We were lucky to catch up with Lejla Ibrahimkadic recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lejla, thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
I switched careers from being a dentist and working in healthcare in general to a personal fitness trainer. Now, how I got to that is a bit of a longer story and it wasn’t as simple as it may sound. First, one defining moment I remember as playing a crucial role in me deciding to switch to fitness industry was when I had a health battle, and fitness and proper nutrition helped me regain my strength and wellbeing back. During that time, I understood the patience and commitment it takes to change your body and I believe that understanding helps me when working with clients on their goals. However, this transition was not over night and it took me several years before fully transitioning.
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 moved to Los Angeles, USA in 2015 from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I used to be a dentist there, but when I moved to USA, due to extremely high costs of getting re-credentialed, I decided to explore some other career options. For several years, I did office management in dental and medical offices, but it never brought happiness to me. I felt very lost. I went through a huge ego death of releasing what once was Lejla and trying to learn and rediscover myself again in ways I never thought possible.
As I mentioned at the beginning, there was one pivotal moment in my life that made me decide to go into fitness industry fully and change my career. I was a runner for many years and fitness has been a hobby for a while, but in 2017/2018 I got diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune condition which caused a lot of distress and affected my body for the following 3 years. It affected my muscles and I had trouble doing even daily duties like drying my hair, dressing, walking etc. During that time, I still continued to do light exercise and on some days that felt good, I did more, but it was a struggle. In those 3 years, I was very committed to healing. I kept exercising as much as I could (sometimes it would be 10 min walk, if I couldn’t lift more than 5lbs dumbbells – it was OK!), my nutrition was improving and I tried to cut stress levels and surround myself with as much positivity as I could, I took prescribed medicine and had frequent doctor visits. This journey took more than 3 years, and it taught me a lot about myself and my body. I learned of patience and commitment to myself and after clearing and kicking Myasthenia gravis into full remission in 2021, I realized I could maybe help someone else too in their healing journey (weather it’s getting stronger, losing weight, healing from injury etc). I got credentialed through National Academy of Sports Medicine and I started my journey in fitness industry. My very first job in fitness industry was at the gym where I used to exercise. They hired me immediately after I got credentialed and I am so thankful for that group of young people.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Being a dentist was something I identified with. Going through so much school and education made that identification so easy, especially when it happens during your young years. The biggest lesson for me was to learn to become unattached to a profession, to an identity that is an illusion. There are many things that could have happened to me and make me not able to practice dentistry ever again. I learned to let go of dr Lejla and become something completely different. Once I started to explore my being, the possibilities started arriving. Another issue was letting go of what people were thinking of me. My decisions seemed crazy to most people, but to me, they made sense at the time. I am glad I learned to listen to my inner voice and inner guidance system, because I should have done that way earlier and not be disrupted by outside noise. It is tragic how our potential gets tainted when we are young, and we are sometimes pushed in directions that may not even be for us and later on it’s hard to let go of that grip. I guess being brave and allowing to be myself fully is the biggest lesson I had to learn again.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
If I could go back, I don’t know … Maybe I wouldn’t choose dentistry again. Probably not… I was always drawn to science and helping people, but not in a way medicine/ dentistry is doing nowadays. It became a business. With this knowledge, I would choose a different path. However, if you ask me about fitness, it’s the best decision I did for myself in a long time. I would choose it over and over. First of all for myself – I learned a lot on how to take care of my body, improve my performance, health in general etc. But it also fills my heart with joy when I see I helped someone else accomplish their goal. I love helping others become stronger and healthier, seeing the confidence it brings out of them and how their lives change for better. I think I am exactly where I need to be and I would do this all over again.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: only.lejla