Six Weeks To Fitness

Tamika Harden is a personal trainer, life coach, owner of Body By Tamika, and a coronavirus survivor.  Growing up in South Jamaica, Queens, Tamika was no stranger to the harsh realities of inner-city violence and drug abuse.  She credits her loving mother for her strength and perseverance to overcome many of the hardships she faced growing up.  Tamika’s humble beginnings motivated her to strive for excellence, even at a young age.  Her own battles with childhood obesity and overcoming it have set the stage for her own platform of inspiring and helping others to transform and uplift their lives, mind, and body.

When did you know you had the virus and what were the symptoms?

“It started in March; it was right before the lockdown had occurred for the pandemic.  I woke up preparing for work, and I just felt lethargic and tiredness that I never felt before.  I’m used to hustling and bustling, servicing clients all day, morning, and night. Still, this tiredness felt different, so I began to cancel all of my morning clients, which is not like me and if I could just lay down and try to sweat this out or whatever I was feeling, so I rested, took off the weekend, tried to recoup using my regular techniques and tactics; exercise, rest, proper nutrition. I got my strength up, and by Monday, I was back to work, and by that Tuesday, I couldn’t get out of bed if I wanted to. I felt as if I got hit by a truck or something that just knocked me down.  I was fighting through that, taking over the counter meds, taking my vitamins, trying to juice on the days that I had enough strength to want to eat something.  I was fighting through it; I didn’t know what I had.  So, as the symptoms worsened and I wasn’t getting better, I said, let me call the CDC hotline because now I’m home in bed and watching the news and just not understanding what is happening.  I called the CDC, and at that time, I didn’t have all the symptoms. I’m telling them, I have a bad cough, it’s not going away. I was told I would get a call back in 48 hours to get tested.  That call came two weeks later.  This was at the height of the pandemic when we lacked preparedness.  There was a lack of medical supplies.  We saw that more in predominantly minority communities, so the help wasn’t there.  I never got the callback, my symptoms worsened, and then it was brought to my knowledge that somebody that I was with a few days prior had to be admitted to the hospital and have tested positive.”

It was then that Tamika decided she had to get tested.  “I went to my local testing site, and I was denied access that day because they told me, I’m sorry, I understand your concerns, but you have to have an appointment.  I tried to call again, and at that time, the wait time was approximately six hours, so I explained to the attendant, and I’m just pleading with them that I need to get tested, and if it weren’t for me pleading and pretty much begging them to help me, that’s when he said, tomorrow morning there will be a trauma unit set up at a certain site and your chances of getting tested on this site is greater.  He couldn’t promise me that I would be tested, so I went back that next morning very early.

I waited in line, and I was able to get tested and swabbed through a crack in my window.  The exposure is very limited and I was told that I would get a call back in a week if I tested positive, so I went on about my day, and that Friday I had gotten a call back stating that I have tested positive.

This was already ten days in, and if my body wasn’t able to fight it, it could have been a lot worse because of the obstacles I had to go through just to get tested.”

It took Tamika 2 weeks to get through the effects of the virus.  She then quarantined herself for about three weeks instead of the customary two weeks.  She focused on eating healthy, juicing, and exercise to help her get through the sickness. 

Not only was Tamika exposed to the virus, but her children and nanny were exposed as well.  This whole ordeal has made Tamika more determined to focus on her health because she believes that it is because of her health that she was able to fight off the virus.  She is also determined to help others within her community.

Being a trainer in top physical condition, Tamika shared that she was a little surprised that as a trainer, she would contract the virus.  She stated that “at the beginning stages of the pandemic we were told that only a certain group of people or ethnicity or health conditions would get the virus, but after I was able to dig a little deeper and understand what we were up against, I realized that this virus doesn’t discriminate and anybody could be infected.

What advice would you give to someone who is worried about contracting the virus?

“The advice I would give is to continue to wear your mask, continue to wash your hands regularly and practice social distancing, and just to be mindful because some of us think that it’s over, but we still have to take precautionary measures.

We don’t want this thing to reach the level of emergency that it was before.  I think people just need to continue taking precautionary measures as we’ve been told, and I think now is the time to focus on immunity, focus on health, making realistic changes.  I’m not saying go all green or do 5 miles a day like you’re going into the army.”

Coronavirus Pandemic and Body By Tamika

The Coronavirus pandemic seriously impacted Tamika’s business, which she started 3 ½ years ago. Even though she feels like she is restarting her business, she is more determined to see it succeed.  Tamika believes that in adversity, there is an opportunity; you have to reposition yourself.  She transitioned her business so that she can serve her community virtually, and she advises other entrepreneurs to “find other ways to reposition your business and your talent because many of us have several talents.”

What services does Body By Tamika provide?

“I provide in-person training, one on one personal training, small group training, virtual classes. I also have a Medspa, where I offer body contouring services.  We consider that non-invasive weight loss services. I do laser lipo, slimming sculpting, and massages.  We also do aesthetic procedures also non-invasive that can help speed up the weight loss process.  I am also Life Coach Certified with an undergrad in Psychology.”

Who Are Your Ideal Clients?“

“My ideal clients are women age group between the mid-20s to about 60, the working-class women juggling a career and children, the everyday women.  I have a lot of empty nesters whose children are off to college, and now they’re making time for themselves.  I service predominantly African American women, and they are all career-minded professional women who can afford services as to what I provide.”

Where do you see Body By Tamika in the next 5 years?

“A few locations. I want to take my business to different states for starters. I see a larger virtual community. I see all these things because they are more achievable for my business, and I’m more than capable of doing it, so now it’s just manpower and time. I see myself as a household name, and I’m just waiting for the day that all of it is showcased.”

Tamika’s motto is: “If they don’t open the door, kick it down, I’m not promoting violence, but if you got to kick it off the hinges, kick it off the hinges, take what is meant to be yours and just stay diligent, stay on course and God will send you the people that you need in your life. They will start showing up. Just stay positive and not stop despite the obstacles ahead because there are going to be several, but each one you knockdown makes you stronger for the next one, so just stay positive."

For more information on Tamika Harden, you can visit her website at www.bodybytamika, also Instagram: BodybyTamika and Facebook: BodybyTamika.

Direct download: Episode_155_Tamika_Harden.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:04pm EST

Eric Rice is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Quanta (QuantaCBD.com). This company is using a new technology involving quantum mechanics that maximizes the bioenergy in natural products to help people. Their first product out is a CBD muscle rub, made 5x more effective by polarizing the CBD. Eric is also looking at other ways that organic matter can be optimized in areas including agriculture, vitamins, supplements, human cognition, anti-aging, food, and pharmaceuticals. Eric Rice is also a former professional baseball player.

Eric Rice, the Early Years

Eric Rice was born in Chicago and grew up in northwest Indiana, about 15 miles outside of Chicago. From the time Eric was five years old, he recalls being forced to play the shortstop position at baseball practice when he didn't even know what shortstop was. After a few minutes of fielding ground balls, Eric was hooked on the game and wanted to play baseball for the rest of his life.

While playing baseball in college, Eric found himself in constant pain due to an injury he sustained during his sophomore year in high school. He injured his shoulder, which affected his ability to throw the ball. He didn't tell anyone about this injury, so for most of his career, he would take from 12 to 15 Ibuprofen so he could perform without feeling so much pain in his shoulder.

The Birth of QUANTA

While running a venture studio, Eric had a ton of people pitching their companies to him, one of which was a small cannabis company.

Around this time, Eric's doctor told him that he could no longer continue taking Ibuprofen and that he needed to find another way to reduce the pain he was feeling in his body. Eric decided to try cannabis, and although the cannabis was helping, it wasn't helping nearly as much as the Ibuprofen.

A friend of Eric's from the Army's Special Forces told him about a brilliant scientist who has done work with cancer, autoimmune disease, and HIV using various technologies. The doctor also was researching cannabinoids. It was then that Eric saw an opportunity to partner with the scientist and build a business, and that's how Quanta was born.

Why is your Muscle Rub more Effective than other products?

What Quanta is doing to Cannabinoids is what they are doing to hundreds of natural, medicinal compounds. Plants are alive just like humans, and we vibrate at 100% and so do plants, but once you remove plants from the earth, its technically dead, losing 50 to 75% of its energy and every moment that passes, that energy depletes down to 3 or 4 percent. What Quanta has been able to do is take that dead or dying plant matter and apply quantum mechanics or quantum physics into the biological entity. When you are alive, you have a nucleus with electrons rotating very fast and far from the nucleus, high energy. As you age and die, those electrons slow down, and they become closer to the nucleus. Quanta is using electromagnetic frequencies to communicate with the molecules and excite those electrons to push them back out from the nucleus and get them spinning faster. This process increases the anti-inflammatory properties by 572%, making the CBD Muscle Rub much more effective than any other competing product on the market.

Why is Inflammation so Important?

Inflammation is the basis for most pain, just like when you break a bone, it swells up, and you suffer from the pain. Inflammation is the stem root of almost every physical problem, including cancer and depression. Inflammation also plays a crucial role in aging. Aging occurs when inflammation is increasing in the body, and cells reproduce themselves at a slower rate.

What other Products Besides the CBD Muscle Rub Are You working on?

In the CBD space, we have a tincture we just put out. We have a vape product that we sell and is doing very well. We also made an anti-aging cream with and without CBD, which is phenomenal for your skin. Our target for the rest of this quarter is to focus in on the launch of our beauty products, so we're polarizing Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, retinol, and all of the common, expensive beauty treatments and creating face masks and Vitamin C serums and all types of beauty products and in the research department, we're putting together a portfolio of 12 natural products that should replace 12 commonly taken harmful medications from the pharmaceutical space launching around late 4th quarter, around Christmas.

What has been the feedback from people who have used your products?

Two or three days out of every work week, I get emotional during the day because we get between 5 and 10 testimonials that are either written, audio or video unsolicited, and about once a week, you will hear one that just opens your eyes to how a tiny little product could help someone's life in every capacity. A neighbor of mine, she has diabetes, and her toes were completely curled up, she couldn't walk or put on shoes. Her daughter came by and asked me for some of the rub and literally watched in a matter of minutes, her curled up toes just relaxed on the ground, and everyone in the room started crying. It was one of the most emotional things I ever experienced.

Everyone calls our muscle rub the Windex because it has all these different usages. The most common is stiffness, joint pain, muscle pain. The most prevalent we see here in Los Angeles is recovery. There are a lot of active people working out really hard. Almost everyone says that their recovery time is quicker. They go to bed and wake up and feel like they never even worked out the day before. Other than that, arthritis is a huge thing for us; neuropathy. Almost all of our retail business is through medical professionals, hospitals and doctors and neuropathy, nerve centers.

That seems to be a pain point for most people. We receive letters or videos from people expressing their joy that they can walk without pain, and these little things improve people's moods. We even had a reflexologist tell us that if you put the rub on your feet and your toes, it acts like a sleeping pill because the vibration in the ointment is actually going into your nervous system up through your feet and legs and relaxes your whole body. So we tried it out because I am a 20 year Ambien user to try to fall asleep. I haven't taken an Ambien since probably February, and I have been sleeping as well as I ever have just by putting muscle rub on my feet.

Even with mosquito bites, you put the muscle rub on it, and the itching will stop in about two minutes, and the next day there are no bumps on the skin, so there are tons of different usages.

Are Your Products Safe for Children To Use?

Absolutely! We have youth hockey teams, my son's baseball team, everyone uses it when their arms get sore. There is no THC in the ingredients. All of the ingredients are 100% natural.

Where do you see your company in the next five years?

In a Utopian world, we will be working with all of the largest nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and beauty companies in the world to help make better products as well as safer pharmaceuticals with fewer side effects using natural ingredients. That's really our focus and goal.

How has the Current Pandemic affected your business?

We actually just did the breakdown of that, and between the first and second quarters of this year, we only lost 1.8% in a market where the retail was down 85%, so we did really well. We didn't outperform the previous quarter, but we only lost $6,000 during the quarter in revenue, and a lot of that came from our ability to see the pandemic coming and shift from focusing from retail and doctors to online sales and partnerships for digital campaigns. I think this coming year will be great, but the pandemic has absolutely affected us.

What do you say to someone who questions the cost of your muscle rub product compared to other topical muscle rub products like Bengay?

We get that all the time. The weird thing is 40% of our business is repeat customers. We always explain it this way, the potency in our muscle rub, it's a $45.00 muscle rub, and we do have designs to drop that price now that we've grown, it has expensive high-end ingredients in it, but to get the same type of relief just with pain, because Bengay only works on pain, it doesn't do inflammation and is terrible for your skin, to get the same type of pain relief, you will have to buy 4 to 7 tubes of Bengay. According to a study we did, the average person who lives in chronic pain, have about a $500 per month pharmaceutical bill for chronic pain prescriptions and they spend approximately $264.00 per month for other alternatives to help with pain.

We say instead of spending $264 on ten different things that don't work, you spend $45 on one that does, and not only do you have more relief, but you're also saving over $200 per month along with other supplements you're taking that's not working.

What is Quanta's Philosophy?

More than anything, we believe in a simple philosophy of taking quantum physics and all that confusing stuff so that our products will help you reduce pain and increase joy in your life. That's our whole premise to relieve pain, make you look good, feel good, so there is more joy in everyone's life.

To find out more about Quanta or purchase products, visit www.buyquanta.com and use the coupon code "6weeks" and get 20% off all the Quanta products.

Direct download: Episode_154_Eric_Rice_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:52pm EST

Shia Joyner is a Registered Yoga Teacher, Licensed Esthetician, Reiki Healer, and Culture Consultant. She is also the founder of Zen & Boujee, a luxury wellness shopping experience featuring brands focused on women and wellness. Shia Joyner's pursuit of empowerment for the "new now woman" has guided her through every incarnation of her career. Shia is an entrepreneur with a passion for coaching "women" to manifest their dreams by sharing simple and gentle ways that inspire them to love, heal, and nurture their bodies by being fully engaged in the power they embody. A fierce advocate of accessible wellness, Shia is also committed to giving back to her community by helping women in underserved areas overcome mental illness and support the needs of domestic violence survivors. Shia's goal is to inspire women to be fully engaged in the power they embody and coach them in manifesting their dreams.

Shia Joyner, the early years

Shia was born in Raleigh, North Carolina but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.

Shia considers herself a "product of the south." Her role model growing up was and still is her older sister. Shia got the entrepreneur bug from her father, who worked a traditional 9 to 5 and was an entrepreneur at heart. When she was five years old, Shia and her sister started their first business called "Potato Creation," where they would make things out of potatoes and sell them to her father's friends.

Journey to Wellness

Shia was never interested in working out or going to a gym until she moved to Harlem and decided to attend a Yoga class.  While there, she met the most amazing Yoga instructor. That experience inspired her to make changes in her life, which consisted of changing how she eats, drinking more water, and becoming more mindful and meditating. This experience was Shia's introduction to wellness.

Yoga, Fitness, and Being a Domestic Violence Survivor

It wasn't until this year (2020) that Shia Joyner has come to accept that she is a domestic violence survivor. She left that part of her life 13 years ago and wanted to put it behind her, but over time, she realized that part of the healing process is to understand what journey and struggle really are.

Her journey with Yoga was initially for anxiety and depression, but after going through this journey, which included counseling, the underlying factor was that she is a domestic violence survivor. Yoga allowed her to grow and be the fullest version of herself.

Red Flags of Domestic Abuse

Shia believes that women must get to a place where they love themselves enough to leave a domestic violence situation. Shia believes that the following is a list of red flags of domestic abuse:

  • A mate that cannot control their tone (speaking loud and argumentative);
  • Lack of emotional discipline and self-control, which could lead to emotional, verbal, and physical abuse;
  • Economic or financial abuse; withholding financial support so that you are dependent on them.

Domestic Violence during the Pandemic

The number of domestic violence cases has increased significantly during this current pandemic. Shia shared how stress and anger play a significant role in domestic violence, especially if a spouse loses his job and decides to take it out on the person closest to him.

Zen and Boujee

Shia created the name Zen and Boujee while on a Yoga retreat with her mentor in Nicaragua. She recalled just finishing her meditation and looking at a lagoon that was filled with water from a volcano that recently exploded, and the name Zen and Boujee just came to her.

Zen and Boujee Giving Back

Having lived through domestic violence and seeing what women are going through has pushed Shia even more towards her purpose with Zen and Boujee. Although Zen and Boujee make beauty and wellness products, the vehicle that gives her meaning is the social impact company she is developing in her Goddess Box, which focuses on self-love and is a subscription business model. 10% of the proceeds from every box sold are given to nonprofit charities helping victims get away from their abusers.

Zen and Boujee are also partnering with a company called New Safe Start, which has started an amazing campaign that pledged "buy one, get one" where 10% of every box is being donated to New Safe Start to help women to understand how to break free from their abuser and establish themselves to have economic power and freedom. Shia believes that if you love yourself and are economically free, there is nothing you can't do.

Shia received inspiration from actor Chadwick Boseman, who was silently suffering from colon cancer until his death at 43 but continued to walk in his purpose. If he could go through all that he endured and still walk in his purpose, Shia believes she can do it too. Her aim is not just to build a beauty and wellness company, but to help all women find a safe passage to healing from domestic abuse.

All of Zen and Boujee's products are natural and organic. Shia continued to express how she does not want to build a beauty company that sells just cool products. Every product must help or heal someone. The products are plant-based and sourced ethically. Shia believes that plants are all your body needs when it comes to your skin and your gut. The Zen & Boujee products can be found online at www.zenandboujee.com.

Touchless Beauty

To allow the retail experience to come straight to the customers' home, Shia is launching Touchless Beauty. In this program, you take a skincare assessment on their site, and the company will send you the products for you to sample at home, and you can join them online for a Touchless Beauty product party. This pilot program will launch on October 1st, 2020.

Direct download: Episode_153_Shia_Joyner.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:14pm EST

Kelly Bryant is the creator and founder of Kelly Bryant Wellness. She is a Yoga instructor, Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT), and a Pilate's instructor. Kelly is passionate about helping women through every stage of life, from prenatal to postmenopausal. Before quitting her job to travel the world in 2016, she worked at health & fitness startup, Noom, where she led content and community marketing efforts and soaked up everything she could learn about psychology and behavior change.

Journey into Health

Kelly grew up in Stuart, Florida. She was not an active child. She considered herself more of a book nerd than athletic. Rather than go outside and play, Kelly would go to the library and read books. She credits her being a nerd as the reason why she has been able to help people understand anatomy and the science of why they feel the way they feel.

Kelly attended college in New York City, and after college, she landed a job in Marketing at Noom, a health and fitness startup company. Working at Noom is fine when you are in your 20s, recalled Kelly, "but it is a recipe for burn-out." The stress from working at Noom and the pain she felt in her back, neck, and shoulder from a previous injury she sustained when she broke her collar bone at 16, led her to try yoga. Yoga not only relieved the pain but gave her balance and calmed the nervous system, and helped her to relax.

Expert in Prenatal and Postpartum Fitness

As with most women who become experts in prenatal and postpartum fitness, Kelly had to figure it out herself. She went online to Google and researched "what are safe prenatal exercises", and to her surprise, the information she received on Google was not acceptable. Kelly then went back to studying and listening to doula podcasts, childbirth educators, and to people who are teaching the physiological aspect of childbirth. She studied information on the nervous system, anatomy, and breath, merging this information for herself first and then for her clients.

Kelly's personal experience with pregnancy changed the way she approaches prenatal and postpartum fitness for her clients. "One of the mistakes pregnant people make is to assume that if they train hard when they're pregnant, that type of training will help them recover faster after pregnancy," stated Kelly. Kelly believes that is the opposite of what happens.

Kelly approaches prenatal fitness with "building a foundation from the ground up so you can look at what you need to do to support the easiest birth possible because the easiest birth possible is what is going to help you recover the fastest."

Kelly Bryant Wellness Classes

Kelly trains some of her clients on a one on one basis, but most of her training is self-guided and guided digital programming for prenatal and postpartum. Kelly's postpartum training is usually done in small groups, which Kelly believes is vital, especially now during the pandemic, to provide support.

COVID-19 and Kelly Bryant Wellness

As of December 2019, most of Kelly's business was online, so when the pandemic hit, it did not affect her business. It has been a problem for people looking to purchase online equipment such as webcams and digital microphones. These items are either sold out or purchased at a much higher price due to price gouging.

Kelly doesn't consider herself to be a "life-long trainer." Some of her prenatal clients will work with her for about 9 months during the pregnancy and then 3 to 9 months postpartum before going back to their usual training routine. She also has clients that will stay longer 3 to 9 months, participating in the online yoga and Pilate's program.

Kelly believes that postpartum fitness is similar to aging, where you reach a certain age and potentially lost a lot of muscle, have aches and pains, and bad postural habits that create a lot of pain.

Kelly's Unique Guarantee

On Kelly Bryant's website (www.kellybryantwellness.com), she has the following guarantee: "You will feel better, stronger, and more pain-free after 2 months with me or your money back". Kelly stands by that guarantee and as of this writing, not one client has asked for their money back. Kelly must be doing something right!

Direct download: Episode_152_Interview_with_Kelly_Bryant.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:54pm EST

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