[image]
[title]Think about the last time you tried, in earnest, to shift your mindset, change your habits and work towards a goal. Maintaining that motivation isn’t easy. Often we slip into comfortable patterns; sometimes, challenges come along that knock us off our path. What do we need in those moments? Well, if you’re lucky, Warren Whitely, aka Woz – personal trainer to the likes of Daniel Kaluuya and Maya Jama, leader of fitness community Shred with Woz.
A qualified trainer since 2013, this London-based movement and wellness coach is a loud advocate for the connection between mental and physical health, and the importance of community in achieving our goals. His Instagram is peppered with relatable videos around the difficulty of summoning the motivation to go for that run or that gym class – alongside practical training tips and heartfelt musings on resilience. ‘We train our bodies, not our egos’ is the mantra for his business Shred with Woz; a community that welcomes people of all stages of their fitness journey, and which also periodically runs events to raise money for charities.
Woz is a leader, but he’s also passionate about lifting up the people around him. His content on social media is inspiring, but it’s also raw and relatable. There’s no doubt that his authenticity online – alongside his drive to succeed – has powered his progression from someone who loved working out alongside his nine to five to a successful career. But what else helped him get there? And how would he advise others who want to turn their hobby into a side-hustle or full-time career? We’ve teamed up with Samsung to bring you stories of entrepreneurs we admire, and to show you the suite of Samsung technology can help ‘Power the Possible’, whatever your goals.
If you want to hear more from Woz, sign up to our Side Hustle Sessions at Samsung KX. Running on Monday October 28 in Samsung’s hub in King’s Cross, this workshop will involve a guided session on the connection between the mind and body when it comes to training – including a workout. Get ready to sweat! Woz will also share more about his journey, and give exclusive insights on turning your passion into a career. You’ll also get to try out several pieces of Samsung technology, too, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch, which you can use to track your progress throughout the session.
Hi Woz! Your career spans several different areas – how would you describe what you do?
I’m a coach primarily, across different disciplines. It could be training footballers, training the everyday athlete, and I do train quite a few high-profile people. I also offer an online platform which offers fitness tips, fitness advice and most importantly at the moment, Shred With Woz: a wellness and fitness space where like-minded people can come together a create a community.
How did Shred with Woz first start?
It birthed from a programme which I started just before lockdown, which catered to online fitness. I was doing live workouts on IG throughout lockdown, which supported thousands of people to start their movement journeys, and that in essence built that community of core followers. It was then called Quarantine Shred and then it turned into Pound Shred. After lockdown, I changed the concept to a real-life event; an immersive experience where those people now come together, meet each other and meet me. We do a workout in cool spaces – we’ve taken over churches, we’ve taken over music venues, we’ve taken over all sorts of types of venues. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to a designated charity. We’ve given a lot of money to the NHS, and we’ve also raised money for breast cancer and autism.
Technology must play a big role in building an online community. What Samsung products do you use and how do they help you in your day to day as a coach?
Definitely the Galaxy Watch – I use that daily. I use it to time clients, and track my own personal fitness journey. I also use the Buds when I’m training by myself, and I commute a lot too. If I’m editing social content on my phone, I always use the Buds so I can hear everything. For capturing content, I use the Galaxy S24 or the Flip, if I’m travelling. I do everything on there because there’s a lot of memory, so it also acts as a storage system for me. I also use them to schedule clients using google docs and the calendar. It makes my work life easier because everything is so seamless.
It sounds like building a community is really important to you. Is that how you got started in this industry?
I previously used to play a bit of football, many lifetimes ago, and got into fitness just through the love of movement. Making the leap into the industry for me was quite organic. At the time I was working so many different other jobs, running companies, and training was just me in the gym everyday. That turned into two of my friends training with me, then that turned into 20 of my friends joining me and me training them every day. I decided to get the qualification. My passion for training myself kind of transferred over and into others. So now I use that love for fitness to help others. That’s where I got my communication and people skills from; communicating in the right way to get the best out of people. It’s always been a team thing – and that goes for my fitness community. Even though I’m at the spearhead of that, everybody also breaks off into their own little groups because people have common goals. Some people might want to put on muscle, some people might want to lose some body fat, some people might want to do it for the mental benefits. So that’s for me what makes a strong community. They’re an authentic bunch. Nobody turns up trying to outdo everyone else, it’s about showing up and helping each other to be better each day.
What advice would you give to someone looking to turn their passion into a career?
My main thing – and I say this from experience – you have to fail and you have to fail often in order to learn what not to do. Don’t be scared to try something, don’t be scared of everybody’s opinions.
On social media, you don’t have to copy what everyone else is doing. Be unique, and when you show up as yourself, if that gets attention, and if that does well, then you know that you’re never going to have to work at that, because it’s going to be easy, it’s going to come to you because you’re being yourself.
Lastly, do it for the love. Do it to be better at it to improve, and the money will come afterwards. They say do you nine to five so you can work on your five to nine. At this moment in time, if money is essential, then do what it is that you need to do to earn as much money as possible in order to give you that time, five to nine, to be able to work on your craft and the thing that you really love. Eventually, that will replace the nine to five. It did for me.
Power the Possible with Samsung
Whether you’re working towards a career in fitness or simply wish to track your progress, the range of Samsung Galaxy watches are ideal. Take advantage of features like the workout comparisons, allowing you to race against your past self, or tracking your walking, running, biking and swimming. And if you’re looking to film content for social media, the Flip 6’s ‘FlexCam’ function with auto zoom will ensure you’ll capture your best angle. Your Samsung phone can even give you personalised tips on improving your energy levels, sleep and exercise. Find out more about that here.
Shop the range of Samsung watches.
