#9: Alessia Scauzillo - From Corporate Finance to Fitness Influencer

[00:00:27] Rob Pintwala: Hey, Alessia, thank you so much for joining me today on Actualize. I wanted to start with just jumping in and you can tell us a little bit about your career transition and, and what that looked like.

[00:02:41] Alessia Scauzillo: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me today. I'm excited to chat. I started my career in finance, so I went to McGill University. I studied business there and I went on a traditional path I worked at an accounting firm for three years, PWC. I got my CPACA and then leaving there, I didn't quite know what I wanted to do, but I knew I loved working with clients and working on a bunch of different deals and projects.

[00:03:09] Alessia Scauzillo: So I went into corporate banking. At RBC. And I was there for about five or six years. And it was a very intense place. I was on an amazing, like, career trajectory. I was doing well, I was getting promoted. The work was very interesting. But it was super stressful. It was deals based, so it'd be like a deal would drop and you know, we'd drop everything that you were working on and you would focus on it.

[00:03:36] Alessia Scauzillo: And it was like a tight timeline and all of that. And I was working for someone that was not very nice, quite toxic. And I kept thinking like, you know, this is the path I should be on. I studied for this, I worked for this, like, I'm doing well and this is what I should stick to. But there was something inside me that was nagging at me that was like, This is not it for me.

[00:03:59] Alessia Scauzillo: I know that there's more. I could be happier. Was I okay? Yes. What could I be happier in my life? Could I feel more fulfilled? Yes, for sure. And throughout my entire career, I had been working out. I was into fitness. I would work out first thing in the morning because I knew that if I saved it till later in the day, something would go awry with work and I would have to skip it.

[00:04:24] Alessia Scauzillo: So I was working out just for my mental health. It gave me the energy and the confidence and the strength that I needed to like, get through my days. But there reached a point in my finance career when I was at RBC where I was like, I am so unhappy. I'd come home from work one too many times crying.

[00:04:41] Alessia Scauzillo: And I was like, I feel like I need to try something different. And I didn't know what it was, but I was like, while I figure that out, why don't I teach some workouts part-time on the side? Just for fun, like for something else to do, for something to put my mind, like my mind toward my energy toward.

[00:04:58] Alessia Scauzillo: And so I got certified and I started doing that and I loved it so, so much. But I also was realizing how little I was getting paid, in fitness, teaching fitness classes, like at a studio in Toronto. It was like, I was thinking about that recently. There was like a tier, it's like if your class was not that full, like say half full, you'd get $35 for the class. And if you maxed out the class, you'd get 50. And so you would have to teach a lot of classes to do well. Like to even survive.

[00:05:27] Rob Pintwala:  I've always wondered about the economics of that.

[00:05:29] Alessia Scauzillo: So that was in 2019. So maybe it's different now. Probably not, 'cause Covid hurt a lot of studios, but it was, it was brutal. So I was working in finance full-time and teaching fitness on the side.

[00:05:40] Alessia Scauzillo: And I started to think about like, I love this. How can I turn this into something bigger? And so I started, I saw like a couple of people, big people in the space doing the online thing. This was the early days pre covid like no one was doing it except for a handful of people who had that foresight.

[00:05:57] Alessia Scauzillo: And I was like, And I had a business background. I was like, this is it. I need a subscription model. I need to get online. I need to put workouts on there. And so I started building it in 2019, and then when Covid hit, I had been planning to launch three weeks later for like the six months leading up. I had been planning to want to launch three weeks into Covid.

[00:06:15] Alessia Scauzillo: And so when Covid hit, I was so ready and I launched my online fitness business. And then I worked on that with my full-time job. I had already been doing it right, for about a year, teaching in person in Toronto. And then I did the online thing while working my full-time job for another year.

[00:06:32] Alessia Scauzillo: And then I ultimately left. So, I left my finance very stable, very secure job to be a full-time fitness professional and a content creator, and influencer that part of my business was starting to pick up too. And it's interesting, people always ask me like, how did you start becoming an influencer? And it started because I wanted people to come to my classes in person and I was like if no one, if I don't have a social media presence, no one's gonna come to my classes. That is why my Instagram handle is Alessia Sculpt because my last name is Sc. So I wanted people to type Alessia sc and be able to find me without like my actual last name being out there because I was still working in finance.

[00:06:55] Alessia Scauzillo: So it was just to drive people to my classes. And then I started to enjoy being a content creator and sharing my life online. I've kind of always done that. I've always been like a big sharer with my friends and with the people around me. Like when I love something, I like raving about it.

[00:07:20] Alessia Scauzillo: And so I started sharing my life and right around the time that I launched my online fitness business in Covid was when my influencing kind of started to pick up. And now I do that time.

[00:07:50] Rob Pintwala: Wild, wild journey. You mentioned there that when you were in finance still like something was kind of nagging at you. How long was that nagging happening? What did it feel like? Did it like more intense or…

[00:08:09] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, so it was there honestly almost from the beginning when I started working at PWC. But I thought that it was like when I was at PWC, I thought it was maybe a certain project I was on at PWC and then I'd switch the project and I'd be like, Hmm, it's still there. Okay, so maybe it's PWC.

[00:08:29] Alessia Scauzillo: So then I left and I went to this other job and then it was there and then I thought, well, maybe it's just the toxic boss who was not great and didn't make it worse. But then I switched to another role within RBC 'cause I was in a corporate banking general role. And then I switched to a real estate position.

[00:08:47] Alessia Scauzillo: And then it was still there. It's like it was this thing that was always there that I realized it wasn't the job, it wasn't the company. It was like it was all, it was all of that. Like, it was just, this was not my purpose in life. It felt that was, that's a really good question. What did that feel like?

[00:09:05] Alessia Scauzillo: It felt. Hard to like do the things I needed to do and I'm not sure I recognized that at the time. But now doing the work that I do now, I feel so in flow. It often doesn't feel like work. I'm just like so aligned and like in it and it's like suddenly it's four o'clock and the day's almost over and I'm like, oh my gosh.

[00:09:23] Alessia Scauzillo: Like it just, everything flows so well and when I look back at that time it felt so difficult. Like I had to muster up the energy to do anything and you know, I was able to do it. And actually, that skill has served me well now because I can still do it when I don't have the energy, I can still like force myself to do things, which was my entire last year, 2022, I was going through a lot of personal things which we can talk about and I didn't have energy at all, but I feel like I have this deep sense of like will and like discipline from those finance days to force myself to just do whatever I need to do.

[00:09:59] Alessia Scauzillo: But now it just flows, it flows and it, it didn't then. And I just, I felt like I was meant for more. I, I looked at the people above me in the bank, and I, I, I was so sad for them, like speaking, so honestly, I was like, they don't take care of themselves, like physically, and they don't make time for their bodies, like no workouts.

[00:10:22] Alessia Scauzillo: They don't eat well. They kind of just like eat whatever's around like, you know like Chinese food, food for lunch, like five days a week, where like you kind of, you hit that lull in the afternoon when you do that and they're sleepy and they're having three coffees a day to get through, etcetera. They don't see their families or their kids often.

[00:10:38] Alessia Scauzillo: And I just kept, like, I kept looking at them being like, this isn't me. Like I care about myself. I care about my body. I care about living my absolute best life. And staying on this path does not feel like that. It feels like conventional and expected, but it doesn't feel like me.

[00:11:00] Alessia Scauzillo: Look, some people, I say this all the time, some people are meant for that life. Some people are meant to be employees. They're meant to wake up, do what they're told, make a lot of money, and go home and, you know, go see their family for an hour before bed. Hit two vacations a year. Like, you know what I mean?

[00:11:20] Alessia Scauzillo: Like that, that conveys a more conventional life. Some people want that. And this is the funny thing. I wish I wanted that because if I wanted that, I could be making so much money right now. I'd be happy. I'd be like, you know, I'd be like, it would've been enough for me, but it wasn’t, it's not enough for me.

[00:11:38] Alessia Scauzillo: And sometimes I struggle with that. 'cause it's, it's hard. It's hard for the conventional to not be enough and to figure out what is enough and then be brave enough to go for it.

[00:11:50] Rob Pintwala: Yeah. Like Will said I think so. For any of the listeners, we went to the same program at McGill.

[00:11:57] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, good context. We know each other, we, we studied, you were in finance or accounting too. Right? But we just knew each other from like not accounting, finance.

[00:12:06] Rob Pintwala: Just recall you as being like, someone who like had their shit together.

[00:12:09] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah. Thanks. I did, I did. Which is, I did have my shit together and I think, and I still do, but I think that's why, that's what shocked so many people about my career change. 'cause I think from the outside it looked like I was like, so had it together.

[00:12:10] Rob Pintwala:Right. I guess my question on that topic is like, where did that sort of direction come from? Like even back in university when you were sort of on that track, got into account right away, like, is that family pressure? Is that just some pressure that you put on yourself?

[00:12:12] Alessia Scauzillo: A mix of both. I think it started with my family, my mom who passed away, which is also a big part of my story. She passed away while we were at McGill, actually between the third and fourth year. She was super strict, had the highest of standards for me, and was on me at all times.

[00:12:52] Alessia Scauzillo: I think she saw my potential and she wanted to make sure that I got there and didn't fall short of that. And then that has since translated into me putting a lot of pressure on myself as I have always needed and wanted to be the best. As I graduated, I don't know if you remember this, but I graduated number one in our class at McGill.

[00:13:34] Rob Pintwala: Wow.

[00:13:35] Alessia Scauzillo: and Yeah, at the graduation but the funny thing is I did that and I got some scholarship money from it and I used it to backpack through Europe for three months and that's always been my personality. I always worked hard and played harder, but I did work super, super hard. So I think the pressure my mom put on me translated into me putting that pressure on myself.

[00:14:03] Alessia Scauzillo: And I kept that going for years after school. 'cause I feel like you, you do school, you do high school and then you get into school, university and then you do your postgrad or whatever. Which for me was kind of like getting my CPA and working at PWC. And then you get one job and then another job and another job.

[00:14:19] Alessia Scauzillo: And I feel like you put one foot in front of the other for so many years and then it's only like a few years out of that, usually around like late twenties in people's Saturn return. If you're kind of like awake enough to get there is when you're like, wait a second, do I even wanna be on this path?

[00:14:35] Alessia Scauzillo: Like, I'm able to do it, but do I want it? And that's, that's what happened to me. Have you heard of this Saturn return thing?

Rob Pintwala: I haven't heard that. No, I've heard similar concepts.

[00:14:45] Alessia Scauzillo: Okay. Yeah. It's like around 27-30 when a lot of people make a lot of big shifts in transitions in their life. And I, I made all of mine in that time.

Rob Pintwala: When your mom passed away, was it, were you like still just so focused on achieving or like what happened then like between third and fourth year? So you were more than halfway done with school.

[00:15:09] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah. I had a summer internship with PWC that summer in Toronto. She died in June and I was on week three of the internship. And I didn't go back for the entire rest of the summer. I was just like, In the grief. And they were very supportive of that. They were like, you don't have to come back.

[00:15:34] Alessia Scauzillo: We'll still have you. Like we, you know, we like you, we want you back full time after school, so take this summer to grieve, to do your thing, and then come back after. And so, I did take the summer to slow down and be with my family and grieve. But I think because I didn't work that summer, I felt insecure about that full-time position starting after school that I worked hard in my last year.

[00:15:59] Alessia Scauzillo: Like when a lot of people would typically, like they've, they already have their job secured. They're kind of slowing down. They're like, it's the last year, whatever. I kind of like doubled down on that year. Yeah.

[00:16:11] Rob Pintwala: reciprocate their generosity from PWC?

[00:16:14] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, exactly. In hindsight, I didn't have to do that. I was one of a hundred new people.

[00:16:20] Alessia Scauzillo: It didn't matter. Like who cares? Like, you know, they, my mom died like it's a big life event and like, they would've kept, kept that position open for me regardless. But I felt indebted to them honestly. Because, they didn't have to give me a whole summer off, and they did anyways. And I was very, really grateful.

[00:16:36] Alessia Scauzillo: So I felt indebted. And so yeah, I doubled down in that fourth year. And that then translated into those years at PWC and those years after I worked so, so, so hard. It took me, took me many years after my mom died to kind of like decompress and be, feel safe enough in my body and my life to like even process the grief of losing her.

[00:17:00] Alessia Scauzillo: I feel like I only really processed it last year because then after I was in corporate, I was at RBC. I started my own business and as you know, the first few years of starting your own business are so chaotic and it's like you're just building, building, building and you're working so hard and you're, you know, you're just so in it.

[00:17:16] Alessia Scauzillo: And it was only last year when that kind of settled and I felt safe enough in my career, in my life and everything that, all that stuff, the grief came up to the surface with my mom and I worked through it last year, which coincidentally was at the same time as my divorce.

[00:17:35] Rob Pintwala:Wow, that's like 10 years later. Just, one more question about that sort of grief. I've never experienced a loss such as that. However, I've heard people say that grief is different for everyone. Like what do you think about that? Have, did you have anyone with a shared experience to console within that sort of 10-year period? Or like, you know, is it you just had to make time for it or did it just come up when it needed to come up?

[00:18:17] Alessia Scauzillo: It came up when I when needed to come up. 'cause I was distracted for a long time. The grief was very present for the first few years with my family. First, like a year or two. And then it kind of, everyone kind of like moved on and. At the surface, on the surface at least. And then I had like seven more people in my family die in between my mom and me.

[00:18:41] Alessia Scauzillo: I'm not gonna hold anything back and just sort of like, put it out there. And so it kind of, and then it was it, and people, like my cousin who I was, really close with was one of those people grandparents, like kind of all that. And, then it kind of just became like, oh, another one. Oh, another one. Oh, another one. And so I feel like we kind of became numb a little bit. And then last year when I was going through my divorce, separation, and then ultimately divorce That was like a new and different kind of grief because, for the first time in my life, I was like choosing it instead of people dying and it happening to me.

[00:18:57] Alessia Scauzillo: I was the one saying goodbye. And so the grief I feel like hit me differently with my breakup, and then it opened up the floodgates to feel the grief from like losing my mom.

[00:19:34] Rob Pintwala: Wow.

[00:19:35] Alessia Scauzillo: So, at the time it was so hard, but now, looking back, I'm like, I'm a different person than I was like a year or two ago.

[00:19:42] Alessia Scauzillo: Like my heart is so much more open. I have so much more empathy, so much more compassion. And I feel like I live so much more in the moment and I, and, and present than I was. I feel like I used to always be rushing somewhere and, I still kind of am, but, I sense a shift in me where the priority is now to be happy.

[00:20:02] Alessia Scauzillo: It's not like I don't, I've slowed down a little bit in work. I've slowed down in so many areas of my life. 'cause I'm like, where am I going? Like the time is now. Like I just wanna be happy. I don't need to be always on to the next thing, the next thing, the next thing.

[00:20:14] Rob Pintwala: Yeah. That's amazing. You did mention purpose earlier, and is, did that sort of come up with. All of this grief

[00:20:25] Alessia Scauzillo: For sure. For sure.

[00:20:27] Rob Pintwala: that, you know, like a separate discovery even? Or was it to just make way for that too?

[00:20:33] Alessia Scauzillo: I've been thinking about purpose a lot lately because, for the last few years, I've thought my purpose was to support women and feel their best selves physically and mentally, and inspire them through my workouts and my wellness content after going through a divorce. I think my purpose is much bigger than that.

[00:20:55] Alessia Scauzillo: I think it's, and going through the career shift, I think, I think my purpose has evolved into, I'll be the first one to do something that a lot, most people are not brave enough to do. So I shifted, I shifted careers. I left my stable job and started my business kind of earlier than most people, you know, and since then I've seen some people do it.

[00:21:16] Alessia Scauzillo: But I was one of the first out of my network at least. And still one of the only, I got married, you know, fairly young, and then I went through a divorce. I'm the first of my friends to go through it and the first of, you know, to talk about it openly on social media that I've seen.

[00:21:36] Alessia Scauzillo: And then the fitness stuff that I just mentioned, I feel like, yeah, my purpose has evolved into I'll be brave enough to go first and I'll talk about it, whatever it is, and then I'll, hopefully, I'll inspire other people to do the same or follow their path, like whatever it is. And I think that that, that takes a lot of bravery and that takes a lot of like confidence.

[00:21:59] Alessia Scauzillo: I'll work. Like, I feel like I'll work on that myself so that I can do that for other people and, and be that like kinda leader role model or whatever it is. And I don't mean to like, I don't mean to like to toot my own horn saying I'm a leader. I'm a role model. I, but I think it's, it's very hard. I find myself to be first in these things and then like talk about it on social media.

[00:22:21] Alessia Scauzillo: Like me, it's hard announcing my divorce. I'm sorry, I'm 31 years old and have been with my partner for 12 years and I adored him. And then announcing our divorce, like that was so fucking hard. But then I got, you know, hundreds if not thousands of messages from people about how that changed there, you know, it, it, it inspired them in some way. I am like, okay, well it's worth it then.

[00:22:48] Rob Pintwala: Yeah, that's great. I was thinking, you imagine, I, I was imagining getting  lots of

[00:22:53] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, it did. lots of notes. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Do, do you, do you feel like I've had this sort of question with some other folks with like large followings before, you know, are, are you feeling any sort of, now that you're like a couple of years into more of like the kind of influencer side of things, are you feeling any sort of obligation to show up and like always be open and vulnerable and always be on.

[00:23:22] Rob Pintwala: Yeah, how have you dealt with that?

[00:23:24] Alessia Scauzillo: yeah, for sure. I do feel this sense of responsibility to my community to show up no matter what. Last year, when it was like the hardest year again, was the year I was going through my separation and divorce. I was stressed and depressed for most of the year and I had to show up.

[00:23:43] Alessia Scauzillo: Anyways, and otherwise, because this is how I make money and this is my full-time job, and if I'm not engaging with my community, then I can't support myself. And that became even scarier when I became single and didn't have my ex's, you know, full-time salary to like help compensate for my lower months or whatever it was.

[00:24:02] Alessia Scauzillo: But I also at that time had to establish a boundary on what showing up means. And for me, it means not sharing what I'm going through in real-time by allowing myself to go through it behind the scenes and still be showing up on social, but not talking about that thing that's happening at that moment.

[00:24:26] Alessia Scauzillo: And then once I've had enough time to process it myself, yeah, I wanna share it with my community because it's something. So whatever it is, you know, career or personal or whatever, it's something meaningful for me that I think I. I often can find a way to like help people learn from it, from having gone through it myself.

[00:24:47] Alessia Scauzillo: So there's usually like this time delay. So like, you know, I was going through the separation last year. I only announced it on social in February, the end of February of this year because I needed that time. Like by the time I announce on social, I'm generally like okay with what I'm talking about. And that's the only reason I can talk about it.

[00:25:05] Alessia Scauzillo: 'cause otherwise I can get so emotional and it's just like, it's too much. I can't see things. So that boundary has been very helpful for me. And while I'm going through it and still showing up, I'm more creating content like out of. Like routine, like it's that deep discipline that I have for my finance days where I'm like sharing, you know, like four wellness tips for your morning or four workout moves for this.

[00:25:32] Alessia Scauzillo: That kind of more like a run of mill like wellness fitness content that I can, I don't need my deep creative energy to like to do it. And then, and then when I'm ready to talk about something, I come out and I talk about it and I share very openly about it. So when I shared about my separation, I did this video and then that was, I mean, we can just talk about it.

[00:25:53] Alessia Scauzillo: 'cause I feel like I brought it up 'cause it's been the biggest, most meaningful thing that's happened in my life in the last while. But I knew that I wanted to share something because I live my life online and, I was married and to then. Like to not share that I'm no longer married felt weird. So if I had to share something, I was like, I feel like this is an opportunity to be inspiring in some way.

[00:26:16] Alessia Scauzillo: Because our separation was so amicable and I am thriving so much more. And it wasn't out of a desperate state. It was out of both of us choosing to like, like a different life path. And so I feel like if I'm gonna say something, I better make it inspiring or else like, what's the point? So then I shared this video about us that was basically that it was like we are choosing ourselves, we're both going in our directions, and like that's okay.

[00:26:41] Alessia Scauzillo: And then, I shared a bunch of content on how I got to that place, like my healing tips, which I'm sure you asked me about like therapy and mushrooms and all this stuff. And so once, I am in a place to go there, I'll like to go there, but I have to be ready and it takes me some time.

[00:26:59] Rob Pintwala: It pays to have a finance background and then you become a content creator. Right? You just have all the strategies in place.

[00:27:12] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, other content creators don't have the luxury of being so disciplined. It's true. I think so much of what I learned in finance, I use every single day. And the biggest thing being, I have no fucking clue what I'm doing, but I'll figure it out. 'cause every day in finance I had no a clue what I was doing and I would figure it out. And, and now I still, that's the running your own business, I feel like is every day not knowing what, what you're doing, but you're just like, okay, I'll figure it out.

[00:27:34] Rob Pintwala: A lot of it sounds almost like you're almost similar, like pattern recognition. Like you're recognizing the opportunities as they happen to you and as you see your community respond to them, it sounds like. And you're just choosing whatever sort of path aligns with you, which is inspirational. You can be whatever type of content creator you want, but you're gonna do it this way.

[00:27:58] Alessia Scauzillo: Yes, totally. And when I'm deciding it, I tune into myself a lot. I've gotten much more in touch with my intuition and if something doesn't feel right, I don't talk about it. And if something feels right, I talk about it a ton. And I try not to, like, for, like, yeah, I try and tune in and try not to force the, you know, to talk about something too early or, or anything like that.

[00:28:21] Alessia Scauzillo: Like, I am like, okay, like I tune into my heart like, okay, am I gonna do this? All right, now I'm ready. This is how I'm gonna talk about it. This is all the content I'm gonna do around it, and I'm gonna stay close to my community in that and get that feedback so that I can like to adjust. It's a, and it's, and that feedback loop is something I learned in finance for sure.

[00:28:40] Alessia Scauzillo: Like, you know, always asking your boss for feedback so you can course correct and such. Like, I do that all the time with my community now. I read all the DMs. I read all the comments, and I can't always respond, but, 'cause there are a lot of them, it gets overwhelming. But I am like in that feedback loop so that I can create the content that I want and that people want.

[00:29:02] Rob Pintwala: Yeah. I imagine you didn't get the tuning in part from Finance. Where did that come from and how did you learn that skill?

[00:29:10] Alessia Scauzillo: I think it's been the journey in the last few years. It started with the well it started with a career shift where I felt that nagging for so long, but it was only when things got so bad that I made the shift. Now I'm trying to like tune in before things get so off that I catch it earlier and then I can like, I can course correct sooner.

[00:29:40] Alessia Scauzillo: I'm trying to not let things get terrible before I make a move, you know? I have someone close to me who I feel like is struggling in their career and is noticing things they've never noticed before with their physical health and things like that as well. And it's interesting to try to support them from afar, but, I think when, it hit that point recently where they had to make a move.

[00:30:07] Rob Pintwala:  Like to, they had no other choice. And like, was that similar to what happened to you?

[00:30:12] Alessia Scauzillo: Well, I think the universe sends you nudges, and if you don't listen, which. I haven't, sometimes I take a long time to listen, and I think a lot of people don't listen. Then it sends you stronger and stronger and stronger signals. And then it's like you almost have no choice but to listen.

[00:30:32] Alessia Scauzillo: And for me that this year, a really obvious example has been, I've gotten into two car accidents this year and I've gotten concussions. And they would, they both came at a time when I was going like a mile a minute. I was like running around in two different, for two different reasons. In January, I was in an Uber and I got hit, hit by a car, not by, neither of them was my fault.

[00:30:55] Alessia Scauzillo: Like I got hit both times and anyways, I feel like the universe was nudging, nudging, nudging. And then it was like I needed this like, big thing to happen, to like listen. And so I'm, I'm trying to like, I'm trying to catch myself before I get to the, to those extremes. And there's like big things that happen, but it's hard. It's hard 'cause you kind of just get used to going

[00:31:21] Alessia Scauzillo: I think it sounds different for every person to tune in. I think it's a skill that I'm still working on. Slow down and be able to do that in mid steps, slow down and then like put your business hat on, as that sounds like an incredible skill to hone in.

[00:31:42] Alessia Scauzillo: And the combination of like showing up vulnerable, you know, with vulnerability on social media, which, you know, I think. It's kind of a known thing where like, well, I was sort of told again by you know, Jillian Harris, who I interviewed before, like the more you're vulnerable, the more people are like into it, you know?

[00:32:01]Rob Pintwala: And it's like this kind of recurring cycle. Like do you, do you find that.

[00:32:04] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, that's such a good point. It's interesting 'cause yes, the more vulnerable you are, the more people relate and the more into it they are. But you can't be too vulnerable 'cause and all too much too often. 'cause then it loses its meaning like significance or how meaningful it is. And then you kind, so then I kind of err on the side of like, you know, pulling back after I've been vulnerable.

[00:32:35] Alessia Scauzillo: But then that's what people want and it's this weird, like how much to share, how much to keep, and how often to do it. When I'm vulnerable, that's the most engagement I get. Anytime I share anything about myself. Divorce about my body and like body struggles. That content does the best, but I don't, like, I don't, I don't wanna talk about that all.

[00:33:02] Alessia Scauzillo: It's very exhausting to talk about that all the time. So it's a balance, you know, like I know people wanna hear it and I know it does well, but fuck, like, I don't like, well it's, it's heavy stuff, know?

[00:33:14] Rob Pintwala: I mean, you see folks that are like, they built their brand around that type of conversation.

[00:33:19] Alessia Scauzillo: Oh, yeah.

[00:33:20]  Rob Pintwala: can't even imagine what that would be like

[00:33:22] Alessia Scauzillo: Agreed. Like someone like the bird's, papaya is her entire platform around that. And, and then, and then people pick you apart so much like, it's exhausting. You have to be like, willing to put yourself out there. And with it comes so much criticism, and that's something we haven't talked about yet, but like talk about that when I posted.

[00:33:46] My video reel announcing my divorce. In the first two weeks, it had a few hundred thousand views and everyone was supportive. After that, it went viral and it has a million and a half views, and I got ripped apart. Ripped apart. Like, you deserve to die. You're gonna be single forever. No one's ever gonna love you again.

[00:34:08] You're gonna be alone. It's gonna be like you and your cat, like your cats that I don't have. But it was fully like I, someone, I think someone said, I have a gun so I can shoot people like you. Like, it was just like so bad. And it affected me at first, and then I, it got, there was just such a volume that I kind of just had to stop looking and like let it go and like, let the video just be, and, you know, all let them engage with themselves and keep the video going and honestly, whatever.

[00:34:37]Rob Pintwala: did you pull out that?

[00:34:38] Alessia Scauzillo: I stopped. Like there was a shock, but like what happened after that? I was devastated because it wasn't true. And I was like, these people, these are people that don't follow me. 'cause now the video's gone viral. It's hitting all these other people, they don't know me. And I was so devastated that that's what they were getting from it.

[00:34:58] Alessia Scauzillo:And then I had to think about advice someone gave me last year, one of, the people that run this mushroom retreat I go to anyways, the husband, the husband and wife, he had said to me in a different context, well, is it true what they're saying? And this wasn't related to the video, but I thought about it in the context of the video.

[00:35:18] Alessia Scauzillo:And I just was like, I knew it, it, the things people were saying weren't true. Okay. And like, it was as simple as that. It was like, well, are they true? And I was like, well, no. And it's like, okay, then why does it matter? And, at that point was when I. Stopped. Look. I was like, okay, well if they're not true then I have to stop looking at them 'cause they're bothering me.

[00:35:37] Alessia Scauzillo:So I changed the filter on my like notifications where comments didn't show up anymore. And I just stopped looking and I just let the video go and I was like, well, I just have to continue living my life. And the people that matter to me and my community and my followers and my friends and my family, know the truth.

[00:35:52] Alessia Scauzillo:And also the other person who this video is about, which was my ex, knows the truth and that's all that matters. And so fuck everyone else. I just had to like put my foot down like that.

[00:36:05] Rob Pintwala: Good. You had to do that again with any other posts? Like even if it was a smaller volume of haters?

[00:36:11] Alessia Scauzillo: yeah, definitely. In the posts after that, there were a few about like how I've been getting through my heartbreak and that kind of thing. It, it was all related to that. And then sometimes when I post like body posts I get some comments. Usually a couple of different kinds of comments. One is from men being like, you're fat or something like this.

[00:36:31]  Alessia Scauzillo:And usually, those are like so ridiculous that I'm like, okay, whatever. And then sometimes from women being like, well, you're skinny so you can't talk about your body. Because I feel like people think that. Because I lost a lot of weight last year when I was going through the divorce. And I've gained a bunch of it back.

[00:36:46]  Alessia Scauzillo:And I think people think that if you're not like, like a very large person, you can't talk about your body. But in my opinion, if your body has fluctuated a lot, then you know, I'm, I'm okay to talk about that. But I think sometimes people tell me I can't. And then it's like, well, this is my social media platform.

[00:37:03] Alessia Scauzillo:I'm talking relative, you know, I'm still in a smaller body, but I've gained weight since I haven't been as stressed. And by the way, my message is that's a good thing because I lost weight from stress and now I'm like normal, like eating normally, working out normally, and like have gained it back.

[00:37:18]  Alessia Scauzillo:So like that's a positive thing and a message that I try and share with people. So I think I've just like, I just know like there's always gonna be someone that has something to say negative about my content. It's like, okay, block delete at first. Block delete is my first instinct. And then it's like, you know what?

[00:37:34]  Alessia Scauzillo:Just let them say whatever and like, let it, let it make the video do better and move on to the next video the next day. Like every day is a new piece of content. Like, move on.

[00:37:44] Rob Pintwala: Wow, must be hard. I'm sure a lot of people can't do that.

[00:37:48] Alessia Scauzillo: I think so. So yeah. The last thing I'll say about that is this job has been really helpful in my life to learn not to take things personally because I c I know I've learned online I cannot take things personally. And it has been one of the greatest lessons of my life to not take things personally in my real life too, not just online, and not very little few things bother me now.

[00:37:52]  Alessia Scauzillo:I'm like, everything that happens, I'm like, I know this is a you thing, not a me thing. And I just kind of like, let it go, let it slide off of me. And that lesson came from social.

[00:38:30] Rob Pintwala: I like that approach. Yeah. I think it seems like the biggest haters, you know, assuming they're real people,

[00:38:38] Alessia Scauzillo:  Yeah. Oh, these were, I mean, yeah, it was probably a mix of real and fake, but then, the messages were so specific that I think must have you know, been thinking a lot about this lately, if you're, you know, really judgmental towards other people, it's just such a quick indication of how you treat yourself. You know, it's,

[00:38:48] Rob: Yeah.

[00:38:20] Alessia Scauzillo:  it's sad really, at the end of the day.  

[00:38:30] Rob Pintwala: It is. Well, good for you to step away from that. You mentioned the mushroom retreat. Is there anything, is there any, was there any cool experiences that happened there?

[00:38:38] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah. I have been doing a lot of like, not a lot, but a good amount of heavy doses of mushrooms in my healing journey the last year and a half side by side with therapy. So I've been going to therapy like once or twice a week for, yeah, a year and a half now. It's more like once every three, four weeks.

[00:39:33]  Alessia Scauzillo:But therapy is what got me through the really hard times. And then coupled with the mushroom retreat, it's this well where we do mushroom, like a ceremonial setting and I've had some really meaningful experiences. I think the biggest one that came from therapy and mushrooms was, whichever way I go in my life, no matter what I do, I'm gonna be okay no matter what.

[00:39:55]  Alessia Scauzillo:And I think for a long time I struggled with that. Like going into fitness from finance, I was like, I'm not gonna have this salary. I'm not gonna, but it's like, then all these opportunities opened up in this content creator fitness life. And then with my divorce, it was like, I thought I wasn't gonna be okay if I wasn't with my ex, but like now my life has opened up in a million ways that I couldn't have expected and I'm fine.

[00:40:16]  Alessia Scauzillo:So that was a really big lesson that I saw clearly in my mushroom journeys. And then the, biggest one though was like moving through the pain of losing my mom. That all came up in the mushroom journeys and like specifically, Understanding firsthand and seeing my mom in that, in those mushroom journeys that she did the best that she could because she put a lot of pressure on me and she was very hard on me.

[00:40:44]  Alessia Scauzillo:But she did the best that she could and like forgiving myself for what I didn't do right in that relationship and forgiving her for what she didn't do right in that relationship. And unfortunately, she passed away. Like we, we butt heads when we were teenagers or when I was a teenager. And unfortunately, she passed away kind of like before the shift of like us, me becoming an adult and us having the opportunity to become close.

[00:41:10]  Alessia Scauzillo:You know, like I was 20 years old when she died. So we never really had that opportunity. We just like butt heads when I was 16, 17, 18. And like forgiving each other for that and, and not just talking about it in therapy. Like I think in therapy, which I needed to talk about it for sure, and I've talked through so many things in therapy, but I think there's a difference.

[00:41:28]  Alessia Scauzillo:And they help each other to talk through something in therapy where rationally you talk through it, you hear the therapist say it, you say it, okay. But then to like be in the mushroom ceremony and be on mushrooms and be sitting side by side with my mom in the experience in this like other like a galaxy that I went to and talking to her and going through that forgiveness, like both ways, like that really like accelerated my healing journey where maybe if I hadn't have done that, it would've taken another year or two years of therapy to like fully get there and I was like healed from it in like a few mushroom ceremonies.

Rob Pintwala: No, it's super beautiful how you talk about that and the closure. And even just like hearing you, your tone, even just talking about it, you sound very, you know, together, which is amazing. And yeah, I'm a, I'm an advocate for, you know, different types of healing and doing a lot of exploration myself.

[00:42:09] Alessia Scauzillo:  I haven't been back since December of last year 'cause I feel like I did so much, you know, and sometimes it's like enough with the work, like last year I did so much like work in quotes, like, you know going through the breakup and this therapy and the mushrooms and the reading, and the meditating, and the journaling and like, oh, I was just like, come January I was like exhausted and I needed a break.

[00:42:53]  Alessia Scauzillo:And now I'm kind of like, okay, I could dip my toes into some more work. And maybe doing it from a place of like, Yeah. Not needing it like I did last year, but like wanting to like to push forward more. That's where I'm going now like, maybe I could make this fun. Maybe I don't have to be like, so sad, you know?

[00:43:17] Rob Pintwala: Yeah. I love that.

[00:43:17] Rob Pintwala: I think a lot of folks, that's where the real magic almost can happen, right? And that like speaking of purpose and alignment and that sort of thing. And I'm, you know, personally, I'm actually, I’m kind of seeking that out a little bit more now, but with a lot more patience and intention around like, you know, where you go and who you connect with and what's your work.

[00:43:41] Rob Pintwala: And I think that's like really powerful and to be able to have the stillness to be able to approach it like that. And, a bunch of therapists that I've talked to have talked about the benefits of like the one, one person gave it like a zero, like a negative 10 to plus 10 scales and said like, most folks come into therapy, like a negative number and they sort of just want to get back to zero. And, you know, but there's a huge opportunity from like the zero to plus 10  which I think a lot of folks don't think about naturally. But again, it doesn't have to be therapy, it can be different types of work or That's amazing. Yeah. No, that is the Thanks, for sharing all that. I mean, I guess one, one question around, you know, to use a finance term, how did you sort of like, think about that long relationship at, you know, kind of this, you know, critical age if, if anyone, you know, not, not even, I shouldn't even say that.

[00:44:40]  Alessia Scauzillo:Like, that's just an, an age that is getting closer to what lot of people may think of being, like, family time, you know, like family starting time. If that's something that you were even interested in, like was that a factor that you had to like, weigh and like the other word I was gonna use is sunk cost.

[00:44:57]  Alessia Scauzillo:You know, like, I think a lot of people stay in a relationship because of the already, you know, invested effort that's been in there.

[00:45:04] Alessia Scauzillo: I had a lot of fears about that about having spent so much time with this person. And then approaching an age where if I wanna have kids like I kind of have to do it in the next like few years. I had a lot of stress and I felt a lot of pressure around that, and my therapist was the one who helped me realize, like, you put this pressure on yourself about that, how is that helping you?

[00:45:27]  Alessia Scauzillo:Like in fact, it was making me so paralyzed about the decision that, it was making it worse. Not only was it not helping, it was making it worse because the pressure was making it harder to decide. So I had to take all that out and tell myself that, like, if I want a family I am gonna make that happen however I can.

[00:45:53] Alessia Scauzillo:And, you know, it's gonna, whatever my path is gonna be is how it's gonna be. And if that means I'm, you know if I, if I. This relationship and I meet someone at 35 and I'm able to have a family. I'm 32 for context, I'm able to have a family naturally then great. If that means I'm 38 and I am single and I need to, and I want a family, then I will make that happen for myself in a different non-traditional way.

[00:46:17]  Alessia Scauzillo:But it's like, it's like this thing of like, people think about life. Like, you know, I don't wanna give up what I have now because I'm a, I wanna have kids and I'm, I'm looking people look so forward into that perfect life or that perfect trajectory. But your whole life is a series of nows. And if you're not happy right now, what are you waiting for to be happy later?

[00:46:47]  Alessia Scauzillo:Even if you had a family, then you're not gonna be happy then. Like, it's, it's, it's like. Taking all that like future and passing out and being like, what is gonna make me happy right now? Because every moment you're alive is the, now that you're living in that you have to be happy in. So, shifting my thinking those, it's really hard.

[00:47:06]  Alessia Scauzillo:I don't even know if I'm explaining that right, but like, or like well enough. Yeah. It's like taking the past and future out it and, and not waiting to be happy for any re like, you know, even with my ex, it was like, well, he's such an amazing person. He's in 10 years. What if I regret not being with him for 10 years?

[00:47:24]  Alessia Scauzillo:It's like, but what about all the minutes leading up to the 10 years from now? I have to be happy. Like, what am I waiting for? So take the pressure off and focus on this, the present moment. And doing what I feel in my gut to be right in that moment. And, and how I've, and how you tune into that is, like you said it before, the stillness element, like getting still enough and taking enough space to even realize what makes you happy in this present moment.
it's so ridiculous. sitting here right now to tell you that what got me to the place of knowing I needed to be alone is my daily meditation on top of my therapy at mushrooms. And yet for the last several months, I've resisted my meditation.

[00:48:11]  Alessia Scauzillo:I like to do it. Sometimes I don't. It's like I know that it's the most important thing to get still for 10 minutes a day even. And yet I'm still resisting it. Like I even have to tell myself. But. What kept coming up last year was like, you need to be alone. You need to be, it didn't even have anything to do with my ex.

[00:48:28]  Alessia Scauzillo:He was a wonderful, wonderful person. Wish him all the best. You might have known him. He went to McGill. I dunno if you know that, but great person, you know, still in touch. Wish him so well. It wasn't even about him. It was like, I need to be alone. I need to be alone. And it always would come up in my meditations and I wouldn't, if I didn't get still, I wouldn't have known that, and who knows where I would be right now.

[00:48:50] Rob Pintwala: Thank you for sharing that. Wow. Yeah. What keeps coming back for me is the kind of discipline that you approach your own of transformation and healing with is really, really you
I understand why so many people are inspired by it. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. It's like the rigor that you put into your career is like now into yourself.

[00:49:16] Alessia Scauzillo:  It's like now that you say that, I'm like, I'm like, thank you. And I'm like, maybe, you know, that's, that's such a great point. But it's also like, isn't that the best place to put it in? It's, I feel inspired to like double down on it even. So I'm like, okay. Like I would rather put that time and energy and rigor and discipline into myself versus anything else.

[00:49:40] Rob Pintwala: I started a business trying to connect people with therapists, so  Finding a therapist is very hard.

[00:49:48] Alessia Scauzillo:  I should give your business as a recommendation. 'cause one of the recommendations I have is from my friend and POS podcast, like one of my good friends and podcast host Lindsay from We Met at Acme. She has this online therapy tool where, By, it's sorted by location and its therapists are vetted by other people.

[00:50:07]  Alessia Scauzillo: And I, I always say that, but then you, you know, you still have to, it's, it's vetted by people who've submitted it, but you don't, you're not matched with someone. You still need to like to find your person. And so yeah, it would, it would be great to give your business also as a recommended tool.

[00:50:23]  Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, I mean, only if it's good enough if only it fits your bar. But I don't even like the word match in the verb sense sometimes because I believe that people need to choose who they wanna work with. So it's like, if you're given one choice, that's not a choice. Like if you're just like, oh, this is the right person for you.

[00:50:43]  Alessia Scauzillo:'cause you know, a lot of these algorithms don't work on what you need. They're like, who's available? Like, you know, who needs, who do we need to fill for our business to work? Right? I think that the choice is like, actually is been proven that the relationship between you and your therapist is the most important thing above all.

[00:51:03] Rob Pintwala: Anything else? So it's like that quality of the fit. And I think that's why it's so exhausting because like people are seeking that fit and they try and, but it takes a ton of investment. And you don't necessarily know that while. So that's why I interview therapists on And it's like more of like a dating website

[00:51:23] Alessia Scauzillo:  Yeah. Well, I was literally about to say, and I was telling this to someone last on the phone, I feel like finding a quality therapist is like dating. Like a lot of the times you meet someone and you, they're pretty good. They're good on paper. They, what they do is like, they kind of fit and you think you like them.

[00:51:43]  Alessia Scauzillo:But then, but then when you meet someone, You like, you know? And I feel like that's like a therapist, like the person I was talking to last night someone important to me in my life, they were like, yeah, like my therapist is pretty good. You know, he meets the qualifications. He's, you know, I feel, I feel good.

[00:52:00]  Alessia Scauzillo:I don't feel great. But it's like, if, if he were to have a therapist that he fit with, I feel like you would feel that. And I feel that way about my therapist, where I feel like, okay, she's that person. For me, it's kind of like dating. You think I don't know. I don't know if like this makes sense, but you kind of are like, yeah, I like this person.

[00:52:19]  Alessia Scauzillo:They, seem pretty good. But then when you meet someone you like, you're like, oh, no, no, no. I like this person.

[00:52:26]  Rob Pintwala:Well said. No, I, I actually think that you know, the service that we provide, it's more often than not helping people decide who's not a fit than who is a fit. I, there's still some personal connection needed to assess like, what

[00:52:41]  Alessia Scauzillo:Right. And that's good. Yeah. No, but that's important. The no's are important to guide you to the Yes, for sure.

[00:52:48] Rob Pintwala: Yeah. Yeah. And it can be like, I mean, just the, you face too many notes, then you're gonna give up, unfortunately. So, that's a huge time investment, often a money investment. And that's, yeah, that's, that's why we've designed it like we have. So I have a question actually, when you, I mean now in particular, like, so you run your own business, you know, for, in terms of insurance and stuff like that. Yeah. What do you like, so obviously you're, you've invested a lot financially, even when you started a new business and like, know, didn't have the same kind of cash flow coming into your personal growth.

[00:52:48] Rob Pintwala:Like, how do you think about that? When people will stop, you know, going to therapy or stop, you know, whatever, going to physiotherapy or

[00:55:06] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, and, I don't have benefits now because I'm not on my ex's. Like when I left my full-time job, I still was able to join my ex's plans. And so his benefits and his salary kind of like helped, you know, in those like early days. Now I'm really on my own. I don't have any of that. I don't have any benefits at all.

[00:55:35] Alessia Scauzillo:And so I try and invest in the things that I know are moving the needle for me. And so that is number one without a doubt therapy. And then I try and save in other areas. Like the meditation I use, you know, I use an app where the cost per use is very low. 'cause I have like an annual membership, I got it on a deal, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:54:22]  Alessia Scauzillo:But I, yeah, I try and prioritize the things that I know, make me feel my best over anything else. And I will say, like, as an influencer, like the cost of living is, is pretty low as an influencer because you, people think you get free things and like you kind of do, but you don't because most people get paid in dollars.

[00:54:45]  Alessia Scauzillo:Like most people get paid in their jobs a salary. I get paid. A lot of the time, not in money, but in gifting and exchange. And so I would prefer to get paid in cash, but a lot of the time I get paid in exchange, especially with small businesses. And so some stuff will be like, so my cost of living is, is pretty low.

[00:55:06]  Alessia Scauzillo:So I'm fortunate enough that I can invest in things like therapy even though I don't have benefits. But like most people who have a salary have benefits that go unused. And that's just like, wow. I encourage everyone to like to make the most of it. Even if you don't think, I think a lot of people think that they don't need therapy.

[00:55:22]  Alessia Scauzillo:Like you said, like they're at a zero and everything's like going pretty fine. They're not sure what they would think. Talk about it, in a therapy session. Like I, every time I go to therapy, I'm like, what am I gonna talk about today? There is always something to talk about to like, make my life better.

[00:55:35]  Alessia Scauzillo:And so even if you think you don't have anything to talk about, like try it and like just make the most of the benefits that you have, or at least the ones that you know are gonna move the needle. I think if you, you know, I often don't have anything to talk about as well, but I have the right fit in a therapist, like they're you bring up. What's the most important thing to talk about? And most people don't start, a lot of people don't start therapy '

[00:56:00] Alessia Scauzillo:Just go in there and they'll ask if it's a good therapist, they'll ask questions. And suddenly it's been minutes and I'm like, having shut up and I'm like, oh, I guess I did have something to talk about. But then, on the influencer thing, it's like, it's so interesting. I think being an influencer is so glamorized and in so many ways, like it is, it is like, you know, you get, you get invited to events and you get like gifts and all these things.

[00:56:21]  Alessia Scauzillo:But there's no other job in the world where 99% of the work you do is unpaid. Like every day you put out influencers, put out content, and 99% of the time, or maybe it's like ranges between 90% and 99% of the time, you don't get paid for your job. And then sometimes when you get paid, It's like in a gift in like products and you're like, I can't pay my bills with products.

[00:56:45]  Alessia Scauzillo:I need money. And so it's much harder to make money as an influencer than I think people think. And it's like this weird, there's a very, it's, it's the job that there's the biggest difference in my opinion that I've experienced. There's the biggest difference between what it looks like and what it is, I think.

[00:57:03]  Alessia Scauzillo:And actually the easier it looks, the harder it is on the backend. For if something looks like it's so easy and an influencer is making it look so easy and streamlined and natural, I think it's harder to do that.

[00:57:16]Rob Pintwala: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Interestingly, you say that. I mean, I was, I wanted to kind of guide the conversation here before we wrap up, but, I know that there's so many people sort of toying with like being a, you know, influencer. Like, you know, whether that's even just like putting themselves out there kind of thing with like or, you know, being glued to your phone.

[00:57:40]  Alessia Scauzillo:You know, do you get like other kind of aspirational influencers like messaging you and asking you for like, advice or anything like that? Or like, what would you say to people who are, you know,

[00:57:53] Alessia Scauzillo:  it's harder than it looks. You know, and you, before you mentioned the negative comments and I was very impressed with how you managed to shut that out.

[00:58:04]  Alessia Scauzillo:Sometimes it creeps back into your mental space, but yeah, it's, knows, and I've had a lot, I've had people say to me a lot like, I couldn't do what you do. Like, it would give me so much anxiety to like constantly be putting my life out there and constantly be worried about what people are gonna say. But I also, you know, I think about how much I'm, I am impacting people and I know that because people send me personal messages all the time about like, how my content has, like, you know, inspired them in whatever way, or at my events.

[00:58:33]  Alessia Scauzillo:I have a lot of like, in-person events and people come and I always hug people when they arrive and like, you know, say, welcome, like, so nice to meet you. And they're like, you know, while I have you, I just wanted to let you know, like your content, like, you know, even I don't always comment on it, but I see it especially, you know, the body videos or the breakup videos and I have changed my life.

[00:58:51]  Alessia Scauzillo:Like, and I just really thank you for being so open. And so that kind of feedback makes it worth the difficulty of putting yourself out there every single day. And then I also tell people like, is this, I'm putting my personal life definitely on display, but it's also a job. And so the content, like I think about it as like, Being consistent.

[00:59:17]  Alessia Scauzillo:So like, not putting too much emphasis on any one piece of content. It's like, okay, if this content did amazing, great, the next day I put out a new video. And maybe it's related to that video, sort of, or maybe it's different or this content, this piece of content flopped. Okay, well the next day I'm putting out a new video anyways, so like not focusing on the performance of any one thing in particular, like noting it and taking it as feedback and like adjusting and course correcting, but not putting so much emphasis and like personal value on the performance of any piece of content.

[00:59:52]  Alessia Scauzillo:And instead just being like, okay, well this is a job five days a week. I put out a video, tomorrow's another video. And that's how I treat it. Like I, I used to try and post when the engagement was higher, like at night around dinnertime, say when people are more on their phones after dinner. And I used to try and like finagle that.

[01:00:09]  Alessia Scauzillo:And at a certain point, I was like, no, this is my full-time job, therefore I would, therefore I will treat it like that. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I post every day or in the morning or at lunch weekends I don't post unless something creative comes to me and I really wanna get it out fine.

[01:00:24]  Alessia Scauzillo:But that boundary has helped me like separate myself Alessia from Alessia Sculpt. And, and I do tell some of the people that are closest to me, quite honestly, like in dating I tell people like, Don't look at my Instagram because you're getting like my work, the work version of me. Like it's me, but it's the work version of me.

[01:00:50]  Alessia Scauzillo:You know what I mean? Like I have this weird job where everyone's watching when I do a presentation in quotes, like, you know, post a video or do a live or do a workout, whatever. It's like, what other person? When my friends who work in private equity do a presentation at their job, their entire network isn't watching.

[01:01:07]  Alessia Scauzillo:But for me they are. And it's like, so it could be so weird. So like in dating I tell people like, don't look. And, and some people will say like, yeah, you're, some people will understand and be like, yeah, I don't want, that's your work. And some people are like, what? That's, you know, they, they don't understand the influencer world.

[01:01:25]  Alessia Scauzillo:Or even my family, like my, I say to my family sometimes, like, this is not the me that, you know, like, this works me. So like separating that a little bit.

[01:01:33] Rob Pintwala:That's interesting. Yeah, 'cause I don't think many people think about that

[01:01:41] Alessia Scauzillo:  yeah, for, for when I first, one more thing I'll say is like, when I first kind of became an influencer, the first while when I would see my friends, they wouldn't ask me how I was doing ever. Like, they'd never be like, like for a good year or two, it was never like, how are you doing? What have you been up to?

[01:01:58]  Alessia Scauzillo:And I was always like, do they not care? Like, I was confused by it. And then I realized they think they know because they're following along. But it's like that's five minutes total of my entire day on story or real. It's like, and also I usually am posting like a day late or like, you know, I'm, I'm not always like, I'm trying to be present at the moment.

[01:02:15]  Alessia Scauzillo:So it's like explaining to my friends and family and people I'm dating, et cetera, that like, it's not my exact real life. It's like a part of me, but not the whole thing. Yeah.

[01:02:29] Rob Pintwala: That's amazing. I feel like you can start an agency or at least a consulting or offering because I have this skill set that's like a combination of the creative and, and influencer world, but also like the business background that like very few people have, and I've been toying with it a little bit.

[01:02:50] Alessia Scauzillo:  Some small businesses in Toronto have reached out to me about it. Businesses that like I've worked with lightly like for example, one resort kind of place that offered me to come and shoot content there. And then I was just chatting with the owners, like saying, you know, and of course 'cause I'm an influencer, like I can just see things that like maybe they could do in their content or how they're approaching things and we're just chatting and I'm giving them tips and like, then the next day they come over by like when I was still at the resort and they're like, actually, we wanna hire you because we realize that you have the va.

[01:03:22]  Alessia Scauzillo:But it's, I need to decide like what direction I wanna take my business in and is that worth my time or is it more worth my time to like, Really zero in and like double down on like Alessia sculpt as a brand. So I'm still kind of like working through that, but I think that there are some unique things that I've learned and like I have a unique perspective coming, blending those two worlds.

[01:03:45]Rob Pintwala: A hundred percent. No, I, it's, this, I think valuable for anyone considering the influencer life to listen to. I just see your frameworks of how you even handle the some of the stuff and, you know, if you're gonna post something waiting before you post it until you've processed it, until gotten over it, like, that's amazing.

[01:04:03]  Alessia Scauzillo:That's a good tip. Cool. Yeah. Are there any other parting words? I want to shout out where people can find you. Um, but before we do that, any other words of wisdom for me? The aspiring influencers just people who are hating their jobs and might have some of that

[01:04:23] Alessia Scauzillo:  I mean, I've been there and it's tough and I, what I would say is like, don't ignore those feelings and, and it doesn't have to be like, quit your job today, but like, start slowing down and tuning in and like listening to what those nudges are and one step at a time you'll get to where you're supposed to go.

[01:04:40]  Alessia Scauzillo:But the first step is to just like get still enough to even like feel that those things are happening and to trust yourself enough to figure it out one step at a time. You don't have to have it all figured out, but you will, like, you'll look back. Like I look back now over the last four years of my life like I started this whole fitness journey at 20 end of 2018.

[01:05:01]  Alessia Scauzillo:I launched my business in 2019 and like, I feel like every day I don't know what I'm doing. Like every day is like, have I done anything? Have I made progress? But then when you look back, you're like, oh yeah. Like, whoa, okay. Like I've made so much, I turned something, I turned my whole career into something out of nothing.

[01:05:18]  Alessia Scauzillo:But it doesn't feel like that at the moment. So like, trust yourself enough to just like take it one day at a time, and like you'll get there.

[01:05:24] Rob Pintwala: That's great advice.

Alessia Scauzillo: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[01:05:25] Rob Pintwala: I the feeling the time. Okay, well, thank you. Yeah. Where can people follow

[01:05:33] Alessia Scauzillo: Yeah, so I'm at Alessia Sculpt on Instagram and on TikTok. And then my online fitness platform is sculpted body.com. And it's an online, like Pilates-inspired, low-impact workout fitness platform. I have over 300 videos. Some of them are body weights, some of them are lightweights, heavyweights bands, like cardio, like all different workouts.

[01:05:56]  Alessia Scauzillo:And they range from 10 to 50 minutes. And so I have a seven-day free trial for that. So you can just go to my site, so a sculpt body.com, and sign up for that. And I, you know, I have like a weekly and monthly calendar that you can follow so you can just open it up and click play and know exactly what workout you're doing.

[01:06:13]  Alessia Scauzillo:So I would love to have some of you guys try my workouts. Thank you so much for having me.

[01:06:18]Rob Pintwala: Okay, great time to wrap it.