Conquering Body Insecurity, Fitness & Growth Mindset w/ Danyele Wilson

Welcome to the Makeshift Happen podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Daly, entrepreneur, life coach, and your no BS bestie, here to bring you all things mindset, manifestation, and personal development.

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Let's go make shit happen. What's up guys, welcome back to the podcast. Today I have a special guest episode for you guys. I'm joined by Danielle Wilson, who's a Chicago-based certified trainer. She's a HIIT master trainer and a coach for the popular EvolveU app, which is formerly known as Tone and Sculpt. You guys may have heard of it. Her focus is focus as a trainer is on strengthening both the body and the mind by inspiring women to practice more self-love, body positivity, and view fitness as a means for gaining strength, muscle, and confidence rather than losing pounds, inches, or dress sizes, which honestly is just chef's kiss. I love it. So I'm so excited to bring you guys Danielle. Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

I'm so excited to chat to you about all things like fitness, body confidence, everything that you're really about. But yeah, I think that it would be good for the audience to kind of get a little bit of backstory around you and your journey with fitness throughout your life. Like, I know you were a gymnast and a college cheerleader. And so, you know, sports and athletics was like a huge part of your identity and your life for a really long time. So walk us through that journey. And then maybe the transition out of athletics into quote unquote like normal life and what that was like.

Yeah, I think you said it perfectly. I was, you know, I grew up as an athlete, so athletics training was always something that my life was centered around. I planned my life based on when I had practice and when I had competitions, things like that. And so I started gymnastics very young, 2 years old. Took to it naturally, but kind of got to the point where my body was fighting the sport. I am about 6 feet tall and the best gymnasts in the world are 4'11", so something just wasn't quite working with that. So I made the natural shift into cheerleading in high school just because, you know, I was still very powerful, could tumble, strong. And all of those skills lend itself very easily to cheerleading. So I did that through college. And you kind of get to this point after college where you're no longer forced to work out, forced, quote unquote, to work out because you don't have to be at practice. You don't have your coach telling you exactly what to do. You don't have your teammates around you pushing you. So it kind of, you know, it's a weird in-between moment because You feel like this strong, powerful athlete, and yet you walk into a gym and you're immediately intimidated because you have no idea what you're doing, right? Like the, the, your normal gym doesn't look like your practice facility all of a sudden, where, you know, your team, all girl, I've grown up surrounded by female athletes, all girl gymnastics team, all girl cheerleading team, where we would go in the gym and own it. You know, all of a sudden there's no women in the weight section and you're confused and all the women are on the cardio machines and you're like, well, maybe I should be doing cardio machines too then, you know? So it was a huge learning curve. And I actually, actually was very intimidated by the gym at first. So I found that group fitness, like specialized classes and things like that, were a was a good way for me to find how I liked to train after my sport. So I stumbled upon this high-intensity interval training performance-based group fitness class here in Chicago. And the coach actually came up to me and was like, you look pretty athletic. Like, have you ever thought about coaching? Like, are you an athlete? Like, who are you? And I, I was like, nope, never thought about coaching. But now, now I am. And I actually ended up, you know, starting getting my group fitness certification, starting coaching that class all while, you know, working my 9 to 5 corporate marketing job, all of that. And so finally it got to the point where I was taking one-on-one clients in the morning, teaching a class, going to my job. Spending 8 hours there, then leaving to go teach more classes back at the gym, maybe one more one-on-one client, then work out myself, film my workout to try to get my friend— like beg my friends to come to my classes. And it got to the point where I just had to make a decision to go all in. And that's when I decided to quit my job and went full, full force into training and developing my brand and Yeah, things kind of took off from there.

I love that so much. And I really relate because, you know, there's a lot of women listening to this podcast that are business owners or they're just starting out, they're aspiring business owners. A lot of them are in the coaching space. And that part of the journey when you're trying to kind of like hustle and get clients and put yourself out there and also work to earn a living, like, right, that phase, like, I just have so much respect for that. We all know it. Yeah.

It is brutal. And I honestly, I feel like it's like an initiation that all of us have to go through. Like you have to go through that phase where, and I hate to say it, but like, you know, there is no balance. Like you really are just grinding for your dream, grinding for your purpose. And you know, for me it was about 2 years of really focusing on just growth of my side hustle or side business until I, You know, it got to the point where I was like, okay, this is really something. I know what I stand for in this space, but I can't, I can't physically do both anymore. And it got to the point where I started to feel bad at my 9 to 5 job because I knew I wasn't giving 100% and I knew I wasn't giving 100% to my other, you know, my fitness business as well. Because, you know, my heart was just in two different places. So, you know, I just had to make a plan and jump.

Yeah. So what was the fear there? Because like a lot of women get stuck in that place where they feel like they have one foot in each, in their career, and then one in their business that they're building that they're really passionate about. And like you said, you can kind of start to feel divided. And like you're not, you're not really giving 100% in either area. So you're kind of like, well, shit, I have to choose something. Or else this isn't going to work. But people get stuck there because it is so hard to kind of break out of the fear or the ego that's telling you, you know, maybe you're not going to make enough money, or maybe it won't be successful, or maybe people won't care about, you know, what you have to share on social media. What was that transition like for you when you decided to quit your job? Were you fully ready, or were you like, fuck it, I'm just gonna rip the Band-Aid off? Like, I, I'm making myself ready.

Yeah, I don't think you're ever going to feel ready. And I actually, it's funny you say that yesterday on my Instagram story, I was saying how, you know, if you wait until you feel 100% ready to do anything, you're never, you're never going to do it. You're going to be sitting there 20 years later, you're going to look up and be like, what, what happened? You know? So I, there is so much fear of failure and there's a little bit of imposter syndrome. In there as well. You're kind of like, well, like, why me? Like, why would anybody want me to coach them? Why, um, this? Or like, this is what I went to college for. This is what I invested so much money of college tuition in. Like, like, how am I just gonna ditch marketing and ditch my career that, you know, I, I've grinded for. And then there's, you know, that also fear of like, how am I going to put food on the table? What happens if nobody, nobody signs up? So for me, overcoming that fear looked like really doing my best to create that community vibe that I knew was going to, you know, I always say, how can I add value to someone's day through social media? So I, focused on creating this trust and valuable community. And you really just have to trust that the work that you did to develop that community is going to, you know, work. And in my case, it did. And it's honestly, that fear never goes away. I feel like that every single day, to be honest, because there's always more. And as an entrepreneur, like any entrepreneur, especially female entrepreneur, we have that like spirit where we're, we're constantly hustling and, you know, we want more, we want to achieve more, we want to add more value constantly. So that fear never goes away. Um, but all you need is that one DM from someone who says, you know, this caption got me out of bed today. Or, you know, this workout that from the EvolveU app made me feel like an athlete again. This workout gave me confidence again. Um, and then you're like, all the fear, all the anxiety, worth it. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Yeah. You're like, this is why I'm here. It's bringing you back to your why, reminding you. And I think that's so important for people that are starting something of their own is that they have a strong foundation, a really strong why behind what it is that they're doing. Because the, you know, chasing the idea of like money or success will only get you so far. Because there is— every new level has a new devil. Like you said, at every new level of business, there's going to be new demons, new shit you have to deal with, new levels of responsibility, new crazy stuff that's happening that you have to energetically hold. And so you've got to have that strong foundation of like, why am I doing this? So I guess to kind of bring it back to fitness a little bit and talk about your why for being a trainer and being part of the EvolveU app and everything that you share on social. Like, what has your relationship been with fitness? Like, we know you were an athlete, but did you ever have— did you ever like struggle with body image or exercise, food? Like, What did that look like?

Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a, that's a loaded question because absolutely. And I feel like, you know, you can look at the best athletes in the world and every, like, we all have our, have our struggles. We all have those things about our body that maybe nobody else, you know, can see from the outside, but there's just those things. And for me, um, like I mentioned, I was destined to be a taller, broad-shouldered, you know, bigger human, I guess you could say. And in my sport, gymnastics, I was constantly told lighter is better, skinnier is better, smaller is better. We were weighed on a scale in front of our entire team. So imagine this 7-year-old girl who's just like a ball of muscle. And, you know, I can't help it at this point. I'm actually— I'm very skinny. I'm just dense, you know. Um, and, you know, so low body fat that you can literally see my abs at like 7 years old. But I'm being weighed on this scale in front of my teammates and told that, you know, heavier girls don't go as high because obviously we know that you know, a taller athlete, a more dense athlete is going to weigh more, you know. So getting a complex about, you know, smaller equals better, leaner equals better, ingrained into you at a sport that I so want— badly wanted to succeed at, you know. I, I wanted to perform at my highest level. And so having, you know, that small body image tied to success at such a young age definitely gave me a complex and affected the way I viewed my body. Even still today, sometimes, you know, I always say I tell my athletes what I need to hear myself. And so that's what the whole, my whole mindset around, you know, I'm training to gain, I'm training to grow, and I'm trying to not pounds in a sense. I'm training to gain strength. I'm training to gain power. I'm training to gain confidence. I'm training to gain self-respect, um, rather than lose pounds, inches, cellulite, because, you know, my leanest self does not equal my best self. And that is something that I've had to repeat over and over when I personally look in the mirror and, you know, me saying that on social media, a lot of women can relate to that feeling because, you know, whether it's you stepping on the scale when you're 7 years old, or, you know, just the images you saw in magazines, TV growing up, just constantly comparing success or making success in the highest of beauty standards synonymous with skinny, lean. And tiny and light and saying that women can't be over 200 pounds. Like, things— all these things that have just been shoved into our brains over time repetitively. Um, you know, that's something that, that why, like, why I'm training for what I'm training for has been, you know, something that has been my own personal mantra that just kind of took off with my athletes as well.

Yeah, I— we talk a lot about growth mindset when it comes to like personal development and the idea around success and abundance and all these other themes. But I love that you also kind of bring growth mindset into fitness and this idea of like looking at fitness through the lens of what do I stand to gain rather than what am I here to lose. Like, I have goosebumps. Like, I just think that's such a powerful reframe for women. Like, it's so fucking cool.

Thank you. Honestly, it's— that has been something that has been such a struggle for me. I'm, you know, I'm 6 feet tall and broad shoulders. My dad was an NFL player. I feel like I'm built like my dad in a lot of ways. And, you know, I, you know, I'm not the girl with the voluptuous curves or anything like that. So I've really had to find ways to find value in what my body is and what my body looks like. And I know that sounds kind of corny sometimes, but, you know, in a world that's constantly telling you that you're not enough, you need to find ways to reframe what you have to be enough and to be value, to be valuable, to be desirable, even if it's just to yourself.

Yeah, yeah. It's like, I think self-acceptance is a struggle for so many of us, especially women, because of this, you know, subconscious programming that we have just based on society and beauty standards and all of that. What do you think, like, for you, what are the things that really help you kind of come back to self-acceptance? Because we all have days where we're like, I'm not feeling myself. Like, this is not cool right now. And then those old thought patterns can kind of pop up of, I need to get in the gym, I need to work out, or I need to eat less, or I need to eat this, that, or the other thing. Some of those, you know, kind of toxic thought patterns that maybe we used to entertain in the past, but those can still pop up even if you've been on a healing journey with your body for a long time. So for you, like what helps you return to acceptance even when you're like, I'm not feeling myself?

I feel like I'm not like— I feel like so many people look at my Instagram and I get these comments like, quote unquote, body goals. But like, for me personally, it's 50/50 when I look in the mirror of me feeling good about myself that day or not. And especially around that time of the month, it is It is, it is crazy.

So that'll distort things real quick.

110%. And then you just get emotional about it and it's just a whole mess. But you know, what really helps me find value again is going, going to the gym. And I don't want to say like, oh, whenever you feel bad about yourself, go to the gym. Cause that's not it. But for me, what the gym symbolizes is me stepping into my power. I've always felt that I am my most confident when I'm in the gym. I'm my most myself when I'm in the gym. So when I go into the gym and I'm not focusing on burning calories, I'm not focusing on losing weight, I'm not going into the gym with a superficial mindset like that. I'm going in there and saying, okay, you know what? I may have seen some pretty aggressive cellulite on my butt cheeks this morning, but I am lifting 315 lbs. off the ground repeatedly right now and I am a badass for that. I don't care what my body looks like right now. Like, that is impressive and I am proud of myself for what I was able to do instead of just what this body looks like. So for me, it is going to the gym and finding those performance wins. That is why I love performance training so much because It takes the emphasis and the focus away from the physicality of training and the aesthetic goals. So when I say I go to the gym, I'm not saying I'm going to the gym to punish myself and burn calories. I go to the gym to rediscover my strength and rediscover my ability, my power, my confidence.

Okay.

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I love that so much. It's so good. I feel like it's, um, maybe there's this distinction for people between self-acceptance and self-appreciation. Like, I think you touched on something really key there, which is appreciating what my body can do, like the power of my body. And I think for anybody who's on a journey towards trying to love themselves more, we think, oh, we need to accept everything about ourselves, right? Like this— we'll take the cellulite, for example, because you mentioned that. I need to just be okay with it. I need to love it. You know, I need to love the cellulite. I need to love the way that it looks. But I just think that's so unrealistic. And so before we can get to acceptance, it's more like appreciation. And for me, that was a huge gateway to more self-love, especially with my body. Was like just sitting on a daily basis and recognizing like, holy shit, like my body's incredible. Like, I'm so healthy. I'm able-bodied. Like there's so much that I can do. All of this stuff is working for me all the time without me even thinking about it. Like I'm constantly breathing. My blood is pumping. My cells are regenerating. Like so much stuff is going on for us within our bodies that we don't even have to think about that. Like that right there should allow someone to at least just step into the appreciation mode before you try to push yourself or force yourself into acceptance of these flaws or things that, you know, maybe you don't like about your body that much.

Yeah. I feel like even the term self-love is just cringy to me in a way. And sometimes like I get, I get the heart behind it. Like I get where it's trying to go. Um, but sometimes it can feel a little bit toxic positivity to me. And so a way that I like to reframe that is just what you said, you know, you don't have to train, you get to train, right? That's something I say to my EvolveU athletes all the time. Like you, you woke up today, don't waste this opportunity. You know, don't waste this opportunity to see what you're capable of, to see how much you can progress today, whether that's in the gym or You know, starting that business, taking that leap, like how are you going to get 1% better today? So yeah, I completely agree. Self-acceptance is a gateway to more self-love. But it really does start with that reframe of, you know, I don't have to do this, I get to do this.

Hmm. Women who, you know, they, they do struggle with that idea of self-love and maybe even the concept around body positivity. Because I mean, the movement is beautiful and it's, it's amazing. But I think sometimes people, there's a confusion there around like self-love and body positivity where it makes them believe I have to love everything about myself before I can move forward. And, you know, if I want to get stronger, or I want to change something about myself, then that means I haven't learned to love myself enough yet. Like, I— there's a, there's a lot of women that are actually pretty confused around that. They feel like, well, if I can't love myself the way that I am now, then, you know, do I even deserve to be able to change? So I guess the question is, like, can we— I've done a whole podcast on this too, because it's so perplexing for so many people. But it's like, can we love ourselves and pursue making healthy changes? Or does going to the gym or trying to eat better mean that we don't love ourselves because we want to change our body?

I think it's the exact opposite. I think going to the gym and working hard at something, trying to better yourself, is self-love. I think that is like— I think love in itself is an action. It's not some like floating noun. It is, it's a verb. It's, it's, it's every, it's a commitment to progress. It's a commitment to bettering yourself fully, whether that's physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, professionally, whatever it is, whatever, wherever your priorities lie. I don't think that wanting to improve something means that you don't value what you already have. I think it just means you want to make it better. And you know, that is, that is, it is a very perplexing thought. And I, and I understand that, but you know, that is why I'm always so outspoken and quote unquote vulnerable on my social media, because I want people to know that I have things that I'm not 100% in love with about my body, but that's not going to stop me from trying to improve. That's not going to stop stop me from being confident and happy. That's another thing I, you know, you have to— there's another part of it. Like, just because I have these things about my body doesn't mean that I can't be confident, doesn't mean that I can't love myself, you know. Um, I would consider myself a fairly confident person, but there are, there are things about my body that I have over time learned to accept because like we said earlier, of the things that my body is able to do. And kind of for me more personally, being someone on social media, I feel like there's such a huge lack of representation for whether it's, you know, African American women, taller women, you know, athletically built women that have these, you know, gym babe bodies. So it kind of makes you feel like if you don't have this tiny little frame with the bubble butt and visible six-pack abs that you can't love yourself. That's just not true. I'm— that's why, like, that is why I make sure to show up and show my flaws, but also show my confidence and show all of the different, you know, caveats that we as women have. Because, you know, we're more than six-packs and bubble butts and cellulite, you know. So that's what I try to highlight all aspects of, you know, what makes us us and lovable at the same time.

I think that was such a good, a good point around confidence. Like, it just came into my mind as you were speaking, like, confidence is not synonymous with perfect, right? If you're, if you're waiting for this sense of perfection in order for you to feel confident or even claim that you're confident, there's so many women that are terrified of describing themselves in that way, of saying, I'm confident. And if you are really identifying with this I'm not confident story, then of course you're not going to feel confident. And so we, we have to allow insecurity and confidence to coexist. Like, they can happen at the same time. We don't need to be perfect in order to be confident. You can choose to be confident where you are with what you have, however you look, whatever's going on in your life right now. And I really do think that confidence begins with a choice.

100%, 100%. I think it begins with a choice that you make to do your best that day and make decisions that are going to align with your best self that day, make decisions that you can be proud of that day. I think confidence is more so found in, you know, being proud of who you are and the things that you're, you know, doing rather than just how you look. And for me, focusing on the former, like the decisions that I'm making, the things that I'm achieving, you know, that's where my confidence, I think, comes from. And also knowing that Right now, I am living proof of who I needed to see when I was 7 years old. I needed to see this tall, broad, muscular woman embracing what she has right now and being happy, being fun, dancing around like an idiot on her story, you know, being being happy and successful. And I feel like that is what I needed to see when I was 7 years old. And that is what I'm going to continue to do because I know, you know, I, I'm working. I literally have a picture of myself when I was 7 years old in a little gymnastics uniform on my, uh, like right by my sink. So I pass it every day when I walk out of my apartment. So my intention again is set every single day I walk out, okay, I am going to go do something for this girl. I am going to go be my best self today for that girl. And, you know, it is not just me. There are so many girls out there, you know, that you may not look exactly like me, sound exactly like me, but there is something from my story that you can relate to. Something. So I am going to continue to you know, walk into, walk in that power for that girl.

Being a woman that your younger self would look up to is so powerful. And I, okay, so in my work, I do inner child healing with my clients sometimes. And having that picture of you as a child is such a powerful exercise. So I love, A, that you have that and that you do that. And B, the picture that I have that feels like my inner child is me, me in a gymnastics outfit too, because I did gymnastics when I was— yeah, when I was really young. And so there's a picture of me when I was probably about 6 years old, and I'm in my like little like velvety leotard that we used to wear, standing on like— yeah, standing on the, um, the, the podium. Like, I guess I scored first place for something, and I'm holding a trophy, and I literally look so happy and so proud. And it just, it, it brings that essence of, you know, my fire and my desire to achieve. And yeah, it's such a representation of like who I was as a kid. And so for anybody listening, like find a picture of yourself as a child and put it somewhere where you see it often and remind yourself of, you know, how am I going to show up to be someone that this little girl would be proud of?

Yeah.

How am I going to move through my day so that she would see me now and be like, damn, like, you made it, we made it?

Mm-hmm. I love that. That's so funny. My, my picture is me like mid-floor routine, and I just have this like boss, like so focused, concentrated, boss look on my face. And it's just like, I feel like a mini Beyoncé in that picture. So it's like, so I totally, it's like that fire that you described. That's exactly what mine embodies too. That's so funny. I love that.

Yeah. Yeah. I know. Like I can definitely tell from your energy and your personality and like even how you show up on social that you do have like a lot of fire. Like you are probably someone who ignites other people's fire, which is awesome. Like in terms of you being a trainer, but also just on social media, like on TikTok and Instagram and the different, like, you know, little like rants or things that you share. Like your energy really has the power to like ignite somebody else's flame that maybe was like flickering or low, which is really beautiful.

Thank you. I think that is the best compliment. Someone actually called me they said that they don't need pre-workout, they just need my Instagram. Like, I am watching my story is like a boost of pre-workout. And that to me is the ultimate compliment. And yeah, yeah, I like that. Yeah, I would never say that about myself, I guess, but now I kind of agree.

Yeah, you're like, you're an activator. Your energy is very activating, which perfect for what you do and like your mission in the world. So I love that. Okay. So you posted something like a couple of days ago or weeks ago. I can't remember when I saw this, but you posted something on TikTok that I think is really going to resonate with so many women. So we're going to shift gears a little bit and kind of talk about dating because it's, it's, it's unrelated and also so related, right, to like how we feel about ourselves. But you posted something that I think so many women are going to resonate with. So I just wanted to read it. And it said, it takes a lot of strength to be single in a world that's accustomed to settling for anything just to say that they have something. For all the single girlies out there stuck comparing timelines and feeling behind, um, what would, what is like your advice on helping people kind of move through the comparison Because we face comparison in so many areas, not only around body, but also around those milestones, those typical milestones in life. So for all our single girlies out there, as you are one of them, what is— how, like, oh, how do you move through that frustration of feeling like maybe you're behind or time is running out? All that stuff that kind of goes through our heads, but maybe we are afraid to say out loud.

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Yeah, I think You know, I posted that at a moment where once again, I needed to hear that myself. I say I literally post what I need to remind myself in case anyone else is feeling that same way. And I think that day it was like I had just gotten invited to a wedding and a baby shower and a, one of my friends, like first their daughter's first birthday. And I was like, Jesus, like, I literally, all I'm worried about is when I'm going to the gym next, you know, or obviously I'm worried about more things, but like, I'm like, my friends are like, you know, from high school to college, everyone is really settling down now. Like, I'm, I'm 32 years old. So, you know, it started, I feel like that anxiety started around 27. And now it's getting to the point where people are kind of looking at me like, well, what's, what's the problem? Like, what's wrong with you? Do you want kids? Do you want a family? Like, of course, if you know that people start asking me if I'm going to have babies, my mom's looking at me for grandchildren every other 10 minutes. So it's like, what? It's starting to get a lot. So I posted that because I wanted to remind myself and other women that, you know, you really have to trust the timing of your life. And everything along your path is working exactly as it should be. Everything is happening for you rather than to you. And so for me, I truly wholeheartedly believe that my soulmate, the person that I God willing, would love to start a family with one day is already on his way to me. I'm just, I have not been ready for him yet for it to work out. And I also know that because I've been so hyper-focused on building my career, I left my corporate marketing job when I was 29 years old. So I basically started over at 28, 29. And that, that was very scary because, you know, you already feel kind of behind the gamut at that point. But, you know, so I've been very hyperfocused on building this baby, building this career, focusing on the relationship with myself. And I'm honestly just now starting to feel ready to be able to give part of myself to a partner and possibly children in the future. Like, I haven't been ready up until this point because of my career. And I feel like that's, you know, a lot of women might feel ashamed to say that, but I'm not because I'm living my dream, helping thousands of women around the world. You know, my soulmate can kind of wait, and I know he's being prepped and primed and ready for me. And when it's meant to be, it'll happen. Um, so that's what— when I posted that, I just really wanted women to understand that they don't have to settle. My, like, main thing that I always say is never, ever, ever settle. And that's in the gym, professionally, and romantically. Um, if you are holding on to something that you know isn't right, there's a million red flags, but you're just holding on to it because you want someone to hold you at night, but they're gonna go out and disrespect you in the daytime, or, you know, you just, you know, something's off, but you're just putting off breaking up. I really feel, and this gets a little woo-woo if you believe in the universe, but I really feel like when you're holding on to something that you know energetically is not a fit, you're only prolonging what's meant for you to find you. So for me, I'm staying open. I am getting my— making myself, you know, the best partner I can possibly be. I'm bettering my life, my fitness, like who I am. And, you know, when that person finds me, I'm going to be 100% ready. And that, you know, that includes cutting off all the side, you know, the little sneaky links. That includes making yourself completely I don't want to say available, but open to that. And then, you know, you got to trust the timing of your life and it will find you, but you got to cut off all the things that, you know, that aren't working.

Yeah, that's so true. And people aren't willing to do that because we crave connection so much. So whether you have some people on the side that it's like just fun to like hang out or hook up with, but you're like, this isn't going anywhere. Or you're actually like in a relationship with someone who you're like, I feel like I deserve better than this, but like now I'm scared because I'm late 20s or in my 30s or 40s or 50s or whatever. And you're like, it's too late for me now, so I'm just gonna stick with this person. Like, all of that energy is what you're talking about, like preventing the right thing from actually falling into place. It's, it's taking up a valuable slot in your life. And I always say, if you want to manifest something, if you want to call something in, one of the first steps is creating space. Like, really asking yourself, is there space for this thing to drop into my life? And you mentioned that with career too, which I think is, is so important. And I actually just posted on Instagram today about a similar thing because I'm trying to move right now. I lived in Spain for 6 years and we just got back to the US.

Yes.

Yeah. And so I'm staying with my parents right now. And we're trying to find a house and, you know, start our new life. And it's been a couple of months, and it's just not happening as fast as I thought it would. And I had that same realization of like, oh, thank God, the perfect house, my dream house hasn't come on the market yet. Because I actually wouldn't be ready to like, move into it tomorrow. There's so many other loose ends. Things that are happening in my life and my business that need to be finalized and tied up before I would even be able to do that. So of course, of course, even in the waiting, I'm being guided, right? The same as you, like, you're being guided in the waiting. Like, thank God your dream guy didn't show up when you were like busy in hustle mode. Like, I can't talk to anybody because I'm trying to like build my business. I'm like, get my shit off the ground, right? Because that would have been a big Bummer. So if you do believe in this way, which I think, you know, there's no harm in doing so, it's only gonna help you feel better about your experience and where you're going moving forward. But it really can help you kind of see that perhaps things are happening for you, you know. Were you even really ready for that to fall into place? And sometimes we're sitting here thinking like, oh, why am I not getting in a relationship? Or why am I not getting the house? Or why am I not manifesting the whatever? And And when you really ask yourself that question of like, hang on, would I be ready even to receive that if it were to drop in, let's say today or tomorrow, the answer is likely going to be no. And there you go. There you go. That's why it's not here yet.

Yeah. And I like that you said the answer is no, because I think there's so much power in no too. And that involves like going on dates and, you know, dating. I am, I wouldn't say super actively dating, dating is a lot for me right now. But, you know, if you go on a date with someone and they don't align to, you know, the major things that, you know, you cannot budge on. Non-negotiables. It's a no. Yeah. Then it's a no. And no harm, no foul. You know, be respectful and cut it off. Snip the loose ends. Like you said, on to the next. So a lot of power in saying no to everything that you don't want to reaffirm what you do want coming in.

Yes, yes. This is what I call standing in the truth of what you want. Right. And again, going back to that, like craving for connection. If you're really craving connection, you're going to abandon some of those things that you truly want in pursuit of that connection, right? You go on a date with someone and you're like, oh, well, you know, these things weren't aligned, but they like me, or they think I'm pretty, or maybe we, you know, have good sex, or whatever it is. And so you're just like sacrificing what you actually want for the connection. And so if you're really serious about calling in that dream person, or whatever it is, any type of manifestation, you've got to be willing to say no to all the things that are not exactly that.

Yep, absolutely.

Yeah. Okay. So before we go, I want to know, I'm in the market actually for like, I want to do more at-home workouts. So tell me, just teach me about the EvolveU app because I've never been on it. So I actually like genuinely would really like to know because I'm like, girl, I'm in the market. I need a workout app buddy.

Yeah, there's, so there's a couple different avenues that you can go down on the EvolveU app, which I love. That's either the on-demand live workout or the, you know, your standard structured program or, um, kind of your one-off workouts that you enjoy that you can ad hoc add to your weekly workout planner. So honestly, there's so many different options and ways to train together. I always say if you're just starting out, the on-demand workouts are amazing because I'm actually like in the room with you motivating you, correcting your form in the moment, and you know, we're actually working out together. I'm literally doing the movements with you. Um, but you know, if you're looking for more of like a progressive overload program that's going to help you, um, that you can do either 5 or 3 days a week That is also available on the app. And again, when you're talking about my training style, everything is performance-based. So day one, you take what I call a benchmark test and you understand where you're at from a core strength, upper body strength, lower body strength, and endurance standpoint. Day one, you complete the program, do that exact same test at the end of the program. So you can put actual real numbers to your progress. And again, that takes that shift from, oh, I just, you know, I lost 5 pounds when I did this, or, oh, you know, my butt got bigger after doing this program to being like, no, when I started this, I could only do 2.5 of a pushup and now I can bust out 20, you know? So it really reaffirms the why behind my training style, which is what I was so excited to bring to the InvolveU app in the first place. So I can, I can show you the ropes, whatever, whatever you got. I got you, sis. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. And I love that the metric is performance-based and it's not like you're taking a starting photo or you're starting measurements or you're starting weight, which is like the classic, you know, like to see where you start and where you get to, which is really body-focused. I love that it's performance-focused and we're shifting that attention away from the body or what you're trying to lose. And we're really focusing on what you have to gain in terms of endurance, strength, performance, all those other things. So good. Okay, well, where can, where can everybody find you and the EvolveU app and like train with you and even just like learn from you and get in your activator energy and feel inspired by you?

Yes, you can always find me on Instagram at Danielle Wilson. Um, or, you know, the Evolve U app is available on the Apple Store. So you can always find all my on-demand programs and everything are exclusive on the Evolve U app. But, you know, I do make a point to post a lot of free content on Instagram that's going to help you with your form, your confidence. Um, you know, that's where my more body positivity messaging and pep talks, daily pre-workout pep talks, are on my story there as well. And, you know, TikTok for a little bit of a laugh. Sometimes I feel like I'm a little bit more funny on that platform, quote unquote. But, but yeah, I'm all over.

All right. We're going to link everything in the show notes for you guys. So make sure you go give Danielle a follow, check out her Instagram and her TikTok and come train with us in the EvolveU app because I have a feeling I'm going to need to download it because your girl needs to get back into something.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming on the show, Danielle. It was such a pleasure.

I appreciate you so much. Thank you.