# Senada Greca: Why You Quit Everything You Start (And How to Finally Stop)

Channel: Creator Unplugged with Jun Yuh
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDPHNKR0cpg
Duration: 49 min
Language: English
Words: 9189
Transcript page: https://viewrankai.com/tools/youtube-transcript/eDPHNKR0cpg

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[0:00] What is the main driver for your success? Coming from a third world country, Albania taken over by communism where everything scarcity was an everyday part of our life. And if you weren't number one, you're last. Sonatic Grea. You may know her as the personal trainer of some of the world's largest celebrities, including Kim Kardashian. That she's actually more than that. She is an amazing creator and a serial entrepreneur. Where does the ideation [music] process even start? If you listen to your audience, they'll tell you what they need. They'll tell you what works for them. I started dealing with eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. Fitness is what

[0:37] got me out of that hole. What are some advices that you can give someone like, I just want to go back to the content stuff, but ultimately still want to do this entrepreneurship. When it came to brands, I didn't money grab, so to speak, at every brand that reached out to me. Have I left millions of dollars on the table? Sure. But what I gained in the process was the trust and loyalty of my audience. I truly believe that pressure will either kill you or you're amazing. I feel like you're like a real life superhero. Cuz where I wanted to first start and the reason why

[1:08] I'm so excited about this conversation, I feel as though you often get labeled just as a fitness trainer, but you are so much more than that. You have an MBA. You've started and you've made these incredible businesses. You've also been leading in the women's personal development space as well. There's so much that you do on a regular basis and you've been so massively successful in each of that. And so I think the idea of boxing you as just a fitness trainer is doing you a disservice and I'm just curious what is the main driver for your

[1:39] success? What is what drives my success? There's so many facets to it. You know, I think the biggest thing is um is coming from a third world country, if you will, or from a country that that was taken over by communism where everything scarcity was an everyday part of our life that you didn't have a lot of resources and if you weren't number one, as my mom would say, if you're last, if you're number two, you're last. So that perhaps like that desire to succeed and to make something of myself and to make my parents proud fed into that desire to to to make something of me eventually down

[2:23] down the road uh as it did. So I think it was and I think a lot of people see it as perhaps having an innate ability that that that you have to be disciplined or to achieve or to be successful. But I think your environment and um the circles perhaps that you grow in and the emotional regulation and the resilience that do you start to build is plays a huge role in in your success and

[2:53] what you achieve. So many people will always say that discipline is inherent, right? They think it's just gifted to people. And I always say that I personally wasn't very disciplined growing up and I actually had quite strict parents too and I love them for it. I think that it actually pushed me to be the person that I am today. So my family didn't grow up with any money and ultimately we struggled a ton. But that suffering led to me understanding why discipline is important, right? Because all of our decisions and our behaviors lead to certain consequences. And so over time I had to learn how to be disciplined. But

[3:28] what's strange is that often times you find online people are talking about 4:00 a.m. wake up times and they say you have to do an ice bath every single day. And they're like, "If you don't do that, then you're not disciplined." I see discipline differently. And I'm curious, do you see discipline differently? And how can you make people out there that are right now struggling, they're like, there's no way that I can build discipline. What would you say to those

[3:47] people? You can absolutely build discipline. Discipline does not come first. It's a byproduct of the actions that you take every single day. and having that self building that self-rust making a contract with self and sticking to the terms of those contract um and and then doing that day after day builds that selfrust builds that discipline that for whatever aspect of your life you're

[4:12] trying to to build that discipline for. So I most of the time, believe it or not, people might find this surprising, feel unmotivated to go work out. But it is those habits that I've created that selfrust that I will show up and I do show up that um that breed that motivation. So it's action before motivation. So whatever that is in your life that you want to build, start with that first smallest step first. do that step every single day and then add on to it. And no, I don't believe that you have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. and pull funds every day to be a successful

[4:51] person. I don't [laughter] do any of that. Um, and I I'm a pretty successful person in my book. You know, I I perhaps that comes with a little bit of aids and wisdom where you realize what's truly important to you and some of the things, you know, what what are you are you moving forward with fear or from fear? Are you moving forward from love and peace and a desire to to to be the most joyous version of yourself? And and I think that's where I am right now, doing things from a place of love and and joy. And sure, sometimes fear is there too. [laughter] You learn

[5:31] how to make friends with it. Um, but is moving forward with those aspects of you. Yeah. I want to go back to the roots of Albania because absolutely for me, I talk a lot about the suffering that I witnessed growing up. And to give you a little bit of detail of that, my parents got divorced, but it was really hard cuz my mom was my best friend. And I spent every single day with her. And then overnight my mom left to a completely different country and I lost contact with her for 10

[6:02] years. And what resulted from that was a lot of suffering from my family standpoint. So every single day I'd come back home and I'd see my dad struggling and I'd see my siblings struggling and it was incredibly difficult. We actually had to move from home to home to home cuz we couldn't afford to live where we were before until we finally got to a point in which we were in a tiny apartment and me and my brother shared a small room together and my dad slept on the living room floor and it was hard at your formidable years of being 15 16 17 18 years old and seeing that was really

[6:36] really difficult and I know for you too you grew up with the struggle but it's fascinating because a lot of times people will let that struggle define that you didn't you somehow turned that struggle into a massive set of empires and I'm curious how did you even have that perspective to do so. Yeah, I can that what you said totally resonates with me. When we first Albania had its own struggles communist country

[7:01] when we left there was gunshots outside. We [clears throat] had to hide under the bed to from fear of being shot. you couldn't walk on the streets um for fear of being shot and killed and lots of my friends and people we knew did unfortunately suffer through that or had that happened to them and their families. We were fortunate enough to move to the United States and be able to move legally with a green card was the biggest gift ever that we received from the universe. And um but even coming here, you know, we slept five people in a tiny room, one bed, shared two-bedroom apartment with

[7:40] another family of four. Um so the struggle continued even early on while moving to the United States. But I truly believe that pressure will either kill you or build you. And I think it did build me into the person that I am today. finding that emotional resilience to deal with struggles in Albania and then upon coming to the United States as a firstborn teenager going through personal physical changes, hormonal changes, um cultural changes, all of those things in retrospect helped play a role in who I am today. And sure, you know, we all have our traumas and we all and I've done my work when it comes to it in

[8:26] understanding, you know, the the the the things that that affected me in my life. And though some of those were really difficult, they had a play, they had a part in who I am today. And without those aspects of my life, I don't think I would be who I am today. Not that you need to go through struggle to become a diamond and through pressure to become a diamond but uh I think it's a it's powerful to embrace that and to um understand it as part of your journey that has brought you to to this part versus becoming a victim of it and getting stuck in that loop

[9:05] of victimhood. So uh understand it, appreciate it, give yourself grace that you've gone through something major that's that these things have occurred without your choice but also uh give yourself grace and move move forward um with that understanding that they played a big part and sometimes a very positive part in your life. I want to give you your flowers because I'm actually with two other siblings. So there are three of us and I'm very close to my older sister. She's the oldest out of the three and she is 10 years older than me. So she's always been a second mom to me. And what I've seen her do as the oldest is actually

[9:46] sacrifice in ways that while I was young I could never see it or understand it. But now I'm so close to her because I see everything that she did for me. I mean when you come to a completely different country and you are the oldest you already have this level of pressure. It's like I need to be the one to sort it out. But then it's like I need to figure it out while I'm also learning a new language, while also making sure

[10:05] that my two younger siblings are okay. Do you feel as though when you're making that transition and now with who you've become, do you believe that your two younger siblings are actually proud of you and they've learned a lot from you in that process? I absolutely. Um, are you the youngest? I am the youngest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz I remember my youngest sister, you know, I would, you know, I've always like your sister. I've taken that role many times over being a parent to my sisters sometimes to a degree that that

[10:34] [laughter] I was scolded for. But then obviously coming to to a country where my parents didn't know the language and I was the only one that knew the language. I also became a a parent in other aspects to my parents as well. Um, so but to answer what you what you uh asked that I do believe that they that they see me as the source of inspiration that has helped held hold their hand and sometimes maybe a little bit too harsh of a way, but [laughter] I hopefully shaped them and and and still help them um help to shape who they are as women today. and they help

[11:13] me just as much and seeing their mothers and they're just incredible mothers at that. You sound just like my older sister. The [laughter] the mix of she's my second mom and I love her for it. But at the same time, there's a lot of moments in which she was reprimanding me in ways. I was like, "Hey, there so the way that I would call my sister in Korean, it's nuna. It just means older sister. It's like a respectful way of doing it." And when I was in a circumstance in which I got upset at my older sister, I would just call her by her English name. And

[11:40] that never flew with her. So I had this mix where I was growing up where I was like I respect her so much but now I like really love her and I'm like I can't believe all these sacrifices that she made. There's something that you mentioned that my sister also had to do which is you were in this process where your parents also don't speak the language. Right. So as the oldest sibling she was constantly doing legal papers. She was con even if they wanted jobs she was the one doing the

[12:03] paperwork. You're making me relive it all over again. [laughter] But the reason why I I want to do this is because I feel like you're so much more than just a fitness trainer cuz I hear your story and I see a lot of my older sister and I love her to death and you've obviously been able to do so many

[12:16] things with it. When you go back and think about that, right, cuz you're going to school, right? Again, my sister was the exact same way. She didn't speak the language and she still killed it. Like she was like, "That's not an excuse. I'm going to make sure that I crush my academics." And then she also went ahead and she got her multiple degrees and she's like,

[12:32] "I'm going to go and do X, Y, and Z. Nothing's going to stop me." and she was a huge huge huge role model for me. You did something very similar, right? you went and got your MBA in a single year. Like that's unbelievable, right? So, do you attribute that success to this discipline or did you have a different perspective when you were just trying to

[12:50] figure all this out? Well, as I mentioned with my parents, especially my mom, like if you're not first, you're last. So, I [laughter] try to carry on through the education for an immigrant is very important. You know, that's at least where you're coming from or where I was where I'm from. That's what's important. like if you wanted to be a dancer or an artist, they would

[13:12] look at you like you have three heads. Like what are you going to do with that? You can't make a living out of it. So, um I I think that's where it bred like that desire to go and get my MBA. And and then my mom was asking, well, are you going to get your PhD? I'm like, mom, wait, [laughter] what am I going to do with my PhD? I'm not about to go teach. But it's like that pursuit of higher and higher education was seen as success and for me that validated me for a long time like the high grades and um graduating sumakum laad from my

[13:46] undergrad and then graduated with the same honors from business school at the top of the class. So [gasps] going onto finance, becoming a senior analyst and working for all of these big companies, but it gets to a point where external validation no more fulfills you and and then you start to ask the question of what does truly fulfill me and what does make an impact on people's lives. Now it's more of how can I be of service and how can I fulfill fulfill my soul's purpose versus validating what other people think of

[14:21] me. Is that then where content creation played a pivotal role where you started to see an impact that goes beyond your traditional career route? Absolutely. Well, I knew first what fitness had done for my mental health and my physical health. You know, in your research, you might have seen [laughter] that I have as a as a teenager just perhaps trying to fit in, trying to control the uncontrollables. I started dealing with eating disorders,

[14:49] depression, and anxiety. Um there's the a lot of struggle there especially within the family that perhaps led to to that. Um, so fitness is what got got me out of that hole of dealing with all of these issues, all of these uh struggles. So I saw that as a tool to help other women as well, other people as well in their journey. Um, and I simply while working full-time started posting my workouts every single day, getting up

[15:24] that's when I did get up early. [laughter] That's when I had to have the the So, there's times, you know, when you need to develop that discipline to wake up at 4:00 a.m. because that's the only option to get you to your future goals to then when you have the ability and the flexibility to not wake up at 4:00 a.m.

[15:41] in the morning. But at the time, I did. And without a fail, every single day I filmed. Um, and for years I did that. And for years, every single day, seven days a week, 365, I would post my workouts. And so I did for almost an entire year without asking for anything in return for my audience. So truly providing that value and creating that trust to then be able to bring to the audience something that I could monetize on and that would make me leave my day [laughter] my day job and which it did. U but that was the the start of of it all the desire to help people with

[16:21] something that had helped me. when you started in 2019 because again I feel like what you've been able to achieve is not spoken about enough because when you're going back to that period of time what fitness creators quote unquote were doing were they were maybe doing a teaser of their workouts by the rest of my program right you didn't do that I mean I scrolled I scrolled I was going to say [laughter] scroll way back I did a lot of research because I thought you're phenomenal and again it's like I see this evolution and you were so ahead of the game Unbelievable. Because during that, even

[16:55] today, there's a lot of creatives that are like, "Oh, I'm going to package all my free value. I don't want anyone to see that. I'm going to go only the paid route." But you went completely differently. What drove you to ultimately provide as much free value as you did? Just a desire to simply help people. And I did identify a space for myself whether people like you said were providing providing teasers or here's three exercises. And I personally didn't find value in that. So, what could I do to provide more value than just that and kind of stand out? And I knew that putting in that consistent work day

[17:29] after day would pay off at some point in the future. How? I quite did not know yet, but I knew that it it would lead me somewhere. And I just trusted that um that gut feeling and and and that insight that I had to just provide that value no matter how that monetary outcome was in the future. Yeah. As I was studying your content, I was learning a lot. I mean, when you have as much body of work as you do, you are obviously recognizing patterns on your side where you're like, "Let me go and double down for it." I look at your

[18:02] content today and it's amazing, right? You've grown such a massive audience. I bet most people look at your content and think, "She must have a team of 20 people behind the scenes." Who is actually creating the content, not for a long time, it was honestly myself. Crazy. My water bottle and my iPhone. [laughter] And then my my partner, he would uh help as well like film. Um and then then he stepped into it more and we were doing that together. We was filming behind the camera and I was doing all of the ideation and the editing. Um and that

[18:33] was for a very long time. And I mean even I guess just as as little as when when did you come on board? [laughter] Yes. Oh my gosh. Up to January this year, you were doing everything by yourself. Yeah. Yeah. Everything, right, Rob? Correct me if I'm wrong. I think he's in the other room, but

[18:52] [laughter] I'm assuming he said yes. Yeah. No. Um, it was Yeah. I'm just trying to think cuz it's it's it is definitely a little bit surreal, but yeah, up until just 6 months ago or less than 6 months ago, it was we were filming and editing. And I still, like I was mentioning to you before earlier,

[19:12] um, still edit everything myself. I'll I'll ask for for help every oh so often. [laughter] Elsa Lee to to when I whenever I'm like, "Okay, I'm in a pinch." Like, "Help me out." She does edit my recipes now, which she does a phenomenal job at. Um, yeah, it's amazing. Most founders that I meet, even before they even post the first video, they're like, "June, who do I hire? I don't want to be doing this work." M you've built an empire and you've built such a large audience and you were telling everyone right now it's like I still do it. Do you love the process of

[19:46] creating content? I do love the process. Sure. There's days that it becomes repetitive but you know I again it gets back to that resilience. It get gets back to that consistency and that discipline um and and selfrust. Yeah. And but that works it comes to that point where you also have to start trusting other people to be able to step in and and help. Um so keeping that balance of of perhaps doing both when you get to a point where you are running businesses and your time is very valuable. So um it it it does take time to to film and to edit and to do

[20:26] all of that yourself. So you have to find that balance. But there's nothing wrong if you do love it to continue doing it. And I do, you know, I do I do still have a love for it. Yeah, I love it. I'm obsessed with it. And when I watch your content, I know there's intention behind it. And you probably can notice this, too. When some creators out there, they don't put too much care into it. It shows though cuz when I watch your content, the way that I look at it, I think of formats and I think of messaging angles. I think about how is the content being packaged and

[20:57] ultimately what is that person saying in the content. I can see it in your content. You're looking at recipe videos, but it's not just recipe videos. You're not only doubling down on one concept. You're also doing a lot of research back material. It's cool because you're going ahead and you're showcasing research papers literally in the content itself. You're also doing talking concept trending sounds and you have all these categories of content and I can tell that it's very much intentional. Where does the ideation process even start when you're thinking like I need a post for next Saturday, for example? Where do you even go in your brain to get that? [laughter]

[21:30] It's like a writer, I think. Sometimes sometimes you're struck with with uh inspiration and sometimes you're just having a a a brain freeze or a creativity kind of blank. Um, and I think yes, looking outside at some other creators helps. um looking at what has worked for you before and see how can I how can I present what I've already presented to the audience in in a different way in in a new way a new information perhaps but um sometimes it it's just a matter of of creativity striking you but I think keeping up with like I said different creators with perhaps trends with perhaps knowing your audience to the

[22:17] degree that that that you should know your audience. Everybody should not just be handing off everything and my belief to to other people to handle because then you you kind of detach at least for me that is important to keep that attachment to the audience. So all of those aspects I think play a role in um in in what how I present my content and then knowing that not every piece of viral audio or viral content or method is going to work for you and your audience. it it it for me it doesn't. So a lot of uh trending so to speak um moments or videos or just trends in

[22:57] general they just don't resonate. So I try to be very discerning as to what what speaks to them and knowing your audience is key and knowing what speaks to them but also not being scared to try new things and if you try it once okay could be the algorithm could try you try it twice and three times and then you understand okay this just quite doesn't vibe so I need to move away from this and uh and and try something different. You took the words right out of my mouth because I was going to say what's brilliant about your content. I think what stands apart the best from the rest is the

[23:34] understanding of who's behind the opposing side of the screen. And you just said it. You said, "What is my audience thinking?" How do you know those things? Cuz when you're developing your hooks, I can tell immediately you're thinking about problem points. Like you're literally looking at it's like what is my audience struggling with

[23:47] and how can I create a piece of content? I can see in your hook. I can see how you tell your stories and ultimately how you deliver the value. But how do you physically even understand? Is it from like your real world training clients and that's where you're starting to take your inspiration from? How do you even know what your audience is struggling

[24:01] with? Yeah, I mean asking just seeing the questions that that ask seeing the comments, seeing what resonates with them in the comments. They'll they'll if you listen to your audience, they'll tell you. They'll tell you what they need. They'll tell you what works for them and not you trying to come up with what you think is going to work for them, but listening to them to come up with a tailored solution, a tailored answer or a tailored uh anything that they're looking for. Basically, I I think that's key, listening to them and and recognizing the trends, recognizing what trends within your content. Um, and then again doubling down like you said,

[24:40] but not but again for me is not like being super repetitive with the with the same workouts. [laughter] They can get a little I guess repetitive if you will. Like you know I do try to to stick to certain things that I know work and then have room in the week for things that I want to to try and new

[25:03] styles and models that I want to try. But audiences first and listening to them is key in my opinion. Although it sounds simple, it's the number one mistake that I often see creators make. They just don't listen to their audience. They only care what they want. And I'll give you a perfect example of this. And and this is me being vulnerable with you. When I first started creating content and I had this idea of, oh, I should start a business. I was like, I should start a clothing company. I was not creating any content about that whatsoever, but I just thought that was the cool thing to

[25:32] do. And I was like, of course, I'm going to start a fashion company. and make the coolest thing in the entire world. I think a lot of us as creatives do that. We're in our own heads and we only care about what seems cool, what we want to do. We forget that we have an audience

[25:44] that we should ask. Absolutely. When I first developed my product, it was a 62page PDF. It wasn't beautiful. I tried really hard on it, but I had no talent whatsoever in terms of design. I had no idea how to package information that way. I've never done it like that. That PDF only came from a ton of surveys on my stories. I was like, "What do you guys want? If I was to develop something, I don't want to just do, let's say, merch. Like, I want to give

[26:08] you guys value. Like, what do you want?" And they told me straight up. And it actually took me like a full 2 months of me asking them to finally listen. I was like, "All right, fine. I won't do the clothing company, and I will go ahead and do a PDF that you guys want." But that PDF in my first week, again, I came from no money whatsoever. That first week was a $30,000 month. And then that first month was $100,000. And I was able to repeat that with a PDF, which was mindblowing to me simply because of the

[26:34] fact that I listened to my audience. Absolutely. And I'm curious with the businesses that you've developed, do you do the same thing when you're thinking about product launches, are you also listening to your audience and their feedback? Absolutely. And I've done my I've made my fair share of mistakes. Okay. It's [laughter] not just me then.

[26:49] Because I did launch a clothing brand. I was very close. Um, so not that it wasn't, you know, successful, uh, but it just wasn't what my audience necessarily was looking for or like a top priority type of thing. You know, they were looking at me for how do you get in the shape that you are? You know, what are the workouts that you're doing and how are you nurturing yourself? How are you supplementing? Like those are like the main things. And if I had kind of paid more attention to that, then I would have not necessarily [laughter] started with the clothing brand, which was a great learning experience in itself, but

[27:27] there's so many more nuances to it. Um, and like I said, yeah, listening to the audience and and seeing those cues so that you can develop. And there's nothing wrong with having a passion for for fashion. uh but knowing that that's a big risk too to take if that is not something that you are looked at or that you're um that the audience looks at for um for. So yeah, I did go ahead and and do that. And now we rise the fitness and personal development platform was like the first baby. So before the merchandise and I should have taken that portion of investments from the [laughter] from the

[28:13] clothing brand and just doubled down on Riseze but decided to explore that and like I said it was a great learning opportunity. um came to the realization that the ROI was much more um was higher with weise and decided to to to move that to shift focus and resources to weise versus the clothing brand and again listening to the audience and what is important to them. They'll tell you. They'll tell

[28:40] you. Cuz now you're talking about it from the creator operator standpoint where a lot of times, and I'm so guilty of this again, I was very close to making my fair share of mistakes in terms of my first product. And it's people like you that were open about it that made me understand maybe it's not the best first route. But when you start thinking about it from a creator operator standpoint, your idea of what is a good business completely changes because then you are thinking about cash flow. You're thinking about, all right, how do I actually develop something that can sustain itself? But I want to pick

[29:08] your brain here because I'm new to this. I mean, I've become a creator founder in the last 3 years and although the success has been quite rapid, I'm learning on the go and it's actually been really really difficult because just like you, I also create content literally all the time and I am the main person that decides whether something goes up. I I do that process. But then you add a completely different layer of being a business owner and you have Slack messages, you have comms, you have teams to lead. What are some advices that you can give someone like me, some, let's say, new creator founders out

[29:40] there, they're like, "Holy cow, this is too overwhelming. I just want to go back to the content stuff, but ultimately they still want to do this entrepreneurship experience." I feel like you're the perfect person to ask. Yeah. Um, I don't have the perfect answers, but I feel like I've built a team around me that helps support the success that we've been having. And I've always believed in in starting small. you start small with yourself and then you start to slowly build around you. Um not because you don't have faith in yourself but perhaps to kind of [gasps] mitigate some of those risks that you were talking about. You know, these are

[30:17] the thing you you need to build a sustainable business that supports itself that can pay for all the people. And that's what has occurred. Not going out all out and and hiring a team of of 20 to [laughter] but seeing where where are the holes in the business, where are the priorities in the business, [clears throat] and then bringing those on board to support you in a way that can create that sustainable business, that profitable business. Um, and yes, also being that leader, but also carving out time to maintain those creative processes and not a lot of the time. And I do find myself

[30:56] at times feeling like one or the other. Me too and finding that balance between both. I think it's it's key carving out the times to do, okay, this is my creative time and this is my leadership role time. Uh, and staying true to both of those. I've learned this the hard way in the last eight months. I've had a very hard time developing boundaries because in my calendar, it would be literally from the moment I wake up all the way till I go to bed, it's just calls and things about what do we do from the fulfillment side. It's like we can't forget about the fact that the content

[31:29] is what actually brings people in. And it's easy to lose sight of that cuz once the money starts rolling in, it's like I'm just going to go business business. Well, we can't lose our personal brand. So, when you're actually scheduling time, so do you think of that? You're like, I'm going to batch crate at this period of time. I'm going to allocate certain hours. So, are you using a

[31:45] calendar to organize this? Yeah, absolutely. Um, I have a calendar. You know, we decide when we're going to film. I used to, like I said, film every single day. And I'm not necessarily sure that that's the best [laughter] approach and it's too much, you know, having to to be pulled in in many directions in in one day. But creating batches, you know, I find I'll do a a workout day and then a recipe day and those will be my my main kind of creative days and then the the rest of the time is more for meetings and uh and and fulfilling like the leadership aspects. Uh and I do

[32:21] chunk out time. Okay. So this is my when I do edit when I when I create outside of filming and outside of leadership I and it works. initially wasn't so but then you do start to become to have a company that's that's very viable and companies and then you have to be a lot more you have to be smarter with your time you have to create those those blocks um and when before it was like okay let's film and then I'll edit and then I'll post and I'll work while I'm posting making it meaning like working the 9 to5 and and fitting things in maybe at lunch

[33:00] or between meetings while as to now it is imperative that everything is has a little bit more structure. Yeah, it's such an important lesson. A lot of creatives never had much structure. You think of content creation as a creative pursuit and often times we think creative, we don't think systems, right? We think, oh, it's whenever you're inspired to

[33:24] create content. I don't necessarily feel very inspired to create content like 98% of the time. Actually, in fact, coming in front of the camera is quite difficult, especially when I'm feeling low or if I'm feeling insecure, I have a fear of judgment that day. It's like the last thing I want to do is turn on a camera and hear myself talk. That's where the systems are so imperative, especially if you want to track those opportunities, right? And you are the perfect representation of and yes, you are Kim Kardashian's trainer, but you've also worked with some of the most top notable people within Hollywood. But something that I haven't really heard anyone ask

[33:56] you about, which I think is more important behind the scenes, is that you've been able to develop long-term relationships with them. And that means that behind closed doors, you're providing them a ton of value to build that trust and reputation. For all these other individuals that are thinking about, let's say, I want to go ahead and get my own clientele, right? I want to go ahead, I want to do my own agency or ultimately I want to have my own customers. A lot of them are thinking about the short-term gratification without thinking about the long-term relationships. Is that how

[34:25] you're envisioning it too as well? You're thinking long-term these pursuits. Of course, everything I mean it comes from perhaps like childhood um delayed gratification if you will of always perhaps again maybe going back to like the limited resources and having to do what you had to do before you got to do what you wanted to do. Um, so I I still employ that that aspect. I have always employed that aspect. And when it came to brands, I didn't grab money grab so to speak at every brand that reached out to me because I did not want to dilute my own brand and what I want what

[35:03] I was what I knew I was going to develop down the road. Have I left millions of dollars on the table? Sure. But I what I gained in the process was the trust and loyalty of my audience that I wasn't just going to throw in their faces whatever um deal came my way. But even when it comes to working with people with celebrities, not necessarily brands, I do prioritize those long-term relationships because I know that will pay off uh at some point in the future versus again immediate return or instant

[35:38] gratification. The biggest lesson I've learned is how to say no. And I think that when you are a creator, you t you tend to get a ton of inbound opportunity, right? Like every once you start getting attention, everyone wants to pull you in their own respective ways. And you have to realize that saying no is a deeper yes to the things that you ultimately want. And so for you, when you're hearing from a brand or a person or these relationships, do you have a filtration process in your mind? what are the criteria that you go through to be like yes I actually do want to pursue

[36:08] this opportunity or no I actually just want to focus on what's in front of me but personally I don't and and this is just personal I don't necessarily do a oneoff let's do a post for this type of thing and that's again a personal choice I want to align with brands that will work with me long term and the other filter is that if they align with my values you are they supporting my values or do do they go against my values and will they stay true to that. Will they allow me the opportunity to have a say in how true they stay aligned? Um and

[36:41] and that's when I will that's when those are kind of like the main filters. The the integrity of the company of are they aligned to my values? Are they aligned to my audience and [snorts] what my audience uh wants from me? So I think those are like the main filters that I apply to any brands that come my way. Would you attribute your longevity to that goodwill that you've built with

[37:05] your audience then? Absolutely. Absolutely 100%. I mean for year for a year plus I did not sell anything to my audience. I did not promote anything to my audience and then you know clothing deals came through and I started to work with a clothing brand and then launching we rise but I outside of that I really didn't work with any other brands believe it or not. Um, and still to this day very very discerning of who I work with and it's pretty much we rise and then

[37:37] being a a Nike ski athlete. Do you ever experience imposter syndrome? I feel it all the time. I mean, do I ever? Yes. [laughter] Um, daily? Yes. It is imposttor syndrome. It is perhaps a constant companion, but you need to learn how to make friends with it and how to understand where it's stemming from.

[38:04] Yeah. And understand that it's also perhaps bringing you to the success that you actually have achieved. You're always pushing to disprove that that that voice that you belong. So yes, it is um it has been a companion that I have made friends with, that I understand, and that I have compassion for. I've never heard anyone describe it as a companion. That's beautiful because I feel imposter syndrome daily. And I always have to remind myself it's not a

[38:37] sign that I'm doing something wrong. It's a sign that I'm human. That of course, I mean, especially from my upbringing, someone that's my age isn't supposed to do the things that I've been able to do. And sometimes there's a level of guilt associated with it. Sometimes it's like who the heck am I to be talking about X Y and Z concept. And I've had to wrestle with that for a very

[38:56] long period of time. And I started to recognize actually that's probably a good sign because if I ever got too content or got complacent in my learning or my education, then I feel as though I'm not progressing myself and I wouldn't be able to progress the value that I provide to my audience. Is that also something that

[39:12] drives you? Absolutely. Absolutely. as I mentioned, you know, it's kind of that is that driving force to prove to the the voice that says that you're an imposttor, that you belong in the room that you are in and that you are you have the right to speak about the things that you're speaking about. And it's just accumulating proof to quiet that voice or to um again make it a friend so that it's not it's not putting you down, but it's helping elevate you. It's helping you elevate your game and it's helping you bring to the next level, bring you up versus push you down because it can't

[39:49] you can't let it you can let it diminish you and shrink you and and you can succumb to it and not move forward or it could be the fire that drives you forward. It's brilliant because there's so many creatives right now that want to take the next step potentially. They want to post more. They want to take it seriously. But I have often found that fear of visibility, fear of judgment is

[40:12] the thing that actually holds them back. It's not lack of information, it's lack of self-belief. Absolutely. So the people that are tuning into this right now that are thinking, okay, I want to get to the way that Satan has just described her life. I want to ultimately get to that point, but they're struggling with this internal insecurity. What are you telling them to

[40:30] hopefully move the needle? Just do it. [laughter] Just do it. Okay. Yes. It's like with fitness what I tell people, you know, you're the content expert. I, you know, I I just do and I'm I'm the fitness, [laughter] but you're telling me that I'm a con content expert as well, so I'll take it. [laughter] Um, and uh, sure, having done it for so long, I feel like I have some some credibility when it comes to can you can I can can you can I help people create uh, an impact and and bring their dreams

[41:00] of of creativity and posting to life? And it starts with that first step as I said in fitness as well. It starts with with making that decision to to work out even if it's for five minutes. So if you're able to again dedicate it the the time that you have do that consistently but do it. If you don't take the chance of just starting then you're you're never going to know where it could lead you. It could lead you

[41:30] nowhere but at least you'll know. But if you do start then it could be a beautiful journey. That's that's the the journey of what is it? The journey of a thousand steps starts with that first one. So that is what I stand for. And I started with that very first step of posting my workouts every single day. I had no idea what to I hadn't necessarily done my research on what a good post looked like. I just saw the people that I um appreciated that I enjoyed their their content and then started to how can I bring my own flavor into into the that content to

[42:10] that space and that's what I did and it just started with that first post and then the second on the second day and third and doing that every day even though that imposttor syndrome that that impostor that voice of imposttor syndrome is there you keep doing it regardless because That's how you prove it wrong. That's how you prove to yourself that you're able and you belong. It's not about It's again like motivation is not waiting for motivation to strike. It's taking that action and and then that that flows from it. The motivation and the discipline flows from taking the actions every single day,

[42:50] posting every single day. Yeah. I have always said this and I'm curious to hear your take on it. I believe content creation is one of the best personal development journeys that you can go on. So meaning just like I treat fitness as a way for me to become a better human being. I see content a lot in the same ways because it forces you to be introspective. It forces you to learn how to storytell. It forces you

[43:15] learn how to communicate your message. Have you found yourself becoming a better person because of this consecration journey? Absolutely. I mean it exposes where do your fears lie? Where do you know just the fact of putting yourself out there. I think you were talking about the fear of exposing yourself and understanding that that sure it comes with potential comments and negativity, but that is in

[43:40] no way a reflection of who you are. Especially if you're being authentic, especially if it's coming from a place of of love and a place of being of service. At least for me that speaks uh it speaks to me like being from coming from a space from a place of service and from a place of love. It's been a huge part of of devel at first when I first hit that 100,000 follower mark. It it's when I I I really started to think about the eyes that were on me. Oh my gosh, like I have 100,000 people looking at me. But that was an opportunity again to

[44:17] either succumb to like the fear of being judged or to rise above that. And that for me has been the biggest the biggest lesson, the biggest learning opportunity is to to selfrust and then to move forward no matter what. Um and and to self-rely to uh understand who you are without the validation of of others. I've been lucky that I don't have um

[44:46] it's rare if ever negative comments. Sure, there'll be the rare comment of you take steroids or [laughter] um but it has has absolutely had an impact on helping me become a more confident person and not and the opposite of probably what you think it will happen that you'll crumble at the face of of comments or the face of negativity. It has helped me become a stronger and more

[45:20] confident person. I love that your message has a lot to do with empowering people to be their authentic selves. And that's where we have a lot of commonality. And my ethos has always been that people have so many lived experiences and stories that are worth sharing. But that often times is where people doubt whether or not they can make it. They think to themselves, I have nothing worth to share. Who am I to even create any type of content? For those individuals that are right now convinced they have nothing to share, that they don't have a story, what would

[45:51] you tell them? I was that person that I felt um I felt I was in a saturated market, like there were so many fitness influencers. What am I going to add to this space that already seems like it's fulfilling everything? Um, and again, it's that voice of the imposttor syndrome, but you we all have our own little flavor to add to to that sauce of social media presence. And um, I truly believe that we all have our a unique story and the way that you tell it is unique to you and it's important and it will resonate with people. So, I think it's important to share that story, to share the

[46:30] journey, to share the things that you've been wanting to share um with the audience because you are, as cliche as it is, you are unique. You are unique. I've been dying to ask you this question because I know in the beginning of this, I was telling you how much my older sister meant to me. And the reasons that me and her are similar that we're so ambitious and we're always on to the next thing, the next thing, the next thing. we often times do forget how far we've come, right? And I think it's imperative that you take intentional time to reflect on the successes so that

[47:03] you do garner a level of selfworth and confidence and saying like, "Yes, I can tackle on some of these hardships." And I had asked her this question recently and it's really changed my way of viewing her and I'm curious to ask you the same question. If you were speaking to the version of you that had just literally immigrated from Albania to literally not having spoken the English language to having to take care of those legal papers and the job descriptions and all of that. If you got a chance to speak to that version of you, what would you tell them about the journey that

[47:33] they were about to go on? The journey will be hard and difficult and nobody will come to necessarily save you, but there is people along the way that will perhaps help you. And rely on those people and know that one day you will succeed. Just one foot in front of the other. That's kind of been my mantra, not through the marathons that I've ran, but just through life, one step in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Um the journey, like I said, is not always easy, but it's definitely worth it. It's

[48:12] worth it. Well, Sana, I've learned so much from you. And again, I think you are a powerhouse that so many people can look up to in regards. It's hilarious to me that you're like, I'm not a content expert. Of course you are. You've been posting for this long. You built a massive audience. But I know right now that my audience has listened to the content creation tactics, but more importantly the perspective, the identity shift that's needed in order for you to have long-term success. So I want to thank you for your time and Sonata. This was created on Thank you so much. I've been I'm so

[48:41] grateful to have uh shared this conversation with you in this space. Thank you.

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