At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Deepika Rao for an exclusive interview with us. Deepika is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Fitness Trainer, Coach, and Change Enabler. She is the Founder of The Fit Foodie Travels. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Deepika:
We are aware of your contributions to the ecosystem; talk us through your background and your journey, please;
I have a Masters in Medical Microbiology and have worked with Health and medicine since 2007. From research, academics and with for profit organizations. I have always found health and all its aspects very interesting and have constantly pushed my limits to learn more.
Fitness was always a topic of personal interest and nothing more till recently. In 2018, with a lot of encouragement from family and friends and with a big leap of faith, I decided to be a full-time trainer.
Things were uncertain and extremely hard in the beginning but, with perseverance and discipline, I slowly found my footing. I decided to bring together my three passions of fitness, travel and food and The Fit Foodie Travels was born.”
It branched into three different ventures eventually with fitness programs, The Fitreats for Active holidays and Erde for healthy and gourmet food options. COVID came and hit hard like for most people.
Fortunately, after the initial shutdown, online training picked up and I have trained hundreds since then. It gives me the flexibility and opportunity to reach a lot more people.
The Fitreats was hit worse during that period, but now we are back with a lot of amazing locations and retreats in 2023.
How did you discover your passion ‘Fitness Trainer’?
I was never a very physical child. Yes, I did run around and play like most kids did in the 80s but, I was never into sports or inclined towards fitness.
During my Masters, one of my friend took a membership at a local gym but then chose to not continue. I took it up as an experiment and to my surprise I loved it. I had a wonderful trainer who was focused on teaching me the principles and skills. I held onto this learning and practised it after college too.
Being physically active helped me immensely during and post my pregnancy. I started receiving a lot of queries from other women to help them stay fit. I would share programs with them constantly.”
In 2017, my friend Vishal who is an experienced fitness coach himself encouraged me to make it professional by getting certified.
I studied and got my strength and conditioning trainer’s and nutrition coach’s certifications while working full-time at a company and started training people early mornings before I went to work.
I realized how much I genuinely loved doing this. More so, seeing the happiness that my clients felt, I decided to quit my job and become a full-time trainer.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
First and foremost is the knowledge and acceptance that life will always be full of challenges. And what’s the fun if there aren’t any? The key is to keep your eyes on the goal and be prepared to pivot and change direction if and when needed. Planning and being organized help you deal with almost all challenges.
My success comes from a lot of happy people, who have been able to positively change their lives. The need and desire to build what I started and to be successful drive me forward.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My motivation comes from a lot of people in my life. Those who are hardworking, consistent and stuck to their goals.
Having said that, motivation comes and goes. It is impossible to stay motivated every day. I don’t, and I doubt anyone else does. What helps is discipline.
Building habits that kick in, even when you are not motivated helps you stay on the right path. There will be days when you take a break from that too, but that’s ok till you are able to come right back and focus on your routine.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person and be successful?
I will again start with discipline. It’s hard to do much without that. Being consistent and mindful of your actions. Being open to feedback and criticism and being able to change paths when needed.
Taking responsibilities and risks that might open a whole new road for you. Being positive and taking failures as a learning lesson. Never stop learning. Constantly learning and updating yourself is the key to growth.”
More importantly, taking time for yourself. Make sure you spend some constructive time without any other distractions with yourself. This time is not meant for working. It is to just do what brings you peace and a chance for your mind to open up.
What advice would you give to our readers?
Be patient. Nothing good comes easy and quick. If it does, it won’t stay with you long. We all have different starting points in life.
Don’t compare with others path and just focus on yours. At the same time, don’t forget to have some fun. Be silly and learn to enjoy the process!
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
It has to be my clients. It is not just about what they get out of me or the satisfaction of helping them inch towards their goals. But, it’s all that I get to learn from them.
To meet so many new people! Watching and learning from so many people from different backgrounds and stories. Being able to make lifelong friendships and enrich my life is the most exciting part of what I do.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
