We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Harris Chrys. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Harris below.
Alright, Harris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
I’ve always been a dreamer from a really young age growing up in London, England. I’ve always known deep down inside what I wanted which was to live in California and to be on TV. I had a vision of me getting into fitness which I fell in love with early on in my life, around the age of 13 or 14 which was frowned upon as working out and eating a healthy diet to build muscle wasn’t something everyone understood back when I first started out especially at that young age. I wanted to use fitness to help me to move out to California of which was a far fetched unreachable thing where I grew up according to the people around me. I never let that stop me and all the people in my life up to the point of which I made that happen didn’t ever understand why or how I was going to make it happen or even why I wanted it. It went against the norm a little bit, i’ve always been the black sheep of my family always wanting more out of life and to live an extraordinary life. That never stopped me and I actually used that as fuel for me to work even harder and to just keep going for it day in day out with more effort to make it happen. I knew that it would happen somehow if I just worked hard and took the appropriate actions daily to get me where I wanted to be. In 2010 was when I literally packed my bags and just flew out to San Diego. Southern California is where I wanted to be wasn’t exactly sure about where but my plan was to explore the different cities and see what I could do. Another challenging aspect which was seen as impossible by people back home in London was the fact that getting a visa to live in the US was unattainable. Again the more people would tell me I couldn’t have something the more I wanted it and made me hungrier to go out and get it. I knew that if I just kept visiting California I would eventually find the right people and eventually things would just happen. It took around 4 years before I came across a school in San Diego that offered different classes within the health and wellbeing industry including message, nutrition covering herbs and supplements. I got offered a position to attend this school on a training visa then eventually create a curriculum and teach fitness classes for the school after I emailed the director of the school who notified me that they were looking for someone to spearhead a new fitness department that they wanted to start. It was based on this offer that I decided to move in March of 2014. This was the beginning of my California journey. Fast forward 10 years I would get my work visa, green card and now I am at a position to receive my US citizenship which is an absolute honor for me. I now live in Beverly Hills which is a true blessing and for me my dream location to reside in. I have worked for various major fitness organizations, started my own business, appeared on several television shows, attended some of the best schools and studied under some of the finest acting coaches in Southern California of which I continue to learn and grow on my mission to master the craft of my passion of acting and on camera skills for my TV work. I’ve also made some amazing connections with producers interested in working with me on future projects and here I am today getting interviewed by you guys for this fabulous magazine of which I am extremely grateful for.
I feel like some of my desires, goals, aspirations and path that I decided to take with my work and career were misunderstood and frowned upon purely out of love and people in my life wanting the best for me. Taking the safe route and following a set path in life was the normal way to go which is 100% understandable. This was never enough for me as i’ve always been a risk taker, an act first ask questions later kind of a guy. At times impulsive. This would pay off at times but at others I made some bad decisions and mistakes which led me to question whether I could really achieve everything that I wanted. Without the emotional, financial, love and support of my family I wouldn’t have been able to achieve everything that I have or be able to continue my pursuit of achieving everything that I want out of life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hi my name is Harris Chrys my background is in Health and Fitness. I have a strong desire and passion to help as many people as I can to live long, healthy and happy lives while looking their best possible self in the process. I love health and fitness as the feeling of helping another human being be happy and healthy and live longer is a truly fulfilling thing and no matter how much you give to yourself you cannot get that feeling that you get when you really help someone eise.
My genuine caring of people’s mental and physical health, making them aware and realize that nothing is more important than them and understanding their struggles stemming from my own personal battles for many years is what I believe sets me apart from others.
Fitness allowed me to connect with some fabulous people along my journey to help me pursue my dreams.
While I was working for a health club in San Diego I made my first ever tv appearance on CBS for a day time news show and knew there and then that this was what I really wanted as I never felt happier than when I did being in front of the camera. This led me to start utilizing social media. The combination of fitness and social media allowed me to make some amazing connections to help me fulfill my dreams.
One in particular is Cindy Matalucci from the The Pulse who offered me the chance to make multiple appearances on her TV show on markets such as ABC, Cox and Spectrum. This was the beginning of my love for being in front of the camera and starting a pursuit in the TV and Film industry.
I then started studying professional acting in San Diego at a few acting studios. I absolutely fell in love with the art of acting as I am a really emotional guy. Acting allows me to use my emotions to create art to connect with the audience to really make them feel which comes to me naturally. Acting makes me feel liberated and gives me an indescribable sense of joy.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Moving to California from London financially was a huge struggle. When you’re trying to achieve your dreams for me i’ve always had the faith and use the fact that you only have one life and live with the belief of how can you not go after what it is that you know you really want deep down inside. I knew that it would come with its hardships and struggles but I never let that bother me or stop me. The fact that I was going after what I really wanted really made me happy and get through the tough times and sacrifices needed in the process. I literally had to live as an extreme minimalist with time and money. Everything that I earned was spent on good quality food and drink as I understood that I am my most valuable commodity, bills and tools such as acting lessons that I knew would help me achieve everything that I wanted. If it didn’t contribute towards my success I didn’t want to know. All my time was spent training people to earn a living, meal prep, working out and educating myself by attending acting classes, workshops and seminars working on trying to master my craft of acting and tv work.
My battle with chronic OCD, anxiety, hypochondria, panic attacks and perfectionism for pretty much my whole life has as times been my best friend as well as my biggest enemy. Learning how to cope with these has been a lifelong process which I continue to deal with and accept that it’s going to be with me for the rest of my life. These demons affect every aspect of my life but pursuing my dreams and doing what I believe my purpose is help’s ultimately keep them at bay and gives me true happiness, peace of mind and fulfillment.
I’ve learned that asking for help at times doesn’t make us weak but it’s because we want to remain strong. I have been truly blessed and am forever grateful to have a family who have always loved, supported and been my rock throughout my whole life enabling me to live my dream. Without them nothing that I have achieved and continue to pursue would be possible.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearn during my journey is that you cannot achieve your dreams by yourself as we all need each other. A sense of togetherness forever. I also learned to surround my self with only quality people of who are going in the same direction as me, who support me, benefit me in my venture and have a positive influence in my life and vice versa. With what people we spend our time with on a daily basis is crucial as it affects your whole mindset which is everything when it comes to achieving all it is that you want. Having a strong, healthy and happy mindset is all we have and peace of mind for me is everything.
I’ve had experiences working for various corporate companies believing that I was heading in the right direction for my dreams not knowing what I was in store for. For me freedom is everything and when i’m in an environment or am around people that takes that away from me or make me feel unhappy I have learned to get away asap. In the past I would have just accepted it, settled and stayed there not making any changes or have taken any action. I would lose sight of the bigger picture and didn’t know how things actually worked when it came to mindset and the belief system. In life we live and learn and I am thankful for all my experiences in life good or bad as I believe that they were all there for a reason and meant to be there, ultimately to get me to where it is that my heart desires.
Contact Info: