks really, really, really, really good. And I tried to capture that. And I think I did. But the comments were ridiculous. Like, so first of all, people started saying her head is too small for her body. Well, it's not. I'm a much better artist than that. I got it. I got it perfectly. Her head was the exact right size. And I have to tell you, I didn't understand where the hate was coming from. I really didn't understand. And then people started talking about how, well, obviously somebody just Photoshopped a woman's head onto a man's body and there's no way those abs belong to a woman and stuff like that. And for the first time in my life, this might sound stupid. I don't know how this sounds to you, but I almost felt like I understood how it might feel to to be a muscular woman because this was my art. This was my drawing. And so the insults were personal to me. And also I started to imagine, my God, what if she was reading this? That's fucking horrible. Like, why would you feel like you even need to voice this opinion? This is a real human being on the end of this, who, by the way, looks amazing, who's got a physique that probably millions of people look up to and would want to look that way. Why do you even need to voice this opinion? So like that, that really got me thinking. And I'm wondering how often, you know, you've experienced that because it's probably more than I would have imagined.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah. And the strangest circuit, like strangest ways that you just wouldn't even expect. That just blew my mind too. Like, I mean, I kind of expected in certain places, like, social media, but I, it's funny. I actually haven't received it there as much. Like I, maybe I'm just kind of coasting. I don't try to build my page too, too much. It's slowly built over time. Maybe that's why I don't, you know, try to purposely build things there too much it's just because I don't want to deal with that and I don't want to be in the comments all the time dealing with you know people's nasty comments and I and I've been very lucky and I haven't had that and I hear those stories all the time or I see them happen and I haven't dealt with it there but I have dealt with it and it's the strangest thing when you deal with it with people you know like in you know your co-workers or you you know, even judgments you could get from your family or like all of that kind of stuff. It, it, it hurts in a different way when it comes from those that are closest to you. And it's, again, it's just people not really putting themselves in your shoes, how that might feel. And the, the reverse is also because when it happens, it's almost always that it's okay to fit shame, but it's not, it's not okay to fat shame. You could fit shame, but not fat shame. And we get it all the time. And it's, it's, it's weird. It's awkward because we just have to, those that have dealt with it, you just have to like think, okay, we can't say it back, but they are saying it from a place of insecurity. They're uncomfortable around us because they, we hold a mirror up to them. And that's the best thing that I can do. Even if they don't want to look like us, that doesn't matter. But there's a certain amount of consistency that an athlete holds. Like there's work that we've put in to showing up and doing whatever it is that we train for every single day. And so people that are struggling to show up and do anything every single day, it doesn't have to be sports. It doesn't have to be working on their six pack, but it's that consistency that we remind them of. And I think that's very uncomfortable for people, but what they don't realize is that we were human and we struggle with that consistency in other areas of our life. You just don't see it because the display shows that we are accountable and that we're hard workers, but it doesn't mean that, we're accountable and hard workers in other areas of our life. We could be struggling in something else, but that's not on the exterior. So people don't know that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's, I mean, that is, that is pretty insightful. I just, I mean, I've always been an idealist. I always thought like, well, most people are good. In fact, I think that you don't, in any given day, you won't meet a truly bad person. Most people you meet will be good. And it's just weird that people will, not take a second to think about how it's landing. And like, and as you said, it's like, I hear what you mean. It's like, if it's somebody that, you know, who's making comments about it or, I mean, I used to get it when I was doing my show prep, I would get it a lot. Yeah. But you sort of expect it. And also I just, I just, you know, it's probably goes without saying, but it's, it's definitely going to be different as far as comments on physique goes. for a woman than it is for a man. If, if, if some guy comes up to me and goes, dude, you're jacked. Well, that's a compliment in almost every instance.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But if he walks up to a woman and does it, maybe it's not like.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. It depends. Right. It really does. I used to get like the weirdest things I'd go through airport security. And if I had to, you know, take off a jacket or a coat and then I'd be in a tank top.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:there's just certain countries that I go through, they always ask me to flex. And I'm like, you're in the security line in front of a whole bunch of people. And you're like,
SPEAKER_00:that's, that's insane.
SPEAKER_01:It's happened so many times though. And I'm like, really? But they, it's sweet. Like they're laughing and they think it's great. And you're like, okay. But then I've also had it happen just grocery shopping and like, Mali or um Sudan um that was a really that was I didn't actually mind it there depends on the mood I was in of course um I just don't like when you're like on display in front of a bunch of people which is ironic since we're on display on
SPEAKER_02:stage right
SPEAKER_01:um but I actually hate that day I like the prep I usually despise that day at least you know the stage fright part but um But I liked actually being a good, as long as it was well received, a good representation for women in countries like Sudan or Afghanistan. So I would often have local women kind of ask me questions and that I liked. That was okay. That was good. Especially I guess the experiences I had, they were just genuinely like impressed and curious and just more curious to see what was possible for a woman and what it was like for me and my experiences. And they just liked it. So there was that. And in Sudan, it was always we were separated. So there was male and female gyms with the local gyms. and then i usually did my prep in a hotel gym so i would go to a nice hotel because they usually had more it cost a fortune of course but it would be the the local women's gyms were you know they were hilarious they had maybe maybe two treadmills some bands some mats um there was no like equipment. I don't know if there was even any weights, but I do remember there being one of those bands, like back in the day that you'd put around your tummy or your bum to shake. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I remember those.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. They had those, they had those like today. That's what they have in Sudan. And I thought, yeah, okay. I did it once. And I was like, that was cute. Now we're not coming back here. Um, so I'd go to hotel gyms, but I would still get looked at and I'd get asked, um, Like just a lot of questions, even from the local men or even the UN staff would ask me questions because the UN staff were always from so many different countries, right? We're from all over the world. So I would get a lot of questions there. And then a lot of people that in a backwards way will, you get used to it, but in a backwards way, they just try to ask you if you're on steroids. They try to investigate and you know what they're doing. You know, it's like a man trying to find out if you're single. Like they just, they ask the right questions. You just know how to backwards, you know, ask the questions. And it was hilarious because I just started embracing. I was like, oh, I'm going to get this all the time. Like, I'll just kind of go with it. It was, you know, entertaining, entertaining for me.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I mean, you know, you got to own it. It's, it's, it's how, it's how you're going to be perceived. Well, like that's, That's interesting. Um, and something to think about, like, I hope, I guess I hope for just my, my hope for in general for the world is people just think a little bit more about how things are going to land. Um,
SPEAKER_02:and,
SPEAKER_00:and on the flip side to see someone like you and, and just to sort of take things back a little bit, one thing that I've always been impressed by every time we deal, whether it's over text or in person, is just how um comfortable you seem to be with who you are and i'm not sure that it was always that way you know i don't think anybody is when they're younger but having having a daughter and having a daughter who's like also sort of naturally muscular
SPEAKER_02:it's
SPEAKER_00:important to me that people like you exist like so that younger younger girls can see hey look how awesome she is look how she looks, look how she's embraced it and how she owns it. And then deals with the world that maybe doesn't always understand it. Like,
SPEAKER_01:yeah.
SPEAKER_00:What are your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's not, I've definitely struggled for sure. But I think that I've just gotten to a point where I've just taken this, this role and I, I've turned it around and thought like, how can, again, just like, um, me wanting to do and achieve all these different things, you know, the potential, you know, ADHD, whatever you want to say is a superpower. Um, this is also a superpower in another way and I can't be anyone else. So like, how can I make this my superpower? But it's not like I, you know, didn't struggle to get to that point. It's just, there's just no point. There's just, just like, there's no point in me not, you know, when I was overseas and there's, you know, tanks rolling down the street and I'm still running up and down the stairs in my weighted vest prepping for a show and people are going, what are you doing? It's like, well, what else should I do? Just sit and cry? Like, well, I'm not going to do that. And so it's the same thing. It's like, well, this is me. This is naturally what my body wants for me and what my capabilities are, you know, without ever having to do anything. And that in itself is a gift and I should respect it because there are people that pay a lot of money to be able to get that. So I should be thankful and I should respect it. And yeah, I should do what's possible for my physique that I can do, that I want to do. I'm not trying to, I don't want to sumo wrestle. I'm not going to do anything, just anything. I'm going to do what I want to do with it, but I feel like I've been given this wonderful you know athletic body that has the ability to move and be strong and um and try a lot of different sports and so I feel that it would be a shame to not embrace that and so I'm not going to let myself get caught up on what it looks like and if it intimidates other people but I'm having fun then I don't it doesn't really matter I
SPEAKER_00:really love that I I'm um again just like it's such a healthy attitude and I know it, I know it doesn't come quick. Like you didn't get there right away. Like it took you a while.
SPEAKER_01:No. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And, um, and it's just, I think it's an important message. Um, I'm conscious of your time. I'm okay for time.
SPEAKER_01:I'm okay for probably about like 10 minutes just cause I do have friends coming, uh, that I want to clean the house for after that. Yeah. But that's it. Um, no, I think it's a good topic though, but I will say like, to go backwards. You know, I recall what that feels like. And I just know it's not worth it. It's just not worth stressing about things that you can't change. I always try to bring up this example. So my sister and I are very, very close. She lives out here in Calgary too. And we are, we're four years apart. She's my younger sister. We have different dads. So our physiques and our look is a little bit different. Her dad was, you know, tall and blonde. Um, and so she's got that, you know, those genetics. Um, but she's also a different body type. Like she does not put any muscle on, you know, and she doesn't really try to either. Um, but that's not her goal. She's never wanted to, it doesn't matter to me. We are so incredibly close. We are polar opposites with our we're so tight and it's amazing because I think that that relationship has really opened up our perspective on And we get to learn so much about what she does with her life and her goals. And she learns about mine and supports that. On the weekend, my competition was live. So her and my mom, who are both not into what I do, are both watching. And they're like, oh, that's so cool. And what was this? Wait, what does that mean? Why didn't you get this lift? And they're trying to learn about the sport. And I think that's really cool because it's not for them, but they'll embrace it because they love me. And that's how I am with them, with my sister as well, because, yeah, I'm My sister, she's so funny. If she notices any kind of muscle, as she did once, she noticed like a bit of a tricep, like her horseshoe. And she's like, how do I get rid of this? What
SPEAKER_02:is this? Get rid of it.
SPEAKER_01:It's like the opposite, the opposite. And it's so funny. We're so, so different. But the thing is, when I was younger, and I think that this is the case for many people, is that if you don't get out there in the world and you do not– either travel and get another perspective that way, or get out onto social media and see how many other people out there could be like you. When you start following certain groups, then you find more people that are like you. And I think that's a great thing. Because if you don't get out there in the world, whether it's physically travel or with social media, and you don't see... that there's other people out there like you, that are built like you, that think like you, that do activities like you, then you compare yourself to those around you and that is it. It's just that circle. And that could be really tough. So if I never got out there and and saw that there were other people other women that are going for the kind of goals that i am or traveling with the military or jumping out of planes or you know living in war zones as a single woman um or entering you know these fitness shows i wouldn't know like i i can i could fit into those groups and then i can that carries me through but i'm not comparing myself to my sister who is not going for those things right you know and and so she can have Right, right, right. I hated my muscle. I really hated it. And I tried to lose it. And that's why. So over the first few years in bodybuilding, it really upset me when people would ask if I was on steroids because I still had that pain, that hurt of like, I hate my muscle. Why would you ask that? I have it. Please take it. You know, but I liked the act of trade. I love training. And so it just kept, you know, you know, and I was a gymnast when I was younger, too. So, I mean, it's developed at a young age from gymnastics. And I loved that, too. I didn't like the look that it gave me from a young age, but I loved gymnastics. And so I was never going to stop doing it. But when you're on a sports team, you've got people like you. And when you're not on a sports team and, you know, you grow up and you're an adult and you don't take part in other, you know, communities of people like you, you can get a little bit lost and you can start to compare yourself. And, and it's not good for us. So I don't know. I think that's what gets us down. You just need to find, you know, the people that want what you want and are similar to you and, you know, embrace it. You're not all, we're not all going to look like, like Kate Moss, you know, but that's okay. You know, there's lots of women that do have that physique and that's great. And, and, They shouldn't compare themselves to us and we shouldn't compare ourselves to them. A
SPEAKER_00:super important lesson. I think that lands only as people get older.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Just so, yeah, we can sort of wrap things up. Not that I want to, it's like, it's super interesting. Just chatting there. I did actually make a list of things that I thought would be cool to talk about. Didn't get to all of them. And there's a couple like the jujitsu that I, we probably don't have time to circle back to now. But just one of the things you mentioned, your sister, and I'm going to sort of switch the topic for the last couple of minutes, because you often post stuff that you're doing with your nephews. I guess they're her kids.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And it seems like you have this really, really special relationship with them. That must be cool now that you're back in country.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's amazing. That was a huge draw to coming home. Yeah. Being able to get a dog and being around my nephews.
SPEAKER_00:How often... How often do you get to see your nephews?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, every week. I mean, they live five minutes away. Oh, nice. Yeah. So probably once or twice a week. It just depends on what we're doing. My sister will come over sometimes when she drops one of them at basketball or cadets or whatever their lessons are for the evening. She'll drop them off and then come to my place. And sometimes, so sometimes it's just us, but she might bring, you know, one of the younger nephews that doesn't have a lesson that night or something. So, so yeah, I usually get to see them and then, yeah, that's really amazing. That was a huge draw to coming home. Big time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And blue, just tell me quickly, like how has he changed your life?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, in like the best ways. I mean, he made me grow up so fast. It was like, I didn't even realize it was so funny. I bought a townhouse for him. A lot of things changed. My relationship changed. Everything changed because of Blue. I was just like, no, we're only doing things that are good for us now. It was great. It was really good. But yeah, it didn't even occur to me. I probably would have been in my old home, my condo. If it wasn't for him, it didn't occur to me that I could move and I could afford to move. It didn't cross my mind because I was just comfortable and I didn't need to. But he's 36 pounds now. And I think he's almost full ground. But the condo, their max was 20 pounds.
SPEAKER_00:I see.
SPEAKER_01:So I broke that rule. And they're like, well, you got to go. That's fine with me. He's more important. But it was great because we moved into a beautiful townhouse that's right across the street from a gorgeous path that ends up being, you know, it attaches to the longest path in the city that runs along the river. So we've got like lots of activity in the area. You can tell there's lots of marathon runners and triathletes and all of that. They're always training in this area. So it's a lot of fun. It's a really active community. He absolutely loves it. And yeah, we've got a much bigger space. So it's really nice as well. He changed my life in a lot of great ways.
SPEAKER_00:They do that. I'm the world's biggest fan of dogs.
SPEAKER_01:Oh,
SPEAKER_00:yeah.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Did you, if you want to ask me something about jujitsu, I can absolutely chat about that before we go. Or if there's something else you wanted to end with,
SPEAKER_00:go ahead. No, look, I mean, it's honestly just, it's really just been such a pleasure getting some deeper insights into some of the things that I knew. The jujitsu, I will ask just, you know, if you have the time, because you've been posting some videos of you doing jujitsu. And then recently you posted some where, you know, you're taking on men. And they honestly, they look like they could throw you across the room.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they could. They could,
SPEAKER_00:for sure. And I wonder, like, I mean, I don't do jujitsu at all. I tell you something, though. A lot of people who I really look up to do jujitsu, and they speak about it like it's the holy grail of everything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think that's probably true.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because I have no reason to doubt them. But specifically, what I'm wondering is when you're sort of rolling with a guy who could kill you, that must be so intense. You must be so in the moment there because you've got to be so...
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I don't normally roll with guys. The ones that you're seeing lately on social media are self-defense class guys. It's not necessarily jujitsu. I don't know if I've posted much jujitsu rolling with guys. Whenever I post jujitsu, I'm often in a gi. You could do no gi. So jujitsu, I'll just explain a couple things really quickly. So jujitsu is you wear a gi kind of like similar to karate or something. You've got the coat that you wear and then the thick pants and everything, right?
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So we're wearing that. It could be in any different color. So that doesn't really matter. So I've got a white, a black and a blue one. But the belt is how you tell, you know, somebody's experience and how long they've been doing it for. So I'm a white belt, which is a total rookie. So it takes a couple of years to kind of go through each belt to get to black belt. So there's five belts, actually there's six, but five main belts. And then the sixth one takes, you know, if you're still alive, then it's like, be like in 30 years. It's a lot. So yeah, so jujitsu, we're normally in gis and you would see that. So when I post that, you can tell from what we're in. You could do it in no gi, which is just going to be kind of like under armor type, you know, they're called thrash guards that we're wearing. So you could be, that can be a lot more slippery and the gi, you can grab on to somebody, but it just means that So people with jiu-jitsu, you might see that they wrap their knuckles, they wrap their ankles, they wrap lots of different areas, but it's because the tendons like this can get really worn out, just like rock climbers can get so worn out, right? So that can be really tough. And then also from having their heads kind of smashed into the ground, they could also get the cauliflower. And that's what you see there. I'll admit that is something that if that starts to happen, I will probably start like, I won't quit, but I'll like wear something over my head or ease up a little bit because no, I do not want cauliflower at all. But a lot of guys think of it as a badge of honor. to get cauliflower. Like they, they actually really like it. Um, it's painful though. You know, it's really tender to touch anyway. So jujitsu is, it's a, it's, I think of it more like, um, body chess. I think you would really like it because of being a mathematician and because you're, you know, quite intelligent. I think you would appreciate, you'd probably appreciate Olympic lifting too. I find Olympic lifting and jujitsu to be much more intelligent of the martial arts or of the lifting community. They are just so incredibly technical.
SPEAKER_00:That, that intelligence, sorry, that intelligence aspect of the jujitsu. I hear that a lot.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it attracts an interesting crowd because of that. Both of them do. I've really found that. It's quite different, the people that it attracts and the people that stick it out because it's so incredibly uncomfortable that it says something to me when somebody has stuck it out and you see they are a purple or brown or black belt. You're like, oh, wow. okay, you've been, you've roughed it through, you've been beat up a lot to get here, to get to this point, you've been humbled a lot. And it takes a lot to keep coming back and keep showing up when you are losing and you are being beat. And that will keep happening with each, it could happen, you know, at any time when you're in a with whatever belt you're at. But I mean, say you go from a white belt to a blue belt, then you're, you know, lower ranks of the blue belts. And then it's going to take you a while until you're comfortable if you're competing as well to get kind of higher. And then you go into a purple and then you go into brown and then black and you're always starting again, like the lowest of those ranks. That being said, we don't, we all like, will roll with each other. So a white belt will still roll with, you know, a purple or brown, we all like our classes are for anybody, unless they are specifically, you know, marked a competition class, and you know, it's, you know, not for you, unless you're competing. There's really no advanced classes at all. And the black belts and the brown belts and purple belts are actually some of the best to roll with. I really enjoy rolling with them because I'm always learning when I'm rolling with them. Rolling with another white belt, they make fun of us. There's so many funny memes on social media about white belts, but we're just frantic. Loons are flying everywhere. We're just trying to survive, but they're Once you pass on to other belts, they're not trying to survive. They know what to do. It's more technical. They've got the moves. They've got a library up there of moves to pull. And we don't, white belts. We have no moves. We're just squirming.
SPEAKER_00:We have nothing. Okay, so two things. First of all, I didn't realize that you were doing self-defense classes and jiu-jitsu. So I just assumed that the self-defense was part of the jiu-jitsu. Yeah. Um, so that's, that's, that's good education for me. And then the other thing was just, um, you just solidify something, I guess I'd been thinking about and just what the, what the attraction is. Um, but as far as the, so just, I just wanted to ask you about, so then what I was talking about was self-defense that you've been posting. Yeah. Um, and it just seems like, like watching it, it just seems like you're you're just doing everything you can to, to survive, like to, like just to like when in, in this sort of activity, is that, is that what I'm seeing? Like, is that, is that a fair assessment?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for sure. If you saw, I think I didn't share the one that I did post was with Joel and he's huge. The guy that I'm rolling with or in self-defense. So yeah, that's Joel. That was the first post. of our testing. So we, I just completed a month self-defense. So it's just kind of basic. If it's only a month, it was, it was two classes a week. So it was eight classes, but the last two classes where they tested us and, you know, we, they brought in the guys so that we recorded it, but it was the first day that they brought in the guys. And then the second day that they brought in a different set of like two men that came to, you know, volunteer attack us, um, So when I roll, or I guess it's not technically roll, but anyway, I still call it roll. So when I ever, when I kind of fought with the second guy, the second time, it was way better than that first time with Joel. Only a few days later, you know, having the practice, but also having, I was just lucky the other guy wasn't the size of Joel. So that guy was huge. So that was a lot. So realistically, you could tell by just the size of his hands. And he was hitting the mats to represent punching me, because he's not going to actually do that. So he's hitting the mats to show the force. And to get that reaction out of me. And it is incredible how I had been training and I've done jujitsu as well. And it didn't matter when you're put in that situation. Like you, my heart was pounding. You know, I was, I was panting. I was out of breath. We were, we probably did that for about a minute, 15 seconds or so. I remember looking at the watch when I got up and thought, Oh my gosh, like, Oh, when is my heart going to settle? Like it was, it was pretty scary, especially if it's a really big guy like that. But those guys are also, they know what they're doing. Cause those guys we know from our jujitsu school. So it's in a controlled environment and they're just acting it out. And they're, they're not going to actually do anything. Right. But in a real situation, one, we're hoping that these guys aren't trained in any kind of martial art, you know? So it's still worthwhile for a woman to take a self-defense course. Cause even like, You never know what their background is or how big this guy might be. But if you at least pick up a few skills, you don't know that some guy in an alleyway on the street has any sort of a training in a martial art. So hopefully, hopefully they don't. And if they don't have a jujitsu background or something, then they're not expecting you know any of this. They're not expecting that you can pull this move out and get away from them. And the thing I love so much about jujitsu and self-defense is both of them are just defense. So I don't want to fight. I don't really want to punch and kick. And that's just not my way. I've tried Muay Thai. It's interesting. I like it. But I like Brazilian jiu-jitsu because it's taking a self-defense course and it's just taking it a bit further. That's why it's at the same school. It's offered there. It's an intro course. to BJJ it gets you there it gets women in the door and it gets them interested in it and so that's why I did it again was just because I wanted to do it with a group of new women starting to kind of recommit and like graduate through the ranks of BJJ together so that's why I did it even though I was already doing jujitsu I just kind of wanted to grow through the ranks with a new group of women so so that's that's why but I it's more defense it's more how do you get out of a situation not attack somebody It's not, it's a gentle sport, even though you could break a lot and snap things. It is a gentle sport.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. No, I feel like I get that too. I mean, so, you know, watching you do that. So just so you know how it looks to the viewer, it's like, okay, she's much smaller than him. He seems like if he wanted to, he could inflict some real damage. Yeah. And he was creating just enough tension to make it real for you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think that was really important. So I'm just thinking about my own daughter. I would like for her to take some self-defense classes. And just to take back what you were saying, it's like, if you're in a situation like that in real life, shit hits the fan. You don't necessarily want to be in a fight. You want to get out. Defend and leave as much as you can. So that just struck me. And I wanted to ask you how that felt. And it seems like it felt pretty intense.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's super intense. But yeah, I highly recommend that all women do it. And that's why I share it. That's another reason I even just did it because I've done it before. But being a woman's coach, I'm always careful about, I always think about these things. I always think about like, what am I putting out there? Because I know that I am a leader in this area, this community. And I want to have that impact on women. my clients and my followers, you know, so that they see other women doing these things. And I've always put myself out there in other ways with traveling and sharing that kind of stuff. So people are maybe not so judgmental of other cultures and countries and they embrace it and they go and they learn and get out of their comfort zone. If, you know, a 5'4 Canadian woman can go and live in these countries by herself, like, don't be so afraid of this. You know, don't put yourself out there, travel. Like it's not as scary as you think. And, and now that I'm, you know, and now I'm just doing it in a different way with sports, like putting myself out there in other ways, the way I did with travel. And I just think it's important because when we share those kinds of things online, you know, they wanted, my school wanted us to film it anyway, but I think they like that knowing that I do put it out there because they know that, you know, my following, it can, it can positively impact my following. There is a part of me that almost wanted to put like a disclaimer to be like, this could like trigger warning, but I wasn't quite sure. I'm like this, I should be respectful that this might need a trigger warning. And I guess I just wasn't sure, like, like, do I put, what do I do in that case? I've never put something on, on line that I thought needed a trigger warning, but I do realize that Joel was quite, like a big guy and that could be frightening for people to see him doing, even though we're acting it out. Right.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe, maybe I, you know, from this one person's limited perspective, I don't think you needed a trigger warning there. I think it was educational to see. And, and if it was clear to me that he was making it just intense enough, like I wasn't afraid for you, but I was, I was thinking, wow, she's really experiencing this. Like this is,
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. This
SPEAKER_00:is like, you know, she's, she's doing everything she can to get out of the situation and he's doing just enough to show her how hard it is. Is that, is that fair? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Yeah. So if, if he was attacking in real life, that would be terrifying. I, I would hope that, and that just tells me, that doesn't tell me to stop. That tells me, okay, now I got to be a black belt.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's going to, you know, like, cause I, It's not that I can't get I know plenty of women that are brown and black belts that have that are eight to nine to 10 years into jujitsu. And they are confident and they can take on, you know, guys that are bigger than them. um simply just because they have the skills because it is it is very difficult to roll with somebody that is much larger than you but at least when it because it's in such an intelligent sport and it's so technical that at least when you've got this library of moves you know in the back of your head you're like oh okay i know i had to get out of this and being somebody smaller there's just there's always a solution just like there's there's a place for you know female firefighters because they're small and they can get into little spaces so you know when you you're in a match and you're fighting somebody and you're rolling like cool. Use your, use your size to your advantage and use their size to your advantage. Right. Right. You use your mobility and their mobility to your advantage. Like my shoulder can do funky things that there's probably can't. Right. And so we've got to think about those things. Like what can we use? So it's a real, it's, it's so interesting. Interesting. I think it's just it's really nice because it's such an intelligent sport. And it's so cool to see what's possible if you actually learn the skills.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. Awesome. Look, I could talk to you for a lot longer. We shouldn't for lots of reasons. But just thank you. Thank you for your time. And and for just just, you know, for always being so open about everything. Like it's just, I've never sensed, not once have I ever in all our interactions sensed any artifice or anything holding back. You're just like, you are who you are. And I really appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, thank you. Well, I'm so glad that we can, that we connected, that we can have these talks. And yeah, I guess I do have to go. My friends have texts there. They are on the way, but they're 20 minutes away. So I'm going to clean up my place a little bit, but I'm glad that we could connect. And I'm so excited to see, I don't know what you end up deciding to do with all of this, whether it's just, you know, something that you write from the script or if you turn it into YouTube's, but I'll be, I'll be watching. So keep me updated.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. Awesome. I'm going to turn off the recording and then hang around just for a second.
SPEAKER_01:All right.