For this week’s Deep Dive Series, we’re interviewing personal trainer, fitness studio owner, and EMT, Reka Mihaly!
Reka Mihaly (@RekaMihaly on Clapper) started her journey on Clapper about 3 months ago, but she’s already amassed an enviable community. Her content is mostly fitness, breaking down different moves or routines and sharing her expertise. In this interview, we walked with Reka about her busy schedule, the other content she enjoys making, her advice for new content creators, and more!
Keep reading this Deep Dive to follow this creator’s inspiring story. Make sure to tune in every Thursday at 5pm CT on our @ClapperCreator account to listen to the bonus questions that will only be available on our live radio show: Clapper Talks.
Tell us a little more about yourself! What does a day in your life look like?
I’m a personal trainer and a small business owner. Because of that, I don’t really have a lot of free time! I’d say I work about 14 hours a day and it is really hard to find the time to do other things. But I’m doing my very best, because I’m the kind of person who loves everything. I’m fascinated about everything that exists. That’s why I paint, cook, mediate, read, do jewelry, volunteer, and have a lot of animals. I want to do it all – and then somehow find time for social media, too.
We’d love to learn a little more about your fitness journey. When did you start getting into fitness?
Now this is a long story! After I finished university I was lost; I was a certified translator in 4 languages, but everywhere wanted 3 years experience just to hire you. Eventually I gave up searching and worked where I could. I had a really unhappy lifestyle and it started to affect my health. And I felt that it was time for a change – and oh, what a change that was! From one day to another I gave up smoking, alcohol, coffee, meat, bread, sugar, salt, potatoes, changed my job, and began eliminating negative people from my life. I wanted to start fresh. So I began meditating on what I wanted from my life, what I really wanted to do. The answer was that I really wanted to help people, but in a way that I could also stay healthy too. That was the moment when I became a personal trainer. I know this is how it’s supposed to be because after I got my diploma, just a few days passed, and I already got a new job! And believe me, it’s not easy to get your first job here.
You own your own gym – which is awesome! What would you say is your favorite thing about owning a gym, and what’s something you’re not a fan of?
First of all, I’m a Capricorn and we don’t really like to be told what to do. This is the reason why I wanted my own business: I want to do what I want to do. This job is really satisfying because every day I help someone and you can’t even imagine what an impact training can have on people. Not just physically, but mentally too. The results start to show and the person start to regain confidence and after this confidence boost, they start to accept themselves and their perspective on life changes. The next step, generally, is that the person starts to love themselves again and that is my favorite moment! Then everything changes. Their relationships get better, the energy levels rise, they become more active and participate in more activities, and they start to enjoy life again. This is why I do what I do. What I don’t like about being a small business owner is the paperwork. Oh my gosh!
Not only are you a personal trainer, but you’re an EMT! How do you balance everything you do and content creation?
I want to do it all the same time. Because I work with my clients so much, I need to be very efficient. First of all, when I’m doing a training to myself, I make the videos then. And after I’m finished with my job at 10pm, I start editing the videos. I’m always doing it for the next day so I’m ready for the actual day. When someone wants to know which exercise is good for a specific kind of pain – for example, back pain or neck pain – then I really need to do a video and sometimes I’m going to my studio on the weekends to do that.
So, when did you join Clapper? How did your journey as a creator begin?
If I remember correctly, I joined March of this year. I followed a creator from another app, she just invited all her followers to Clapper, and I fell in love. It was so different, it was something else, and that’s why from that moment I’m hooked.
The first thing that was a big surprise on this app was that you don’t need to be in a specific niche. That is awesome! Because, let’s be serious, if we see something in everyday life, we want to share it. And that’s why I wanted to be more serious about Clapper, and I saw that the majority of my friends (I call them friends, not followers) really liked the fitness content. That’s why I gravitated towards that, but every once in a while you’ll still see some chickens and some dogs, and some recipes of mine. But that’s what inspires me: being able to make videos about anything.
What’s one content creation goal you’re setting for the year?
I really want to continue with the exercise tips because I saw that it really helps, and that people are really open about it. And one goal of mine would be the verification, the second step. But we’ll see how it goes! My main goal on this app is to help people, because I saw that in the US, if you need the information from a trainer, you have to pay. Which is really sad.
What do you enjoy most about Clapper? In what ways do you feel like Clapper needs improvement?
I think it is not a surprise that I will say the community is the most important and the greatest thing about Clapper. We can gain real friendships here. I’ve seen that in a few months of being here.
But I would leave everything as it is, because it is really great. You guys are already working on the problems, I know you do, and your work can be seen. In a few months of being here, I’ve already noticed the changes. You guys are doing amazing.
Who would you say has helped you the most on your content creation journey? They can be on Clapper or otherwise!
When I came to this app, the first video I saw was from @QuinnTheEskimo. And I joined his group and it really helped me those first days. The people there connected, the members were really supportive, and in the beginning that is the most important thing. They helped with the technical things, how to do this, how to do that, and that was a really good help for me at the beginning.
What advice would you give new creators that want to be successful on Clapper?
That’s easy! If you’re just joining Clapper, the most important thing is support. It’s not the kind of app where you post a video and close it and do whatever you want. If you post a video, it is very important to go to other profiles and just love a little bit on everyone else’s profiles and videos. And you can be sure that love will come back.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know Reka Mihaly– if you haven’t already, give her a follow! To meet @LifeofLinna, check out our last Deep Dive.