Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Byanka Randolph, Founder of True Self Nutrition and Fitness LLC, located in Dallas, TX, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I'm a fitness and nutrition coach who helps fellow introverted millennial women get comfortable with lifting weights as well as gain clarity with their nutrition without the confusion and intimidation factor. I simplify these things so that we gain consistency with ease and have FUN with the process of getting healthy and fit. I also help these women appreciate and feel confident with their current bodies, something many of us have struggled with for a long time.
Tell us about yourself
I used to be the "fat" sister in my family. I always had low-self esteem and felt extremely uncomfortable in my body. I started working out and dieting to be able to change my body into what I thought my family and society deemed "acceptable." I did crash diets and would do high-intensity workouts 6 days a week and sometimes would even double up so that I could lose weight faster. What came of this long journey of dieting, losing weight, and gaining weight but STILL fitness-ing (working out) was this desire to help others navigate their own journeys in healing their relationships with their body, food, and movement. I get to help that version of myself, from years past, through my clients. Knowing how it feels to be in their shoes, because I've been there, motivates me to help because I know how great life can be when your thoughts aren't riddled with worry over "needing" to lose weight.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I would have the say my biggest accomplishment would be becoming a business owner. I know it seems strange for this to be my biggest accomplishment thus far, but it's true. I grew up with a single mom who worked multiple jobs in order to provide for myself and my three sisters. This was what I thought I would have to do for the rest of my life to "make it." I believed that we needed to work a job/s we hated to make ends meet and survive this thing called life. Business ownership was never a thought in my mind until I started my own health and fitness journey.
In starting a fitness journey, you hear A LOT about physical transformations but hardly hear about the mental ones. Fitness taught me to push myself past my comfort zone because beyond that is the change and fulfillment we are seeking. We hardly hear how these lessons during a difficult workout can start to bleed into your actual life, such as relationships and careers.
Starting my own business started as a pipe dream; where one day, I found myself questioning whether or not it was worth it to me to work for someone else's dream. As luck would have it, I was let go from that job and took it as the Universe telling me to chase after that dream. And that's all it took to get me here!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner is figuring things out on your own. I didn't go to business school and had no idea how to start a business. All I knew was that I wanted to help people and do it on my own terms, especially since I'm now shifting my coaching to being more about health and wellness instead of just focusing on weight loss and aesthetics. It's definitely been a lot of trial and error for me when it comes to back-end business things, but I've grown so much in the short amount of time.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
The top three tips I would give to anyone looking to start, fun, and grow a business are:
- JUST START! Don't wait for the perfect time to come because you will be wasting the precious time we have in life thinking about doing it instead of just doing it.
- Get yourself a coach and/or surround yourself with people who are business owners too! It can get very lonely being an entrepreneur, mostly because it's difficult to understand the struggles of business ownership if you aren't in it.
- Don't be afraid to fail because you WILL experience it on this journey. I know it's not fun to think about failing - trust me, I hate failing too- but it's all part of this wonderful and fulfilling process.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://beacons.ai/byanka.randolph
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrueSelf.NutritionandFitness/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byanka.randolph/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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