Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanesa Nicolosi

Hi Vanesa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

I was born and raised in a small town of Argentina.

I have been a fan of movement ever since I can remember! My mum always says I couldn’t stay put as a baby and was always looking to do all sorts of things.

I owe it to my mum that, unknowingly, introduced me to the world of exercise and sports. I bet she took me to a class because she saw I had tons of energy to use and she wanted me to sleep at some point!

I started my journey into sports when I was 8 years old. I joined a class of aerobics for kids at a local studio in my home town. Soon, we formed a team and we were training 3 or 4 times a week for performances and competitions. I was so much into it that I did it until I was 17 years old. I only stopped because I had to choose between competition training and going to college.
At the time, I didn’t know the turns my life would take. I was young and inexperienced. So, I decided for college on a completely different field: English Teaching

The years I spent with my aerobics team and teachers were absolutely amazing. School (primary and then high school) was not easy for me. I was smart, mind you, but I was left out a lot by my classmates and bullied as a “nerd” or because I was “fat”. I didn’t love going to school but I would usually do my training right after, and that kept me going. It was the reward after dealing with my classmates and I always enjoyed it so much!

With the team we had amazing experiences. We travelled, we did hundreds of showcases and we won many competitions as well at a national level. We were really good :)

As I grew older, I realized that my years in aerobic and as part of this group made me into the person I am today. They taught me team work, dedication, organization, consistency, hard work and patience, lots of patience.
I learnt that failures are just part of the process. It’s ok to fall. What matters most is to get up and try again. I understood that mistakes teach us something and we better learn from them so we can keep going and improve.

Through the years after I stopped aerobics, I kept myself active trying different activities: weight lifting, swimming, aqua gym, kick boxing, you name it!
While doing my teacher training program, I didn’t have as much time to do a formal form of exercise, so I kept jumping from one thing to the next. For me, the most important thing was to stay active.
But I also got bored of each activity pretty quickly, Nothing seemed to be making it for me or to stick with me.

Once I got my degree, I moved to the big city: Buenos Aires. Oh boy! Was I lost and so not ready for it.
While I was looking for jobs, I had a month of no study or work. So I did what I knew how to do: I spent every day 3 or 4 hours in the gym. Was I fit? sure thing! Was I happy? I don’t think so.
I was doing that to reduce the stress and anxiety I had from having moved and not having a job. So, I wasn’t really enjoying it. But, once again, exercise kept me going, it kept me resilient.

I, eventually, found a job so I had to reduce my gym hours to a more “normal” amount once again. And once again, I started to get bored.

Because I’m really blessed with the people that surround me, right at this time of my life one of my best friends introduced me to pole fitness. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it! The challenge, the variety, the hard work, it was all there for me.
12 years later, I’m still doing pole fitness. I found in pole what I had in aerobics a long, long time ago: challenge, the opportunity to learn every day, the chance to fail and learn from those mistakes to! And the lesson that consistency and patience are key in life to make some progress and to achieve your goals.

Pole also taught me to be more mindful and to understand and get to know my body deeply. And it is what still helps me fully disconnect from the world and release my stress when I need it. Through pole, I understood a new, key thing about exercise: it gives me life. It fills me with energy and happiness, even if it is hard sometimes. And it helps me go trough the rough patches and get myself together to continue.

Of course while I was doing pole I was working. I never ended up really working as a teacher of English. Rather, I started office jobs in English speaking companies, first in Argentina and then in Dubai, where I lived with my husband for 5 years.

It was in Dubai that I realized it was high time for a change in my career. At 34 years old, I decided I was done with office work and that I had to go back to my passion, which was teaching. But not English.

I had learnt so much from sports and exercise and it was movement that improved my life all the time. So, I decided I wanted to help other women improve their lives as well, through exercise and movement.
That was a time I became a Women’s Personal Trainer.

And that is what I’m doing now. For almost 5 years, now from my new home which is Spain, I have been working with women to help them improve their quality of life through movement. And I know that I want to continue doing that as long as I live.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

To be honest, getting to where I am today has not been easy, but also, I haven’t had to face huge struggles along the way.
I consider myself to be very lucky in my personal and professional life. I’ve gone through times that have been very hard for my mental health and also times of physical injury and recovery, which implied I really could not work out or move much.
I’ve also moved countries twice and that is never easy.
But I’ve always had super supportive family and friends. I have never been alone in this journey and my close-knit community has been a key factor to achieving my goals.

I firmly believe doing things on your own, all alone, is still possible but it will always be an uphill battle. It’s ok to ask for help. And it is the best feeling to know the people you love believe in you and your dream and they are with you for the long run, being your most honest critics and your most fervent supporters.
Again, I consider myself very lucky to have that in my life.

And I feel that is why I always strive to form communities around me. But not only for me. These communities I’m building are for the women who are trying to make health and fitness a priority. Women who are now seeing how important it is they take care of themselves first. I always say: we cannot help others if we don’t help ourselves first. There’s a reason you put your own oxygen mask on a plane before assisting others: if you don’t, you may run out of the air you need to help the rest.

With health and fitness, physical and mental, it is exactly the same. And practicing wellbeing and self care with the support, accountability and motivation of others who are rooting for us can be much easier and rewarding than going at it on our own.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?

As a women’s personal trainer, my mission is to empower women of all ages to achieve strength, energy, and a pain-free life through personalized, supportive, and engaging fitness programs.

I am proud to say that women come to me because they want to get and feel stronger and empowered. They want to explore their potential through fitness and movement and they want to feel their best.

Looks might be important, but nothing is more important than long term health. So a woman looking for a better quality of life, with less pains and aches and more freedom to live her best life, is a woman who is in for a treat when working with me :)

Women can work with me one-to-one, which is an extremely flexible option as we work on that person’s goals, based also on their wants and needs. We can make sure we fit the workouts in her busy schedule and are in communication always. Online is my number one option, but I also offer some in person sessions (in Madrid).

More recently, I have developed more open programs. These are online and more general and many women can do the same program. I call them online group programs but each woman will workout on her own following the videos and instructions. Once a week, we have a call and check in as a group. Plus, we keep communications as a group to keep us accountable and motivated.

And finally, I am now launching a new service which will be a way to reach more women and fulfil my greatest vision of developing global fitness community for women, inspiring them to live their healthiest lives with confidence, vitality, and joy. The first official launch is October 1st and the subscriptions will be open on my website.

All my services and info are listed on my web: https://www.growstrongher.com/

Also, I am very active on Instagram and you can all follow me for tips and info on women’s health and fitness: https://www.instagram.com/vanesanicolosi/

Any big plans?

My biggest plan is the launch of the Grow StrongHer Membership, which is happening very soon!

At first, women from all over the globe will be able to receive a workout schedule and programs of all sorts, including strength and flexibility and different workouts for different times of the month, as our energy levels do fluctuate quite a lot!

Eventually, I will have a team of trainers and coaches to also develop programs for this service and cater to a wider variety of needs and preferences.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vanesanicolosi.com/#
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanesanicolosi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanesanicolosicoach
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VanesaNicolosiWomensPersonalTrainer