20# From PCOS to 100K on Instagram: How Keisha Scaled a Mission-Led Wellness Brand While Managing PCOS, Leading a Team & Showing Entrepreneurial Grit

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So that we can keep growing and serving you. So without further ado, let's dive in. So today I have the amazing Keisha with us. Keisha is A-P-C-O-S health coach, entrepreneur, and the founder of Fitness with Keisha and Shanti through her coaching app and sold out PCOS walk. She's helped countless women restore their cycles, boost fertility, and take control of their health.

Passionate about holistic wellness. She also runs Shanti, which offers herbal brands designed to support women's hormones. Keisha's on a mission to empower women with PCOS to thrive. So welcome, Keisha. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. It's so wonderful to have you. And I just really resonate with your work because I feel like.

Some for someone who has previously suffered with PCOS, it's something that's really, really close to my heart. And of course, like I feel like there's just this. Big kind of epidemic. Yeah. With PCOS and women's health and women's hormones. And I think, you know, it's really coming to the forefront now, and I think maybe in like previous decades, like women maybe just didn't know that they had PCOS, but I just know so many women that have been impacted by it, of including myself, of course.

Mm-hmm. So I was just really excited to speak to you about this. So. Can you just first of all start with a bit about your journey and what led you to start your business?

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Yeah. Which makes us think that there is an epidemic around hormonal imbalance and women's health, but I just feel like people are becoming more comfortable, being a little bit more vulnerable with. Their problems, and especially after the isolation that we all experienced during Covid. Mm-hmm. That has probably allowed a lot of people to go inwards and do a lot of self-work, self-reflection, and then open up with that vulnerability, especially in the South Asian community with PCOS and women's health or sexual health being quite a taboo topic.

More and more people are talking about it. And I think that that is incredible. but yeah, I'll jump to your question about my own journey. So I was diagnosed with PCOS just as I became a teenager around 13, 14. I actually got my periods when I was in year five for the first time, and then they disappeared.

They were very sporadic. I felt extremely uncomfortable in my body from that age onwards because. I could never see somebody else in my classroom mirroring the same things I was going through. So I would be the kid who skipped out on the swimming lessons that you'd go to once a week. Sometimes with classes, because I'd have a random period, it wouldn't be once a month, it would maybe be twice a month or not for eight weeks.

It was just very random, and this was unheard of to my parents as well. My mom. Never experienced symptoms of PCOS. I would look at my mom sometimes thinking, oh, I'd like, I'd love to see something that I can see in myself, like, for example, excessive hair growth and stuff, but I just never saw it in anyone around me.

so that was a big isolation factor of PCOS that affected my mental health from, I'd say teenage hood. The whole of Teenagehood, it was a big part of my life that I just kept to myself, because even then I'd never felt comfortable to speak about it. so what led me to create fitness with Keisha, and then also my branch off into Shanti was.

The passion for knowing how much I've been able to help myself on my journey and just wanting to see others do the same. I have gone back to my high school a couple of times and you know, I can see young girls who are going through a little bit of a crisis in, you know, the way that they are finding themselves and that it's those things that drive me so much more to.

Talk more about women's health, talk about the uncomfortable things, but very normal and, you know, human things that we go through as women, so, mm-hmm. Yeah, that's, that's I suppose how fix work came about. I

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with Keisha, I believe it was: 2019

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What I was eating, what I was going through on a day-to-day basis, the amount of times I had to wake up and the first thing I'd do was pluck my chin, hairs up my chin. Yeah. Things like that.

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'cause it's like, I think everyone's pretty familiar with that term now. Yes. Mm-hmm. what is actually PCOS?

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therefore a delay in a period, but you don't necessarily have to have. Polycystic ovaries to have polycystic ovaries syndrome. Yeah. you also experience irregular cycles, therefore finding it hard to ovulate. And if you're finding it hard to ovulate, you dunno when your cycle's happening. That can make it harder when you're trying to get pregnant.

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And many other things that you can experience that are like knock on effects from PCOS. Like you might have seen on my page. I speak about mood swings often. Mm. And a lot of the symptoms that we experience can then go ahead and trigger mood swings because you know, it's not nice waking up and having to shave your face or you know, put another spot sticker on your face and leave the house just to feel comfortable.

So those can then trigger a lot of changes in our moods. Yeah. I love

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Stress is a big factor. I feel like that's probably quite common for a lot of people who are listening to this. Stress can come in many forms. It can come in family stress, financial stress, you know. School, all sorts. So I think yes, definitely.

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When I started my first war, I used to have a wedding plan in business. Oh, cool. and obviously that was doing so well. Yeah. But it was like bringing so much stress. Mm. And I remember I was living in Canada for, for the listeners, they probably know this, but I, I was living in Canada 'cause my husband. Was working in Canada, so I was back and forth a lot.

Mm-hmm. And I remember there was this, like this one winter where like I'd been fully booked with weddings. Like my a effect coaching business was like taking off. I'd just launched my membership, I'd come back to England. But like I remember so clearly like my whole one side of my chin, like my right, it was just.

like I think that, I think in: 2018

and I remember the following year. I just had like a bit of a pain in my back. And then basically I went to the hospital. they diagnosed with me with PCOS, but then at that time I got put onto the fast track ovarian cancer. Oh. Like lists as well. 'cause they were like, okay, there's a couple of cysts there.

but you know, we think there's something else there that we really need to delve into. Yeah. And I think because of the NHS and. How pre, in previous decades, they weren't taking ovarian cancer so seriously and it was going undetected. Mm-hmm. They really wanted to, like, they literally pushed me through and got me checked.

Mm. But they also did say to me, oh, I remember the doctors, honestly, she was just literally like, obviously that was all clear and it was great. but it was like the most scariest time of my life. but they were like, yeah, you've got like PCOS and you're gonna find it really hard to lose weight and yeah, you're probably gonna get like endometriosis and it's probably gonna get like a lot worse.

And I was like, oh my God. But then actually I just took matters. First of all, I was in denial. Like I just didn't wanna think about it. But then I started taking matters into my own hands. 'cause I think it then started impacting like my gut health. Yes. And the fatigue I had was insane. Yeah. So it was so bad.

Honestly, I would sometimes be in bed like at one o'clock in the afternoon, just literally like dying in my bed. until then, I worked with a health coach like a couple of years ago and we really worked on all of that stuff. And now really I don't, I know I don't have endometriosis, but like it doesn't really like impact me.

Yeah. If that makes sense. Yeah,

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That pregnancy fatigue was bad, but because I had experienced PCOS fatigue, what I was experiencing during pregnancy was not that bad. But, I, yeah, I found that, you know, with what you've just shared, I. You can totally, I, I say to everybody, you can manage your PCOS to a point where you don't find it affecting you.

Mm. You know, in any way, really. But something that you will notice is if you, if you start keeping yourself under high stress situations or put yourself into a really stressful environment, which we don't obviously do by choice, but it does end up happening sometimes it happens to me even now. you put yourself in a high.

Stress situation, and you consistently keep yourself there, you consistently neglect yourself and stop pouring into your own cup. That will then manifest as PCOS symptoms showing up again. So when you were talking about like your cystic acne that you saw on one side of your face, right. The thing that clicked in my head, I was thinking gut health as well.

Mm-hmm. Because another thing that affects our gut microbiome. Is our stress. So like everything starts in the mind, affects the gut, and it almost has like a domino effect on everything else that we do. And so, yeah, I, I like to say to everybody that you can manage your PCOS symptoms. And when I say manage, I mean you can get it to a point where, similar to where I am right now, it's not affecting me.

You will not see it manifest in the way that I was living, I'd say maybe even six years ago. but I know tomorrow, and this actually happened to me two weeks ago, but I know if I stop eating. Well, for myself, what I know works for me if I neglect myself and I don't go and work out because I know that's a bit of me time and I really enjoy training if I, stop moving my body as much and I, you know, don't do my five 10 minute meditation before bed.

It will creep back in. I noticed the fatigue pretty much instantly, the anxiety instantly. Just a few days ago, I was sitting on the couch and I actually just started crying because I was like, where is this anxiety coming from? I sat down to reflect on how my week had been, and my week had been jam packed with stress, trying to balance, a few other like businessy things, trying to figure out my own.

Schedule, trying to feel like I was being a good parent, and I recognized exactly where that was coming from. So a, a big part of it is taking a, a big chunk of accountability and having that self-awareness to be okay with making the change, but recognizing that. The change is something that you, you are gonna have to consistently keep up with.

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Americanos. Wow. Which is just so bad. Like I know now, I, I actually don't drink caffeine anymore 'cause it does make me, that's really good. Doesn't make, it, makes me anxious if I have it. I'll have to have it in the morning, but after breakfast mm-hmm. To balance like everything. I've, I, I was just like knocking back black Americanos on an empty stomach, like it's going outta fashion.

And I think the other thing is, especially like, obviously we're in the uk, but like mostly in the western world, like. There's just this. There's just this hustle culture. Yeah. And I think also with women, we are meant to apparently be competing with men. But what I've realized is in my journey, like our bodies are so different.

Yes. And I think we just try and work like men. And when you work like men. You do become ill. Mm-hmm. And I think the other thing is like, it's, that is the culture, especially with the Asian culture as well. a lot of us have been, you know, brought up to see our parents working into the ground. Mm-hmm.

Like our mothers Yes. Our grandmothers. And I think it's almost like. I know some people might listen to this and they might be thinking, oh my God, but that's like, that me time is like so luxurious that I can't do that. Mm. But it actually gets to a point if you don't do it like a, you burn out, but your health takes such a hit that you can't do anything then anyway.

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Those are meetings where we might have a moment to just deep breathe. We might go for a 15 minute walk. We might get a little workout in, but that too is just as important as that business meeting that you're going to turn up to. I relate to what you said about you being that person who you said down caffeine.

Back in that era. 'cause I was exactly the same. I don't speak about this a lot on, actually, I don't think I've spoken about it enough on social media or if any, I had a pre-workout addiction before I started, working on myself. So my pre-workout addiction got to the point where I think, well, I was having around.

Maybe 400 mgs of caffeine a day simply to just wake up and work. I would wake up at four in the morning. I would go and pt after that. I worked in the tech world, so I used to then log on for my tech consultancy job at nine o'clock. do that. Then I would work for myself late in the evening. So I was basically.

Constantly awake. and the only reason I was constantly awake is because I was taking this pre-workout. And when I was doing that, and I was actually, I realized it was an addiction because I wasn't taking it to workout. I was taking it to wake up in the morning. I was taking it to start my work day. I was then taking it to get my workout in in the evening.

It was, it was, yeah. Fueled on caffeine. Yes.

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Mm-hmm. If you are able to put that into your routine, then your work will also thrive because if you're pouring into yourself, of course everything else that you do will also flourish and grow. I

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Yes. Yes. And it's almost like this kind of, you're in your masculine energy. Mm-hmm. Constantly working, constantly working, but when you are in that energy as well, like. It's really hard to get, be creative. Yeah. It's really hard to like come up with like fresh ideas. Yeah. And like it's the energy. Like obviously we're in online businesses, our energy is like so important.

Mm-hmm. So I think people do really struggle with that part. And what are some of the things that you do, Keisha? Like you mentioned, like you go for a walk, you might meditate. Yeah. Yeah. Do you try and have some like daily practices that you, you do yourself?

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I think I have gone through maybe 12 books of journals or something like that now that are just in my cupboard. I dunno what to do with them. But yeah. I will journal every single night. I'm not doing a dear diary type of thing. It's more. My gratitudes, my intentions, my ready to receives, and then three, three things I appreciate about myself that.

So I will do that every single night without fail. And then the other thing as well is just finding a time in the day. A lot of the time now ends up being right before bed because that's my me time. I don't, I'm not in mommy mode or anything. so I will do some breath work, I'll do some meditation, and my partner actually joins me a lot of the time.

So we will meditate before we go to sleep.

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But you're not eating nourishing, balanced meals. So focus on the meals, wake up in the morning and make sure that you are having a high protein breakfast, not just packed with protein though, but with some good added fiber, a good source of carbohydrate, and you're actually taking that time to fuel your body.

Think of food as fuel that will then fuel you up until lunchtime. Lunchtime again. F fuel yourself with protein, fiber, a good source of carbohydrates, do the same for dinner. And then in the, what you should feel with that is a lot more energy. Mm-hmm. you won't feel the need to snack, but if you do feel the need to snack, snack on something that you know.

It's gonna make you feel a lot better. Maybe something that's not too processed. So something that I really like snacking on recently, 'cause the weather's getting a bit warmer, but like cottage cheese, some like vegetable sticks. Or you can buy these really nice like barbecue flavored lentil chips that I've been loving.

you, I'd forgotten the brand. I think it might be Propco. but they do like a lentil version. And like just using that as like a chip and dip, like that's okay that you can do that. Also, making like these protein balls, meal prep is a lifesaver. So if you meal prep, you can make like these protein balls in advance, these energy balls, and you can just keep them with you in like a little box at work.

Keep them in your fridge at work or keep them at home. But yeah, there's a. Good things to snack on.

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Are for our hair, for our skin, for our brain. So you don't have brain fog in the day. For our hormones for muscle repair, carbohydrates are not the villain. And the thing that I absolutely despise is on social media. There is a whole group of. Content creators who demonize carbohydrates, but there is no bad food group.

You can eat carbohydrates, of course. Complex carbohydrates will be broken down easier in our body. So if you wanted to go for sweet potato over potato, you can, but I still eat potato. It's just about making sure that you have a good. Balance of food, so you're not just sitting there and you know, eating a whole potato because why would you do that?

That's a bit bland. Why don't you have it with a good source of protein? Why don't you have it with some fiber and just make it a good meal? So everything digests together and digests well.

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But I guess that having this kind of lifestyle mm-hmm. requires that, you know, that level of discipline, and I think it is discipline. I don't think we should be scared of the word discipline. So many people get scared of that word as well. Maybe we can swap the word. I think we should

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Yeah. Or devotion. Or devotion. How dedicated or how devoted are you to your. Self. Do you wanna be dedicated and devoted to yourself? Because discipline? Yeah, I think discipline's like masculine Indian auntie slapping your wrist, like, let's not do that.

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And Well,

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Once they're weaning their babies on food, they're also eating meals from the meal plan. Because all we are doing is teaching women to eat well balanced meals and don't starve yourself. Mm. Eat foods. Foods are important for you. So. So, yeah, like, what I tend to do is I just meal prep. I will cook a meal from my meal plan for the whole family, make it in bulk and everyone loves it.

Mm.

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Yeah. But it must've been creeping in somewhere.

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I must now be dairy-free. I have PCOS. I thought that for a little while as well. Even on my own PCOS journey. After I got pregnant, my tolerance to dairy changed. Mm-hmm. My, I used to break out whenever I used to have dairy, so I thought that maybe I had some sort of intolerance, which I did. Like, I used to get terrible acne all over my back and the back of my legs and, After I got pregnant, my tolerance changed. So now I incorporate dairy. but something that I do even with clients as well is like, let's say if a client says, okay, I'm gluten intolerant. I'll be like, well, if you wanted, like if you're going out to dinner, yeah, you can still keep little bits of gluten in, but just be mindful and know, okay, well if I feel a little bit bloated, that's where it's coming from.

I think the self-awareness is very important because then it removes the panic, it removes. The guilt. if you know where your inflammation's coming from, it's a lot easier to target, but just because you have PCOS does not mean you need to be gluten and dairy free.

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Yeah, exactly. In terms of, blood sugar then as well, what do you think the role of blood sugar is in, in PCOS? Do you think women with PCOS have higher blood sugar? Do you think in general or not?

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Mm-hmm. So if you were to have, you know, a good source of protein, veg, and then you had to have your carbohydrate, let's say if you were to have your veg first.

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So I think doing everything you can to increase insulin sensitivity with PCOS is really helpful. Loads of things can help you increase insulin sensitivity. Upping your vitamin D can help with that. Going out for more walks, making sure that after you eat a meal, you go for a walk, even if it's five or 10 minutes.

Helps with you digesting your food, helps you not feel like you've now got food coma, helps with your blood sugar levels.

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Yeah. So what happens if you go for the bread first? You might notice one, you get full up so quickly. And two, you might feel quite lethargic after you eat. But if you were to go for a starter that was a lot more. You know, heavy on the fiber side of things, that's gonna help you a lot more. Yeah,

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Mm-hmm. It means when you know that you're in a stressful situation, finding ways to navigate that or finding little rituals in the day that you can create to keep your stress levels low. Finding ways that is gonna improve your sleep at night so you have more energy in the day. So something that I'm doing so much more on my page, you might have noticed it, but I am really trying to push that self-care.

Self-care, because you know, the good meals and the movement, it's all there. Yes, we know what to eat, we know how to work out, but do we know how to take care of ourselves?

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Like when I: 2018

And I still do that, but I've got a lot more boundaries now because I think boundaries also go hand in hand with stress. Because I say to my clients now, if you're working with me one-to-one, you know, you can vox me Monday to Wednesday. I normally get back to you on the same day or within 24 hours.

Mm-hmm. And I think like. I had to set those boundaries. Like it's so important for me. 'cause what I was doing was like, especially in my wedding planning, the days people just take, take, take. Like I was just doing calls like at any time my clients wanted. Yeah. I was just literally like bending over backwards and I think, yeah, obviously there's this.

There's a time and place for giving great service and I think a lot, like so many of my clients would agree, like Sean is like always there, you know, she's always really approachable. But then I think it is that case of like, it's subtle things like, you know, if you email me it says like I'm out of the office.

Yeah. Please expect a response back within two working days. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And if I'm going on Christmas holidays, everyone knows like my out of office, even on Instagram, I just put it on. Yeah. Even though. It's like a busy time. 'cause people might be messaging about the event or you know, 'cause we have a big event in February, but, or like, they might be inquiring for coaching, but I'm like, no, I have to take that time for myself.

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I was obviously doing it on my own. I would get back to clients. I. Pretty much maybe in the hour. Yeah, it was like midnight. I'm not joking. I did that. I used to, I used to have calls, I used to have meetings. I used to have, I used to do all of those things in on the weekend, on a Sunday, and it started affecting my relationship as well.

Wow. Like to the point that Brad was like, to me, he was like, Keisha, he was like, you don't make any time for me. And I was like, I'm so sorry. I was like, but I have a business to run. Like that's literally what I would say. And I never realized the importance of me taking care of myself. I said it on my story yesterday, but I still have these moments where I'm not perfect on my PCOS journey.

I will have weeks or maybe days where I'll eat on plan and life will just get the better of me. And when that happens, I feel myself going into where that. Space that I was in, and I get myself out of it now, but back then I never used to get myself out of it. So I was there helping all these women manage their PCOS symptoms and oh my goodness, I was fatigued.

My hair was growing from my like everywhere, like my face, everything. Yeah. And my hair was falling out from my head and I was like. It's lovely. I'm helping all these people, but I'm going the opposite way. So I must practice what I preach. And if I preach that you must take care of yourself, you must set boundaries.

I must do the same. So I did the same thing. You know, I got a team, which was a great help. I have the best team in the world. They are amazing. I got myself, A Google calendar, which I live outta.

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And then after that I just started putting everything in my diary. and I started setting myself No meetings, like blocks with no meetings in blue Gym time, do this for myself, do that for myself. And when I was pregnant, and this is like pregnancy hormones I guess, but I went back into those ways a little bit.

I, I haven't, I don't think I've spoken about this on a podcast because it's very embarrassing. but after I gave birth, I recognized that I basically just did a meeting right after I gave birth. I'm just gonna jump right into it. Wow. I was in the hospital. I was in the hospital. I had given birth. Aha was here.

Brad was here. I was like, Brad, I have to do a meeting. And honestly, it was like a. Sporadic, painful situation. I think someone was just being really unreasonable and I wanted to make sure that this woman wasn't stressed out and just like, you know, you know, please like, you know. Do your thing. and I was so worried about her and her being okay that I had just given birth.

I was practicing latching and breastfeeding and I had to give Ahana to Brad to go on this meeting. And I then sat down after I came out it, and I was like, what on earth is wrong with me? And, you know, it was that reflection of I didn't have to do that. And that's something the old version of me would've done simply because of the anxiety that I now was like, I now must fit into a new norm of trying to manage everything whilst being a mom.

And yeah,

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I, I did a lot of self-reflection after that day. 'cause I know that was just a couple years ago, but yeah.

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Mm-hmm. So let's actually, let's just touch into that first, what, what do you think helped you grow so much, say on Instagram, for example?

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Because, yeah, I'm just like any other girl. I'm just a girl and we go through all

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I'm just gonna piece this. I'm a very

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I'm gonna tell them this after this, but they give me a lot of creative inspiration because, I. I speak to them about what they're going through. Yeah. I will give them that advice one-on-one, and then I'll be like, well, how could I create this into some content? Because what if somebody else is going through the same thing or a symptom is really affecting them like this?

So then I'll create content around it.

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So I was like, let me just stick a tripod on. Or like yesterday I posted a video of me reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar to her, and it was literally because it was bedtime and I had just given a Roth. And I, and she loves reading time. So I was like, okay, like, and I was like, okay, lemme just stick my tripod 'cause hey, this is cute.

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Yeah. Because otherwise carving out time to do it specifically, it, it, it would be a lot. And if you were to give someone

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Like, you know, it could be anyone in like the whole health and wellness. Space. what, what kind of piece of advice would you give maybe two pieces of advice that you wish you had when you, like, maybe first started,

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Talk. Talk about it. Talk about it as though you are going through and that you've gone through it. Mm. And put it out there. It might start off by helping one person, then two people, then three people. Then that third person might tell four people, but go in it with love. I, I do this with every post like.

Even in like my voiceovers when I do them, sometimes I am, sometimes I'm like brooming the floor and I'm doing a quick voiceover, like I'm just getting it done and I will put love into it because a lot of the time in this generation, our world is so fast paced, we forget to give ourselves love and sometimes someone just needs to hear.

That and have some hope, whether it's through a voiceover that you do, whether it's through a video that you create. And a lot of the time at the end of my videos, I'm like, and you got this in my voiceover. And the reason why I say, well, you got this, is because it feels like sometimes you just don't have it.

Yeah. And you need someone to remind you that you do have it and just, you know. Just take control of what you can and it's okay. So yeah, just if you, if you know that you can help someone in some way, then just put it out there.

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It was just graphics. It was just so much easier. But I think so many people, I know women especially get really like bogged down. By, oh, it's not perfect. I was on a coaching call yesterday with my masterminders and they were like, oh, but I keep seeing this other content by other people that it is like so great.

But I'm like, you know what? Like you, if you've got a message, you just have to get it out there and share it. Yeah. It doesn't have to be perfect.

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You need it to reach the people who are gonna find value from it. I, you know, you said, oh Keisha, it's so great. You've got so many followers. My. Some of my reels sometimes get like 5,000 views. Mm. And that's okay. Yeah. They get 5,000 views and guess what? Maybe 300 of them might want to. And 5,000 is a lot of people, by the way.

Yeah, that's a lot. I think we forget

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You have to remember, like don't, don't compare yourself to somebody else. Yeah. Views are just views. You have to think about the impact. If you've made a difference to one, two, or three people's lives, that's huge. That's a life. You

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And I think because we've seen the rise of like so many people with like going viral and getting loads of followers, I think everyone just kind of forgets the point that. It's really about the mission and the message. Yeah. And the impact.

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And I have to reign myself in. I think ego is very normal and if we didn't have ego, I suppose a lot of things wouldn't actually exist. So ego does drive some things, but then you have to. Know when to re that in and realize that actually this is ego, but it's also not realistic. Yeah. So just, you know, do you, but yeah, it's, these things are, these things are gonna happen and you're gonna find yourself comparing yourself, but it's what you do in that moment.

When you compare yourself, do you tell yourself, Hey, do you know what? Let me just be kind to myself. Or do you keep going? Yeah. So in those moments, like, just be kind to yourself.

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Yeah. and support. And how do you think the team's helped you, like, scale your business? Like what has that, like, looked like for you as well?

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So I coach a smaller number of people who are on a different package and a different program, and then they coach their own like group of girls. And it's incredible because I know exactly who they're coaching, I know what all of those clients goals are, and we have regular team meetings where I can touch base and I can be like, oh, how's she doing?

How's she doing? Like, has she got her period bag? Did she get her ovulation test? but. They are able to pour themselves and they have so much value to give. So, our coaches have also experienced PCOS and had years of working with women with PCOS. So when you scroll through my page and you see the client transformations, the majority of the time it's their clients 'cause they are working with the bulk of the clients and it's that energy that they pour into these women.

Since running a team though, I've also realized the importance of. Nurturing your team. Mm. So I will say to my team, Hey, on a Friday, if you get your work done early, please log off. Like just go and have a nice time. Or you know, if you need to take, you've had a really heavy client call, you need to take like 15 minutes, go out on a walk.

Just take some time to refresh yourself. In our team meetings, we'll also have time where we talk and we talk about how we are feeling because. Working with women who are also going through similar things that you've gone through or are going through, it can sometimes feel very heavy. So being able to have an outlet for that is very important.

I

[: 00:42:17

Now? It's when I know when people listen to you, they'll be like, oh my God, she's got coaches and they're like, how did you. How, was there ever a time where you were like, no, I'm just gonna do this all myself? Or was there like a specific mindset shift where you thought, actually I need to bring on other coaches to grow the business even more?

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That's what I need.

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[: 00:43:14

But it was then recognizing how incredible my team are and how much I really love them and appreciate them to now thinking that I could not do this without them. Yeah. So yeah,

[: 00:43:44

'cause obviously I mentor and coach women in business. Mm-hmm. But I think it's again so important to have that as well, isn't it? Yeah. Someone to bounce ideas off of someone to give you guidance, grow your team. Like so many. 'cause there's so many challenges in business as well, isn't there? Exactly. There are a lot.

Yeah. And in terms of, just really quickly going back to the PCOS, like, do you think, because again, this is like another misconception, so I thought let's just clear it up. Mm-hmm. What are your thoughts on things like HIIT workouts for women with PCOS? Because again, I was advised just don't do hiit.

Yeah. Don't run. Yeah. do like slow rated workouts. You can do your classes, but you just make sure that like they're not HI classes. You're not like. Bouncing off the walls like for 50 minutes. Yeah. Like what are your

[: 00:44:41

Research once found that it did. there was this whole worry about cortisol, right? Mm-hmm. But cortisol is still important in our body. It gives us that fight or flight mode. It also tells us when we're in danger, do we run away? If there's like a mouse that comes out to us, that type of thing. but.

When it comes to high intensity training, I, I'm a strong believer and my beliefs have changed over time, that you should exercise in the way that you enjoy. I have clients who I work with right now who tell me from the get go that they really love running or they wanna get into running, and I'm like, oh my God.

Yes. So I will create them a plan to make sure that they're getting their 5K, then their seven K, then their 10 K, you know, like they're working on their running goals and they're focusing on running, but they're also getting weight training in, because it's. So important to build muscle. Mm-hmm. And feel strong, like feeling strong is amazing.

so doing both of those things together can really help. I, I think that that misconception really needs to be chucked in the bin. It definitely, I would say more of a myth, especially when you look into new research, showing that. You can do any forms of exercise, even high intensity training will help improve insulin sensitivity.

[: 00:46:04

They're like. Obviously they're super ambitious. They want to do incredible things in the world, but obviously only the woman can birth the baby, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's not like our partners or husbands can. So what, what was your kind of, were you worried, first of all, like the impact of maybe motherhood on your business?

Like what was that thought process?

[: 00:46:46

So that gives you a little bit of insight. It's not that I love my job. It's not a job to me. helping women is just something that I want to, I want to live and breathe. I wanna help. I wanna see people succeed. I wanna see people feel their best. So it's just something that over time it's like a great addiction.

I did however realize, and I sat and reflected about this, but I wish, and I really, really wish I was in. Motherhood a little bit more right after giving birth. Mm. I found it really difficult because my daughter didn't latch properly when I was trying to breastfeed, and so because I was pumping and I did pump for five months around the clock, I was awake every si, every three hours.

for five months. So this is even through the night. Then I had to like wash and sterilize and where my partner would help me. He also would feed her sometimes, so he also needed his sleep. but it was just easier because I'm the one pumping, I'm already up. I might as well just wash and sterilize type of thing.

And when I was up during those times, I was working because it's the only thing that kept me functioning and awake. So. I definitely, loved when I switched to formula at five, six months. Love it. And when I started weaning her, that's just the way I wanted to do it. And yeah, I, I definitely think that if I was to have another baby, I will take time off this time and I will really be in it because I wish I did that more upon reflection.

I see Ahana now and she's like running around and chatting away, and I'm just like, oh, like, I remember those times. She was just this tiny little big. You should just lay on my chest. I wish I embraced that a little bit more. And if you were to take time off again,

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[: 00:48:54

It did change me and I think the way I see things or the way I want to be now is very different to even just a couple years ago. And I guess you can change week from week can't you as well? Yeah. So who knows, maybe I'll change my mind next, next year.

[: 00:49:27

A hundred percent. A hundred percent.

[: 00:49:33

It's my life, so it's not something that I need to practice. I just have to eat and move my body, which I do. and I parent, I, I message my clients, I interact with them. I have calls with them because it's genuinely feels like I'm talking to a friend. So you can have it all. You've just got to really have that love.

For the all that you have.

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[: 00:50:24

and I, and I must say it takes a village. You, you're not going to, you are going to find it hard if you feel like you just wanna put all the pressure and do it on your own. I have an incredible mother-in-law. I have the best partner in the world. I have an incredible team. So where you might see me on social media.

With Ahana. There are a lot of people behind the scenes who actually help raise her alongside me and it really helps. Like my mom is also so hands-on, like my mom has her today as well. my dad will pop in and it's lovely. It's lovely to have a team of people that help you, you know. Do do it all. 'cause it does take a village.

And I think it's also

[: 00:51:21

To be held. Yes. And to receive. Yes. Yes. Like we don't have to be doing everything on our own. No. And I think it's, I think it's really important, I think in our, obviously the old culture, you know, like our mothers would do more. Mm-hmm. And the men were like slightly hands off. Mm-hmm. But I think it's really important also, like.

To actually ask more for help from partners and husbands. Yes. I think that's so important. I think so many women just don't

[: 00:52:05

So I have the evening to myself. He has the early mornings to himself. Then in the middle, we kind of just wing it together. I love that. It's so important, isn't it? Yeah, it is important, and I think being able to. vocalize when you need help. Mm. Asking for help is not, it's not you saying that you are weak or anything like that.

No. A lot of things that you do take a village and it's okay for things to take a village. it's okay for there to be a team behind it. There's a team behind my Instagram. There's a team behind my website. There's a team behind my coaching. There's a team behind Shanti. Like there is a team.

[: 00:52:54

And actually, just before we finish, actually, I completely forgot about Shanti. Oh yeah. My, my other baby. Yeah, do. Oh my God. They look absolutely incredible. Tell us a little bit about those, Keisha.

[: 00:53:08

You can't smell through audio and video, but they do smell good and they look incredible. They look so amazing. Thank you. And after I gave birth, actually I realized that I don't have the time to sit and blend things in my pot. Yeah. so I realized that it would be nice to just get these. Into some good sustainable TBIs that I can just use throughout the day.

And I thought it would be really good for the PCRs community as well. So got hormone happiness just for, you know, blood sugar levels. General hormonal balance.

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[: 00:53:50

For the Andros. Oh. And then sleep tea because like I said, we forget to, to take care of ourselves in those small components and like sleep.

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[: 00:54:07

Goodness. Oh my God, I love that so much. Thank

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and my website is ww.fitness with keisha.com. And if you wanted to get these teas, they are available on TikTok shop, but they are also available on the website. It's ww dot drink shanti.com. Amazing. Thank you so much, Keisha. Thank you for having me. This was lovely. Thank you.