Today we’d like to introduce you to Calli Pappas.
Calli, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started my blog nearly 6 years ago going into my senior year of college at Loyola University Maryland. I ran track and XC competitively all 4 years on my college D1 team however, it wasn’t until the last year or so where I really began to focus on what it meant to be healthy. I used to think that because I trained hard pretty much 360 days of the year, that I could eat whatever I wanted to. For most of my college running career, I never thought about food as fuel to improve my performance. Finally, going into my senior year, something clicked. I found myself stumbling across blogs and researching various lifestyles and recipes that would make sense for me. I started taking pictures of dorm-room meals and sharing them on instagram. I stuck with it as I finally felt like I had a community that I could connect with and share ideas and inspiration. Plus, blogging was a way for me to explore my creative side, while at the same time, it was very cathartic. It was something unique to me and I took pride in it.
More recently, I knew that I always wanted to get into fitness after college. I found myself falling more in love with yoga as it was much easier on my body and it was an outlet for me to start exploring my spiritual side. In December of 2016, I pursued my 200HR yoga teacher training for an intensive 17 days in Mallorca, Spain. I came home, left my corporate job, and started my own business (BerryGood Bliss) selling healthy, vegan acai popsicles. I spent my summer weekends posted up at farmers markets in the Boston area. It was so exciting getting a taste of what it was like to be own entrepreneur. Though people loved the pops, the summer came to an end and I had to make a (pricey) decision about where I wanted to go with my business. Realistically, I couldn’t afford to keep investing in my business with no income and timing wasn’t ideal for me. I made the decision to go back to HR full-time as a source of income. Though this was a hard decision for me at the time, I knew it was the “smart” decision and that I’d find my way back. That October, I pursued yet another training… this time with CorePower Yoga as a yoga sculpt instructor.
I had been teaching yoga throughout the summer, but Corepower felt more me. It was a fun, heated, and energizing cardio meets yoga meets strength training workout all too loud, upbeat music. It was something I was always nervous to actually pursue, but if I’ve learned anything along the way, it’s to constantly keep learning and challenging yourself through things that scare you. I started teaching 4x a week in February of 2018 and have completely fallen in love with it. It is what keeps me fulfilled outside of my desk job. It’s been the most enjoyable part to connect with the community, inspire, build friendships, and feel more full – more ME.
Since then, my fiancé and I decided to take what I know from Corepower and combine my love for yoga with his love for music and host our very first yoga sculpt and live DJ event this summer. We have a few dates planned for this summer and hope to continue doing this throughout the year.
Has it been a smooth road?
It certainly has not been a smooth road or an overnight success story. As far as the blog goes, it’s been a love/hate relationship for me with finding a balance between food and fitness. I’ve certainly felt the pressure of wanting to “fit in” with the other successful runners. Just like many young girls, I’ve wanted to look a certain way or change something about my body. The cool thing is, I’ve grown A LOT from when I first started blogging. I now have a much healthier relationship with how I view food as fuel and fitness as a way to keep me sane vs. punishing my body. I’ve connected with a like-minded community and have shared my story along the way in hopes of helping and inspiring others.
On top of all of that, this community has seen my entire journey of leaving my corporate job, to pursuing my yoga teacher training, to starting my own business, to having to give that up and go back to a desk job, to pursuing corepower, and so on. My point in sharing this is that we’re not all perfect and we don’t always know where we’ll end up next. I’m constantly trying to better myself as a human and get closer to finding a way to make my passion a job.
So my advice to other women? Never give up. Never doubt yourself. Go after things that scare and/or intimidate you, EVEN if they’re not successful. Why? Because there is always something valuable to take from any success or failure. I’ve learned so much more in the past few years than I ever imagined. I’ve made more connections with people in the Boston community and those relationships have, in turn, lead to new opportunities. I finally feel full, like I have a place in this amazing city. Lastly, I feel like I’m getting closer each and every day to my calling in life and that’s pretty COOL if you ask me!
We’d love to hear more about Eat, Run, and All In Between.
I feel like I’ve covered quite a bit but as of most recently, I am in Human Resources by day at a healthcare company and a fitness instructor/blogger/entrepreneur during the remainder of my time!
I teach anywhere from 4-6x’s a week at various Corepower Yoga locations (Fenway, Comm Ave, and Ink Block). You can find my schedule here: https://www.corepoweryoga.com/teacher/31731/100002255.
Additionally, my fiancé and I plan to pursue our side business (Sculpt & Spin – a live yoga DJ experience) this summer for the first time and already have future dates set following our kick-off event in June. We’re getting married this summer, but that’s not stopping us from pursuing what we love and taking a shot at making this dream a reality. The idea of the event is that I’ll lead a 60-minute yoga to sculpt class (cardio x yoga x body-weight exercises) while he performed live DJ’s the entire thing with uplifting EDM beats (house, tech house, bass house), followed by a boozy brunch and social hour!
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
Though I do feel women have to prove themselves a little more to make it in some industries, I don’t entirely believe we have road blocks in the way that are stopping us from pursuing what we want. Most recently, I’ve been practicing more manifestation and self-love. What I mean by that is that I’ll literally journal and even say out-loud various mantras like “I AM successful” or “I’ve built an incredible fitness brand in the Boston area”. The reason behind doing this is if “we” as a woman believe we’re set up to fail, then chances are, we likely will because that’s what we “believe” to be true and the negative energy we’re putting out there. If we believe we are successful (current state – no “I will be”) then, the power of positivity and manifestation feels more REAL. I recently heard this quote and it really resonated with me as I have been keeping up with this practice: “the past becomes the now. And the now becomes the past.” Essentially, there is no future, there is only now and that is what you have the power to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eatrunandeverythinginbetween.com
- Email: pappascalli@gmail.com
- Instagram: @eatrunandallinbetween
- Other: https://www.corepoweryoga.com/teacher/31731/100002255
Image Credit:
M. Studios (www.mstudiosri.com)
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