Authored by Juliet Kaska
HAPPY SHOE YEAR!
We sat down with health and wellness expert and celebrity trainer Juliet Kaska to learn more about her experience in the field. Juliet is part of Vionic’s Innovation Lab, which brings together world-renowned health and fitness experts who share a common vision of enhancing foot health and promoting a more vibrant, active lifestyle. Keep your eyes open for Juliet’s “20 Tips for 2020” to help you get back on track – coming soon!
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I always get awkward at social gatherings when people ask me this question. I think I have one of the coolest and most rewarding jobs around. Just last night I had an eight-year-old ask me this same question – here is what I told her:
Me: Do you know famous people?
Little girl: Yes.
Me: Well, I teach them the very best ways to eat, to move and to relax so they can be the very best singers, musicians, athletes and performers in the world.
Little Girl: Why didn’t their moms teach them?
She stumped me with that follow-up question. Should I tell her that my clients often send their moms to me as well?
What made you interested in building a career in health and wellness?
Originally, I entered the health & wellness field as a client, but way before that, I was inspired to do so as a young person. I remember being a kid standing with my mom in the checkout line at the market and reading a magazine headline that said something along the lines of “Health & Wellness Careers Are The New It Job.” I asked my mom what that was – “Is it like a doctor?” She replied with something along the lines of “They are people, including doctors, that take care of their own health/wellbeing and then help others do the same.” I was blown away. To think people got to do something cool like this as their real job was amazing. It was almost a decade later before I started my career in health & wellness.
January is always seen as a time to reset and get fit. What’s a tip you find helpful to keep you on track?
Make yourself a priority over the entire holiday season and make a plan before you get swept away by everyone else’s needs. I know this is technically two answers, but here’s the thing: we tend to put our own needs at the bottom of the list so we can take care of everyone else. Then the New Year hits and we are left wondering what just happened and who these five extra pounds belong to? The only way I see to care for others and still honor yourself is to make a plan before the holidays begin. Strategize part 1 – How to make it through Thanksgiving with enough stamina left to not fold under the pressures of Christmas. Now comes part 2 – schedule workouts and healthy meals during the two weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Day. Pro tip – have your plan for the new year all worked out on November 15th, not January 2nd.
Tell us about your training philosophy and how you keep clients motivated.
My philosophy is to inspire my clients to look at our work together not as a quick fix (although often we are working on very tight deadlines), but how we can get their brilliant, amazing body-machine working at 100%. We were all given incredible bodies, and we often slow it down, load it up, confuse it, and frankly make a general mess of what was pure perfection. We take a look at the whole picture and then begin to recalibrate until my clients are running at top speed and with a shiny coat.
What are you looking forward to in the new year?
Everything!
- My husband and I are planning to start a family together.
- We are taking a trip to his country of birth, South Africa.
- I have the bug to open a new fitness & wellness studio in Los Angeles.
- The launch of my first online interactive wellness/fitness program.
- It will no longer be 2019!
GET TO KNOW JULIET KASKA
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