Kim Kardashian’s Personal Trainer: Take Control of Your Health Before It’s Too Late | Senada Greca

Hi, and welcome back to the Big Deal podcast. I'm Cody Sanchez, and this is for those of you who don't want to just be rich, but free and are willing to do what it takes to get there. All right, this week we have Sonata Greca. This woman is a powerhouse, and I don't just mean physically. She's definitely one of the buffest women I know. Also beautiful. But she is the trainer for Kim Kardashian and Karlie Kloss, plus a bunch of other fancy names you would know. She also has multiple companies she runs simultaneously, millions of followers online, and we talk about things that I think you guys are going to care a lot about, which is if you are a woman, how do you become healthier, fitter, look better in the gym in a way that's simpler and easier? But we're also going to talk about some crazy origin stories, like, she grew up in communism, real communism, and what that meant to go through that difficulty and become the woman that she is today. I thought she was pretty incredible to follow on the Internet prior to this, and then I got to meet her, and I realized that real strength is not on the outside. It's on the inside. So if you want to hear stories about a brilliantly strong woman and how to become one yourself, this episode is for you. I think when everybody, you know, says your name, they think what I think, which is, how do I steal her butt immediately? So I think we should start talking about first. Like, it's pretty incredible. Like, you have all these methodologies you use, but for us women, we have a hard time activating our glutes in particular. And I didn't know that was a thing until I started going down your. Your rabbit hole of mind muscle connection and how important that is for glutes. And so for normies like me, who've never done anything like this, how does one steal a Sonata butt?

You got to put in the work. There's still three steps. It's not easy. There is. There's no magic pill, unfortunately. You know, I say that the magic pill is in the work that you're trying to avoid. So do the work. And unfortunately, like, glutes are a big muscle, so they need a lot of work. But mind muscle connection is one of the biggest things that I've always employed, which is you touch, you. You think about the muscle that's working. You are present with the muscles that are working. In this case, your glutes. Yeah, you'll see me on a lot of videos. I'm like, Touching whatever area. And mostly glutes. Yeah, that, that I'm working out because there is a correlation, as you probably know, with mind to body and body to mind. It basically sends those signals up to the brain that we're working these muscles. So let's activate them and then to get more, if you want to know more like technical aspects of it, you know, there is in my book a way to work out your glutes that is effective. So including things that are like a squat or a lunge, which are moving in one vector and then doing our deals like hip hinge, hip hinge exercises and then going into vertical vectors like step ups, doing abduction, which is working your side booty, upper booty and then a hip thrust which is like that contractor. So employing all of these different aspects and then hitting it, you know, like three times a week. For me it's really important because it is the biggest muscle in your body and will burn more calories and will help you health wise. Yeah.

And so basically, mind if we've never heard of that before. Mind muscle connection. The first activation is you touch it. So if I'm like trying to move this part, I actually touch with my finger. And why does that actually help? Like how have we gotten so disconnected from our muscles?

Because we're thinking about, you know, what am I going to have for dinner, am I what TV show I'm going to watch, you know, or you know, the children have, you know, this sport and that activity. We're busy so we are not in our bodies. Most of us are like, you know, watching a series or something while we're working out or listening to, to music or I don't even listen to music anymore because I am, I want to be present with, with what I'm doing in that moment. That's like my moving meditation in a way. Not the discount, actual eyes closed and bringing it to, you know, internally. But that's my moving meditation. That's one of the reasons, especially nowadays that we've become so disconnected. But there's also a chemical process, if you will, that, that happens when you do actually touch. All of a sudden your brain is like, oh, that's, that's, that's, that's being worked like it's actually a chemical process that's occurring as well. Not just the woo woo. Then I'm watching them.

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It is. So I actually, I'm maybe a gluten for punishment, but when my mind goes there like this sucks, like I want to get out of here, I'm actually. No, you're gonna slow it down and you're gonna add two, two reps on top of that just so that, you know, again, I'm kind of bringing it, bringing it back to the body and not running with, with the thoughts that are taking over my mind in the moment. Listen, if, if you watching TV or listening to music or whatever you need to do in the meantime gets you to get moving and work out, do it. If that's the only way that you're going to do it, do it. But if we're talking about, then maximizing like your results and, and talk, talking about like the nitty gritty, then yeah. Yes, you'd want to kind of fully concentrate on what you're doing in that particular moment. You. Yeah.

When you, you grew up in Albania, right. And you left when you were a teen.

Yeah.

Were you, were you into fitness and kind of the same sonata there that you are here, or did something change?

Yeah, I've been an active kid, so I've always been like on trees and you know, climbing to get like the ripest fruit, which I saw some tangerines outside and I stole a couple. I did, I did. Because it just, I don't know, it brings me back like such good memories of that part of the childhood. So I've been an active child, but I didn't. I was not. Like, I didn't excel at sports. I played every sport imaginable, but I wasn't, like, an excellent athlete. Because I think one of the idea. One of the things there is, is that when I got into the sports, like, as a teenager, it wasn't for the right reasons. I just wanted to work out, be as skinny as possible, as thin as possible. So it wasn't like, I want to be just a good athlete. And now it's become to, like, I want to be the best athlete that I possibly can at this point in my life. But, yeah, that was an active child, super active child to now doing what I do.

What. What's Albania like? I've never been. What was it like growing up there?

So Albania was a communist country at that time, where when I was born and well into, like, my years, it was tough. It was waiting in line for rationed food, placing, you know, a water bottle in a very long line of people to claim your spot. So you can. You. You would get your rationed food. And then with the turning over of, like, communism to democracy, quote, unquote, that also presented a lot of issues. There was a civil war that broke out. You know, I was. I would stand in line for, like. I mean, it sounds surreal sometimes, right, for a loaf of bread and being, like, passing out, being elbowed by adults because, you know, you. You had only a limited amount of food that was being distributed at that point in time. So you just had to fight for it, literally, like, survival. Like, literal survival. So, yeah, that even though, you know, my mom was a professor, my dad was a doctor, you are slightly better off than other people in the sense that, you know, my dad would get extra payment in term, in the. In the way of a sheep or some chickens, you know, so sometimes you'd have that little. Little surplus, if you will. I can remember, like, as clear as day, like, the first can of soda that he brought home because somebody had gotten it from somebody that gave it to him, literally, like a can of soda that me and my two younger sister split into three little espresso cups. And I can still taste that and in my mouth. And. Yeah, so it.

That's very different than la.

Yeah, it is, it is. And, like, living this reality right now where, you know, I'm. I'm training Kim Kardashian, and I am, you know, I have a couple of businesses that I run, and I would say, yeah, like, a very successful individual. Like, that almost seems like, who. Whose life was that? But it was very much my life.

Do you remember, like, the lot? Do you. Do you remember the lines? Do you remember those moments?

Oh, they're like, I keep getting chilled as I speak about it, but, yeah, get me emotional. Yeah, I remember the lines very vividly. I, like, I passed out in one of those lines, like, you know, waiting for. For bread and in the heat. Dry heat of Albania, probably 8, 10 years old, you know. Yeah.

And were you there by yourself with your family?

I was. I was. I was the oldest of. Of three girls. Three girls. So I, A lot of the time assume the. The responsibilities of. Of the household. I was like. I consider myself as like, the boy of the house, you know, I was that tomboy that I wanted to. To protect and to care for the family and for my sisters and my mom. I forget the question.

No, it's a beautiful answer. Do you think that's part of the reason why you care about being so strong now is that it is absolutely.

One of the main reasons why I thought we're gonna talk about.

I started with a butt, and now I'm talking about breadlines.

I'm so. It's so. But it is. It's truly, you know, it's. It's so multifactorial. It is, you know, caring for my sisters, my younger sisters. It is caring for my mom, who had a very. She. She had me at 19, you know, and a child very much herself who was dealing with her own, you know, history of anxiety and whatnot. And to have a kid that young, you know, to at times be. Be her parent as well, you know, So I think that that's one of the main reasons why empowering women to step into their strength and really embody who they're supposed to be at their fullest is so important to me that. So you're about to make a trade based on a friend's text, but which.

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Also makes sense why you've attracted these millions of people that follow you online because it's so much deeper than aesthetics. I mean I had.

It is.

I had followed you and you know, you are a very strong woman physically, but going through that mentally and emotionally at such a young age, incredibly rare. How, how did you guys get out of Albania and get to the US.

It was at the height of that civil war that I was talking about. It was.

And this is where it was. It was Albanians versus there was like.

It was Kosovo that went to, you know like Serbia went to war with Kosovo. I was. Take a step back. It was a little bit before that. It was like two years before that if I remember correctly, were this like civil unrest. People broke into the armories. Where they hold. Is that the armor? Yes, where they hold the guns and everything. Weapons and, and. And they were literally just shooting at each other like targets.

Like, you know, it was racial based or religion based.

It wasn't any. It wasn't anything. It was just a rebellion against the government against. There were some pyramid schemes that went on that stole people's money. So it was just like I'm, you know, I was young at the time, so the full story, you know, but I. It was though those are like kind of the main components. It was just turnover from, from communism. It was just a. Something that had built up over. Over that time. So like that the pyramid schemes and then. So yeah, people were just literally shooting at each other or were making targets of something like, you know, can, can you do. Can you make that shot? So I remember clear as day when that started, like going under the bed and like go hiding for cover to. Because it was just so. It was extremely scary. I don't even know how all of us in my family made it out alive. We fortunately, to go back to your question fortunately won the, the lottery to. To. To. To actually come here legally. So we were equipped with a green card, which very fortunate as compared to other people. So right away we had the green card. Then we got our passports and that came at a very, at a time that was needed.

Did you speak English?

I was the only one in the family that spoke English because I had taken some courses. Some private English courses were private. No, like not one on one, but like group courses that were outside of. Of of school hours. So you know that. That came again with the responsibility of like having to translate, you know, at 14, 15 for my, my parents and had to carry them, carry them through. I was the only one to. Yeah.

And do they all live here now?

They're in New York. Yeah, they live. They live here.

Oh, my Lord.

They're better equipped now. So thankfully, she said, mom, learn some English. Yeah.

Incredible. And you know what's fascinating is I want to talk a little bit about the app and the business that you have, too, because it translates to so much more than physical strength, which is the. Really one of the main reasons I wanted to have you on. Everybody knows you on the Internet for your strong body and these videos that you do that are very easy to understand about how to get strong and beautiful for women. Like, you could be strong and fit and feminine and. And yet there's so much depth here. And so you could have, quote, unquote, just started another workout app, but instead you decided to do something a little bit different. We talk about that, and now it makes a lot more sense.

Yeah. I think there is a lot of areas in our lives, especially in women's lives, that are sometimes spoken and unspoken that we would like a little bit of help with and a little bit more direction. I mean, there is so much information out there nowadays that it's just so overwhelming to decipher through. I mean, God knows how many reels my mom sends me on a daily basis. Me too.

I'm like, mom, forget about, like children, perimenopause. Now it's like you have to know everything.

Yes, yes. So you have to be an expert. You have to be your own advocate. You have to maybe have a medical degree and, you know, a lawyer. You have to be a lawyer, maybe in some situation, a law degree. So the idea is to really help women with not just fitness. I think fitness is paramount. That is, you know, taking care of our health is probably one of the most important investments that we'll ever make in our life. But I think there are so many other areas that we need expertise on, like true expertise that you can kind of go. You can go. Go in one place and find all of this, versus scouring the Internet or versus getting fed. All of these sometimes very contradicting information. Yeah.

And so the app's called We Rise.

Yes. We rise. We Rise together or Together We Rise.

I like it. And you. And the idea is there's fitness on it, but you're going to have a bunch of women speak on different subjects.

Yes. And have actionable items. Not just speak so you know, somebody's speaking at you, but actually giving you tools that you can implement to achieve goals that you're working on. So whether that is changing your mindset or navigating through careers, Changing careers or creating your own brand. That's coming in 2025. What we do have now is an expert in habits and a nutritionist expert as well, to help you, you know, with even things like what are macros? How many macros should I be consuming? It's so overwhelming.

Yeah, And a lot of it's not for women. Like, I, I, you know, I mean, I have buddies that, buddies too, that are health experts, but most of them are men. And so, you know, it's intermittent fasting. Well, turns out that's not that great if you're trying to get pregnant, for instance. I had no idea.

It's not that great, period. If you're, you know, especially when you're hitting your late 30s and early 40s. It is just not a good idea because of our hormones. Our hormones are much different than men's hormones and that can wreak havoc in our hormonal system. So. No, no, I, yeah, I used to, a long time ago, intermittent, fast enough changed that because, you know, naturally it wasn't like a breakfast eater. But now I kind of make myself have that 30, 20 to 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning, 30 minutes within waking up, so that I can tell my body, basically, we're good, we have some nourishment. We don't go in, we don't have to go into the fight or flight mode. Right. Because as women, we are predisposed to go into that mode. We work out of the sympathetic system more so than the parasympathetic. So that, and, and that kind of helps start the day that way.

To really be simple here. What's the right way to start the day? Breakfast, wise as a chick, what should we be eating in the morning?

Make sure you're eating like 20, 30 grams. 30 grams if you can, of protein in the morning to just start you off, because your body is looking for that protein, for all those amino acids, for all those nutrients to keep it simple. For myself, like, you know, I don't have time to cook first thing in the morning, so I'll make a, a protein smoothie that's also a very digestible, absorbent, you know, meal that you can make quickly. I throw in, you know, it's pretty simple. Blueberries to get a little bit of fiber, I throw in some protein in their protein powder, either almond milk or oat milk, unsweetened, usually. And what else? I throw in some nuts, I throw in my creatine in there, and I think that's pretty much it.

What's the Deal with creatine. People are really excited about it right now and seem to think that people should be taking creatine.

Yes, yes. For, for a long time. See, I don't jump onto like supplements right away. I like to like see the data and see where it's going. But before I. First of all, let's back up. You know, supplements are not necessary unless you are lacking in nutrition. I always go nutrition first, make sure that that's on point and then you can see where you can supplement comes. It turns out that creatine is a, is a pretty important supplement, not just in muscle growth, but in brain health as well. So I have, I've started myself adding creatine to especially as, you know, get a little bit older and you know, we want to really keep that muscle on. We want to grow that muscle, that strength as well as keep our cognitive functions in check. And creatine helps with that a lot.

Yeah, you've said before that one of the things that's a pet peeve of yours is that women say, hey, when I go lift, I'm going to become really bulky. Yeah, can you talk to me about that? Is that what happens with women? We work out, we instantly get huge muscles?

Huge, huge. No, I mean, it's, it's how we're built. Like our hormones do not allow us forget to, for us to become that big naturally. You know, I'm sure there is steroids and other anabolics that like people can use that can, can do that and that's their choice. And maybe that's the fear there because people see some of these bodybuilder women that, you know, when you, when you, when you go to certain classes of bodybuilding, then they're almost like forced to take them and you, you're not going to become that because that is not being done naturally. Just lifting, eating properly will, will not get you to that point. It'll get you to be healthy, to grow healthy muscle that you need for quality of life, for quality longevity. I mean, muscle to me is a currency. It's a currency to health. That's how I see it. And it used to be again, how can I be as thin as possible because of these thin models? Now I'm like, how can I put as much muscle as possible while I can so that I can prevent anything that might be detrimental to my health down the road, you know?

Yeah, it seems like more women are working out these days with weightlifting, but it's still not that common. Like of my girlfriends, maybe 10%, I can think of actually like to lift. Why do you think women lifting is so important for women and health?

Longevity, you know, preventing osteoporosis, preventing sarcopenia, like muscle loss, like preventing all of these diseases that are at the top of the list from which women die from. Because, you know, you want to prevent the fall or you want to be able to get up from a fall. And those are. And weightlifting, it's so important to do right now or wherever you're at, wherever. Whatever point you're at, it is so important whether you're in your 20s, but then it becomes even more important when you're in like, 30s and 40s and 50s and so on to. To lift. To lift relatively heavy. I would say with great form. It's our health.

Well, how do you know if you're lifting heavy or not?

So usually heavy, it's all relative, you know, but by. I would say if you're recommend. If in a program you're recommended, let's say 12 reps or 8 reps. Heavy means going up until that 8 or 12 rep, and you're not able to go any further than that. Maybe you have one or two more reps in the tank, but you're basically AKA going to failure, and that's considered heavy while maintaining great form. Great form. You don't want to compromise form for. For the weight that you're lifting.

You know when I knew I really liked you on the Internet, when I saw that you also wear your hair up to the gym. I go to, like, collective, and there's a whole thing there in Austin, and everybody's like, all dolled up in the gym. Have you noticed this trend? And the hair down now, you don't have that long hair, but I'm immediately judgy. If I see, like, a woman working out with her hair all the way down, I'm like, oh, no. You know, I'm never gonna look that cute. So I immediately, immediately judge you of it. But you. You talk a lot about intensity, too, in your workouts. Like, how important is it? How hard should you be sweating? Does any of that matter? Is it just. Do you have to go fast? What is like a workout look like in your mind?

Yeah, that's ideal. I go hard and. And heavy.

And you're sweating. Sweat.

I grunt. I do. I'm one of, you know, the people that sometimes by the end, by, like the last rep or two. I don't maybe look like that in the videos.

No, I've never heard a grunt.

I don't want to Be too distracting. I do breathe heavy, but. But yeah, I think intensity is, is as important as like lifting heavy. But. And then it comes. When it comes to intensity, are you talking about like, when you're lifting heavy or are you talking about like high intensity, like training, interval training, or all of the above?

Yeah, my husband always says that you can't. Like, you know, I go to the gym and I do the reps, but I'm probably not going as hard as I should. Maybe not as heavy, maybe not as fast. Maybe too many breaks.

Well, breaks fast, you don't have. Slow is fast and fast is slow. So, like, lifting slow actually will help you with that mind muscle connection even further. So slow down the movements and then think about touching, feeling, thinking about the muscles that are working. So you don't have to go. Yes, don't go, don't go fast. Go slow. When it comes to. Yes. Most people don't lift as intensely as they probably can because they're afraid, again, especially women, of bulking. And, and I would say test yourself. You know, test, test what that 12 rep to failure is like, how close are you to that? Like, if you're, if you're doing, say, bicep curls or if you're squatting, can you do 20, 30? Then you probably need. You need to. It's time. It's time. It's too late.

Okay, fine. You, you've talked about, you know, you train Kim Kardashian, which maybe a few people know on the Internet who that is and others, the biggest few and.

Other 350/something million wild.

Also, like ultimate businesswoman.

I guess I didn't get that wrong.

I think she's fine. I think she's doing good, but incredible businesswoman, as are you too. What is it? How did that start? Like, how do you start training celebrities? How do they find you? What is that like, working with celebrities?

They found. She found me. I, I shed.

Into your DMs.

She slid into my DMs. Literally. Well, not her, but, you know, her people. Her people. Initially, I've had, I've had the, the honor and the pleasure of working with a few celebrities, including a queen of a country.

That's wild.

That was wild. Yeah, very wild. And she's still my really good friend to this day, but surreal. Yeah. They approached me because I was never in the business, if you will, of training celebrities. I never even thought that, you know, this little old me could do that. But yeah, the opportunities have kind of come across because at the end of the day, I'VE always been of the belief I'm gonna put myself my best self out there. And I find like, you know, with like aesthetics, aesthetics come if you put in the work. All the good things in business come if you put in the right kind of work.

So yeah, yeah, you also, I think, you know, you mentioned some really raw and honest things in your life about depression and how fitness helped you with that. And then obviously what you shared earlier, you know what, what happened before, were you depressed and did fitness help you get out of it?

I found, found out later in my life that I have a genetic predisposition to that. And I guess you could have, you know, realized that by seeing that my mom suffered from, from anxiety and I guess she told me that her father also did have. So, you know, you can see kind of a pattern, but that I got genetic testing done and it was confirmed. So yeah, I did, I did as a teenager, you know, as a, as a young, as a young child. I don't know that I can see any of the things that I suffered from when it came to like my teenage years. So it probably was a compounding effect and of like being in a new country and having to take the role of a parent in some ways. And then this genetic predisposition, which I don't know if there is any data out there or any studies that show that maybe creeps in at a certain point in your life, maybe with your hormones changing and now you're a teenager and, and that kind of gets activated, if you will. I, I have no idea how that plays, but I did, I did go through anorexia at the time too. So it was kind of. Everything kind of fell on my lap at the same time. And working out, strength training in particular was my way out of, out of all of that.

Did you find it like, how did you go from anorexia and being depressed to like pulling yourself out of, out of bed and deciding to move? That takes a strong human.

Sometimes I do question like, where I find this? It must be like some, some, some place that I'm pulling because yes, you have this kind of like two very opposing realities. This, this, this things that just want to keep you down and then this like very crazy drive at some points, which I, I think I have. But I just, I, I knew that something was wrong. So I, you know, would find help like in college found a therapist and would try to find for. Read books. Like self help books. Has been like my biggest friend alongside with like obviously working out was like self help books a Lot of psychotherapy, a lot of even like graduate, like college level books for some reason fascinated me. Maybe I have a fascination with the brain and the mind and how it works. So it was kind of like a loop maybe, you know, help yourself to get out of this situation. And that I did. And plus I had catalysts like an amazing primary care doctor at one point where she was running marathons. Like, I don't want to say every month, but at least every like quarter she was running a marathon. She was like in her 50s and it was incredible, like incredible shape and that was like kind of the starting points, like Sonata. Just run. Just, just go for a run.

That's what your doctor told you?

Yeah, just go for a run. Because other, you know, you know what happens some like, it's not the. Sometimes you're like, you know, take this medication. It's like that's the easiest thing. Yeah, yeah.

Did they ever try to prescribe you prescription?

Yes. Yeah. So it was like, was that a combination of both? Yeah, of both. And, but I, the running, like really was life changing. Like that was my little step into doing things to take care of, of my health properly. Doing it for the right reasons, you know, to get out of the eating disorder and anxiety and depression and not to diminish myself and make myself smaller and like doing cardio. And so like I started running with the goal, like, I'm gonna run a marathon. And that brought the need to nourish my body properly. And then I found myself in, in strength training, you know, I was doing, I was still kind of like running and found was going to my local gym and just friends of mine were like, you should, you should try weightlifting. And I also had the fears of like, I don't want to be bulky, like I don't want to be big. And. But once I started down that path, there was like no turning back. No turning back. Yeah.

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Like tea time, you. Mmm. Or this tea time you.

Or even this tea time you said you hear about Dave. Or even tea time.

Tea time, tea time you.

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You know, I was reading a study the other day that for women under 30 in the US 60% of them at some point in time have been on an SSRI or an antidepressant.

Yeah.

And that there is this. There's an epidemic, really, in the U.S. you know, whether that's over prescription or over necessitation or, you know, you know, not. Not really sure. But for young women who are anxious or depressed, obviously we're not doctors. We're not making medical advice. But would you tell them to replicate what you're doing? Would you say, try the gym, try running? What do you tell young women who reach out to you about that?

Try physical activity first. Because just as little as 150 minutes a week of physical activity can have almost twice as much of the effect as an antidepressant or as an anxiety medication can have. So try that first. That's your natural antidepressant. That's your natural antianxiety. And maybe again, like you said, we're not medical doctors, so we're not making any of those statements. But why not start there with something natural? And if you need to, I mean, there's cases where people just can't get out of bed, just can't do it. So why. Maybe then do it in conjunction. Consider that. Or utilize, if it's not medically necessary, the prescription to get out of bed. But then do something with it. Go to. Go to the gym. And then hopefully by setting up that healthy habit of moving your body and working out, you can then, in time, like I did, ditch the antidepressants and anti anxiety medication.

You were able to get off of it entirely?

Yeah. Wow. Off of it. It's been 10 years.

That's incredible. So. So what does a day in the life look like for you today? Obviously, besides podcasting?

Yeah.

But maybe that's a big part of it.

Lately it has been.

Yeah. You're running. What does it look like a day in the life if you got to choose?

Yeah.

What would it be?

I get up, like I said, I do my. Make my smoothies so that I like.

What time is this? Are you like a 4:15 riser? You look like an early riser.

No, I'm not really, I'm not. I need, I need that little like extra REM sleep in the morning that I can get. My sleeping is important to me. I. Sleep is another like component of health. So if I can get that right amount of sleep, I'm not going to get up in the morning at, at, at 4:15. So I usually. It's like 6, 6:30. That's more realistic for me. I don't want to lie. So I get up, I make my smoothie, I make my cacao. The cacao is my caffeine, my caffeine substitute. And I either have meetings. It's like there's no day that is exactly the same. There's like meetings. I have to train Kim, I have to go to the gym. Like those pieces of the puzzle kind of move around. I work on content. I still manage my own page. I have a few other social media platforms that I'm. I have not given up the controls yet. I manage it, I put the content together, I added the content. So all of what you see is done by me. Unless it's something from the We Rise or Zentoa, which is the clothing brand page. I've just finally the past few months decided to give up.

It still looks good. I think you're crushing it. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you.

Plus the clothes are really cute. That's your brand that you started.

Yes, yes, yes. Mindful Warrior.

Yeah. And it's. Why did you start that brand? Like there are a lot of workout brands out there. What made you think I want my own and I don't like with options.

I just wanted something that I could wear all the time and feel good in it, like all the time. Because that's what I live in. And the workout clothes in Zentoa? Pretty much. So I wanted something that was fashionable, I wanted something that made women feel good and it was great quality. So that's where I started. But to go back to. Yeah, why did. It's not an easy business like clothing industry and the competing. Yes. I wish I knew. But you know, you make certain decisions early on when you don't really know how, you know, like your following is and what that translates into and what you're able to, to order and sell. So it's, it's a tough business, especially for a small brand when you're trying to compete with larger brands that can produce tons of units at super low cost. And here you are, you know, producing a fraction at a higher cost. So then you have to pass that on to, to the consumer and yeah, it's on. It's. But it's. It's still my little baby. The little engine that could.

Well, it's, it's really cool stuff that looks unique and you can tell is designed by some, like a woman who actually cares about the shapewear because she's got to wear it every day, which makes a huge difference, I've found. And a lot of the times, I think these big brands before were hard to compete with, but now, you know, you go and use some of the big brands and I won't name any names to be a jerk. But quality definitely comes down, I think, at scale.

Yeah. Because even those brands are suffering, like, just to hear some of the, like, margins that they're having to. To deal with. It's like, it's, it's. They're suffering, so they're having to cut on quality, they're having to cut corners. And that is one thing that I've never wanted to do. Like, I didn't want to cut corners. I didn't want to produce something and white label it or I wanted to really, like, stand behind the products that I put out there. Like something that I was proud of, like wearing around the gym.

It's true, too, because then you're not going to attract a Kim Kardashian, you're not going to attract a Carly, you're not going to attract the type of people you want in your life if you have a cheap brand.

Right.

They don't want to be associated with that. So I think that's really beautiful.

She likes, she likes Zentos. I give her pieces. She puts them on because they do shape you nicely, especially the behind. If I.

Yes. So that's how I get your butt. I just wear the.

That's what I should have said.

Are you. We have to work bad.

I, you know, bad.

Okay. I do want to talk about. So. So your day. You wake up in the morning, you wake up at six, you're making the smoothie, you're going to meetings, you're doing some working out, probably some more meetings. Only one workout a day.

Yes, yes. It's funny, like, I used to work out more when I had a corporate job and had, you know, like a super busy corporate schedule than I do, than I work out now. You know, you used to find me in the gym for a few hours and now I'm lucky if I can get, you know, usually it's like 45 minutes to max on a good day, an hour and a half when I'm doing lower body. That Takes a little bit longer. So yeah, on a day to day.

Basis, that feels doable like for a woman. Because when I see some of the women in the gym and they're there for like two hours, I'm like, dang it, I got. Or they have like two different workouts during the day.

That can be tough. It's unnecessary. You don't need to be doing two workouts a day unless you. That's. That's you, you. You're a bodybuilder and that's what you're going for. You know, if you're some bodybuilders do, do two workouts a day. I've never done that. Even when I was competing, I did bikini bodybuilder competition. So like the very first level I've seen you. So even then I didn't do two workouts a day.

Amazing. Do you ever get. Was it ever hard to put your body on the Internet? I mean, I get comments on the Internet and I talk about business stuff, but I don't really get comments about what I look like because it doesn't really matter. You know, they could be like, ah, you're poor, you're lying. Cody, you really don't know what you're talking about. But it's never really my body. I think I would freak me out to put that on the Internet. Does that ever get to you or did that in the beginning?

I don't know how I bypassed that. At some point I did. I think the hardest thing was hitting like a hundred thousand followers. I'm like, I think. I don't know. I didn't sleep that night where I was like 100,000 people are watching me do this and are. It was. That was like the. And then I, I don't know, I just kind of like adjusted myself to the reality of having so many people look at me and look at my body. And honestly, when it comes to like, I know there's like a lot of negativity sometimes I, I don't have. I'm super grateful for my audience that they're incredible. They don't have a. Any negativity much, if any at all. But even if there is, it almost kind of makes you stronger because you can take it two ways. You can allow it to bring you down and that's the only thing that you think about. Or you can take it as like, this is not a reflection of me. This is a reflection of the person leaving that comment. So it just kind of builds more confidence in that sense for me because I go the other way, where I'm like, no, I know who I am, I know what I'm doing. And that's not that. That's your opinion. I'm sorry you feel that way.

Oh, that's beautiful. Do you ever, do you ever feed the trolls? You ever clap back at them? Talk a little ever? Once.

Very rarely. When there is, like, when there is comments about steroid use that one gets.

You, there's always one that gets one.

Because I am such a puritarian, if you will, when it comes to, like what I put in my body. Like, I don't even take an ibuprofen for not mentioning any brands. Like, I don't even take anything or I try not to, you know, if, you know, I've got super bad cramps, like, maybe on those days, very rarely, even. So I just move my body and the PMS goes away. But if my diet is so clean, why would I do something like that to myself? Why would I ingest that? No, like, I refuse to. So that's what gets me. Because I put in so much work with nutrition and working out and mindset that it kind of diminishes, takes away from what I do. And also I think more importantly than that is sending a message to my audience, to other women, that that is not achievable. She's taking something to achieve that. And I don't want that message to be out there and it's like, no. And I don't necessarily want you to achieve my body. You achieve the best version of you, but know that, that it's attainable. Whatever you're wanting to, to attain, it's attainable or a version of it. So that I think that's what bothers me the most is like, don't speak on my platform to my audience because they're listening and they're watching.

I love that. Yeah, I think it's very easy to. There's always easy to tell people why they can't. It's very hard to inspire people why they can. And so I think that's. That's really, really beautiful. What stuff do you do that's not working out for your body? Like, are we doing red light? Are we doing acupuncture? Like, what else should we do? Alternative wise to stay healthy in your mind?

When I can, I'll hit a cold plunge, I'll hit a sauna, you know, I'll do those. But I don't always have time for those things and I. They're not always read available. So I just did Actually chase the real dopamine kind of post. And it went viral, if you will. And it includes things like cold plunge and sauna and meditate and all of these things. And people are like, I don't have time for all of that. I'm not doing all of those things every single day. I, you know, don't have access to all of those things every single day. But whenever I can and pick and choose, you know, if it's sauna, if it's cold plunge, if it's meditation, if it's yoga, if it's working out, like what, Whatever those elements that you are that you can bring in that will release that natural dopamine, do that. For me, working out is a non negotiable. Meditating is a non negotiable. And I do a little bit of yoga after my workout. Just like five, ten minutes to bring. It's my cool down. So those are kind of my non negotiables. It's the mind, mindful stuff, you know, it's the meditation and the yoga and the workouts.

Yeah.

And obviously the nutrition.

Yeah, I love that. Well, I also think it's cool that you share all that other stuff too, because, I mean, man, I. I think Gwyneth Paltrow did such a cool thing by normalizing the extra crazy stuff that you can do. We don't all have access to it. We can't all afford it.

Right.

But, like, I still like to know what's up. You know, nobody's yelling at Andrew Huberman for having access to all this stuff. Why are we yelling at the ladies for having it? It's very weird.

Right?

You know, and even with Kim, like, I want to know what, I want to know what weird shit she's doing that makes her look so great. And maybe we can't afford all of it, but at some point we will be able to afford more of it because it all becomes more accessible.

Absolutely. I think it's like that view, at least for me. I think people think that this is what she does all day, every day. I, like, take care of my body. I work out. I work out all day every day. That's what I do. Meanwhile, it's like the time in my life when I've worked out the least, if you will. Yeah, I mean, like you were talking about before, meetings take time as, you know, one hour meeting turns into a two hour meeting. Training somebody takes times. It's all of these components that come together that. Yeah, no, I don't work out all day every day. I run two businesses around social media platforms. Don't have time for all of that.

No, no, you don't. I'm sure. So is there anything that makes you nervous still? Like, you've kind of achieved this peak in so many different things. You have a couple incredibly strong businesses. You have this huge social platform. You're hanging with all these celebs. Like, what makes you nervous these days? Is there anything you're doing right now that you're like, oof, I'm pushing the edge.

What makes me nervous these days? I. I'm a perfectionist. So I'm always nervous. I mean, I am always contemplating whether I'm doing enough, you know, like, with the We Rise app, am I providing the most value that I can? Am I providing the best content that I can? So I. Those things, as much as I've. I've been, I've minimized them. They don't keep me up as much at night. They don't keep me up as much. But they, they still do to a certain degree. But it's also when it comes to, like, I have people depending on me now that are part of the We Rise app in Santoa. So I want to make sure that I bring my best self to. For them and for everybody that I serve.

Yeah. Hiring employees is scary because then you are responsible for them in some way, at least I think. Do you have things that you tell yourself when you absolutely do not want to go to the gym or you absolutely do not want to do more? What's. What's your inner dialogue sound like? Can we steal it?

I don't try not to have an inner dialogue. I do. So it's not, you know, maybe brushing your teeth is not the best. I don't know. Do you negotiate with yourself whether you got to brush your teeth?

No, that would be gross. If I did, I would admit that.

So it's kind of for me is like that as well. It's just we're going to get to the gym. We're maybe not going to crush it on that particular day. We're just going to start with whatever feels comfortable. I usually go for like a seated something like maybe seated abductions. Just sit and kind of move your legs in and out. That seems kind of like easy. And then that kind of builds that motivation. So I don't wait for the motivation. I don't talk myself into feeling motivated. I act my way into to being motivated because that motivation comes with movement.

That's a great point. So move first and then your mind sort of falls.

Absolutely. And also if you keep in mind that things that are usually hard in the moment, like working out or making the right choice when it comes to nutrition, we'll have that reward later. We'll give you that reward later. Just keeping in mind how good, good you feel afterwards. Like, I've never, I know this is cliche, but I've never regretted a workout that I did do.

No, man, I never regret it once I get to the gym.

Exactly.

Just get in the gym sometimes.

But I mean I've had people in the app that slept with their clothes on so they could just take short. I've already put these clothes on. I might as well get up and like get something, you know, like work out in the morning. Just eliminate when it comes to that, when you know that you're a person that's contemplating that contemplates that a lot, that is struggling with yourself. Am I going to work out today? I don't feel like working out. Set yourself up for success. You know, have your clothes ready, have your shoes ready. Know what you're going to be doing. Leaving it out. Sometimes it's like I don't know what I'm going to be doing. So that's like another thing. Like know what you're going to be doing, know when you'll be doing it, like what time of day. Like schedule it almost like a meeting. Schedule it the day before or schedule your week. Where are you going to do it? Are you going to do it at the gym? Are you going to do it at home? So scheduling and kind of removing all the unknowns and the stressors around it makes it more accessible.

It's so true. And I still don't do so many of those things, which is like the funny part. It's, it's layering a few actions on top of that. Now you are going to have in the app mindset. But also nutrition is the same. True that you can't work your way out of a bad diet.

Yeah, it is true. Unfortunately it is true. I mean we do, we do have currently habits and nutrition that's currently in the app. So that, and that, that's great because it does help people with setting up these new habits and just in general new habits and ditching old ones and then moving into better nurturing themselves. But your, your original question was, yeah, you can't out train a bad diet because. And that, you know, what does a bad diet look like at the end of the day? You know, if you're not, if you're not Nurturing with enough protein, then you're doing yourself a disservice because you're not building the strength and the muscle that you need. If you are putting in foods that are not good for your body like sugars and whatnot, that's also. You're not going to be able to out train that because your body can only process so much. Yeah.

Do you drink alcohol?

I think I heard this on another podcast. I knew it was coming up with Mike actually. I, I used to love a glass of wine in the evening. I used to love it because for me it was like an experience, you know, I just, I just love the experience. It doesn't serve my body anymore. It doesn't serve like I, I get I. From even a glass of wine. I could have a hangover the next day. I could experience like hard palpitations at night which. So it's like that, that trade off just is not there. I will still do it once in a while. Make sure like I drink a ton of water and yeah, clean, you know, try to do like clean, clean alcohol. But you know, it's. It's just not something that benefits me anymore. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast, smart move. Being financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move. Having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor state. State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

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So what do you do at the end of the day when you're like, you know how. That's how I used to think about it. We were kind of taught, especially in finance, we drink a little bit too much. But you know at the end you're like, it's a long day, I gotta wind down. I grab a glass of wine, I sit down like it was my habit.

Yeah.

So what do you replace it with?

Walks. That's like walking my dog in the park and watching the sunset and just chatting with people. That's kind of been a huge. Honestly, it created anxiety in the beginning, because for me, like, you know, that was my. My thing. I created a habit. We created these habits that we rely upon. And it's just a matter of like, putting in the reps with a new habit and walking and meditating and truly listening to my body and what that did for my body.

Now do you crave, like, meditating and walking? Like, I like meditating in the morning.

Yeah.

But if you're like, cody, long day, go ahead and meditate. I'd be like, the thing is. No, like, it doesn't sound like, tasty enough.

Yeah, it's.

But do you start. Does it feel tasty for you now? Does it feel like, lovely?

Yeah, it does. It does especially. It depends. You try out different kinds of meditation. I went to Bali and got certified in meditation and breath work and did learn some meditation and breath work techniques that just give you that real good feeling so that it does have that reward effect.

That's a good idea. Do you do it with your. With your man?

I do. We went together, actually.

Who leads the meditation?

Oh, it's, it's we. None of us.

None of us?

Yeah. I like. Yeah.

Do you listen to a person in particular?

Or you could do a silent. Like those were the, you know, a couple of things that, that, I mean, way more than that. But like, those are kind of our go to's if we want a little bit more of an activating, like, feel good. Maybe more of a breath work so you're really oxygenating your body and moving your energy. And then if you want more of a relaxing, going back to center, then it's more of a silent meditation.

Yeah. Do you ever get them to do like eye gazing or anything?

Eye gazing. And we had set the timer wrong, so it was like staring for like 10 or 15 minutes. Like, I think this has been. It's been longer than five minutes.

I tried to talk Chris into that. He was like, what is wrong with you? He loves meditating. He does it a lot now. It helped him a lot when he was in. In conflict zones too, actually. I forget what the name of the woman, Ziva Meditation, maybe is her name anyway. But he started doing what I would consider kind of similar to transcendental meditation, which is what I do or like. And then I started listening to, you know, this. Do you know the guy? David G. Kind of looks like Santa Claus.

No, it's not. Come. Yeah, it's not. Sometimes it's like, I'm bad with names. I know faces. We see them maybe like floating around.

You can tell Me what you think if you like him or not. Are you going to have a meditation person on the app?

Eventually I'm sure we're going to have somebody that's dedicated that even though I am certified in it twice over because I went to India and got certified in yoga and meditation and breath work and then went to Bali to further my meditation and breath work knowledge and, and the certification there as well. But I feel like we might need somebody that has. And that's been more, that was more for my personal and usage, if you will. I'd love to bring somebody that's. That's their sole focus right now. There is some meditation and yoga on the app as well. Just shorter. You know, I guide people through it, through the yoga and through the meditation. There's little like 15 minute, 5 minute yoga, 15 minute meditations, just like graspable little pieces for people that are short on time. But yeah, eventually that's definitely the goal.

I love that. Okay, so I was thinking that these days I get a little overwhelmed. There's so many things about health overall and especially like right now, what's going on with like, you know, make America healthy again. And there's a lot of commentary about seed oils, GMOs, additives versus like portion size, calorie count. You know, is it both? You know, Mike, Mike's take is retell. He was basically like, hey, stop eating so much and then you won't be fat. And then you have RFK who's like, we're getting poisoned by seed oils. Is it both? What do you think?

I would side with Mike's a little bit on that in the, in the sense that let's tackle like the big rock issues, like the, the, the easy, the easier issues. And you know, are you eating. What are. Was the calorie amount that you're eating? What's the macro breakdown? Like, those are, I feel in a sense a little bit easier. And then when you have grasped that when you're consuming enough protein, when you're prioritizing protein, then you can dial it in. Am I eating the right type of foods? Am I eliminating, you know, all of these other things that we know by now are not good for our bodies, but it's a, it's a step by step process. And that's what I tell like my family too, like stop consuming all of this crazy information like don't eat spinach and oxalates and this and that. Like, don't do that. Start with the basics, like eat enough protein, move your body properly because that is proven. That will most likely override some of these other things that you're not even doing in like, big amounts, you know, and if you want to, then once you've got this like, foundation and big rock issues, then. Then dial it in like we're talking about before, even with supplements, like big rock issues, and then see if you need to, like, supplement.

That's a really good point. I guess it's sort of like money, because it's the same thing. It's like, yeah, you could learn about equity investing and shorts and, you know, options, or you could earn more money and spend less.

Exactly.

Start with those two things.

Exactly, exactly.

Interesting. That makes me feel better because these days I'm like, I can't keep track of all of the things.

So overwhelming. And then people don't do anything. It's just they go back to like, their old, you know, habits. Because again, you're trying to like, eat an elephant versus, like, little bites. Not you don't eat an elephant. You don't eat an elephant in one bite.

Either way, not great. Frowned upon, I think.

Yeah, exactly.

So what about, like, you talk a.

Lot about don't eat elephants. By the way, that's going to be the title of this podcast. Eating elephants will make you grow a big booty.

Exactly. Albanian advice.

Yes.

Okay, so if you had to rank it from worst to best, I want to throw a couple of things at you and you can tell which one you think. So. Alcohol, bad sleep, processed food, seed oils not working out consistently.

Are we rating from, I don't know.

Whichever way you feel bad to good. Let's rate from bad to good. So like, if you had what's the worst, Is the worst thing you can do bad sleep? Is it alcohol? Is it, you know, processed foods? Is it too much foods?

Oh my gosh. I would say prioritize working out, prioritize sleep, sleep, prioritize nutrition, like eating enough protein. What was the other two? Like processed foods, Try to eliminate them. Try to eliminate. So it's like taking that step by step, you know, get enough sleep, work out hard, dial in your nutrition. And then the other steps of like, eliminating processed food and eating as much as you can, whole foods and then sure. Like eliminate seed oils, replace olive oil. You know. Now my dad always used to say, like, like, olive oil is medicine. I used to be like, haha, like, olive oil is medicine. And now, you know, there's so much also out there in the media, including Brian Johnson, like, yeah, drinking shots of olive oil. Do we, do we believe That I like olive oil. I actually am pretty. Pretty. You know, I haven't done studies. I don't know. I'm not sure what the studies are out there. But I personally love using a decent amount of olive oil in my diet. It interesting. Like my salads are basically the dressings are pretty simple most of the time unless I want to get fancy. But most of the time, like 90 of the time is olive oil, lemon, salt. That's it.

Yeah. That's good. Okay, I like this. I'm basically trying to work my way back into my glass of red wine is not the worst option. So I think we almost got there.

I mean, and again, like, how often with a glass of red wine, like how often are. Are you consuming it? You know what I mean? So. So if it's like once in a while and I like what Dr. Mike said that if that is the only way that is going to kind of help you unwind and like the risk benefit. You always talk about the risk benefit in that situation.

That's a good point.

Yeah.

What do you think about stress? Like, how bad is stress for your body overall and how much does working out offset stress?

A lot. Like working out is like we were talking about before. Like, stress goes into like anxiety goes into depression. Like all of those things are mood disorders. It is at the top of the list. Working out is a big release because it uses up that cortisol. Like is. It is huge at the top of the list, I would say.

Is that how that works? It actually uses up your cortisol on work it out and so it removes.

Actually helps. Yeah. Like, it. While. And it. Depending on, you know, certain types of workouts can increase the level of cortisol and. And there's later on a longer period of time where it can be brought back down. Unless you're doing, you know, things like maybe meditating and. And doing those mindfulness practices to lower it back down. But yes, working out is. Is at the top of the list. For as a stress reliever, what do.

You think is the worst exercise advice you've ever heard?

Worst exercise in terms of like. Like, don't lift because it'll make you bulky. That's bad. That's one of them up there. And. And the best was you actually start. Start doing it. Lift weights. And. And for me, like, maybe it's a little tangent just to like, stay authentic. It doesn't quite fit into the workout, but like the authenticity part of it as far as, like, when it comes to like my presence on social media, and my platform and. And the businesses. It's just. Just to be authentic. Yeah.

Well, you come off that way.

Oh, thank you. Yeah.

I think it's hard to grow on the Internet to the size you are if you're full of it. I mean, there's. Well, actually, you live in Hollywood. You probably have been like, Cody, I've met plenty of them, actually. Not true. Okay. One other thing that I wanted to kind of talk about in, in a little bit is like the. The size of. Of social media that you've grown is really big. You know, as you're building these other businesses and understanding the importance of distribution. How. How did you think about growing these businesses? Like, what is. What does CEO Sonata think about growing an online presence? How to do it? And what did you learn?

It's. It's been. There's been definitely growing pains as with every business. And you know, to be honest with you, it's been. The focus mostly has been on. On We Rise versus like, like Zento and the distribution on that. That. That has been a lot of logistical. Yeah. Not nightmares, but like with. With COVID and everything. It did bring upon, like, nightmares. So. But when it comes to We Arise, which has been kind of the main focus, we have been lucky to work with a team of people and have brought on good people to kind of manage to help, really. You know, I can almost not involve myself to the detail that I'd like to involve myself with and allowed them their freedom to operate because they are and have grown into experts that they are nowadays. But how long have you worked with these people?

How'd you know they were your people? You probably get approached with a lot of stuff and I don't really see you promote very much at all.

It's been, I would say maybe a year and a half. Is that true? Yeah, about a year and a half. And then we finally were like, you know, I'd worked with a different set of people when we first launched Sentoa and we were working with people in Australia, we had production out of China, and that was a little bit of a nightmare. So then we engaged people that we had known for a long time, and we had gone back and forth and spoken, and then we saw the work that they were doing. Then we involve them into kind of clearing out and settling that process and the production in China and moving it to Portugal, where Zentoa is now exclusively being produced. And then they proved themselves with their abilities to move product, where they're marketing advertising with logistics and everything else that comes with running an apparel company. And, and then we trusted them with, with actually working with, with Re Rise as well.

Oh, interesting. So all the same team.

Yeah. That's incredible. They're all the same team.

Do you have another CEO that's not you?

We do, yes, yes. Kind of share that role. But then we have hired actual people that are in LA that are part of like the immediate team.

Do you ever ask Kim for business advice while you give her workout advice?

Advice? I maybe in passing. Like, it hasn't been like super direct. I'm like, very like, okay, this is what we're doing. This is what we're gonna focus on.

Yeah.

You know, sometimes it's like, you know, and I, you know, she knows this, but she'll try to like, tell me something or like, maybe we'll, we'll like, you know, she's even put it up on, on the, on, on her stories, like watching Love is Blind working out. I'm like, okay, sure, I'll, we'll, we'll. We'll let that happen today. But you should like try, you know, and I'm like, I missed that. I'm sorry. I was like focusing on your form, focusing on what you were doing. So, yeah, I'm kind of like 100 there. But yeah, in passing. I mean, just. She is kind of a living embodiment of like a hard worker. Like she, she works hard. You know, not a lot of people see that, but she works, she works hard. Yeah.

You don't get struck by lightning twice. You know, you don't have multiple billion dollar businesses by accident. Hitting a billion dollars once is so. Damn. I mean, that's 0.0001% of newly created businesses would be anywhere near that. So that's, that's rare. But she does have that Emma lady who seems like a stud that runs a bunch of her businesses too. So maybe you need your Emma.

I know. I mean, we have, we have some Emma's. Yeah, I mean, we're, we're, we're, we're building. You know, it's, it's. You're always gonna have people that, that, that you believe in, that you help them grow. And, and fortunately we've had, we've had some good people. Some good people.

Yeah. Well, like attracts like. Okay, I want to go for a couple Jack, just quick questions here.

Oh, man.

No, some of these don't work for you. So if I was going to ask, I was going to build my playlist based off of yours. Your playlist is nothing. Is your Zen, Zen brain.

No, I have.

If you had three songs like who's. What are the top.

Do.

Do you put a song on to, like, get you amped up?

I don't know. Weird song choices lately just because, like, combination of, like, meditation and all of this stuff. But it's Purungi. Oh, have you heard that guy?

Yeah, Only because I live in Austin. That's like.

Oh, there you go. I forgot. Yes, yes. Yeah. So he's got a few songs that really like. Yeah, amp me up. Yeah, those are those like, tribal. You got like that tribal stuff, you know?

Are you dancing around while you're listening to those? Maybe.

I know. I need. I'm like, I do need somebody that is capturing some of those moments. Yeah.

Come on, man. What's happening?

But those. And then, you know, know, I. I love Fred again. I don't know if you Again. Again. We've got, like, songs.

Okay.

I'm not sure, like, what your vibe is as far as, like, music.

Any sing alongs?

Sing alongs?

Yeah, like you singing to anything.

I have to like Fred again. I like Fred again. Good. Yeah, it's like, not a lot of. Not a lot of syllables. Not. Not a lot of, like, words, but like, very impactful words.

Okay. I like this.

This.

I think I know the answer to this. But, like, if you could only do one or two workout moves for the rest of your life, what are you choosing?

Oh, man. One or two. I would choose a Bulgarian split squat.

And why?

Because I. Because it. It tackles just like so much of your lower body, like your glutes, your. Your quads to a lesser level, like your hamstrings. And it's a. It' compound because, you know, depending how you're performing it, you know, and. And the weights that are utilizing where you're placing them, that. That would probably be like a good go to. And if you're gonna do like an upper body one. So if you're gonna make me choose like 1 and 1, then a pull ups, because it's working on your grip, it's working on your back. Like, it's a. It's a. Almost a total body exercise. Not so much legs, but, like, I already chose the lower body exercise.

Do you also squeeze your body when.

You say pull ups?

That's a lot of them.

That's why I do them. Actually, somebody in the gym approach today and was like, I saw you last time doing pull ups. You must love them. I'm like, I actually hate them. That's because I do. That's. That's why I Do them because I hate them sometimes. You know, those are the best things to do is the things that you don't enjoy doing.

It's so true.

It just builds that resilience, that mental resilience. Yeah.

Do you also squeeze your butt when you say the word Bulgarian squid spots? I feel like every time you're mentioning a movement, it makes me.

I feel like I don't.

Yeah, I think I do every time. What about if you sort of had to think about building out a home gym or, like, the top pieces of equipment? Some of the stuff I love about your workouts is a lot of them you don't need much. Like, I can be on the road, and I'd be like, all right, scroll, scroll. There's, like, one or two I could do there. What do you think is absolute Must have in a gym if you've got, like, three to five things and that's it. What is it?

Dumbbells. Like, have a few sets of dumbbells, maybe, like, a few lighter ones, medium and heavy. If you don't have, like, the option to just get a full. Full stack. If you can. Like, a cable machine would be great, like a corner cable machine. Because there's so much that you can do with that. Yeah, I think those are kind of like the main. Absolutely. I guess I can get a. An amazing workout with just having those two things. And, I mean, then you can add other things as well, like maybe a squat rack or leg extension combined with leg curl. But those are, like. If you're wanting to add different pieces of equipment. Yeah.

I love that. You don't use a lot of kettlebells.

I do.

You do? Okay.

Yeah, I do. It's a combination. I mean. Yeah.

Okay. You like them, but you could just as easily do the other stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I feel. Are you talking about, like, if I was to choose between dumbbells and kettlebells? Oh, my gosh. Like, one group of people is gonna come out.

Oh, is that true?

I don't know.

This is like a gang. Yeah.

Maybe the kettlebell gang.

Yeah. They're not gonna like it.

They're. They're tough, you know? No, I love kettlebells. They're so versatile, and I. I utilize them both. But there's. There's unique ways that you can utilize kettlebells that maybe, you know, dumbbells, you can't. You can utilize in a more way more. I feel like. Not. I feel like. I know. You know, you can utilize dumbbells in a way that you can utilize a Kettlebell. I think I might have said that the other way. Yeah. So if you're doing like a kettlebell swing. I utilize a dumbbell, like a heavy dumbbell to do a dumbbell swing for people that don't have kettlebells. Because a lot more people have dumbbells versus kettlebells.

Yeah.

@ their disposable.

And maybe they're not so intimidating. Like my mom wouldn't know what to do with a kettlebell.

Yeah.

You know, no chance.

Yeah.

But dumbbells she might be able to figure out.

I think they're a little bit. Just slightly more. More versatile.

Yeah, that makes sense. All right, let's do two rapid fires and I'll let you get out of here and back to the non gym. But meetings you have to go to rapid fire. Animal protein versus plant protein.

Animal protein.

Do you do any plant protein or.

No, I do, I do. I sometimes, you know, we'll add. But there studies are just out there and are undeniable as to how much more beneficial like animal protein is.

Yep. How about. I already know the answer to this, I think but lifting heavy 3x a week versus cardio 7x a week off.

Lifting heavy 3x a week, all day, it's like.

Do you follow me? Walking versus running.

Pick your. Pick your poison. I should say. I keep saying pick your poison. Pick your elixir. Pick your ellip elixir. I mean it depends. You know, you could do a steep walk or you could do a run. And again, what is the purpose that you're using it for? Like, again, I always go back to like, what is the purpose that you're wanting to choose between walk and run? Running can be great, can release those endorphins. So can walking to a certain degree. Running can get you into that cardiovascular zone probably faster. Not probably faster than walking can, but again, it's like if you absolutely hate running, like walk. Yeah, yeah.

What about. Do you have like a book or short story that you go back to again and again where, where you read and get inspiration from.

Me. Having me go back and think, you know, there was a, there was a time that I was listening to a Buddhist. But to do. Yeah, Buddhist monk monks book that had short stories and had very deep meaning.

What do you like about this one? Why. Why read it or go back to it?

Just a lot of short stories that have like a deep meaning for everyday life, for things that most people are struggling with, you know, like I love a story and I hope it's from this book. There's. There's there's two by monks that, that I love. And it's about like the, this, this monk, this young monk was building a brick wall and, and he misplaced a couple of bricks and he couldn't, it's going back to like, the perfectionism. And he could not give up the fact that he had put these two bricks that didn't look like the others, that they were imperfect. Instead of looking, that he built this amazing big wall. He kept on just thinking about the two, the two bricks that he placed wrong. And that's, for me, that's a big lesson that I'm still, I still learn every day. It's like not, don't look at the two bricks that didn't quite fit. Look at the big wall that you just, that you just built. The Burlington Coat event is back. Buy a coat now through November 29th and get $5 off your merchandise purchase of 25 or more from December 6th through December 24th. Plus, Burlington is donating 50,000 new coats to help those in need nationwide. Through our partnership with Delivering Good, we've been keeping you warm for over 50 years. We'll see you at our coat eventually.

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True. Yeah, it's probably why you're such a good builder and prolific because you're always noting the downsides.

True, true. There is, there is. There are some benefits that come with that with, with being a perfectionist, for sure. I think I attribute a lot of my success to, to being somewhat of a perfectionist. Now, there are some other things that you need to work through and be accepting of. That not everything is going to be perfect, that there's going to be a learning curve, that there's going to be, you know, it's like, it's, it's like lifting, you know, it's like making progress when you're first working, when you're first starting a workout program, it's like building a business, you know, like, you're going to have those setbacks. You're going to work hard and maybe not see results, like, right away, but keep your head down. Put in the Work and the results will come. And don't try to be perfect.

Yeah, I like that. Okay. And then if you had to leave people with like one action to take, one thing that maybe they could do after listening to you today, what would it be?

Lift weights and eat your protein. Put that on my mirror. Yeah. No, the one thing that I always like to say besides that is do everything from a place of love. And I've said this before, but I just always want to keep say saying it even you know, when you're at the point where you're like, I'm just not happy where, where I'm at. I'm just not happy with my body or whatever it is. Like start from a place of loving where you are because that will is the only way to get you where you want to be.

Is that what you remind yourself of about you?

Absolutely, yeah.

Like it's sometimes hard to love yourself.

Well, yeah, I think I was raised by, by perfectionist mom. I think that's where I got, you know, she an A must, A minus was, was failing, you know, so you needed to, to have all A's and if you were an first, you were last. So that doesn't develop a whole. And the praise came very rarely, if at all. So yeah, it was definitely, it's been a learning curve as far as like loving yourself. But I think even strength training for me is, was one of those aspects that did help bring that build that self confidence and all of the other aspects. You know, kind of like stepping back from myself and looking at all of the things that I have done, you know, like graduating in three years with summa cum laude from you know, well known university and then going to business school while I was full time, working full time. And you know, it's like, okay, if I were still like, see all of this as like somebody's else's resume, not my resume, right Then I'd be like, wow, that's, that's an accomplished person. That person has done something things.

Yeah. One of my dearest friends, Shayna, that's what she always reminds me. She goes, you know, you're enough, right? Like how you are right now, you're just fine. And I'm always like, shut up. Then I start tearing up, you know, because for perpetual perfectionist drivers, for whatever reason, it's never enough. And it's not like, at least I don't know if it's for you, but for me it's not that I need more things.

It's like, no, I have to be more exactly, exactly.

It can be a sickness in a different way.

It can. Yeah. You. You put it so well, you know, like. Yeah, it's. There's nothing that I. That I need. I don't necessarily go like, I hate shopping.

Me too.

You know what I mean? So. But it's, it's, it's. It is that. That almost kind of trying to find that point of being enough, like where that is, and I think it's always a moving point. So realizing that we are already that and knowing that for whatever this other idea of being enough is, you know, we already have that, that is just a moving target of some absurd. Whoever created that situation.

Yes. Well, this was so beautiful. I am so honored to hear your story that I didn't even know half of. And I can't wait to. To watch you. And We Rise, Grow and all the things that you do next. It's so impactful for women everywhere. But I think everybody's listening is going to have to go check out We Rise. They're probably already following you on the Internet, so I'm not even going to tell them that. But your biggest platform is Instagram. Sonata Greca, Sonata Greca, Greca, Sonata Greca and anywhere else you want people to follow you.

You know, main ones, YouTube and TikTok. But Sonata Greck on Instagram is the biggest one. And then Vrise XYZ is. Is my little baby and she's gonna have a.

Even more of a glow up in January.

Yeah, yeah. As I said, we already have the nutritionist expert, the habits expert, but then we're gonna have a bunch of other experts join us in the field of mindset and sleep and hormonal expertise, if you will. Career advice.

You do want to get him pregnant. That's a real for me right now. And I think a lot of women like getting pregnant. I feel like that. That advice out there today is damn hard to find.

That is true. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't know who plays in that game, but the answer can't just be that more of us have to do ivf. Like, that's so wild. Sonata We Rise, Dot xyz, all the socials. Thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you. It's been an honor. Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed chatting with you.