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

Alright, Surabhi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

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

Hi, I’m Surabhi Veitch, and I help moms reclaim their strength and confidence through pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause and menopause. I’ve been a physiotherapist for over 12 years, and have had my business The Passionate Physio for almost 3 years. I provide physiotherapy in Toronto, Ontario and virtual fitness coaching to people all over the world. My BASE fitness membership provides physiotherapist-designed, sustainable and challenging home workouts for busy moms.

The idea for my business started 5 years ago when I had a really rough transition to motherhood. Not only did I experience major body changes and pregnancy complications, but after giving birth, my abs had split apart so much that my gut was literally falling out of my body. My bladder was also bulging out of my vagina, and I was peeing myself on short walks. Going from being a competitive runner, cross country skier, dancer and rock climber to being told I shouldn’t run or carry my baby too much because that could damage my pelvic floor – I felt broken, alone and betrayed by my body. And more than that, I was angry.

Between all the baby showers and doctors appointments, why didn’t anyone tell me this could happen? It took my until I had a baby to find out that 100% of pregnant people will have abdominal separation (diastasis recti), that 50% of people will have a pelvic organ prolapse after childbirth, that 1 in 3 people will pee their pants (urinary incontinence). These issues are so common and often people are told to just do Kegels or avoid aggravating activities.

And this is why I do what I do. Through one-on-one consultations, educational workshops and my BASE Fitness Membership, I empower people to feel strong, active and capable. I provide comprehensive education through pregnancy and postpartum, advice on symptom management, and specific exercises to help people return to fitness and sport. I help moms improve their core, pelvic floor and full-body fitness so they can get back to the things they love!

Unlike the hoards of fitness apps promoting “bounceback culture” I focus on a whole-human approach to healing. BASE Fitness isn’t about who has the flattest abs, or proving you’re a super-mom, it’s about meeting yourself where you are and cultivating confidence from the inside out.

My clients are Type A, well-educated go-getters that expect too much from themselves. Many are women of colour who feel even more pressure to fit in, to bounce back. And when they have all these symptoms and body changes, they feel like failures. I was once there too, and now I show moms that they can be strong, confident & athletic regardless of their size, shape, symptoms, scars or stretch marks.

I was interviewed by the BBC last year for an article on bounce-back culture. I’ve been featured on 17 different podcasts, and am the host of my own podcast, Mom Strength. I’m proud to have supported over 200 women and countless more through my podcast, workshops, and social media in the past few years.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Have you ever felt like something you put out isn’t good enough? So you edit it, and re-edit it, and have others look at it, and finally hit publish, and then kick yourself for missing a typo? Yup, that was me too. As a mom of 2 young kids trying to build my business, I kept burning out. I finally had to unlearn perfectionism because it is so detrimental to progress and it is not a value I want to hold. Humans aren’t perfect. We make typos, we make mistakes, we have flaws, we have launches that fail, we sometimes struggle to get clients, and we don’t have to maintain a perfect image in order to be successful. I also learned not to judge myself so much and allow myself to know my worth, regardless of what I accomplish or how successful my business is.

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

This is going to sound cheesy but: BE YOURSELF. There is literally no one else who is exactly like you. There are thousands of pelvic health physiotherapists, there are even more fitness pros, and you stand out by being you. I have led with my own values from the beginning, which include sharing my humanity. I don’t portray a perfect image, I portray a real human self. I try to share my ups and downs on social media, so people understand that they are not alone in whatever they’re going through. I also seek out collaboration. I invite guest experts onto my podcast and in conversation, we can connect, find commonalities and learn to support each other. And a last thing is self-trust and belief. We often look to mentors and coaches to tell us what to do, and it’s important to have people you can learn from. It’s also more important to trust your gut and have faith in yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thepassionatephysio.ca/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepassionatephysio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepassionatephysio
• Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/surabhi-veitch-2015254a
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thepassionatephysio

Image Credits
Thomas Veitch, Chia Ndiaye