We were lucky to catch up with Mayela Sehnert recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mayela, thanks for joining us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing that anyone has done was to Fire me… I was working for a small studio, I was a brand new Instructor, so the other girls had better hours. Once my class became a prime hour favorite & grew in numbers; The owner decided to switch my hours to accommodate someone else. I told her due to my 9-5 job a heads up would have been appreciated, so she cut the music and announced that was my last class. Talk about staying Humble. That moment, as embarrassing as it was, drove me to find my own place and opened my own studio.

Mayela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My love for fitness started back when I was little. My mom was an Aerobics Instructor for over 15 years, and I traveled all over the place with her. When I turned 25, I had small mental breakdown. I was newly divorced, my baby was 3 years old and I was depressed. Everything “I planned” (for my life was the opposite) I was very unhappy. So I decided to join my friend at the gym, and she stood me up. The manager felt bad and allowed me to take a group ex class. “Zumba” with a super talented instructor who looked exactly like the girls from the VHS tapes I had seen on the infomercials.
After my first class, I realized the healing power that Zumba classes have. I felt so happy, I smiled so much my cheeks were hurting, and I was singing all day long. I decided to join the gym and started taking classes.
Zumba helped me out of a very dark place in my life, so I decided to become an Instructor and help others get happy one beat at time.
Being able to give back to the community, by opening the doors to people who may feel the way I once felt; And helping them feel better and happy one day at at time is the best therapy!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After Covid hit, a majority of small businesses were closed. So having the support of my tribe and community is what makes me keep going daily!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being myself. Im not your typical instructor, I take my job seriously and Inside my studio Im the one in charge and i’ll be your goofy friend after class!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zumba.com/en-US/profile/mayela-calderon/579828
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohmyellaa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zumbaqueenLP
• Other: https://zrumbafitness.punchpass./

Image Credits
Magnolia Memories by Lauren Marcos Photography