the bossbabe podcast - 426: Building a Brand: Holly Hagan-Blyth's Evolution from Reality TV Star to Fitness Expert & Entrepreneur

Episode Date: October 17, 2024

Natalie welcomes MTV reality star, entrepreneur, and fitness coach, Holly Hagan-Blyth to the podcast. Holly discusses the ups and downs of being a reality TV star, the evolution of her personal brand, the importance of self-reflection, and how she turned her platform into a thriving business in the health and fitness industry. They also dive into the significance of teamwork in both parenting and business, and how motherhood has shifted her perspective on work-life balance.  TIMESTAMPS 02:50 - Casting + Life on Geordie Shore: Behind the Scenes 12:50 - The Aftermath of Fame: Public Perception and Personal Growth 33:30 - The Reality of Building an Audience 40:00 - Navigating Business with a Partner 50:00 - Teamwork in Parenting and Business 52:00 - What’s Next For Holly? RESOURCES + LINKS Join Growth Day To Access All of Natalie’s Keynotes & Unlock The Best High-Performance Systems + Tools.  Join The Société: Our Exclusive Membership To Help You Build A Freedom-Based Business. Get Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997)  FOLLOW bossbabe: @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis: @iamnatalie Holly Hagan-Blyth: @hollyhaganblyth

Welcome back to the BossBabe podcast. So today I have an incredible guest that I got to record in person with while I was back in the UK. So I'm really, really excited to introduce our guest, Holly Hagenblithe. Many of you know her from her time on MTV's Jodie Shaw, but she is so much more than reality TV royalty. She is an incredible entrepreneur, fitness coach, mental health advocate, and mum who has built a really incredible platform for empowering women to live healthier, happier lives. And what we get into in this conversation is yes, her general journey into getting on TV and building a phenomenal personal brand,

but also how followers don't always equal dollars when it comes to building a business and how she's really had to navigate building a business from scratch and knowing that not all of her community are going to be on the same page and want to follow along and really being able to take that risk to say, this is, you know, where I want to go. This is what I want to be known for. Here's exactly how I'm going to do it. Holly is also one of our clients at Bossway,

which is such a huge honor. And to get to see the impact that she has had through her programs has been absolutely phenomenal. Welcome to the podcast, finally. Honestly, I have been so excited about this. When you said August, I was like, oh, that's so far away, and then it's actually come around so quick.

Like when you have children, I feel like time's just gone. I know, which is really sad though. It is, it's so sad. Do you ever go on the scroll and look at when they were just born and how teeny tiny they were? All the time, and I'm just like, oh, why did I not appreciate it enough at the time?

Cause I feel like I only had a newborn for let's say three months, like an actual baby because from then he just did not feel like a baby. It's so strange. I know. I always look back and I'm like, did I spend enough time with her?

Did I do enough of this? Like it's so funny how your brain just like goes into that mode. It's wild. And then I'm like, do I want another one? Even though I'm in hell right now. And then I'm like, do I want another one? Even though I'm in hell right now. And then I'm like, no, my business would absolutely not survive if I was to have another one right now.

So yeah, I'm sure we'll discuss more about that today anyway. I'm definitely on that verge of like, oh, I think I could do another one now. Now that I'm sleeping consistently, so funny because if you'd asked me a year ago, I probably would, I'm one and done, I'm good. And then as soon as you start, I feel like getting a bit of life back.

You're like, yeah, I could do another one. 100%. And I think because you like solidified everything with your business, you've got those processes in place, which I'm trying to learn at the moment. You have just like got those systems in place so that you can actually have another child. So yeah, I've been learning a lot from you.

So thank you. We're gonna get into all the business stuff. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our business run so much smoother and with way less complexity, which I love. Not to mention our team couldn't be happier

because now everything is in one place. So it makes collecting data, creating pages, collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Baby is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year so of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business, you know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students.

So if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet, now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering BossBabe listeners a 30 day free trial, go to kajabi.com slash BossBabe to claim your 30 day free trial. That's kajabi.com slash boss babe to claim your 30 day free trial. That's Kajabi.com slash boss babe. Okay. So I want to go back to, um, let's talk about a Geordie Shaw. Okay. So for any Americans listening is the comparison Jersey Shore, do you think? Yeah, a hundred percent. So the Geordie Shaw was taken from Jersey Shaw. So everybody knows Jersey Shaw, or I'm sure most people in America know it was so big,

but it was also so big in the UK as well. And it's funny, cause I actually wrote a Facebook status back in 2010 saying, oh my God, Jersey Shaw is the best thing I've ever seen. I wish I could do something like that. One year later, I was cast on Jordie Shaw out of like 10,000 applicants. Stop. Honestly, like something like that. One year later, I was cast on Geordie Shaw out of like 10,000 applicants.

Stop. Honestly, like I manifested that. Oh my goodness. OK, we have to get into all of this. You know what's so funny? I was just thinking this morning, I never watched the show, not because I didn't like it, but that's the time I was moving to America. Right, too busy.

I was like so in between, like so in between UK and US television, like not really knowing where I sat. But I do remember being in a club in Newcastle and they were doing interviews. They were pulling people and just like coming and asking us questions. And I remember that. And I think that was right as I was starting to graduate

and when I left. Oh my God, so you could have been cast on Johnny Shaw. There was like a moment. I'm way too boring. I don't believe that for a second. Maybe like, absolutely not. All moment. I'm way too boring. Oh, I don't believe that for a second. Maybe you're like, absolutely not. All you do is sit on your laptop.

Yeah, I feel like you've been very business minded from like a really early age where it took me a really long time to kind of get that. I was wild, I was 18, I was crazy. So tell me about getting cast in that show then because I do feel like when that show came out, it was all the UK talked about. And I feel like everyone auditioned for that show and wanted I do feel like when that show came out it was all the UK talked about and I feel like everyone auditioned for that show and wanted to be on it.

So when you're saying 10,000 people it must have been so many more that wanted to be on it. Yeah well I think I mean it was old school like we saw the advert in a newspaper so it was actually like a physical cutout of a newspaper clipping that said if you want to apply for this show then then you need to go onto this Facebook page and just answer a few questions. So I was like, there's no way I'll ever get on it. I'm not from Newcastle. So people in America might not understand

the way that like a Geordie is just somebody from Newcastle. I'm 40 minutes away. Like that is not a Geordie. People won't understand that. Cause it's so funny because even where I live in Austin, I'll drive 40 minutes just to go to a friendordie. People won't understand that because it's so funny because even where I live in Austin, I'll drive 40 minutes just to go to a friend's house. And it's so, people don't understand. I'm always trying to explain how big things are there.

But yeah, exactly. Like even being 40 minutes away, it's a different accent. Different accent, different people, just complete. Like we are like rivals in like football terms. And there's even places between that, like Durham, Sunderland, like you've got other towns even before you get to my town, which is 40 minutes away. So I thought, oh, there's no way I'll ever get on it.

I'm not a Geordie, but let me just apply anyway. So I went through all of these questions. It was just kind of basic questions. What's your most embarrassing moment? What's your best asset? How would people describe you? All of this stuff. And I didn't tell one single lie on that audition form.

Bear in mind, I had a boyfriend at the time, but we were that young. We, to put it into context, we just went on holiday without each other and we give each other like a free pass. Like that is how young our relationship was. So when people are like, oh, she went on TV, she had a boyfriend, she did this, she did that.

I completely understand that some of the things I did were wrong, but we were also in a very young relationship where we did those kind of things. And I'm glad that I was able to learn from them. But yeah, everything I said in those interviews was like, yeah, I've got a boyfriend, but like, he'll let me get with other people. So of course I was going to get cast. I didn't realise at the time I was a producer's dream. I was like selling my soul to them. But that was just who I was going to get cast. I didn't realise at the time I was a producer's dream. I was like selling my soul to them. And that was just who I was.

And how old were you at this point? 18. And so you get cast on the show at 18. Do you start filming at 18? At 18, yes. So we started filming in the March and I wasn't 19 until the July. So I was still like, you know, mid 18, coming up to 19.

And so give us a bit of an overview of what that looked like, how often you were filming, what the setup was, what did your life look like at that time? So we went through a few different interview processes. So I was working at a call center at the time, doing like loans and mortgages. So I was having to take time off from the call center to go to these interviews, which were in Newcastle. So I was having to take time off from the call center to go to these interviews, which were in Newcastle.

So I was having to drive 40 minutes away, which in the UK is quite a long way. And I was talking to the producers and they were like, right, you've got down to the next stage, the next stage. And I was like, guys, I can't take any more time off from the call center, like they need me. And they were like, well, we need to know that you're serious.

I said, well, I need to know that you're serious. Like, you can't keep expecting me to take all of this time off from the call center, like they need me. And they were like, well, we need to know that you're serious. I said, well, I need to know that you're serious. Like you can't keep expecting me to take all of this time off. And I feel like that was quite a strong boundary at the time. I was proud of my 18 year old self for that. At 18, oh my goodness, we all need a bit of that. And they were like, right, let me call you back. So I'm like, okay. They call me back and they say,

what we're about to tell you is confidential, but welcome aboard, you're on Geordie Shaw. So I was like- Well, I have chills, you know, when you have those life-defining moments, I have full body chills right now. So I don't know if you haven't watched it, you probably won't know, but the very early season

where you see us celebrating- I have seen some of it. Is the intros. So the intros were like people celebrating, and that was them finding out that they were on. Whereas I didn't have that, because I got told over the phone and they made it very clear,

if anybody finds out about this, we have three replacements to replace you instantly. So if anybody finds out you are off the shore, we have a replacement waiting and all they need to do is pack their bags. So be very careful. So I was just like, oh my God, I'm terrified. So the only person I told was my mother.

She was, did not want to hear about it. She was like, she knew who I was. She knew what I was getting myself into. And I was just like, yeah, it's gonna be so much fun. And she's just terrified. But it was really hard as an 18 year old to comprehend that this was actually gonna be on MTV. Like you can't comprehend that as like,

my frontal lobe wasn't even fully working yet. Like I didn't understand that it was going on TV. So all I thought was that I'm going away for six weeks. It's a pilot of a show. Like it might not even get shown. So I was just really excited. We didn't get paid one pence by the way. Actually, I think it was in the contract

that we got like a pound, but I don't think I ever saw that pound. And we were just so excited to like go and get drunk for like free for six weeks with free kebabs and Jagerbombs. They were going to pay for us to live there for six weeks. That was an 18 year old's dream. Oh yeah, 100%. So we were super excited.

And then I just remember being in the taxi, going to the secret location blindfolded and I waited all day and I went, you're putting me in last aren't you? And they went, yeah, you're in last. And I was like, I knew that I was there for like the shock factor. So they'd been there getting drunk with each other

all day making friends. And then I was putting at the very end when they'd already kind of solidified these friendships and I was just meant to be the shock factor, which I think at the time I was. And what does that mean, be the shock factor? So they are all getting to know each other. What was their intention putting you in?

I think it was, I was always meant to be the outcast. I wasn't from Middlesbrough. I wasn't from Newcastle, sorry, I was from Middlesbrough. I was quite not alternative looking, but I didn't look like the expected reality TV star. So we had Towie at the time, they were all very glitz, very glam. And I was just very like black hair, blonde streaks.

Like I really wanted to be the J-Wow. And I think I ended up being more the Angelina, to be honest. And so how was that for you going in, being so young, and just kind of thrown into this crazy party atmosphere? I mean, I was terrified. I had no confidence,

but I had this overly like fake confidence. Like I would put on this big front that I didn't care what anybody thought, and that I knew everything, I was old enough to be there, and I just, I thought I knew it all, and I just didn't. And it was actually the first time I'd ever tried a Jagerbomb, and we had access to unlimited drinks.

So when you're in front of lads who are like 23 to 27, and they're saying, drink, drink, have another one, have another one, I just felt like, God, I need to keep up with these people. Next thing I know, I'm in the hot tub, I'm getting my boobs out for everyone, flashing. And a really unfortunate thing happened as well. The lights reflected off the water that were on my breasts,

which meant that when it went on TV, it looked like I had no nipples. So then people started making Facebook groups saying, when you try and breastfeed but realize you're Holly Hagen. So I can laugh about it now. And it was like, Holly Hagan's got no nipples. And then, I mean, eventually I ended up being a glamour model so I showed people I had nipples.

But at that point I was just like, oh my God, like this is horrendous. And then there was a worst one saying when a whale had washed up on Red Car Beach, don't know if you know Red Car, and it said when Holly Hagan washes up on the beach. So I was having all of these things made about me and I was just like, oh my God,

I've made the biggest mistake of my life. But yeah, it was even just walking in there, I was just, I was terrified. Okay, there's so much to digest here. Before we go, tell an American what a Jagerbomb is. Okay, so a Jagerbomb is a Jagermeister, it's the most disgusting, sickly, sweet shot. And then you have it like in the middle of like

a tumbler glass. So it's in a shot glass in the middle of a tumbler glass. And then in the tumbler glass is like Red Bull or like Monster Energy Drink. And then you would neck the whole thing. And it's actually the Red Bull that I think is the worst part. I remember those.

That was my university life. Was it? Yeah. Like our early lives will probably smell the same. We'll have the same scent. 1000%. So what was it like for you when this aired on TV? Because MTV, people in both America and the UK will know how big of a deal that channel is and was

and the reach that it had. We all watched MTV from such a young age. It's how we got any music and all of it we all watched it. So what was that like? Do you remember kind of the first episodes coming out and what happened to your life? Like it was yesterday. So we actually went to like a casino in Newcastle and we did like a little launch party. By the way, I'm still with this boyfriend. So I've told him everything, but obviously it's the first time

that he actually gets to see everything. So we've invited our friends and family down. So we're all watching this first episode. And because I was drunk for the majority of it, bear in mind, we were allowed to just get alcohol during the day and things. You could just go to the fridge and like start drinking if you wanted to.

So we obviously did that because we were 18. We were, well, I was 18. Everyone else was a little bit older and probably a little bit more sensible than me. But yeah, so I didn't remember a lot of it. I didn't remember most of the things that I did. You didn't know what was going to be shown because you filmed six weeks.

And, you know, one of those goes into like a tiny little 45 minute show. And I think at the time I still had like a flip phone, like iPhones weren't even, well, they might have been out then, but it wasn't something that I had. So it was either like a flip phone or like a Blackberry phone. And I was getting all of these messages on Facebook

because that was the only social media then. That was the only popular social media, thankfully. So rather than kind of seeing what the world had to say, oh, sorry, we did have Twitter as well, so we were seeing Twitter. So we were seeing things coming on Twitter and we were also seeing, you know, people on Facebook are your friends, your family, the people you went to school with, everyone from your area,

and I was just seeing an influx of messages slagging me off, not even from trolls, from people that I knew went to school with. And yeah, it was how I was an embarrassment to Teesside, how I've put shame upon the city that we live in, the town that we live in. And yeah, it was just, I felt like I'd really let, not just myself down, but kind of my whole family.

Like I was so embarrassed for them. We had reporters knocking at the door. My mom was in tears. We had eggs thrown at our windows. Bearing in mind, that's not my house. That's my parents' house. And then from that point on, I did not leave the house alone for around about two years

because I would be in Primark and people would be throwing shoes at my head and I'd be in pizzaark and people would be throwing shoes at my head and I'd be in pizza shops and people would throw pizzas at me. So I actually, I just couldn't leave the house alone and I suffered with panic attacks and anxiety for a long time after that. What I think people need to realize too,

just to give context, I mean, I feel like we're around about the same age and when we were growing up at that age, that's what you did. The drinking culture was rife. The club scene, they didn't really care how old you were. No, they didn't. Like that's kind of, I mean, especially up north, that is the world in which we grew up. And so it's not like, I don't know the context of, I know drinking age is obviously higher

in America and Jersey shot, I don't know how similar that is, but here it's just what they were highlighting pretty normal life for people. It was, it really was. It was what everyone was doing at uni. They just weren't being filmed doing it. That's what I think is important to highlight

because it's not like you just went and did this wild six. I mean, yeah, I'm sure it was wild, but it's that was, it was happening very much part of the culture. I mean, I remember going out when I was at university and you could get three Jigga bombs for five pounds, just like $5. Like that's how cheap and accessible all of this was. And binge drinking was so normal as you know, we can, that's a whole different conversation, but it was so normal. Yeah. As you know, we can, that's a whole different conversation but it was so normal. And so how long in total were you doing the show?

So I did the show from 2011 and then I quit in series 13 and God that must have been in... So you did it all the way from beginning to series 13? Yeah, the beginning to series 13, I don't know how long that was, but it was a long while. At least like near enough eight years. Wow.

And then I popped back a little bit in 19 and then I didn't do any more from then. And then we went on to do what was called Geordie OGs. So they filmed like me and a couple of the others from the show in our like grownup lives, which was really fun. We got to just be at home and be filmed at home. And it was just a little bit more

like real housewives style of filming. And that worked really well. And then they stopped that and they wanted to cancel Geordie Shaw altogether. So that was still running in the background for like such a long time with new cast members, but it wasn't really well. And then they stopped that and they wanted to cancel Geordie Short altogether. So that was still running in the background for like such a long time with new cast members, but it wasn't really hitting. They realized that they wanted

and they needed the older OG cast members back. So they decided to do a 10-year reunion, which was in 2022. So some of us hadn't seen each other for such a long time. We did that. And then now we kind of once a year meet up again and do these holidays. So I'm actually backing it again now.

Wow. And did the public's perception and the way in which you were being treated change after you went back and kind of started to rewrite your narrative? A hundred percent. I mean, you'll always get the trolls, but I think public's perception, even now,

I find I'm in like the Reddit threads, so I get a notification if they tag like Jordie Shaw. Why are you on that? No, because it's actually really nice now. It's actually really positive. So I think back then, because we were all quite young watching it, and we all hadn't really experienced life,

and I went through like a really bad breakup in there, and people were like, oh my God, why is she acting like that? And it's only now that people are like, God, I hated her at the time when she was going through that. But now I've been through that myself. Now I can completely understand. And I actually find that I get a lot of compassion now

from people who are rewatching it with a different mindset. And it's actually, it's really like, it's really nice to be able to see, I've just seen one today with people just defending me and what I've actually been through. And yeah, it's quite freeing actually to know that I was just a young girl. I was just going through these things very publicly

and I didn't do anything wrong. And as long as I grew from those moments and those situations, like there's nothing wrong with going through those things and we've got to give people grace. We've got to give people room to grow. And I look back and I'm like, I never did anything. I just slept with people I fancied when I was like single.

I wasn't a murderer, like not trying to sell you an MLM. Like I'm not doing anything bad. Like yes, in the first series I did cheat on my boyfriend, but we had this kind of arrangement that it was kind of okay to do that. But I didn't really do anything bad after that. Apart from just be wild and crazy and, you know, I was never a bad person to my friends.

I was always a girl's girl. I never got with anybody who the girls fancied. And I can look back now and I think, God, I really gave myself a lot of shit for a lot of years and I didn't deserve that. So I just give myself grace now. And I think a lot of other people give me grace too, which is nice. God, I can't even,. So I just give myself grace now. And I think a lot of other people give me grace too, which is nice.

God, I can't even, you even talking about watching yourself and being able to reflect on ways in which you change. I can't even imagine watching myself in like, my teens or early twenties. Cause you're just so, you're just immature. Like you really, like you say, your brain hasn't even fully developed. Literally.

So it's so interesting to even have that chance for personal growth at that age. Like I wasn't even aware of that. So being on that show, obviously has allowed you to have such a platform. At what point did you decide, do you know what? I could actually turn this into a business. Like I could take this opportunity that I've had and build something that's gonna really

span the long term. Yes so what I didn't understand is when we were first cast on Geordie Shaw I thought that I was employed by MTV so I went for three years thankfully I didn't earn much money in those three years otherwise I would be in trouble with the tax man but we I thought I was employed, so I hadn't registered as a sole trader, or I hadn't registered as a limited company, which is what you're supposed to do. So I finally got an account and thankfully, like I said, I didn't earn much money. So by the time I got all of my tax returns in order, I had enough money to be able to pay what I needed to, which was great.

But I used to worry for people who would just like go on Love Island and all of a sudden come into money and not realize that about 50% of that isn't yours. So yeah, for a long time I didn't understand. So then I set up a company, which is the limited company that I work through with TV work, social media, all that kind of stuff. So I've, I guess, been in business for a long time,

but I never really saw myself as a business owner because it was my personal brand. So yes, I did tax returns, yes, I had to pay that and all of that kind of stuff, but I've never really understood it. And it was only kind of, let's say lockdown when I started realizing my actual purpose, which was to help people with health and fitness.

So I've been on a really long journey with my own health and fitness and my own weight loss journey for such a long time. I have promoted like the skinny coffees, the skinny teas, anything that you could find that would help you lose weight. I have probably promoted it because I genuinely believed in those products myself. I would take them, I would lose five pounds and I just didn't have the education to understand that actually that was water weight that I was losing. So I finally found a really good trainer, which had been so weird.

I moved to this random city, Bolton, which why would I ever move to Bolton? I have no connections to Bolton whatsoever. Moved there, his gym was four minutes round the corner. I'd randomly seen him on Instagram. So I was like, oh, I'm gonna sign up with him. And ended up, he taught me exactly what to do. I was finally losing the way in ways that I was like, Oh, this is, I can eat what I want. And I just have to count these numbers.

Like what, what, what's a calorie deficit? Nobody had ever taught me the right way. And I was like, right, now that I know I'm going to make sure that everything that I put out there now is going to be, I'm going to help people the way that he's helped me. So in lockdown, I did my nutrition course. So I was qualified as a nutrition coach. In lockdown two, I qualified as a fitness instructor and my husband qualified as a PT. I have just recently qualified as a PT as well

because I wanted to do more of the gym based stuff. And I'm now doing my pre-impostor or literally as we speak. So all of these things that I've now been able to do, which I found my passion, which is so nice when you finally find it. I feel like you kind of had it from like quite early on, but for me, it's such a long time to actually find

what my purpose is on this earth and what I am actually here for. And if I can use all of the mistakes that I've made with diet products, surgery, like I've had so many surgeries and been left unhappy that I'm just like, God, if I can save one person from doing that, that'll be so worth it.

Did you, when you were going on the show, think about how this would build your personal brand? No, like personal brand, I didn't even know what that meant until like a few years ago. I didn't understand what a personal brand was. And when people are like, oh yeah, you can't do that because it'll affect your personal brand.

I'm like, what? I've always just been myself and I've always just been me unapologetically. And well, not unapologetically actually, I used to apologize for being me, but now I'm completely unapologetically myself and I understand what a personal brand is. I understand things that can affect it,

but God, no, nobody spoke to us about that. Nobody told us that, you know, we were supposed to build up these characters and people were going to love us or hate us. And we could actually monetize on that. And I think we saw it, you know, early on we would do like club appearances and that was a very male dominated area.

And everybody wanted the lads to go to the PAs because that would bring the girls in. Nobody really wanted the girls there. We would be earning like far less than the boys. The boys would be earning like a grand to two grand and I'd be earning 250 pound, for example. So it was taking me, especially as one of the not so liked cast members,

it was taking me a lot longer to earn any money. So thankfully like social media, like Instagram influencing came around and we would be like sent phone cases to like, are you going to send me a free phone case? And all I have to do is post a picture of it. Like, yes, of course. And then we started getting paid for that.

And that's kind of where things started to change for me, I think. I think that's what makes the best quote unquote personal brand though, is when you are fully yourself. Yeah. Because I do feel like personal brands where you're so specific about, here's the things I will talk about, here's the things I won't. Yeah. brand though is when you are fully yourself. Because I do feel like personal brands where you're so specific about, here's the things I will talk about, here's the things I won't.

People can sense that in authenticity a mile off. I follow so many people, you know, that I totally do respect and I watch their stories and like, I know I'm only getting 20% of the story. Like I would love you so much more if I could just see a little bit more realness. So probably you going in with that kind of naivety has meant that you have such a loyal following on your personal brand because they know she's saying something, she probably means it. Yeah, and it took me a long time to get that

after kind of the diet product situation because obviously I was, well, everyone was doing it and then it started to come out that it was bad and I promoted it at the time where everyone was starting to think that it was bad. But for me, I was like, but it worked, it worked for me. So I wasn't ever intentionally trying to like dupe anyone. I was never trying to kind of, that's just not who I am

and I think the people who know me know that. It was never intentional and I've honestly spent such a long time trying to make up for that and the amount that I've a long time trying to make up for that. And the amount that I've spent on courses trying to make up for it, the amount of time I spent on content trying to make up for it, I'm really doing the work now still, even though it was like what, seven years ago, I'm still doing the work now to make up for the mistakes that I made in the past. And I think the people who have given me grace for that and are able to see like,

no, she's obviously learned from that and she's made a change. There's always going to be people who say like, oh, well, she used to do this and she used to do that. And they will hold you to that narrative for the rest of your life. That's something that I'll never be able to change. But for the people who do like they are, they know me and they know that I'm loyal

and I know that they're loyal as well. That makes total sense. So going into business with already having a following, I'm really curious how you felt about that because even with starting my second company now, my supplement company, I will admit I've been really scared to fail publicly because it was for me when I started my business, like I didn't even know what a personal brand was. Like I didn't want to put my face on anything. It was just like, I'm going to start this business and be fully behind the scenes.

If I'd failed, no one would have seen, no one would have cared, right? The second company, I'm like, oh God, like I feel like people expect that it's going to be a success. I don't know, it's brand new. But for you starting this fitness company, I mean, very publicly, did you have any of that fear come up? What was it like?

Oh my God, I'm terrified. I had 4.1 million people waiting for me to fail. Yeah. That's how it felt. And anything that I did, if I did an example of how to demonstrate an exercise and I did that wrong, I would have every PT jumping on me that this is the wrong form, you shouldn't be doing this.

And the thing is, when you are a trainer or somebody in the coaching world, you learn a lot on the job. And thankfully I had shadowed my previous PT for like four years. We had a business together first. So I just kind of jumped onto his business. So I don't take credit for that

because he literally just gave me a percent of it. I didn't really do much. He did all of the work and I kind of felt I definitely feel guilty about that now because I didn't understand how much he actually had to do. And I'm just like, what? My couple of posts a month aren't like, I'm doing enough. I just wasn't.

And I completely know that now. But yeah, I think it was really hard, especially in that industry, because it's so easy to get things wrong. And there's so much misinformation out there that you've literally got to be by the book. But thankfully, because I did have all of that information, I did have all of that experience from just shadowing PT's, shadowing master's level educated nutritionists, and having them to fire questions to whenever I needed at that time, I knew that everything that I was saying was correct. And yes, if

I was a little bit off on form, then fair enough, feel free to correct me. I'm always willing to learn and happy to learn, but just do it in the right way. Don't try and like pull me down. We all started at one point and we all need to learn to be able to grow. So yeah, I don't mind when people say it in a nice way, but it's when people are just ultimately waiting

for you to fail, which is hard. Oh my God, you sound so much more graceful than me when someone's mean online. Oh no, I hate it deep down. I'm not like, thank you for letting me know. Oh my God, you sound so much more graceful than me when someone's mean online. Oh no, I hate it, G-Jam. I'm like, thank you for letting me know. Oh my God, I'm so not. I'm like, block.

Blocked a leap now. When someone goes out of their way to be rude and mean, I'm just like, you're not staying. No, you're not staying. Let me see you all the way now. You seem so much nicer than me about it. So talk to me about the business. What was the hardest part about getting up and running,

getting started, getting those first customers through the door? Tell me about those early stages. I think for us, it was definitely the kind of money side of things because my husband, he was a footballer and he unfortunately got a lot of injuries, which meant that he was kind of playing for lower levels, which, you know, and he unfortunately got a lot of injuries, which meant that he was kind of playing for lower levels, which doesn't bring in a lot of money.

And because we wanted to be all in on the business, he needed to take a cut of the business. So it wasn't where when you have a startup and you're kind of working on it and you don't take any money from it, which I haven't in the entire time we've had the business, I've not took a single penny, but he has to because we need to be able to live. So it was hard knowing that, you know, the money that was coming in, we couldn't ultimately reinvest all of it, but every spare penny has gone into reinvesting it.

So it was just kind of trying to, you know, you've got to build a website, you've got to get customers, it costs to build a website. Our first website, I think, I think we paid about eight grand for it, and thankfully they allowed us to pay monthly. So we were like, right, all we need to do is get these customers in and we can fund it. So we were funding it whilst running it. So we had that pressure of

needing to get customers and needing to get clients to be able to actually even pay for the website and the things that needed to be added onto it. Thankfully, we did get customers and they had incredible results. They, honestly, I thank them so much because they came into us blind. They had no idea what we were going to do. They were paying £160 a month, which is a lot of money for people in England to pay for like a four week block of culture.

So we had, I think we had about 60 people sign up initially, which we were like, Oh my God, this is amazing. We can fund the website. Jacob can take a little bit to just live. And, you know, we can reinvest everything back in. Then we decided that we wanted to be an app. So, you know, every, every fitness professional has an app. So we couldn't be left behind in that aspect. So yes, we just paid for this eight grand website, but now we're gonna have to pay a hell of a lot more for the app. So thankfully we were able to, from our clients,

be able to get the funds to be able to do that. And we actually used some of our tax pot as well. We were like, right, we'll use the tax money. So let's just risk getting in trouble with the tax man to be able to fund this. But at that point, we had the confidence in ourselves that if we can be getting people to pay 160 pound a month, then we can get people to pay 29.99 a month.

So we felt kind of safe at that point to be able to do that. And our job at that point was to just be given as much value as we possibly could. Your platform, for example, there is so much value on there. And to actually, I kind of want to emulate that with what we do and to just give them everything we possibly can and keeping no secrets, just giving them everything

so that they don't have to go elsewhere. And I'm really proud of what we've been able to do so far because the resources alone, like we've got a full nutrition course on there. So if you want to learn in depth about nutrition, you can. We've got live workouts, we've got gym workouts, we're just doing pre-impost natal. We've now just been able to take on someone for Pilates. We're going to take on a new instructor for something else. And this is what I'm saying with kind of, oh, I felt pregnant like literally

one month into starting this business as well, by the way. So we were just like, right, I'm a fitness instructor. I've got to be fit and performing these workouts. And I am now pregnant and I feel unbearable. So I actually was doing live workouts at 6 a.m. four hour group at 36 weeks pregnant. Oh my God. I know. So yeah, it was a lot

and it definitely taught us a lot of lessons but it also made me understand that if I want to have another baby we have to be able to let go of some of the business to other people, we have to delegate and that is the process that we're doing now. So hopefully within the next year, we will be able to set some processes in place

where it's not just me and Jacob running the entire thing. And I've actually got a little bit of time to spend with the baby or I'm able to take at least four months off because that's what I want to be able to do. I love that you're sharing too you know how costly is in the beginning because I also talked to a lot of entrepreneurs who think that if you have a platform everything else is easy. Oh my god no. I know and they're like well I just need to learn to build an audience and I

can launch anything and I always love having these conversations because it is not that simple. And you can't just assume that if you build an audience, they're going to follow you everywhere and buy into everything. You still need to have a phenomenal offer. You still need to have a great sales process. You still need to have amazing delivery, all of that stuff.

And I do think, I mean, it's always the case of like, people think the grass is greener. So if they don't have an audience, they think, well, if I have an audience, all of this is easy. And that's why I love having these conversations because that's just not the case at all. I think all of us go into business with some kind of superpower, right? Whether it's going in with this amazing audience that really know, like, and trust you, whether it's going in with a knowledge of marketing, we all have it.

And it's on us to identify, okay, what is it that it's going in with a knowledge of marketing, we all have it. And it's on us to identify, okay, what is it that I'm going in with? And what is it that I need to learn? And so I think that's just really important because yeah, it's so easy to say the grass is greener. It's only green when you water it. 100%. And I think people just think

I have 4.1 million followers on Instagram. You would think that any business I launch is going to be so successful. And I will tell you now that the following you have on Instagram, you would think that any business I launch is going to be so successful. And I will tell you now that the following you have on Instagram is absolutely zero reflection on how your business is going to do. Because those followers,

they weren't following me for fitness. That I've accumulated those followers over the space of like, what, nearly maybe 15 years. They're not following me for fitness. They were following me because they wanted to see what I was getting up to and me getting drunk and for my personality and you know, some people waiting for me to fail,

but they're not there for fitness. It is better to have a thousand loyal fans than the 4.1 million because really, I've just got so many eyes on me that just aren't, a lot of them aren't wanting to see what I'm posting. Yeah, and I think that's so important to say and for people to understand that actually building an audience that's really targeted, like if you're starting from scratch, really thinking about who is it that I want to target and be able to bring those people in.

Yeah. We're just in this influence that era, we're so used to seeing all these big numbers. And I even have people come to me and say, but Natalie, I only have 10,000 followers. I'm like, did you hear what you just said? What is a room of 10,000 people? That is so many people. And if they're there for a reason, that is huge. And I think we do need to adjust our mindset around that.

And no, it's not gonna make you more or less successful. Of course, we're all going into it with some kind of skill. So I love, love, love that you're highlighting that. What was the decision for you? Because it sounds like as you're explaining it, it was get skill. So I love, love, love that you're highlighting that. What was the decision for you? Cause it sounds like as you're explaining it, it was get customers and then through that, you can fund the app development and through that fund the next thing.

What was your decision-making process to go that way versus raising money and going down that path? So for me, I think it's, I'm not a business person. Like I will sit here and say everything that I've learned is literally through myself. I don't come from anybody who has ever owned a business person, like I will sit here and say, everything that I've learned is literally through myself. I don't come from anybody who has ever owned a business. I don't know anybody who even knows about that stuff. So for me, I've always been taught that like debt is bad. So I've never had a credit card.

You know, the only debts that I've got is kind of like my house and my car that's like on finance. So I don't have debts. So for me, when I would be what I learned a lot of like dragons den and things like that. So when I'm watching people say, oh, we've raised this amount of funding to me, that is terrifying.

So I'm still at a point now where I'm like, could we go down that route? Would it be more pressure? For me, it sounds like a lot of anxiety and it sounds like a lot of pressure. And when there's pressure with numbers, I probably wouldn't sleep at night. So for me, just knowing that I'm self-funded, knowing that everything that we're losing is just ours,

that makes me feel a lot happier and a lot more comfortable and a lot more safe. But I would love to get to a point of, you know, being able to raise funds and comfortably knowing what I need to do and everybody does it, all businesses need funding at some point, all great businesses need funding. And I don't think I'll be able to get our business

to a point of where I wanna get it without that, but I just don't know how I'm gonna overcome that step to get there. Oh, I think you can't do it without funding. Well, with your help maybe, I'll be on the phone to you now, I've got your number now. No, 100%, but I also think, you know, you're saying you don't know a lot about business.

I don't think anyone does. I mean, nobody goes into this really knowing anything about what they're doing. And even I speak to people that I look at and I think, God, you've been in business for so long, you must know so much. And I ask them questions and like, I'm winging it. Like I'm figuring it out as I go along.

And I think that's, I also think that's a really important thing that I want people to hear is like, just because it looks like you know what you're doing, doesn't mean that we know what we're doing. No, God, we literally sat at home and we're like, right, what Instagram posts are we going to put up today? Cause we have absolutely no plan. Like we've started to try and have like a bit more

of a strategy and you know, I even wrote down, I think you have like your whole boss bed process there. So I literally copied that, took out the things that weren't relevant, added the things that were, and I was like, right, this is what we need to do X amount of times a week. This is what we need to do X amount of times a month. And I was really able to sit down and just be like, right,

that gives me a little bit of a plan moving forward, rather than just be like, right, we haven't posted in three days, what do we post? Because it is hard, and we have actually just messaged a company, like a freelance company to do like our SEO. I didn't even know what SEO was before that, but somebody mentioned it to me when I was at like a house party for the England game.

They're like, have you got anyone on SEO? I was like, what's SEO? Like I had no idea that that was like so important. So we just reached out to somebody who's doing like a full audit on us now, which is gonna be great. And also reached out to somebody for like social media and things like that to do like paid ads,

because we've not done a single paid ad. I wouldn't even know how to do it. And I think it's so important to be reaching out to experts who do know more than you because you can't know it all in business and you do have to hire the experts in. So I'm hoping that that's only gonna take us a little bit further now and be able to scale

because with me and Jacob, I mean, you can't scale just us two, there's no way. Totally, and it's like, I think one thing you're so great at, which most really good entrepreneurs are, is okay, let me find someone that's been and done it. Let me learn from them. Versus spending the next three years just trying. Let me just go learn from them.

I think that's the best advice in business is go find someone that's done it. Ask them how they're doing it. Go see if they've got a process. Go see if they'll show you how to run your ads. How has it been working with your partner? Because me and Stephen tried it and we lasted about three months.

And I thought, well, I think we might get a divorce. Honestly, like I feel you. Like, it is so difficult. It wasn't difficult until we had a baby. But now it's like the order of like the way things work is that we are parents first, we are business partners second, and we are married third.

So it shouldn't be that way. I think our marriage should really be at the top. You know, that's what's holding everything together. But it's really difficult when, you know, it comes to the end of the day and he's trying to get a little bit freaky. And I'm like, absolutely not. We've just argued over business all day.

Been screaming, the child's been screaming all day. And it's like, absolutely not. So it's so hard to be able to kind of separate those different things. And it's great though. Like he's great. to be able to kind of separate those different things. And it's great though, like he's great. We work really well as a team. He's a brilliant PT and he's great with our members as well. Like he's just, I think both of us together are like what people trust. And when they come in, our like USP essentially is the fact that you will always speak to us. Like we, you know, you sign up to an app and you won't really get to speak to the person.

We answer every single message in the Facebook group. We are literally there 24 seven in the Instagram DMs. You'll always get a response from us. And we like how personal that is. But yeah, working together, it's really, really tough. And I'm surprised we've lasted, I'm proud of us for lasting this long, to be honest. I look at couples that work together and just bow down

because we tried it. It was so challenging. Yeah, it is. Like both of us for lasting this long, to be honest. I look at couples that work together and just bow down because we tried it, it was so challenging. Yeah, it is. Like both of us wanting to be the boss and both of us feeling like we knew best, we were like, oh yeah, this is not going to work. It's not going to work, no, definitely not. So let's talk about motherhood. Yes.

How and has it shifted how you look at your career and business? Well, I think it's it makes you more motivated Definitely and it makes you more disciplined because you know, we have to earn money for him. He has to have a great life I want to provide great things for him. Even you know with childcare and schooling and all that kind of stuff. I want to be in a position where we he doesn't have to want for anything and Obviously when you have a baby, it changes your entire life. And nobody kind of prepares you for what it's going to do to your relationship. You know, people say it like,

oh, it's not going to be the same, but my God, is it not the same? You can't even imagine though, the way it will change. No, you can't. And the thing is like some of my friends have had really chilled babies and I was so naive. I was like, I work from home.

Like I'm going to be absolutely fine having a baby because I work from home. Like I don't need childcare. The baby is just going to be there and I'm just going to work. Same. I used to envision the baby just chilling. Like in, you know, the little bouncer beside me

and me bouncing the baby with my foot while I'm typing away. Like, truly that's what I thought. Delusional, like completely delulu. Like, I don't know what I was thinking, but nobody questioned it. Nobody pulled me up on it. So I very quickly realized that we, you know, we don't live near any family.

We don't have any help. We don't even live in an hour radius to any of our friends. But even if we did, they all work full time. Our parents work full time. So we very quickly realized that like eight months, we were like, right, we need some form of childcare. And that's what we did. And thankfully, it does go in like three or four days now,

and that does give us time to do it, but there's still not enough hours for everything that needs doing. And there's always something that I want to do. Like, I don't know if I've potentially got some form of ADHD or something, but I hyper-focus on something and I have to do it. And now I'm just like, right,

well, now I wanna create a course doing this and I wanna do this and I wanna do that and I wanna do a PDF and just all these things running through my mind. And I wanna get everything done right now, this second. And I've got all of the energy to do it and I just don't have the time. So I think for me, it's just learning to make use

of the time that I've got. You're not going to be able to get any more time. And I think I did feel guilty about like putting him in nursery, daycare for the Americans. But now I realize that actually it's the quality of the time that I spend with him rather than the quantity. There's no point in me spending all of this time with him if I'm not even looking at him and I'm on my phone. So now I know that at least those three or four days

that I have with him, I'm sat on his level, I'm playing with him, we're actually interacting properly. And I think no matter how many hours you work, as long as you're doing that with your free time with your child, that's absolutely fine. I totally agree. Like there's so many times when I've thought, yeah, I can totally have Nomi with me for this.

But then if I'm looking at my phone or on my laptop, what message is that sending to her? And so having to get over that guilt myself, I feel like it's such an ongoing journey and it changes, I feel like at every stage that they're at. Do you feel like balancing that? Cause I like, I have this myself too, this ambitious business one part of you

and the part of you that wants to be so present as a mother, do you find that you do have to say no to a lot of things that actually you would have said yes to in the past? And how would you like balance those decisions? Yeah, I mean, I think it is harder now. And, you know, we, for example, we've just done a series in Thailand. So that series was three weeks long. And obviously, I'm a mother now.

I can't I could go and go for three weeks. But did I think that that was fair to Jacob for our business? For Alpha Jacks, I just didn't feel like he was under one. So just from my perspective, I felt like I didn't want to leave him. And I don't judge anybody who would make that decision. Just personally for me, I felt like three weeks was a little bit too long, but I am in a position where I can say

three weeks is too long. Some people wouldn't get that luxury of being able to tell their producers, like, no, I can't be there for three weeks. Some people have to leave. So I had the grace from them to be able to say, right, you can come and do one week. So for me, that was my opportunity to go

and still partially do something that I want to do, something that is bringing in money, and it's bringing in a hell of a lot of money, because we do get paid a really decent sum of money for filming. And to be able to do that and just have that flexibility was really, really lucky. But like I say, other people don't get that.

But I think, yeah, there is things that I do need to say. Would I have loved to have spent three weeks there, just with my friends, having a little break from motherhood? Of course, I would have loved that. But I had to just do what I felt like was best for me and everybody else, which was the one week. That makes total sense. Another thing that I wanna talk to you about,

because I also feel like I don't hear enough these conversations. And as someone in that position, I wish I did, is when you're the breadwinner of your family, as a woman, I do think we are kind of in a new dynamic here. Like I was looking at some of the data, when you look at a graph of the percentage of households that have a female breadwinner, it is skyrocketing.

It's going through the roof. And by the way, I think it's an amazing thing. I'm so grateful that we have these kinds of opportunities. And I think it's it's unprecedented in a way like we don't have a blueprint of what that looks like. And I think that does add a lot of pressure to women who already feel a lot of pressure when you're the one, you know, growing the baby, birthing the baby one, you know, growing the baby, birthing the baby, being the primary parent in the beginning, which we all are as mothers, mostly all of us are, plus being the breadwinner of your family,

of course, the both of you are in business together. How have you found that dynamic? Cause I don't think it's easy. It's not. And I think it's really difficult, especially when like as a woman, you are expected to do other jobs in terms of cooking and cleaning.

And thankfully, I don't have a husband who is that way inclined. He doesn't expect those things of me. But I find that I do less of the household chores, for example, because I'm focused so much on the business side of things. And there's a lot of things in business that I'm doing more of the kind of writing the courses,

I'm writing the programs, Jacob is doing more of the kind of like filming of the workouts and planning of the workouts. But in terms of like the more academic side of things, that tends to be me, I'm doing all of the systems, I'm doing the webinars. Thanks for the webinar slides by the way. We love a webinar.

Yeah. And I'm doing the webinar slides, you know how long it takes to sit and do those webinar slides. Like it's a long process. Then it's hosting the webinars and then it's putting things out and I'm doing all of those systems in the backend

with like many chats. So there's a lot of like, I'm sat at a computer a lot. So I do do less of the housework and things. Thankfully we've just decided to get a cleaner. So that is helping. But before that we were arguing about these things and Jacob is very much a 50-50 parent and I would say that actually in some points he was doing a little bit more. I would say he was doing more than me because I was so busy on the computer,

I was so busy planning the courses and doing all these things that I just don't expect him to do because he's got his strengths, I've got my strengths and we play to those. But for like the first year, he got up with Alpha Jacks for the entire first year. Like I did not have to get up on the mornings. I got up and did the emails and I got up and I got on the computer and yeah, it was easy.

We've now started doing alternate days, which I'm not a fan of, but he was like, I need to sleep here. And I was like, okay, we'll do alternate days then, crying. But yeah, honestly, I've got a fan of, but he was like, I need to sleep here. And I was like, okay, we'll do alternate days then. Crying. But yeah, honestly, I've got, a lot of men just wouldn't be able to be comfortable in that position.

And he does his absolute best with all of his strengths and all of his skills. And he is amazing at what he does. And he's just an amazing father and an amazing all-round husband because he doesn't mourn about if he has to clean the countertops. He doesn't mourn if he has to Hoover.

So I think I'm really, I shouldn't say lucky because it shouldn't be luck. This shouldn't be something that is just not expected us to be 50-50, but I do feel lucky because I hear stories from women that just don't have that 50-50 aspect. So yeah, it is hard, but I do think we're really good at managing it. Yeah, I hear so many stories of not having the 50-50 aspect. So yeah, it is hard, but I do think we're really good at managing it.

Yeah, I hear so many stories of not having the 50-50, so I love that you're highlighting that, the importance of, like you say, having a partner that I can actually handle it as well, because I think it takes a certain kind of man to be able to be in relationship with a really ambitious, successful woman. So I love that the two of you have found it. But he's also become ambitious because of that as well. So he played football all his life.

And I don't know if you know much about people who play football, but they don't focus on anything else. And they get taught not to focus on anything else because they want your sole laser focus on football. And he played really high, played for Leicester when he was like 19, which, you know, they won the league. That was a really, really big thing. And from then, you know, he had, like, a decent career,

but unfortunately his injuries have just prevented him from going any further. But in that time that, before he met me, he wasn't taught to focus on anything else. So when we got together and I was like, well, what are you going to do after football? What's going to come after football? And I was terrified for him because I was like,

you've got no plan in place. And don't get me wrong, I didn't have a plan when I was in Jordan Shaw, I was just winging it. But I knew for him it was really important. He wasn't getting the Instagram deals that were, you've got no plan in place. And don't get me wrong, I didn't have a plan when I was in Geordie Shaw, I was just winging it. But I knew for him, it was really important. He wasn't getting the Instagram deals that were a couple of grand that could see him through one month. So he needed something.

So I was like, right, well, why don't you just do a PT course? Why not do this? We've got time, we're in lockdown. And thankfully for me, giving him the kick and the push, he is so ambitious now. He'll read books, he never read books before me. And I don't want to, like, blow my own trumpet, but I've just...

We both brought out such different things in each other. He gave me the, like, the health, the fitness. Like, he taught me in that aspect. He made me such a healthier person and to be able to live my life, like, not in the way that I used to be, getting five takeaways a week and things like that. And I've helped him with like the academic type stuff,

reading the books and just, we've had such a positive effect on each other. So I think as a team, like it's just, it's been a match made in heaven to be honest. Oh my God, so similar like with Stephen, he was a professional gamer. He started doing that when he was 18 and same thing, you're just taught to focus on one thing and you kind of think you're going to do it forever until you're

not. And then you're like, well, what's next? What do I do? A career like that where you're so focused versus where you can have a lot of exploration in different places. I totally relate to so much of that. So what's next for you? Oh God, what's next for me? I mean, I hope that we will be able to get the business to a point where it is able to scale. Once I learn a little bit more about the SEO but I've got somebody there for that now which is great. I just want to keep learning and keep growing and try and get the business to a point of where I feel comfortable enough to be able to step away for a couple of months to be able to have a baby for other people to be running things and not to be like overthinking and thinking that I

have to do everything because at the moment I am the emails, I am the social media, I am the webinar, I am the PT, I am the nutrition coach, I am the admin, I am the accountant, like I don't want to be all of those things so I hope that you know through learning from your things as well to be able to just get to a point of being able to step away, know that the business is running and be able to put my focus into potentially having another baby. So we'll revisit in a year and see where I am. I expect you need to come on in a year and tell us where you are. 100% but in Austin you can fly me out.

Done, deal. Love that. So let's talk fitness real quick. How often do you work out a week? So I at the moment work out probably honestly about a week? So I, at the moment, work out probably, honestly, about one to three times a week at the moment. So I'm not like super strict with things. I always get my walks in. I find walking like super important for like mental health

and also just general day-to-day fitness as well. So I will make sure I get my 10K steps in a day and I'll maybe do like one to three resistance sessions. If I have to film for the app, then it will be a little bit different. I will be doing like a more heavy schedule in one week. I might do like three workouts in one day, but they are only like 20 minute classes.

So it's not all of the time just being super strict. But yeah, I feel like that's just what works for me. And I think that's so important to find, just having 20 minutes here and there and knowing that it doesn't have to be like grueling hours spent in the gym to actually see results. Is that what you did when you were thinking of losing weight postpartum?

Yes, I actually gained 50 pounds in pregnancy, which I'm only five foot three. That was a substantial amount of weight for me. The soles of my feet were actually hurting. I'd gained that much weight in such a short amount of time. I felt like I couldn't even walk. And I did eat everything. Like I did use it as an excuse.

Oh my God, I totally use that excuse. Oh, you've got to eat for two. Maybe once in. But yeah, I did find that, you know, obviously I am a PT, I am a fitness instructor. There was that extra pressure there from that. There was the extra pressure from knowing I'm going to have to go and film soon in a bikini.

So I did have more pressures than the average postpartum woman. But I also wanted to prove that it could be done in a healthy, sustainable and long process. It took me a year, took me an entire year of getting my 10k steps in, not being consistent all of the time, having the odd day here and there where it's not perfect.

But what I need to drill into people, it's not what you do occasionally that causes the results, it's what you do consistently over time. So for me being, let's say 70% on point, that got me to where I needed to be in a year. So I know people wanna do everything quick, everyone wants to do a six week plan and lose 17 stone. Like it just doesn't work like that.

But for me, everything's about sustainability. Everything is about just being able to have something that is a lifestyle. This is what you do every day. It's not something you do for six weeks and then give up. This is just how you live life now. And I feel like I've really found that point now. Yeah, I think that's the way to do it for me. I think it's same thing. It took me about a year

because also when you've just given birth, the last thing you want to be doing is just restricting your body and a hundred percent, you know, you breastfed as well. So that's, that's, you know, a lot of people think when you breastfeed you, you lose weight, but actually for a lot of people, they need a lot more calories. So it means that you actually, some people can gain weight when they're breastfeeding. So it's really, there's this misconception that, oh, if I breastfeed, I'm just gonna lose weight. It doesn't happen for many people.

So for me, I didn't breastfeed. So I felt like I could go into a deficit when if you were breastfeeding, that would affect your milk supply. So you've just got to kind of weigh up what you want to do and just know that everything takes time. Just be patient and just be consistent and you will get there. It doesn't matter how long it takes. Okay so walk me through a day in your life. We'll talk about kind of what your

movement would look like, what your food would look like and then just generally what your day looks like being a mum and business owner. So I usually wake up when my child does. So let's say like between six and seven. Do you want a day when he's here or a day when he's not? Let's do when he's not. Okay, so we will take him to nursery for half past seven and then I'll come back usually do a workout then,

pop in the gym for maybe let's say 45 minutes if I'm gonna do a resistance session or I might do a quick 20 minute workout. Then I will have my breakfast. My breakfast is not the most healthy breakfast at the moment, it is literally just cereal. I'm really loving, what is it? Honey Nut Shreddies at the moment, so good.

So again, it's not about restriction. It's just, you know, I probably should be having eggs. I probably should be having, you know, something that was avocado, but no, I just like to have my cereal. And then I will get on the laptop. I will usually do either some social media posts, schedule something, or at the moment,

I'm planning a webinar for next week. So I'll be looking over and making sure that the slides are okay. And then usually, well, at the moment, I am doing my pre-imports natal course. So I'll jump on and do an hour or two of that. And honestly, by then, you're kind of looking at pick up time to be honest, these things.

I find that I am always stuck in some kind of technical error. So something, things that should take me like an hour take me three. I always have a technical error with something. So I'm sat there and I'm like, why is this taking me so long? This is why I need professionals.

So yeah, everything usually takes me a little bit of a long time. Lunch will usually be, I'll probably have eggs on sourdough and avocado, something a little bit more balanced. And then for my, we would call it tea, do you still say tea? Dinner now?

Oh God. I know, I'm converted. Well, people from the Northeast of England usually say tea for dinner, which is very confusing. Funny because we had, I just did a retreat in the UK and we had my American team over and we did afternoon tea. And Lindsay, who was on our team, she said, "'So what are we going to eat?'' Oh, bless her. I love Lindsay, I do watch our team, she said, so what are we going to eat? Oh, bless her.

I love Lindsay. I do watch all of the little chats and things that when you go in the catch up calls and things, she's great. But yeah, I can understand how that is quite confusing because tea is a drink as well. And then for dinner or tea, I will usually have like a big rice bowl

with like salmon, avocado, veg, and then I'll always finish with an orange club biscuit. I don't know if you get them in America. No, but I do stock up when I come back. Yeah, they are great. Bedtime for Alpha Jacks is usually around about seven, and then might finish off a little bit of work once, well, we will play with him for an hour after nursery

as well, so between like six and seven, we'll just play with him, give him all of the attention that he needs before we get him in the bath and to bed. And then usually finish off a little bit of work. And then it was Love Island time at 9pm, but that's finished now. So we've got no 9pm TV show. I'm actually behind. I'm two weeks behind. Oh, yeah.

I was in the best one, but it was all right. It was good. Yeah, it was all right. It was good. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for having me. You are honestly so welcome. I've been so excited about this

and I just feel like this is going to be a really great interview. I can't wait to listen to it. Yeah. I'm so grateful that you've been so real about what it takes setting up a business as well. Cause I really think that's what people need to hear that it's not about having this there's no magic bullet. It's not. It's not. Having an audience is gonna work here. Having knowledge of funnels is gonna work here. It's truly bringing it all together and I love watching you do all this. I think what

you've built is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much. I have been learning funnels from you so I'm like yes I get it now. You're crushing it. So where can everyone find you and find out about your app? Oh, I would love to give you the discount as well, if that's okay. So let's do Boss Babe 20 for 20% off our app. So you can either do that on the annual subscription or the monthly. There's no contract. You get literally everything in there from meal plans, workout plans, gym, home, real time workouts, nutrition course, loads of recipe books. As honest, I could talk about it if I was like, it's literally brilliant.

But you can find me at Holly Hagen Blythe on Instagram and you can find the app at Team Fiddy app. Perfect. And so if someone jumps in with the free trial, where do you recommend they start? Like what's one of your favorite workouts or something like that? Oh, God, definitely start at a V-step. So a V-step are... This is what pulls people in, you see, the V-step, because I am one of these people who doesn't believe you need to do burpees and bear crawls

to be able to be a fitness girlie and, you know, succeed on your fitness journey. So a V-step is something that I created. It's like a dance aerobics kind of workout. Oh my God. Did you ever do like the Beverly Collard DVDs back in the day where it was just like the dance aerobics workouts.

No, but I remember like Zumba and stuff. Yeah, so it's kind of like, it's very much on that kind of level. And I do it with all like 90s and naughties music. And it's honestly just the best vibe. And I usually do like little motivational speeches throughout it as well. So if one comes off it, just feeling amazing.

So if you are going to sign up, definitely start with a V-step, you will not regret it. Oh my God, I'm going to sign up. Thank you so much. This was the best. You are so welcome. Thank you for having me. Wait, wait, wait, before you go, I would love to send you my seven figure CEO operating system completely free as a gift.

All you've got to do is leave us a review on this podcast because it really supports the growth of this show. This is my digital masterclass where I'll show you what my freedom based daily, weekly and monthly schedule looks like as an eight figure CEO, mama and high and high performer and I'll walk you through step-by-step how to create this for yourself. It includes a full video training from me and a plug-and-play spreadsheet to literally create your own operating system. It's one of our best trainings and it's worth $1,997 but I will unlock access for you for free when you leave us a review. I know wild right? All you have to you leave us a review. I know, wild, right?

All you have to do is leave your review on the podcast, take a screenshot of it, and then head over to bossbabe.com slash review to upload it. And then you'll get instant access to the seven figure CEO operating system. Again, head over to bossbabe.com slash review to upload your screenshot and get access.

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