We recently connected with Helen Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Helen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best advice you ever gave to a client? How did they benefit / what was the result? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

Some of the best advice I can ever offer to a client no matter their goals is that, when dealing with changing your nutritional habits, it’s not just about macro numbers or calorie counting. Creating a healthy lifestyle means digging into the emotional/ mental connection with food. Many of our eating habits are formed by our emotions even if we are unaware of it. I’ve had a few clients where we’ve taken the time to get into why they want to eat a certain way on an emotional level. This has helped (especially my weight loss clients) to develop a healthy relationship with food rather than it becoming obsessive or any kind of disorder. This also has helped them to keep the weight off long term and to view food as a tool for health and wellness.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I began my journey at 19 years old when I was really unhealthy and overweight after creating really terrible eating habits and gaining a lot of weight after high school. I started off by just eliminating the bad things out of my diet and started going jogging. I couldn’t afford a gym membership at the time so I was using water gallon jugs as weights and doing bodyweight exercises that I googled until my family eventually bought me a pull up bar and a pair of dumbbells for Christmas. Ultimately I lost 65lbs and began to get really into bodybuilding. I grew up around bodybuilding as a small child because of my grandfather who had a love for bodybuilding. Over the course of several years I coached myself in the bulking/cutting phases and earned several certifications in nutrition, exercise science, personal training, bodybuilding, and corrective exercise. I began remotely coaching clients and the cheapest rate I could because I wanted to help others because I had once been in their shoes. As I continued to coach myself and build my physique I knew I always needed guidance but could never afford a coach until late 2022 where I met Johnny Swole, IFBB Classic Physique Pro and head coach of Team Swole Physiques. Johnny has been in the industry for twice the amount of time as me and I have learned an incredible deal under his wing. Under Johnny’s coaching I was about to achieve an overall win and best posing aware in a regional Women’s Physique show and went on to the national show 6 weeks later to attempt to get my pro card. I ended up placing 3rd at the national show, which was one placing away from where I needed to be to earn my pro card. However, this was only my second competition ever and I am incredibly proud of where I was able to place. I’m thankful to my fiancée, team, coach, and family for supporting me throughout this entire journey.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I think in both the fields of bodybuilding and personal training in order to be successful you need to have a genuine passion for what you are doing. Your client’s goals should be your goals, whatever they are going through, you are going through.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In September of 2022, a month and a half into my first off season to prepare for my first bodybuilding show, my fiancée and I were hit by a drunk driver. The drunk driver’s car ignited into flames engulfing the car, with the driver still unconscious inside of it. This resulted in me having to punch out the drunk driver’s window and drag her out of the car to safety. In turn I ended up with a torn wrist that needed surgery, 4 herniated discs, 3 discs with spinal stenosis, and 2 degenerated discs. Despite the injuries, I just used braces and Motrin and continued my offseason to prepare are my show.

In December my car was then towed before Christmas due to the rules of my previous jobs’ parking lot changing. Luckily a teammate of mine who is my hero helped me get it out. A few months later that car’s transmission blew and my coworker let me get her old car off of her. 2 weeks out from my first show and the car caught fire due to an exhaust leak and a bad catalytic converter blowing. All the while I was fighting in underground MMA fights and pulling a jet plane for a YouTube video, all with my injuries, just to be able to fund my first bodybuilding show.

I won overall my first show and was recommended by the judges to go to nationals. I took 2 more fights within the 6 week span to nationals to help fund this show along with a GoFundMe.

I was able to go to nationals, but a few days prior my makeup artist had a family emergency and cancelled. So my incredible fiancée found cheap makeup at TJMaxx in Las Vegas and did my stage makeup even though she had never done stage makeup before. I looked amazing on stage and I’m forever grateful.

Fast forward to 2024, I am in the midst of recovering from surgery and plan on competing again in 2025. If you love what you do, you will always find a way to persevere no matter what hardships are thrown at you. I say to anyone reading this, mental toughness and being aware of the blessings surrounding you and being grateful, can get you through the toughest of times. Allow yourself to lean on friends and family to help you through your hardships and do the same for them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thebigbadwolfofficial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelenHazardous?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

Carlos Orellana