Meet Trina J of Pretty Motivated

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trina J of Pretty Motivated.

Trina, before we jump into specific questions about your business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The path to finding your purpose and aligning with your deepest truest passions isn’t always straight or smooth. My love for all things health and wellness started from a dark period in my own life. Since I was a kid, I always struggled with depression because of my home life. My father was an addict, so some days I’ve come home from school and it was complete bliss. The house was full of love, laughter and the smell of a good home-cooked meal. My dad was actually a really good cook. Unfortunately, those days were outnumbered and overshadowed by the days I’d come home from school and the police were at my house responding from a domestic dispute.

My dad had become violent. My grandmother is still such a strong woman, a woman of faith and despite it, all would never give up or turn her back on her son. For me that meant, growing up in an unstable environment, every time things were going along smoothly. Dad would get out of jail, come back home or something. At the age of eight, my teacher found me holding my nose. Apparently, I told her I didn’t want to live anymore. It’s all a blurry memory to me now, but that coping response or lack of coping stayed with me into my adult life. Relationship gone wrong graduated from college and don’t know what to do next, feeling lost in life.

Whenever I felt overwhelmed I thought suicide was the solution. I tried everything to fight my depression, even prescription meds, but nothing worked. Nothing, until I started researching about the links between diet, fitness and elevated moods. How fitness helped decrease stress levels and increased dopamine and endorphin levels. The feel-good hormones. I learned about the food and mood connection. Certain foods helped to fight stress, increase energy, and help with aging.

In 2014, I started going to a fitness boot camp four days a week. And yoga, for two to three days a week. From there my life started transforming, I was able to find healthy ways to cope with challenges in my life. I felt empowered, I was stronger mentally and physically. Then in 2015, after going down the documentary rabbit hole I went raw vegan for about three months. That was so hard, and I wasn’t eating enough calories to maintain my weight with my workout routine. So I brought chicken and fish back into my diet.

That July, a friend mentioned going vegan. I said “let’s do it” I felt like it was the perfect solution. I get all the benefits of a plant-based diet and I could still enjoy cooked meals. I haven’t looked back, even if I take a bite of fish from my hubby’s plate I’m still dedicated to a diet that in rich in nutrients from kale, spinach, mushrooms, legumes, fruits, grains and nuts.

I started my online platform Pretty Motivated in 2014, but after I fell in love with fitness. I decided to make fitness, wellness and mental health the core of my content. I truly want to educate and empower women specifically to know how to reclaim their lives. To know that no matter where they are right now, the can heal their bodies and minds from the inside out. Everything I do is with women in mind. As women, our lives are so challenging we are often so hard on ourselves pushing to work like a boss, be an amazing mom, good wife, support sibling and friend. It can all really begin to weigh on you. Stress is linked to weight gain, anxiety and depression.

On the other hand, working out, eating right, and living mindfully increase our ability to have the energy, stamina and mental clarity to do it all. I coach female clients because I understand what it feels like to be in a rut physically and mentally, but I also understand what it feels like to find yourself on the other side of it. To be back on top, to be your own hero, to grow stronger and have the tools to overcome whatever the next challenge that life sends you. For a bit, I trained people just based on my own physical transformation.

People that saw my photos FB or IG that slide in my inbox asking for advice. It wasn’t until earlier this year, that I decided to level up and get certified through NASM and become a personal trainer. Now, I train clients here in Dallas. Most clients, like to train early before work. I have a few that train in the evening. Recently, I had a client that went out of town for work and she wanted to keep the momentum we started. I trained her via Zoom for three weeks. It went really well. So now, I’m taking online clients too.

All my clients are a bit confused on how and what to eat to maintain their progress in the gym. As a trainer, you’re really limited in how much you can coach your clients on diet and nutrition. I really want my clients to feel like they have an all-in-resource when working with me. Right now, I’m studying to become a nutritionist as well so I can serve my clients even more. So I’m grateful, for the tough times, the journey, the experiences that led me to my purpose, helping women transform their lives from the inside out.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it hasn’t outside of my own personal struggles. It was a challenge to find clients to work with me in the beginning. I had a handful from social media, some family and friends that I’d gone to school with.

Tell us more about your work.
I specialize in pre and postnatal fitness. Women that have given birth, that are planning to give birth or pregnant. I’m really proud that I’ve been able to focus on the female physique. Understanding not only female anatomy, hormonal fluctuations, but also a woman’s overall lifestyle. These are all things that are often overlooked by most training programs.

Very rarely, does your trainer ask you “when was your last cycle?” or have you had a cesearn section! But these are all things that I ask my clients so that we can create a program, a workout routine that takes these factors into consideration because they matter and have an impact on a woman’s body. You can feel the difference when you’re working with your body’s natural flow versus pushing against it. It truly makes a difference in being able to stay consistent and hit your goals.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I can tell the fitness industry is starting to embrace the mind-body connection. I think we’ll start to see more trainers, gyms and other wellness practitioners start to bring more of the mental health, mindset component into their work. Tech is also a buzz in the industry making it possible for people to track even more of their key health indicators using new mobile apps.

Pricing:

• 50 sessions for 600
• 30 sessions for 480
• 20 sessions for 200
• Vanity to Sanity Fitness Membership – 14.99/mo.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.trinaj.com
• Phone: 214-307-2966
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/trinajofficial

Image Credit:
Kauwuane Burton Photography

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