Today we’d like to introduce you to Porschia Epps.
Porschia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I developed a love for fitness at a young age. I used to do the Barbie work out tapes and Taebo VHS tapes in my grandmother’s bedroom. The funny thing is, although I loved exercising, I struggled with food and ultimately my weight. For years, I tried everything from the Thigh Master to the Atkins diet to Slimfast but nothing worked until I decided to get serious about getting healthy and focus less on just losing weight. I started doing research on Bodybuilding.com and became so fascinated with the world of fitness and bodybuilding. I started lifting weights and training in the gym versus just working out (there’s a difference). I also learned how fitness is just as much a mental transformation as it is physical and made sure I was working on my mental health too. Then, came dance fitness and it gave me a fun alternative for cardio and I LOVE to dance. I loved it so much I decided to become a licensed instructor. Today, I’m a personal trainer, Zumba instructor, Mixxedfit instructor, creator of my own fitness format, a mentor and a lot of other cool things I’m grateful I get to be.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course, it wasn’t a smooth road but the best stories never are. As an instructor, I had to go through a little trial and error to find what worked for me, figure out my style, learn how to take constructive criticism and be true to my brand. In my personal life, I struggled with my own self-esteem for a long time. I was encouraging women to be confident and not to focus on the scale but I was struggling with these things myself. I understand them and their struggles because I am them but I felt a responsibility to practice what I preached. My struggle is not over but I’m human and every day, I remind myself of my “why?”. I can’t tell women what to use as motivation because everyone has to find their own motivation, that thing that puts the battery in their back. If I could tell women and young girls anything, I’d tell them to be easy on themselves. We want things when we want it and we’re hard on ourselves when we don’t achieve it when we thought we should. We let other people dictate how we feel about ourselves, especially our bodies. We worry about fitting into everyone else’s standards for beauty and health instead of finding the beauty in our uniqueness and working with that. It’s okay to have inspiration but you shouldn’t strive to look like anyone else. Strive to be a better version of yourself… mentally and physically.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into FitYourWay with Porschia story. Tell us more about the business.
I’m the owner of FitYourWay with Porschia, I teach two dance fitness formats (Zumba and Mixxedfit), aqua fitness and a few other fitness formats. I also mentor dance fitness instructors and work to help them become even better instructors. What sets me apart is my motto of training the body and training the mind. Health isn’t just physical transformation; I understand that the reason a client may not be performing well may be mental and you have to get to the bottom of that if you want success. I relate to my clients because I’ve been where they are and I still have to work on this journey every day. Not to mention, I don’t look like your typical trainer. I’m curvy but still kind of muscular. I’m showing women that it’s possible to be both and to embrace both. Oh and I’m definitely known for my energy. The proudest moment for me has been creating my own fitness format, T2L. T2L focuses on toning, tightening and lifting with a combination of weight training, HIIT, abs and glutes. It’s a full-body workout set to R&B, rap and reggae. Not only am I teaching it at a studio, but I also offer online classes on my website so people can do them from home too.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
I fully believe women can do anything. I love seeing so many women in power these days and I wish more women realized their power and potential. More women own businesses now, More women are sitting at the table. Women have the opportunity to change things. We would be even better if we did it together. Finding a like-minded girl gang with a similar purpose and talents they’re willing to share only makes you stronger.
Contact Info:
- Website: WWW.FITYOURWAYLLC.COM
- Phone: 646-402-5562
- Email: info@fityourwayllc.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/fityourway
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fityourway2
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