Stephanie Giang, CEO, founder and trainer, is a Health and Fitness Coach who specializes in helping busy professionals kickstart their weight loss and build healthier habits without it being stressful or overwhelming. She does this by encouraging manageable steps that will help her clients feel better as they ease into their journey. She believes in making lifestyle changes around the existing schedule of her clients to make the journey easy and simple. We are so excited to introduce her as our next Clean Republic Revolutionary!
CR: How did you get to where you are today?
SG: I started my journey when I graduated pre-med from UCI, I got my BS in Biology. I desperately wanted to go to med school, and even though I was eventually accepted, it just wasn’t in the cards for me. What happened instead is that, post college, I had my heart broken and wasn’t feeling my best. I had super low energy and didn’t like how I looked, but mainly, I didn’t feel good about myself. I was in bed for three months and realized that something had to change. So, I slowly just started to do things, one at a time, and I started with workouts. My whole thing was doing short workouts - 20 or 30 minutes at a time, which made me feel better, so I started working out more often.
However, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. So, I found a coach who helped me spend less time in the gym and hone into my nutrition. Ironically, I started eating more...but more of the right stuff. After I made those subtle changes, I lost weight, gained energy, and saw muscle development. It was a total physical transformation and I fell in love with the confidence, good vibes, and energy that comes with taking care of yourself! This mental and physical transformation was a complete lifestyle change for me, not just a temporary thing. Through this process of getting healthy, I noticed there were a lot of people who needed this kind of support. I realized I wanted to help other people experience similar transformations by teaching them how to integrate health and fitness into their everyday life through strengthening their body and their mind.
CR: What are you most proud of as a business?
SG: I’m most proud of the solid relationships I have with my clients. The health and fitness industry is so large, and a lot of people get so big that there’s often a missing connection between the client and the coach. I have this passion and desire to help people change their lives. I enjoy seeing them change their mindsets through the whole process because it’s such a life altering journey for so many people. Whether they want to lose weight, eat better, or whatever, I really feel that people need that extra support because you don’t always get it from your inner circle. Plus, we often try to convince ourselves that we shouldn’t feel a certain way. I try to help my clients see that it’s ok to feel the way they feel at that very point in their current journey.
CR: Any advice for other people?
SG: Whatever type of journey people have, there’s this constant expectation of every day being the same. I think it’s so important to just let go of how things are “supposed to be” and to really focus on why you’re doing it in the first place, which is really just to feel good inside and out! I think focusing on the action versus the potential outcome allows us to show ourselves some compassion. We’re our own biggest critic, so a lot of our biggest challenges are inside your mind. Just work on releasing expectations and focus on doing your best everyday.
CR: How did the pandemic affect you and your business?
SG: The pandemic was so devastating for so many people. But it also forced people, including me, to push the pause and reset button. I used to do a lot of one on ones, but felt that I wasn’t always able to connect with my clients as much as I wanted to. Once everyone was stuck at home and wanting to cultivate more personal connections, it offered me the opportunity to coach the way I really want to - on a more personal level. I shifted my business online, which I’ve always wanted to do, and have learned so many new skills just to provide more resources for people during this time.
CR: Who inspires you?
SG: When I moved back in with my parents about two months ago, it gave me the opportunity to hear more stories of how they got to where they are now. I have so much admiration for both of my parents, but especially my mom. As a woman, I feel her struggles on a much deeper level. They left Vietnam when they were 18 or 19 years old on a rowboat to try to get to Indonesia. They have all these crazy stories, like being threatened by pirates, that you would think are from a movie. My dad then went to the US and my mom to France, where she went to school and worked, all in a new language. Eventually they married and my mom joined my dad in the US, where she had to start all over again in another new language working and going to school and trying to scrape by with pennies and nickels. I never realized how much they had struggled because growing up, I got pretty much anything I needed. Looking back and hearing all the hardships my mom has had to go through and now seeing my parents so happy and able to travel all around the world, I have so much respect for my mom- her resilience and determination is just incredible.
The other person I admire is Lisa Michaelis from Live Love Spa, who I have had the great fortune of meeting two years ago. I’m inspired by her because even though she’s the CEO of her company, she is willing to jump in and do anything the company needs, and she always does it well. You walk away from every conversation with her feeling so supported and inspired, because she’s such a visionary. It’s so important for our society to have people like her, because now more than ever we need to uplift and help one another. Her whole personality, her standards and her morals are all things I admire and I aspire to emulate.
CR: How do you use Clean Republic in your home and/or business?
SG: I love Clean Republic - when I was coaching in person, I used it to clean the floors and gym equipment - it’s a way better alternative to all the other options we have out there. I don’t really have a space to clean anymore since I’m all online now, but I do visit a couple of clients and I use Clean Republic on any equipment we use. I also use it at home. I love it because there’s no residue of any harmful chemicals, no smells, no feeling woozy, which is great for me since I’m super sensitive to smells. It’s really important for me to use a product that is clean and doesn’t make me feel like I’m suffocating, no matter how much you use.