Growing up with different backgrounds and on the party island of Ibiza, I soon realized I was lost. It took getting used to routine bad habits for me to discover that I wasn't in a good place and that I wasn't being kind to myself. Luckily, I discovered fitness and saw myself from a completely different perspective. I became a professional trainer and now, I help as many people as I can that need to learn to love themselves again, through personal sessions, videos and now through my new app. This is my story.
By Layla Bader
My name is Layla, and I'm a half-French, half-German girl that was raised on the island of Ibiza. Due to life’s circumstances, I didn’t grow up as a city girl from Munich, and became a wild Island girl in Ibiza, instead. Living on a paradise-like island, as much as we want to believe it is always amazing, can be a very dangerous scenario when you don't have a clear head or know yourself enough to be able to set your own boundaries properly. I didn’t.
I grew up in a very free and open-minded environment. My parents, a Yoga teacher and a former DJ had always let me be myself and gave me all the freedom in the world to find out what I wanted, which was incredibly freeing, but can also be quite scary, as I had to learn to put my own limits, which didn’t work out every time.
When I was around 12 years old, I was bullied in school. I had always felt different, judged and, alone. To add up, I hated that everyone knew I was so lonely, and I started feeling ashamed of myself.
So, when I was 16 and met my first boyfriend (who was older than me), I got easily drawn into his world and lost myself along the way. After 3 toxic years, I managed to get out of this relationship, which was probably the most important turning point of my life.
I was looking for something that would help me get out of this environment, something that could take me back to myself and to the habits and activities that were good for me. Living in a small city or an island can easily make every occasion turn into a routine, making it harder to change habits or even try new things.
And this is how I started going to the gym. Working out was my outlet and, WOW, it changed everything. I was amazed at the feeling, fascinated to meet healthy people that would meet up on a Saturday morning to work out. I stumbled upon a community I didn't know existed, and it felt so good. I wasn’t only working on my body, I was directly impacting my mental health in ways I didn't know possible; I was happier. I learned to love myself, developed discipline, and consistency and overcame my fear of being alone.
Everyone Deserves to Love Themselves
Discovering the world of fitness changed my plans and my priorities, I didn't want to go out anymore and stopped hanging out with so many of my friends. I just wanted to work out and become strong.
In my new social circle, I became very good friends with personal trainers, and they became my mentors. This is when it all became clear to me. I learned to love myself, and I realized I wanted everyone to feel the way I felt. I wanted to help them overcome their fears and love themselves. I knew what taking care of ourselves meant, and If I could help one person feel that, then I was going to.
So, I moved to Barcelona to study and get a sports degree. Then, moved to Bali to keep training, and I started teaching fitness to professional surfers with a mix of animal flow movements, and cardio boxing. Then, with the pandemic, I moved my new passion online.
I loved what I got to do. As a personal trainer, people open up to you, and it's beautiful to be able to guide them in a very loving and carrying way. Not only to become physically strong, but also to overcome fears like going to a gym by yourself or wearing a bikini to the beach.
And to do so, I started adapting the lessons to each scenario and client, and their needs. We can, for example, focus more on functional training sessions with body weight and bands, or more yoga-oriented and meditation. Balance is key.
To me, it’s all about staying motivated. So, I make sure they’re having a good time, that the classes are enjoyable, and they’re getting great results, both physically and mentally. It’s all about connecting with yourself, developing a muscle-mind connection and giving yourself 1h of total self-love and concentration.
The App That Changed Everything
When I was in Bali, I started a YouTube channel. I created a 21-day Embodiment challenge and a 14-day booty challenge, and a course called Kelaya Holistic Fitness, with a good friend, filming great content around Bali. Later, when we both came back to different cities in Europe, it became basically impossible to continue working together from so far.
But, as destiny would have it, I started training a new client called Martin. When we met, he was in a very difficult period of his life, close to bringing his life to the end–which I didn't know then–, and carrying an alcohol problem.
For some reason, something made him take another decision, and he started training instead. I could see the progress daily, and how he was regaining his life and learning to love himself again. Today he is fully recovered and a new person and a dedicated fitness addict, in the best of ways! I am so proud of him. You can really see he sees life in a completely different way, and he’s so grateful to have this second chance.
So, he felt strongly connected with my mission and wanted to help me get to more people, to reach more of us who needed a reminder of how amazing we are and how thrilling life can be when we work on ourselves. And, as the owner of Discover Ibiza, an online directory to everything about the island, we realized it would be perfect to join our business and passions together, fitness and Ibiza.
To do so, we started working on exclusive workout videos filmed around beautiful locations in Ibiza and launched my YouTube channel, which has skyrocketed in just 5 months. And, we just launched a new app called Layla Fitness Coach, available on the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Layla Fitness Coach is a unique workout app and a first in the fitness market filmed entirely on location in Ibiza. It offers an exclusive workout regime with multi-level exercises that allow users to feel immersed in the experience and transported to the sunny paradise island of Ibiza.
With this platform, we are excited to meet everyone that wants to and is ready, can begin to grow and achieve the body they want, from the comfort of their own home. You will have different workout challenges, nutrition plans, a blog where I share mindfulness tools and so much more! I’m so excited about it!
So, where is Layla’s fitness world going?
In the next 2 years, I’ll be traveling the world, creating more relatable and exciting content from different corners of our beautiful earth, and getting closer to everyone who needs me.
I can’t wait to meet you, hear your story, to help you discover your strengths and feel better about yourself. I’m here to motivate and guide anyone who wants to feel better using all the fitness platforms available, so we can together create a community of wonderful people that supports each other to develop their highest potential. I truly love having the opportunity to help others to love and believe in themselves.
Find Layla On:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@layfitcoach
Website: https://laylafitnesscoach.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/layfitcoach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LayFitCoach
