Braavhearts
#Braavheart: Gudrun Hespel
She created a furore in the Belgian IG landscape as The Fittest You, and grew into an entrepreneur. From a book, an app, a podcast, and her own practice, Gudrun, psychologist by training, is unstoppable. Luckily for us, she had a moment to tell us behind the scenes how she manages to keep all the balls in the air. Here we go.
1. Hi Gudrun, most of us know you already, but can you introduce yourself and what you do in a few sentences?
I am Gudrun, clinical psychologist, personal trainer, author of my book “The fittest you”, business owner of The Fittest You and co-founder of the BOOST! app. My main job is doing everything I can to make women feel confident in their own skin and help people to find joy in working out.
2. Do you have some sort of life motto of any kind?
“Actually, I can”. I got this quote in a frame a few years ago from my best friend and it has been my life motto ever since. I love challenging myself and pushing my boundaries, I love making things happen that I once thought would be impossible. That is exactly what I have done last year.
3. Highlight of your career so far?
The absurd transition from closing my business with the first lockdown to coming out of the lockdown with not one, but two succesful online businesses still blows my mind.
4. What are your professional objectives for the future?
In the last couple of months I have achieved more than I ever thought would even be possible, and now my dreams became even bigger. I want to have multiple businesses where people can find joy in working out, connect with others and find inner peace. And I also want the BOOST! app to be on everyone’s phone in a couple of years so people can stop dieting and being so hard on themselves.
5. How do you combine this with your personal life?
Well, my professional life has started just before corona so it’s still pretty new for me, and my personal life has pretty much died because of corona, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens after lockdown.
6. How do you manage to maintain a healthy work-life balance?
I don’t. At this moment I’m working really hard to get back into balance, because it has been too off lately. I’ve done nothing but working and my personal life has become almost non-existent. I know that’s a bit normal in the beginning as an entrepreneur and Covid on top of that hasn’t really helped, but I’m trying to get it back.
The last month I’ve done pretty well. For me a good morning routine is essential: every morning I do yoga or I go run, I take time for breakfast and I don’t go on social media before noon. I also don’t take my phone in my bedroom with me and put it away one hour before bedtime and I think that’s pretty essential to my wellbeing.
7. What is the ultimate relaxation for you?
A day at the beach in the sun reading a book. I love it.
8. What brings you peace after a hectic day?
Working out. I love a good run, yoga or a training session after a long working day, it clears my mind and gives me energy.
9. If you could give a 1 (ultimate) tip to other ambitious women, what would it be?
Just go for it. And don’t give up if something doesn’t work at the first try. Keep trying, keep improving, keep experimenting, keep going. You can do more than you think.
10. Which book do you think is an absolute must-read for our Braavheart community?
The power of vulnerability - Brené Brown.
11. Who do you think should be in our #Braavhearts section?
Katrin Swartenbroukcx
