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

Alright, Vanessa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

Know how to do every job you have to ask other people to do. Step up and do the small stuff. Take suggestions from the people who do the job every day.

Vanessa , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I came at personal training kind of sideways. I was an overweight alcoholic and took up running as a way to fill the time when I stopped drinking. Eventually I got really interested in how fueling my body works and how muscles are in or out of balance with each other. I wanted to do my small part in cutting through some of the misinformation that’s out there about fitness and help break some body positivity barriers if I can.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I let the client lead the way. We work together on identifying their goals and breaking them down into manageable steps, as well as figuring out what they like to do so they’ll keep doing it. Having a personal trainer shouldn’t be like paying someone to torture you, and you should look forward to it rather than dreading it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am thriving in a place that I never could have imagined I’d end up. I have a literature degree. My dream was to write the great American novel and I had romanticized the starving artist trope so hard that I forgot that starving is actually pretty unpleasant. So I’ve been a lot of weird things between there and here, but I’ve learned to always try the unexpected path. Way more fun than always knowing where you’re headed.

Contact Info:

• Website: makanaawpw.com
• Instagram: @makanaawpw