Life and Work with Nicole Rianna

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Rianna.

Nicole, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started out like a lot of unsure college students. I had moved to Southern CA and followed several of my interests (photography, musical theater), but quickly realized they weren’t for me. Fitness for me at that time was a chore, meaning I only worked out to make up for my college eating habits. I had a serious love/hate relationship! It wasn’t until a few years later when fitness served as a healing tool that it became transformative for me.

I got my feet wet working as a part-time trainer for a local boot camp, and it was there that sparked my love for coaching. I learned how to manage multiple groups, coordinate fun workouts and get creative with exercises, but it also made me confident as a trainer and even helped me overcome some of my own personal blocks. When my clients were seeing results, showing up energized and started taking initiative on their own, I began to realize how much coaching people really gave me life.

Simultaneously, I had just gone through a very difficult year and I needed something that would help me cope. I knew if I was going to be a great trainer I was going to have to walk the walk and talk the talk. So, I decided to take one year and put my body to the test. I wrote out a plan for myself and executed it. I stayed loyal to all my meals and workouts and built about 8 pounds of lean muscle. In other words, I had successfully built curves where I had none! Fitness served as my therapy during that time, and because of the changes I had made in my life in 2016, I started my training business, Nicole Rianna Fitness. Since then, it has been my mission to help people make fitness a sustainable and total wellness lifestyle.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If I had let myself believe lies like:

“How are you going to make a good living doing this?”
“You’re not as experienced as other fitness professionals.”
“You’re not fit enough, no one can really relate to you.”
“Fitness isn’t a real job.”
etc… I would have never stepped out in courage.

No, it is never smooth, but I can go to bed every night happy I’m aligned with my mission. Building a business is really hard, and you must be consistent otherwise your income suffers. But the reward and the vision is so worth it. When you deny yourself from sharing your purpose, you sacrifice your own growth. In other words, it was harder to ignore my dreams.

My advice is especially for the timid young woman who maybe doesn’t have the self-esteem or confidence to move forward is this: there is more than one way to get to where you want to go. Just be brave, take the first step and go!

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am an independent fitness trainer and coach located in Irvine, CA. I specialize in weight loss and lifestyle sustainability through various styles of fitness training. My specialty is training in semi-private groups. I find this the best method to help my clients build confidence and autonomy in a gym setting.

I’m most proud of the transformations my clients achieve. It’s really inspiring. I’ve helped people get off medications, shed fat and keep muscle, even stay fit throughout pregnancy.

What makes my training different is the connection I have with each person and their experience working with a professional. Working with a trainer should be equally as fun as it is effective. My goal is to encourage everyone to feel comfortable with themselves when they workout no matter if they’re with me, on their own or in any environment. Fitness is an every persons experience and I want all people to achieve that.

Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
Although I think women still face a lot of judgment and pressure in the workplace, I do see more and more women starting to branch out and build their own success, which is amazing!

The fitness industry naturally lends itself to entrepreneurship and with the help of social media, I think women now actually have way more opportunity to grow and build their own businesses on their own terms than ever before. I think we are going to see a lot more women rising to forefront in their industries because of this reason. So, although culturally we are slowly shifting to create more equality for women in leadership I think women now are taking their power back and finding ways to bypass the system and really become that change.

Pricing:

• $30/1 hour semi-private session

Contact Info:

• Address: 2004 McGaw Ave
  Irvine, CA 92614
• Website: www.nicolerianna.com
• Phone: 714-760-8674
• Email: nrianna4@icloud.com
• Instagram: @nicole.rianna
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.rianna1/?eid=ARDZXGbrJ_40U99ViRaw6943U9dz6AL9jjOqnWffvb_3PrSHKw_GVtI0-E7N9GIKYli0Ng9f4X94AqY7

Image Credit:
Ammie McVay- Aim4You Photography

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