This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Senada Greca, founder of WeRise and cofounder of Aonic. It has been edited for length and clarity.
At least four times a week, I meet with Kim Kardashian for a personal training session. Today, we’re focused on the upper body and core. Over our hour-and-a-half session, we’ll do assisted pull-ups, hollow-body chest presses, face-pulls, and more. Kim likes to end most training sessions with a dead hang on the bar.
I’ve been training Kim for three years now. I also help millions of other people (mostly women) through my training platform WeRise, and the fitness and nutrition videos I post on social media.
Strength training is powerful, especially for women. Once you know the strength your body possesses, you’ll understand how to feel good in your body, rather than feeling like you need to shrink or punish it. I know, because that’s a change I’ve made myself.
Immigrating to the US from Albania at 14 was difficult
I’m the oldest of three girls, born in Albania. After the communist government was overthrown in the early 1990s, there was a lot of civil unrest. I remember the first time we heard gunshots. We hid under the bed, staying down for a long time.
Luckily, my family won the green card lottery (editor’s note: the green card lottery is formally called the Diversity Visa Program), and we were able to immigrate to America in 1997 when I was 14. That helped set up a safer, more prosperous future for my sisters and me.
At the time, it was very challenging. I spoke with a heavy accent and dressed differently from my classmates in upstate New York, which led to a lot of bullying. Since I was the only one in the family who spoke English, I had to help my parents with legal documents, doctors’ appointments, and getting my sisters into school. It was a lot.
I developed an eating disorder that took years to recover from
Everything in my life felt out of control. The one thing I could control was my eating, and not long after immigrating, I developed anorexia. Within a few years, I was also struggling with depression and anxiety. I was exercising, but only to punish my body.
In college, I connected with counseling and medication that helped me start getting healthy. The real turning point came when I was in my mid-20s and met a new primary care doctor. She was in her 50s, but running marathons every quarter. She taught me to think about exercise as a way to support mental health. I started running and became more physically and mentally stable.
Courtesy of Senada Greca
About 10 years ago, in my mid-30s, I started strength training. It changed my life, as I started using exercise to nourish myself.
I left my corporate job when I realized I had stability in fitness
In my immigrant family, financial security was always very important. I had a corporate job, and had never considered building something on my own — it just wasn’t done.
I started teaching yoga at night, and loved how my classes made people feel. In 2019, I began posting videos of my workouts, at first for myself. I was extremely consistent, which helped me grow a big following. When the pandemic happened, my following grew exponentially as people looked for workouts they could do at home.
Courtesy of Senada Greca
In 2020, I launched my website and began charging for memberships. I quickly saw that my fitness business could be stable and successful. That gave me the courage to quit my corporate job to follow my passion. In the years since, my audience has only grown, and I’ve had amazing opportunities, like training Kim.
Today, I’m in the best shape of my life — physically and mentally — at 43. I don’t often talk about my age, because I feel ageless and don’t want to define myself by a number. At the same time, I want to show that getting older doesn’t have to mean winding down.
