We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steve Mata. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steve below.

Steve, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I was inspired to create Flex The Heart because during my weightless journey I would always do cardio. As you know Incorporating regular cardio workouts into your routine, along with of course a balanced diet and other healthy lifestyle habits, can have profound benefits for heart health and overall well-being.

Most people flex their triceps, but I just started flexing the heart and bringing awareness to heart health.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Steve and I am from Phoenix, Arizona. Growing up as a first gen in a Mexican family healthy habits aren’t always taught. You know we have such a beautiful culture, and delicious rich foods. It wasn’t until I visited South Korea that I realized that something wasn’t right, and what I was used to or even considered to be normal in fact wasn’t healthy at all. Amazing place with lot’s to explore but majority of the travel there is by foot. So I had to stay in and miss a few days of exploring during my trip there. Right then it hit me, being overweight, and out of breath started to impact by social life. I had to make a change for the better, and get my life back.

If you see my content I do enjoy gaming aside from fitness. Gaming was my safe place. I would always stay in my room, and game. Obviously there was always snacks. This was also huge contributor to my weight gain. I wasn’t partaking in any physical activity at all, and that was not healthy. So, after coming back from my trip to South Korea I started watching what I was eating and working out at home. Fun fact, I actually didn’t step into an actual gym until I was in school for my Physical, Program Design, and Nutrition certifications. During my transformation, Flex The Heart was born, and I wanted to make an impact in people’s lives. I take pride in helping them achieve a healthier body without a gym, and especially without having them sacrifice some of their favorite foods.

Now, I am educating and helping my community locally with tips, tricks, and one on one sessions. I even started helping others nationwide virtually with implementing healthier habits and a routine.

Flexing one heart at a time.

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

One lesson that I had to unlearn, and even now I try to teach my clients is that eating less does not equal weight loss.

At the early stages of my transformation I would eat small, like a hard boiled egg, a few snacks here and there. After two months of doing this I was not achieving the results that I had hoped for. In fact, the complete opposite. I gained more weight. I started looking into why, and studying nutrition. I wasn’t nourishing my body properly. When you eat you are fueling your body to have energy, and burn calories more efficiently.

Eating healthy, and eating for weight loss are two completely different things.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Honestly, I originally started off with gaming content. It wasn’t until I started showing up as myself that my audience took an interest into my physical appearance. They wanted to know how I was able to be fit, and game at the same time. So I started going live with other creators, and engaging with other people on the platform answering questions.

My biggest piece of advice, is just to put yourself out there. Tell your story! You never know who you are inspiring, or who might need to see your story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://flextheheart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its_steve1217/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Itssteve1217
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Its_steve1217
• Other: stevemata@flextheheart.com

Image Credits
Steve Mata