Everlyn Okinyi - Fabulous Fitness Model & Trainer!

She just won the Arnold Classic Africa and the African championship in Angola both within the long span of a week! She has a fitness clothing line called EVEAL Creation and a fitness and wellness business as Eveal Health and Fitness, is about nurturing. She describes herself as a woman who is in beast mode trying to be a beauty.

 What is your typical day like?

It starts at 3 am. I wake up between 3 am to 3:30 am to prep my meals, leave the house at 4 am to go to the gym - to work. I have a 5 am to 6:15 am session, one from 6:45 am to 8 am another between 8:30 to 10, then 2 hours for my workout

Just like that with that pace through several training sessions running up to 8.30 pm. Mondays and Thursdays I leave my afternoons free for all my meetings.

Where do you get the discipline?

I don't see it as work. It is like fun. I go to play. Except the toys have to make money so I can eat. I make money entirely through fitness. It is something I find joy in because it helps people in their lives. People bloom, not just physically but inside out. Someone reserved starts to open up. I see them coming out like a beautiful flower. Those who never took pictures start because of that confidence!

Damn! I should come back to the gym! How do you know someone is trainable?

Everybody is trainable. I just have to get into my clients´ head and help them get trainable. We were all trained to eat. What it takes to train this person is what matters. I have to teach them how to find value. I do not do it for the money. I train them so they can be a better person. People who do things for themselves.

 Do you ever feel like you have to work at looking feminine because you are muscular?

I don't have to work at it. It is part of who I am. I like me. If someone finds me looking masculine, that is ok. I am aware of every muscle in my body and I have confidence in what I carry. If I want to feel fabulous as a woman and be graceful, all I do is just be me.

What kind of space were you at in your life when you met your husband?

At work. In banking. Life was just basic and we could eat love. He was used to working out from school and continued after completing his studies. All that time he never bothered me about working out. He ate clean. Me, YOLO! One day he invited me to the gym to run on the treadmill and keep him company. He started encouraging me to try weights and I told him I didn´t want to look like a man. That line is so familiar even to me. On my birthday I made a commitment. From then on I have worked out every day because if I don´t it will turn into one day, then two days, and before you know it six months and then you´re out of shape.

What would you say makes you such a good nurturer?

I create a non-judgmental environment and they must find me approachable because they tell me anything. I listen to my clients a lot because they have needs that are probably not financial.

That´s intense. How do you decompress to take care of yourself?

I listen to a lot of motivational books. I tell my clients that for me to be there for them, I have to take at least 2 or 3 days away and they understand. I often tell my husband maybe this is why I don´t have any children. Because I already have so many. My husband is a very understanding man. He knows competing takes a toll on me because it is very intense. He takes care of things so I can read or sleep it off and wake up anew

By the way, what is going on with your line of workout wear?

That was the initial business I was supposed to do when I quit my job in banking before I became a trainer. But right now it is a value add. I think every woman when working out should be able to look good no matter what. To be confident.

You seem to live in athleisure wear. How would you describe your personal style?

A style of confidence. For me to be able to maintain my body which is my billboard, I need to be able to wear things that do that. I wear crop tops all the time. If my abs are showing, I can´t just let it grow. If I have my arms showing, they need to be toned. It doesn´t matter if someone else doesn´t love muscles. I love muscles. My style is loud in that way. It is very rare to find me in baggy clothes.

We mentioned them before. Do you want kids?

Yes of course. I started working out because I wanted to have kids. I had gone for surgery to remove cysts from my fallopian tube. A month later they grew back. I told my doctor to hold off on the surgery, and dove into research. I worked on a food plan and they disappeared. They are yet to come back to date. I take it as one of those God things. I got stressed about it in the beginning of my marriage. For now, we are still waiting.

We wish you all the best. Finally, what have you learnt about yourself through fitness?

Every time I see my clients blossoming it reminds me of myself. Fitness has taught me I can endure more than I thought and not just physically. That goes beyond the gym. It has taught me to be strong mentally such that I can think and plan for myself. When you work out you develop a very structured lifestyle in order to make it to the gym. It taught me that I can say no. That I can say yes to me.