May 3, 2019
Welcome to the debut of She Leads Podcast Season 4! This episode of She Leads Podcast features Chinyere Sam founder for Body By Chinyere. Chinyere Sam is an Athlete, Fitness/Health Coach, and Motivational Speaker who leads her life like the Boss she is. To hear Chinyere's take on leadership, listen to her interview as she discusses her vivid dreams to the public for the first time, the importance of taking risks, and the value of having mentors and encouragement to keep pushing.
Chinyere Sam's Bio
For over 17 years Chinyere Sam has been a competitive athlete.
At the early age of 8, Chinyere started competing at her elementary
and high school on the track and field team. At the age of 15, she
migrated to Barbados with her family where she lived for 5 years
and continued to excel in track and field for Christ Church
Foundation High School. After graduating from high school, Chinyere
moved to the United States to further her education and became a
leading athlete with the Utah Valley University track team.
Chinyere is a Certified Aerobics Instructor & Personal
Trainer with endorsements for Step Aerobics, Kickboxing
Aerobics and Group Exercise by the International Fitness
Association (IFA). In addition, Chinyere is certified
in CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) & AED (Automated
External Defibrillators).
Chinyere worked as a professional trainer for the past 10 years in
New York City where she trained clients in Manhattan, Brooklyn,
Queens, Bronx & Westchester area. She continues to provide fitness
consulting services to some of her clients and maintains a presence
in New York City by hosting boot-camps and fitness workshops
and presentations. Chinyere now lives in Tampa, Florida where she
continues her career as a trainer offering One-on-One,
Boot-Campts/Group Sessions and Nutritional support for all her
clients ranging from children to seniors.
Chinyere offers different types of fitness training such as
Aerobics, Strength/Core training, Resistance Training, Weight
Lifting/Muscle Building, Fat-burning/Toning, Calisthenics, Boxing,
Rowing, Spinning, Pilates, Yoga and Stretching. Chinyere’s
clientele come from many different professions and backgrounds,
many who are overweight, underweight or of normal weight and who
may be suffering from illnesses or joint ailments such as Obesity,
Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, Cancer, High Blood Pressure, High
Cholesterol, Arthritis, Back Pain/Injury, or Knee and Hip Injury,
to name a few.
Chinyere has been interviewed by Muscle & Strength
magazine (www.muscleandstrength.com/interviews/chinyere-sam),
and New York WHCR 90.3 FM radio station where she offered her
professional advice on achieving a fit body and the importance of
living a healthy lifestyle. She has appeared as a guest on the TV
show ‘Teen Mind Set’ offering fitness and nutrition tips for teens
suffering from depression which was aired on the Brooklyn
Cablevision channels, Time Warner channels, RCN and the NY Verizon
TV channels. Chinyere has performed voluntary fitness
workshops for the National Association of Black Military Women and
has volunteered her professional fitness
expertise to the Girls Scouts of New York city. She
has also been a Guest Speaker at the Fidelis Care Health Fair
and the Total Woman Business Conference which was sponsored by the
Local Development Corporation (LDC) of East New York (www.ldceny.org). She is the only
active female member of the male dominated calisthenics group
Barmasters, (www.barmastersxtreme.com) which
performs the most extreme workout on the bar and ground using your
own body weight. Its mission is to entertain while motivating
people to get involved in health and fitness.
She is also a member of Black Women of
Influence (BWOI) http://blackwomenofinfluence.com which
is a sisterhood of highly accomplished women who have each been
recognized as Trailblazing, Influential Black Women in Business.
This 300+ professional member network consists of senior-level,
African-American corporate executives and entrepreneurs
representing EVERY industry in America.
Nicole Walker's Interview Commentary
I really enjoyed this interview with Chinyere and I hope you did as well!
I agree with Chinyere notion of how everything comes together in “perfect timing” if we faint not and keep pushing. It is so easy to get caught up in wanting immediate gratification, yet if the timing is not right it’s not going to happen. Learning to wait for our time is a priceless jewel that helps us to persevere. Learning to be comfortable where you are and show up fully in your current situation will lead you to where you need to be. Life isn’t a race, and when we try to rush the process we are actually making it harder to reach the next level. If something is meant to be, it will be easy, if it’s not easy then it’s not time. A quote by Rachel Corrie reads “follow your dreams, believe in yourself and don’t give up”
I admire Chinyere’s ability to have such vivid dreams, her memory to recall her dreams so accurately, and her awareness to understand the messages that these dreams brought to her. Our dreams can give us visions for and understanding of our lives if we are at a certain level of consciousness. One tip I have learned is to keep a notebook near my bed to write down my dreams when I wake up, as my memory is not as good as Chinyere. I often use the website Dream Moods to interpret my dreams for a deeper understanding. When we are sleeping we are more open to receive insight and information from our subconscious, which can reveal amazing things. A quote by Kevin Michel reads “The subconscious mind is the guiding force for your entire life”
I can relate to Chinyere’s courage to relocate from Utah to NYC, on the quest of making a better life for herself as I did the same. In September of 2017 I relocated from NJ to FL and told myself I would pursue entrepreneurship for a fourth time, but take it more seriously this time around. Moving from the known to the unknown is a great risk, and although it takes time to adjust it has been well worth it for me. Relocating is a huge decision that surprisingly does not require a huge amount of money as Chinyere has shown by moving with only $235 to her name. We often place many barriers in our way, which stop us from moving forward. Chinyere and countless others have proved that the lack of money does not stop progress unless we let it. A quote by John D. Rockefeller reads “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
Takeaway
Chinyere mentioned the importance of being calm as a way to be productive. This really stuck out to me, as mastering the art of remaining calm is one of my goals for this year. I actually have a picture on my vision board that says “calm is a superpower”. Being calm is having an inner peace that lessens the grip of anxiety, worry, excitement, and troubles. Ways to remain calm include slowing down, taking deep breathes, staying positive,
I will make it my business to remain calm personally and professionally by developing coping strategies to use when needed. Being at peace is extremely important to me, which makes remaining calm essential for my success.
A quote by Brian Tracy reads “Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.”
Leadership Challenge
My leadership challenge for you would be to think about the one thing you can take away from this episode and adopt into your life. I know it’s hard to absorb too much information at one time and it’s even harder to try and implement too many changes at once. When I attend a training or listen to podcasts I aim to walk away with a least one thing that stuck out to me and one way that I can change as a result. I challenge you to do the same! If you decide to take me up on my challenge I would love to know about your key take way. If you care to share, please go to the She Leads Podcast Discussion Group on Facebook and leave your comment under the Takeaway Thursday post for Season 4 Episode 1.
Don’t forget to subscribe to She Leads Podcast for first access to future episodes. Also like and share this episode of She Leads Podcast Season 4 Episode 1 Experiences Make You Stronger with Chinyere Sam.
Thanks and until next time "Be Empowered and Empower On"