Today we’d like to introduce you to Ava Strainovici.
Hi Ava, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I love this question! (sorry for the long response, I know it says brief).
My story started back in 2017 when I graduated high school. I graduated as a 3 sport athlete (soccer, basketball and I actually kicked for the football team!), and set off on my way to Central Michigan University for college. I was craving the independence and freedom. Except that was the worst thing to ever happen to me. There was no more sports, mandatory workouts or coaches telling you to exercise. It was ultimate independence and it destroyed me.
I started partying as any college student does and soon lost touch with who I was. I was no longer working out or really even taking care of myself. I was constantly bloated, always breaking out and never truly happy with myself. This continued on until sometime throughout my sophomore year of college when my roommate asked me to come to the gym with her. Looking back, that decision probably saved me.
We started going as a getting-ready-for-spring-break thing, but lo and behold– it stuck. I finally had a sense of belonging. Like I had a purpose again.
So from then on out, it became part of my everyday lifestyle. I even started posting a few videos about it too along the way. All was fine and dandy until Covid hit…
During Covid, I moved home from college and started pursuing at-home fitness while finishing my degree. This is when I made a fitness account and started posting the workouts I was doing. And to my surprise– people were actually interested in it!
I certainly didn’t know what I was doing but I loved that I was helping and inspiring those around me. But at the time, I never saw this actually becoming a career for me. I ended up getting my Bachelor’s Degree in English & Creative Writing while still enjoying fitness as a hobby on the side.
Except when I graduated college, I could not find a job! So, after a few months of waitressing and saving up, I packed up and moved down to Florida. During this time I pursued a job in Social Media for a construction company, but I still wasn’t satisfied.
Meanwhile, my boyfriend and I decided to apply to graduate school in Ireland. Crazy, I know… But we got into their Digital Marketing program and moved across the world in September of 2022. Things didn’t exactly workout the way we anticipated them too in Ireland, so we ended up moving back to Michigan in 2023 and essentially had to restart our lives.
The reset is actually what landed me my first job in the fitness industry. And here I am, 6 years later– a Certified Personal Trainer and Strength Coach, launching my own online fitness business.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh no! But that’s why we do challenging things– because if they were easy, everyone would do it.
My experience is very unique and looking back, there was so much beauty in the struggle (shoutout to J Cole).
The first struggle was graduating college during a Global Pandemic. The second was moving across the country without a steady income or plan. The third was moving to another country where I didn’t know a single soul. The fourth was being forced to dropout of grad school and move back home with my boyfriend (thanks mom!) The fifth was not being able to (again) find a job. And I’m wondering if I am currently living the sixth struggle of navigating starting your own business.
But I wouldn’t trade my struggles for anything. They have made me stronger and shaped the foundation of which I live.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am currently a Certified Personal Trainer and Strength Coach in Metro Detroit with about five years of hands-on experience.
I specialize in women’s health and helping women move better and create sustainable lifestyles. I am actually in the early stages of launching my own Women’s Fitness App!
I am most proud that I chose this as a profession, and I’m able to inspire and motivate women to become better versions of themselves. I have always felt a calling to help others and I am so thankful this is the capacity in which I get to do so.
To me– nobody is just another number. Every woman has a story and I am willing to sit down, listen and help create a plan to becoming the best version of her. I am becoming the person I needed six years ago.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The best time to start was yesterday! There is never a perfect time to do anything, so why wait?
You certainly won’t know what you’re doing when you begin, but you must have fun doing it. So be confident in yourself because it’s only embarrassing or cringey if you make it!
And always remember to be your own #1 fan.
Pricing:
- Inquire for pricing
Contact Info:
- Website: https://form.jotform.com/strainovicia/coaching-application (My online 1:1 personal training application)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avastrain_/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@The.flavvv
- Other: https://form.jotform.com/strainovicia/m21-inquiry (Women’s Fitness App Inquiry)
