We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Antonique Vinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Antonique thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

My defining moment in my professional career was also a very defining moment on my weight loss journey. I had struggled with my weight for most of my life, like many women. Around the time that I got my first full time position in the fitness industry, I was just restarting my fitness journey for the umpteenth time and I was about the heaviest that I had ever been. So, I started my position in Corporate Wellness and I felt like I was doing AMAZING. I was teaching group exercise classes, working in DC, and I was personal training.

Six months in my new position, I had my first review with my supervisor and everything was great. I was nailing all my tasks and he was really happy that I was working under him. Then we got to the peer reviews. This is where the members had the opportunity to leave reviews about me. My supervisor turns the page turns beat red, and says, “You can read the rest on your own.”

I read it and I was mortified. The members said things like, “Antonique needs to work on her own fitness before she works with us” and “She needs to focus on losing some weight.” There were a lot more really mean comments. This sparked me to REALLY start taking my weight loss journey seriously! After this day in September 2016, I went on to lose over 80 pounds, became a cycle instructor, and I started my business Uniquely Fit Training.

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 got started in the fitness industry honestly because I originally wanted to be a Physical Therapist, but I learned that in PT school you have to take gross anatomy which requires you to work on cadavers and that was not part of my ministry.

My company Uniquely Fit Training was designed to help people redefine the way they view wellness so that they can be their version of healthy unapologetically.

Programs that I offer:

The Embodied Wellness Collective: A free Telegram group for women that are looking for a little extra support on their wellness journey. https://t.me/+r5aIlSNUlgxjYzIx

Eating For Me: A Uniquely Fit Nutrition Clinic that was design to educate people on the nutrition basics that they need in their life. The next sessions are Tuesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 23 at 7:15pm EDT for $10 to register using this link:https://square.link/u/kMsmYz8u

The Evolution of Me: A 6 week wellness program designed to help you start redefining your wellness journey so that you can be your version of healthy.

Online personal training & wellness coaching

I am most proud that I have been able to help so many women learn to appreciate their bodies NOW, how to live healthier lives, and the importance of self love

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn a lot of projected beliefs when it came to what healthy looks like.

Many of us in the 90s were made to believe that healthy only looked one way, and that anything outside of that was IMMEDIATELY unhealthy. Carrying that narrative of “Skinny=Healthy” was very damaging and I believe it led to some many people suffering from eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and a slew of other things that breed deep insecurities.

I struggled with not loving my body but also with not fully loving myself. Only loving myself under certain conditions.

I had to unlearn that my body is only worthy if it looks a certain way.
I had to unlearn that to be healthy means you have to be skinny.
I had to unlearn that I am only beautiful if my body looks a certain way.

I am happy that today, I am able to separate the way that my body looks from my worth. They do not go hand in hand. Also, I am able to enjoy movement and food again because I am not doing it solely to achieve a certain body or to achieve someone else’s projected body standard.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

For my market, what helped me build my reputation was me being my authentic self and connecting with people on their level and not forcing them to come up to mine.

I was afraid to be me for a very long time. There was this feeling that I had to do what everyone else was doing so that I could get likes and views but I quickly learned that being myself was just fine.

Also, I am not afraid to share my story. I know that there is someone else out there that has had struggles like me that they are looking to overcome. Your authenticity is everything, people receive that more than trying to hit buzzwords and move with the trend.

Lastly, connecting with people on their level was huge and it took me some time to learn. Not everyone understand big science words and anatomy so sometimes you have to put things into terms that others can understand it. Not necessarily dumb it down, but simplify it.

Contact Info:

• Website: uniquelyfittraining.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/heyniquev?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonique-vinson-m-s-9704a190/