We can tell that training and fitness has clearly taking the lead in your passions, why?

Great question! First, my fitness and health are my anchors that drives the best version of me to give away to each aspect of my life. Without my health, I’m not only short changing myself, but also everyone I would come in contact with by not being my best. With that said, and placing fitness/health first, living my authentic truth has really helped to connect with not only my audience and peers, but my clients. It’s a lot easier for people to follow you and take direction when you are practising everything that you are preaching. When they see you daily getting in your workouts, following healthy eating, working on your mindset, and putting in the work, it can only help to influence them in a positive way to mirror that in their own lives, to level up and strive to reach their goals. 

You have clearly gained a lot of succes in your field now, do you intend on becoming even bigger?

Five years from now I see myself as one of the most recognisable and impactful people in health, fitness, and mindset, inspiring, leading, and coaching 1,000,000+ people to achieve their goals, and live their best life, inside, and out, physically, and mentally. I intend to become as big as humanly possible, with the driver of that being impact, value, and results. I feel that by giving, and taking care of others, the bi-product of that will be that they take care of you. 

“What distinguishes my fitness influence would be the 100% authentic approach of what you see is what you get”

One of your crazy habits was eating (Crazy Cheat Meals): is this still the case?

Yes! I will add the disclaimer that although the cheat meals are fun, I do consume them in moderation. Being on set constantly, and staying shoot ready year round, I am very dialed in with my nutrition. But like anything else, it is a lifestyle, and to maintain it long term I sprinkle in some fun. So let’s address the fun. haha. With most of my cheat meals they take place at Prime 112 or Prime Italian in South Beach Miami. Depending on the mood you might see a 35oz Wagyu steak, a 1lb Kobe Cheeseburger and fries, or Fried Chicken & Waffles at Prime 112. If it’s Prime Italian, I’ll go with the Spaghetti and 1lb Kobe Meatball, or Penne a la Vodka. No Matter what the entre, I am a huge fan of their dessert, and my go tos are Oreo Cheesecake, Red Velvet Cheesecake, or Chocolate Skyscraper Cake. In most cases if I can’t decide on one dessert (they’re all great), I’ll eat one there, and get one to go! haha. 

What does Melanin Wonder Magazine mean to you personally?

Melanin Wonder means so much to me as I am grateful for the opportunity that you provide to me as an outlet to share my story, and connect with new people. It’s been amazing to see the page grow, as well as the impact it has for giving people of color a voice to be heard, and a light to shine on them to be discovered and grow. The continued fresh content, as well as positive vibes also contribute to more and more eyeballs finding their way to the platform.

Fitness Guru in the Panoramic

What distinguishes my fitness influence would be the 100% authentic approach of what you see is what you get. This is also two fold. First, you will obviously see the day to day, and that all the things I am speaking about, I am living. This would be the gym work, nutrition, mindset, and “highlight” aspect if you will of the finished product, as well as the on screen work with modeling and acting. The second part however I feel truly is the separator and that’s where I came from, and the low point aspects. The struggle, the weight gain, the almost decade long journey to finally reaching my health and weight loss goals, and how that positively impacted growing my career, both on and off screen. I feel this really helps with relatability as I am 100% sharing my entire book, not just the parts that look good, or a perfectly crafted story. In addition, this also helps with working with my clients as I have walked in their shoes, and can relate to what they are going through. This really helps with trust, as well as giving them the belief that it CAN be done.

Justin’s client shows us his gains in just 12 weeks!

The 3 most important things to get a FIT BODY?

That’s a great question. First, I feel the list could be endless, but it all reverts back to ONE thing..YOUR MIND. When you change the way you think, you change the way you live. IF someone is currently up 30 lbs, typically their lifestyle matches why they’re there. This could be poor nutrition, excess alcohol and sweets/fast food, as well as lack of exercise and focus. Even if you gave that person the perfect set of plans, if their mind wasn’t set on being committed and disciplined, they won’t stick with it long enough to achieve their goal, and are back to square one. And how do I know this? I was that person. It wasn’t until I reprogrammed my mind, to be focused on what will HELP me to success, did I actually start to achieve it. Locking in on your integrity, and changing your thinking, leads to changing your actions. When you change your actions, that leads to changing your identity, to the person who changes their results. That’s step by step, how you will change your life. 

Typically when I am training a client, whatever the music the gym is playing is what’s in our ears which is usually hip hop or uptempo songs to keep the energy going. If we get to control the speakers, then I let the client pick whatever they like to get them hyped up and ready to go. When I train myself, I listen to Jay-z, Drake, 50 cent, Notorious BIG, Rick Ross, and Nas. On occasion other artists may enter the playlist, but those are the usual mainstays on the day to day. 

“One thing that no one really knows about me is that I love to cook!”

Mental Health and Fitness

This goes back to the answer in the previous question. It plays the BIGGEST role. Just think to yourself, anything your mind tells you to do, you’re going to do. Which is why most people side with their mood or emotion, or short term impulse thinking. When you do that, if you don’t feel like getting off of the couch, or eating what’s on your meal plan, you won’t. Which is why you stay stuck, and can never make any real progress. But when you change your mind, you work from the focus of discipline over your mood. Now you’re thinking in terms of what will build your goal, not tear it down.

Long term thinking. This is how you override your feelings, and do what you’re supposed to do, which leads to the overall result that you desire to achieve. The added component of this is that you’re focusing on the daily thoughts and decisions/actions that will not only build your goal, and help you attain it, but also keep your goal, and avoid giving it back and returning to square one.

What DONT we know about you?

I love this question! One thing that no one really knows about me is that I love to cook! Through the years of prepping my food, and finding creative ways to learn new recipes really sparked an interest in how to be better at it. Oftentimes when I go into a restaurant and eat something I enjoy, I’ll try to figure out how they made it, and try to duplicate it back at home. Does it taste the same? Nope, haha! But I do learn something every time that helps me improve overall, so it keeps things fun. On the other side of that, which is really cool for my clients, trying all these different recipes gives me a lot of easy to prep meals to help them in the kitchen, so it’s a win-win for everybody! Maybe one day I can give it a shot on the Food Network with a Fitness Cooking show!

How do you juggle it all?

For myself, I set a goal a long time ago to have every aspect of my professional life align with each other: Basically operating in my genius areas. For example, with fitness, that is my life, and lifestyle. So when you factor in the nutrition, exercise, water, sleep, that helps me show up as my best me, and healthiest me. I have a coach who helps me with that, Rob Reed Fitness, so I can focus on executing, and following the plans just like I help my clients with. That also pairs well with the modeling, as you look how you book. When I am always at my best, it gives me the best shot to do well with modeling, as well as acting jobs. Luckily as well with both of those, I have multiple agents who help handle the business side, so I am able to handle making sure I am prepared. When it comes to speaking, its’ all about reps. Social Media is a great tool for that. Every time you post, put up a story, video, or go live, you are getting practice rounds to hone your craft. You learn your way through your process, and with time, develop the ability to get your point across quickly, with the most value and impact. Lastly, when it comes to my Fitness by JC Business, I have a coach, Michael Chu at Champion Development, who helps me optimize my business and deliver the best client experience. One thing I have learned is that you can’t do it alone. Even though I am a coach to my clients, I have coaches as well to constantly help me to learn, improve, optimize, and access the next level. 

Can you introduce yourself?

So, my full name is Aaron West, I am 31, Black and proud and I was born and mostly raised in Shreveport, Louisiana by my mom and grandparents. My mom moved my twin brother, little sister and I from Shreveport to Houston when I was 15 after she graduated from college and I’ve been here ever since. I would say I had a pseudo-rural upbringing in Shreveport because it was a slower city compared to Houston.

I say this not to imply we lived on a farm and milked cows but basically Shreveport as a city was far behind what Houston was in terms of modern black culture like fashion, music etc. Upon arriving to Houston I really started to think I was living on BET because everything and everyone was so cool and fashion forward lol. My brother, sister and I played most sports growing up to stay busy and I think that is probably where I grew to love Fitness.

What are you passionate about?

I am extremely, extremely, extremely, passionate about inspiring change in others. I would say I simply love to see people change their bodies or achieve their fitness goals, because I’m a personal trainer, but it’s so much deeper than that. For me it’s all about helping others understand what can be done with a little effort. Nothing and no one can make me feel as I do in the moment that someone who I talked to previously about where I see them going with their body remembers that conversation while presently living in that body we talked about in the past.

I own a personal training studio where I conduct one-on-one sessions with clients and sure we talk about fitness but it is not uncommon for us to also talk about other life goals, in-fact we probably talk about more life coaching type things than anything else, I really just enjoy helping people reach their full potential in every facet of life.

Aaron ripped in front of a grafitti wall

What is your profession?

My profession is complex but if I had to label it I would say I am an entrepreneur because I create things. Currently I am operating as personal trainer in my personal training studio but I have goals of becoming a motivational speaker and I also plan to start a few non-profits and other business outside of fitness.

How long have you owned ur fitness business?

By the grace of God my business has been open for almost 3 years. I started Almost PerFit Fitness after graduating from University of Houston and having a hard time finding what I considered a “real job”. I was still working for a local gym as a personal trainer and as a very broke post-college grad I figured that there was no better time to start a business than at the bottom, that way me and Almost PerFit Fitness( the business) literally would grow together.

With no real business plan I simply started training clients on the side in parks for less than what they would pay at the gym but was able to pocket more than what the gym was paying me. As business grew I decided to rent a space add some fitness equipment “wollah” i was in business on your own.

Aaron at the beach rocking his sunglasses

How do make sure your clients eat healthy?

I usually cannot really control how my clients eat so once I design the meal plan best tailored to their needs I focus on making sure they understand how eating wrong can impact their fitness goals. I’ve found that the more they understand the better their food decisions would be. I weigh my clients in weekly to track progress towards or away from their goal and then make adjustments.

Why start your own business?

I would now presently answer this question with “why not?” but honestly I never considered working for myself until I realized that I was worth more than what someone was willing to pay me to do a job I could create on my own. It is actually something I heard “Master P” of No Limit records say about his decision to start independent. I don’t think entrepreneurship is for everyone but it is definitely worth a shot if you are passionate about adding value to someone’s life with a service or product.

Aaron rocking his Powerful Beard

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

In five years I see myself in the fitness industry. I actually plan to remain in the industry for the rest of my life but as a trainer to trainers as opposed to simply a trainer. I would like to have a larger platform to help more people in various ways.

Do you have other hobbies or crazy habits?

Aside from working out I really enjoy photography. I actually do most of my own photography for promotional flyers, social media marketing etc with a Nikon D330. I’m a self professed student to the craft and I’m also actively learning more about editing software. Me and my girlfriend are learning a few actually to help with our couples YouTube channel.

I have one habit that I think is pretty crazy, I am constantly stretching my body trying to get comfortable from multiple weekly workouts. I’ll be in bed literally popping and stretching until I finally fall asleep. It’s actually pretty common in the bodybuilding world and I wouldn’t say it’s painful but at every opportunity I feel the need to stretch my muscles/joints out I am probably going to stop everything I’m doing and do it, it’s weird but it feels so necessary. Other than that I’m just a guy .*lol*

Check out his Instagram for more about his business and some stunning pictures!

Aaron West entrepreneur and health coach

 I don’t know sh&^%t

My life as an entrepreneur started around thirteen years ago. A know-it-all 29-year-old young woman. Mother of three children. Two biological and one bonus. I had this very idealistic idea and nobody could tell me otherwise. Well, after falling flat on my face a couple of times and many sleepless nights, disappointments and heartaches came the realization that maybe I didn’t know it all at all……in fact that maybe I don’t know sh&^%t.

This was a tough pill to swallow

What I came to realize is that entrepreneurship is one of the most spiritual journeys you will ever be on. There is nowhere to hide, nobody to blame. You have to self-reflect on a regular, be open to change your way….basically stepping out of your own way.

Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Grief the people you lose along the way. Be accountable for your failures so you can transform them into success. All this and much more but the most important part is being clear about your why! Cause let me tell you guys something, there will be many many moments that you will declare yourself to be crazy for continuing.

In all honesty, to be an entrepreneur you got to have a bit of crazy in you. I know that’s right! (In Sawaeetie’s voice)

What will sustain you through the moments when you are frustrated, disappointed, or have to cry yourself to sleep is your purpose. It may sound like a cliche but it’s my testimony.

My purpose was to be part of a movement, built companies to provide opportunities for ourselves so we can create them for our children. In July 2010 I wrote a poem explaining my Why. At the time we were a group of black women, mothers working together in realizing our dreams.

It is because of you today WE RISE!!!!

I dedicated this poem to my children and the women I was working with at the time. I would like to share it with you. It’s called We speak your names.

We speak your names Tariq, Iyanla, Hakim, Glenn, Roli, Dwayne, Omar, Jaden, Musa, Angelina, Hadjia, Euson, Iluminee, Uriel, Khadian, Lakisha, Kimani, Melanta, Rayla, Donna, Gillion, Brandon, and all the other ones.

We realize that we stand on the shoulders of the ones who came before us, as we are making way for the ones coming after us. We take our own responsibility so that you can stand upon our shoulders.

It is for you that today we day we refuse to remain in the victim role and to be content with a marginal existence.

It is for you who are growing up in these beautiful neighborhoods that we say; enough is enough.

Enough with the labels of disadvantaged.

It is for you that today, now (!) we stand up and act together to move forward.

Because our dream for you is that you have freedom of choice. That your zip code doesn’t determine your study advice. 

In ten or twenty years there must be a business network consisting of successful companies in various industries where you can have internships, get jobs, and/or subsequent take over companies.

It is because of you today WE RISE!!!!

Fast forward to 2021 and look at all the amazing black-owned business networks.

Baba Kwabena told me in my early twenties that a self-respecting community should own the three E’s: Education, Economics & Enforcement.

WE may still have a long road ahead of us but we are slowly but surely on our way. For the new entrepreneurs make sure you are clear of your why. Your purpose. Trust me there will be moments on your journey that it’s the only thing you have to hold on to. Hold on to it and keep on RISING. Our children need you. Speak their names and a new reality for them into existence.

Ashé

Most people scratch their heads when they hear the word ‘imposter syndrome’. You might think it’s a disease because of the name. This is far from the truth. In 1978 the psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes found that people suffered from an intellectual form of self-doubt. They called it imposter syndrome. The official definition is the experience of being unable to internalize accomplishments and persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.

70% of the people experience it

It overcomes most of us. In fact, 70% of people experience it. While this is already a high number, the stats are even higher for black women specifically. A whopping 85% of black women have suffered from it during their career.

Even Michelle Obama, Serena Wiliams and Maya Angelou had imposter syndrome.

Even Michelle Obama, Serena Wiliams and Maya Angelou had imposter syndrome. Crazy right?! But when you think of it, it makes sense that even these very accomplished women have this. Society often diminishes black women’s achievements and value. So it’s not that crazy when you internalize these doubts after hearing it for years.

Today is the day you can find out if you suffer from imposter syndrome

If after reading these 4 signs, you say: “Wow this is what I’ve felt in my career.” you might have experienced it.

1. Feeling incompetent despite demonstrating competence

The interesting thing with imposter syndrome is that it mostly pops up on people who are extremely capable and smart. Einstein didn’t even escape imposter syndrome. You can have degrees, awards, even a ton of clients and still think you’re not that good. When you are telling people that you can do something, but have never done it before then you can easily say you’re a fraud. But when you have the proof to back up why you are totally capable, it is most likely imposter syndrome creeping up on you.

2. Feeling uncomfortable with receiving praise or compliments

Do you always feel awkward when receiving a compliment? Do you hear yourself downplay your skill when someone compliments it. Well, most people with imposter syndrome don’t see their talents or achievements as spectacular. Rather, they think everyone can do what they can do. Most of the times things that come easy to you might be really hard for someone else.We forget the effort that it took to build the skill and perceive our skills as regular. Which it is not!

3. Feeling others are more equipped than you

Intelligent ambitious women tend to tie their work and value to their knowledge. Often when they enter a space where there are other highly capable people they can feel like a ‘fraud’. It’s tough to not compare yourself to others in those situations. Thinking that others really know what they are talking about and you’re still figuring it all out.

The epiphany I got when I worked at top level coaching companies is that a lot of people at top levels don’t know what they are doing. Especially (white) men can bluff their way into a company. I understood that everybody is still figuring it all out.

4. Feeling like you don’t belong in your job role

Imagine that you’re starting your new job. You are one of the few black people. You overwork to finish the job. And there is always this lingering feeling that you have to prove that you deserve the job.

That feeling is exhausting and mostly resting on a false belief. Even though as a black person you can endure different stereotypes in the workplace. The person that hired you did think that you belong. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be there. In an interview with Michelle Obama on this issue, she said: “For a long time I thought I didn’t belong but being in several top places I noticed that there were a lot of people that didn’t belong there. But I was definitely not one of them.”

About the writer
Ayesha Noelle (@ayeshanoelle) is a mindset and business coach, who specializes in imposter syndrome. She mainly helps female online entrepreneurs achieve their business goals & overcome imposter syndrome by implementing science-based strategies. Her background is in Applied Psychology and she appeared as a guest expert on multiple media platforms.