Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Lin Sugarman
Hi Maya, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a storyteller and fitness coach. I like to say that my mission is to move people, on an emotional level through my creative work and in a literal sense as a fitness coach.
My journey began in the spring of 2014 when I was 24 years old. At the time, I dove into my work as a full-time journalist as I struggled to process the recent loss of my mother. Breaking news coverage quickly led to burnout. One day after work, I walked past a women’s powerlifting club. After my mom got sick, I started to tell myself a certain story about how our bodies deteriorate. As I peeked inside the gym that day, I realized I wanted a new story. I signed up.
I spent the next 10 years lifting weights. Strength training helped me birth a new sense of self-confidence that carried into my life outside the gym. I landed my dream job in DC as a filmmaker at The Washington Post. As my confidence grew, a new dream emerged: I wanted to quit my full-time job to independently pursue the creative work I cared about. So in 2021, I did. My proudest accomplishment has been creating the Apple Original podcast “Magnificent Jerk.” The limited series audio documentary tells the story of my uncle and a box of his forgotten screenplays. It was named a best podcast of the year by The New Yorker and Vulture.
Discovering my physical strength changed me in ways I never expected and I decided I wanted to help others do the same. In 2023, I became an instructor at Highland Park Yoga. This year, I joined Everybody Los Angeles as a certified personal trainer.
My journey has looked nothing like what I imagined at 24. I am in awe.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Taking the leap to quit a full-time job to run my own business was terrifying. I am thankful to have the support of my partner and family. Nevertheless, it felt so counterintuitive to what I had been taught career growth looks like.
My own movement practice has taught me how to trust myself. Moving weight at the gym has shown me that I can take risks and survive. As I traverse day-to-day between fitness and storytelling, I cultivate the courage in the gym to go tackle the page. The gym is a place where I can prove to myself that I know how to break through that latest revision, or come into a pitch meeting with the confidence to fight for my ideas.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a storyteller, I am a writer and director who makes films and podcasts. At The Washington Post, I led video for The Lily. In 2019, I directed and produced the award-winning short documentary “The Jessicas Are Turning 30.” My work has been recognized by The Webbys, and has appeared on NPR, PBS and APM. Before joining The Post, I was a visual journalist at NPR affiliate KPCC. I graduated from UCLA’s Department of Art with a focus in photography.
As a fitness coach, I blend strength training with mindful movement to help my clients move with more ease and confidence. I help clients build the solid postural foundation necessary to lift weight safely and efficiently. I also love sharing my passion for anatomy with clients, as I strongly believe it helps instill more self-compassion. I am a NCCA-accreditted NASM Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Yoga Instructor (Highland Park Yoga, RYT-200).
How do you define success?
In both the fitness and creative industries, we can become fixated on tangible versions of success: hitting that PR or winning that award. We constantly compare ourselves and endlessly move the goalpost. These days, I am trying to take more time to absorb what I’ve accomplished. Success is experiencing what it feels like to move and create in the moment, regardless of how the final product looks. Of course we have goals, but what’s the point of goals if we don’t enjoy ourselves on the path towards reaching them? If we’re embracing a sense of exploration and curiosity, if we’re expressing ourselves through our bodies and work, if we’re cultivating a sense of self-confidence and self-compassion through doing all that – that, to me, is success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mayasugarman.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mayasugarman
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mayasugarman
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayasugarman
- Other: https://music.apple.com/profile/mayasugarman
