Power Talk With Celebrity Fitness Legend Lauren Powers

There is no wrong time to empower women to unleash their inner champion and become better versions of themselves. Award-winning international speaker, bestselling author, actress, model, and celebrity fitness legend, Lauren Powers, shares some of her insights on women empowerment and physical fitness with host, Mark Yuzuik. Lauren is the CEO of Powers Fitness Events and the creator of the Fierce Formula program, where she helps women to become “fit, fab, and fierce.” As a bodybuilder, Lauren is known for breaking the limitations set by society on what women can do. She takes this life lesson and teaches it to women within her advocacy for individual achievement and excellence.

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Power Talk With Celebrity Fitness Legend Lauren Powers

Sometimes in life accidents happen on purpose. Do you ever wonder why things happen? I remember for many years, my wife and I would be in Orange County, in Costa Mesa area. We’re always driving around. We see this crazy purple Harley Davidson. First of all, a purple Harley Davidson with eyelashes on. I thought, “What the heck is that?” It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. We then see this woman driving. I’m like, “What the freak? Who drives a purple Harley with eyelashes on there?” We see her and come to find out she’s a local celebrity there. I go, “Who is this lady?” “She’s this bodybuilder chick. You should see her. She’s incredible. Everybody loves her. She’s got this Harley. She’s this badass chick,” and just went on and on.

Lo and behold, several years later, I see her at an event I’m doing. I’m like, “What? You’re that girl? You’re that woman that drives that car.” She said, “Yeah, I got this purple Harley.” I said, “I’ve seen you there so many times.” Now we’re on a cruise together. Not like together with each other, but as a group of people. I come to find out, she’s an author beneath the muscle. She’s a huge author in the business. This woman is so powerful. Her name is Lauren Powers. She is a very powerful woman. She’s a leader for other women in this country, not just in California. She’s spread it all over the country. She’s an amazing powerhouse.

The more you learn about her, the list goes on and on of what she’s accomplished. How she got where she’s at? Who is she? Who has she met? Where’s she been? What TV show? It goes on and on. I got her and I trapped her nicely. I put her to a corner and said, “You’re going to do a podcast with me or else?” She goes, “Or else what?” I said, “Nothing.” We’ve become friends. It’s cool to see somebody so great and yet humble and still powerful out there making a difference in other people’s lives. Her life wasn’t always easy. You arrive to your destination on purpose because of things that are sometimes taken from you, not for what is given to you. When things are taken from you, sometimes 1 of 2 things happen, it makes you weak or it makes you strong.

I asked her, “How did you get into bodybuilding?” Without me going into it, it was funny. She gets all fixed up for this show. She goes, “I’m going to get all nice and dressed up.” I let her do her thing. She comes out and she got all this makeup, dressed up, and decked out. She goes, “Where’s the camera?” I said, “It’s just audio.” She says, “I’m going to kill you.” As we spent a lot of time with her, we’ve been doing some marketing together and business. I would love to joint venture with her and do some live events. This is where we’re making a difference with a lot of people’s lives out there. The only way it happened is because sometimes in life, the things that are taken from me and when someone tells you can’t do something, that’s the gift.

The pain that she experienced turned out to be the greatest pleasure and a gift. She realized that she has a purpose in this life. That was not to make her life better and to make everybody’s life better. She comes in as many contacts and influence as many people as possible, especially women out there. I want to introduce you to her. I want her to start her story because when I heard the story, it flabbergasted me that there is discrimination still in this world. It’s alive and it’s well, but she never let it bother her. She let it empower her. Maybe that’s why her last name is Powers because she’s empowering everybody out there.

I want her to tell you this story about why she even got into it because I asked her, “Was she always fit? Was she always this perfect little doll Barbie girl?” The answer is no, she wasn’t. She’s got an empowering story. Maybe her story is there for a reason to help you through your challenges. This is an amazing woman. It took me a long time to even get her on this. It’s an honor for her to be here. Lauren, you go ahead and tell us your story and how you got started.

Beneath The Muscle: Unleash Your Inner Champion

I’m happy to be here too. There are a lot of things out of diversity that makes you stronger. I did a speech in India and the topic was What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger. I’m a living testimony to that. It has empowered me to help women to never give up, keep going, no matter what happens, use things as a lesson and a building opportunity instead of something that’s going to hold you down. The word ‘discrimination’ happened to me in an all-men’s business called firefighting back in the day. I was told that I wasn’t strong enough. I used that to empower me to become a ten-time heavyweight bodybuilding champion, not once, twice, thrice but ten times.

It also pushed me to promote my own show because I wasn’t thrilled with the way they treated athletes. It’s like a beauty pageant. It became very political, which everyone knows. I don’t speak out of school. I speak the truth. I’m authentic. When I say something, it’s legit. The women were being mistreated. They were promised things and not happening. I didn’t like the judging criteria for the fitness competitions so I started my own. I was proud to promote and host for my country, the Team USA, where I had 40 different countries come and compete on my stage for world championship. It was fabulous. It was a three-day event. If I can do that, I can do anything. I did it by myself. Everybody helped me on the day of the show, but it was amazing.

I’m a big promoter and that’s pushed me into promoting Powers Empowerment events where I host for women to be more empowered as well. I invite keynote speakers, panelists, sponsors, vendors, and exhibitors to my stage. They’ve all been held in Orange County, California where I live and give them an opportunity to empower other women. I’m just a big fan and I’m so proud of that. Through my diversity has come strength and that is a big statement in itself. I’m excited about that. I’ve got three events coming up that are already booked on the calendar for 2020. I believe you and I are going to joint venture and do a couple of wild events.

It inspired you not only to create your own event because you’ve done that. You talk about inspiring women. The way I look at it as a man, men sometimes need women to look up to as well. We always feel like we’re supposed to be the leaders, the macho, and all that. When you see a woman that can do it, then you say, “Maybe you inspire more than just women out there.” I know you’re predominantly focused on women. I love that about you, but you’re inspiring more than just women.

I don’t discriminate in many ways. I don’t judge people and that’s one of the chapters in my book. Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover because you never know who you’re talking to, what their background and what their journey is. That’s a big message in itself. My book though is called Beneath The Muscle: Unleash Your Inner Champion, BeneathTheMuscle.com. We are all champions underneath. We just have to figure it out and be true to ourselves. I’m proud of it. It went to bestseller in not only one country, but 11 countries in 98 categories. It’s pretty diversified. It speaks to many, not just the women. That’s the specialty niche that I have in my program that I am launching and I’m excited about. It’s called The Fierce Formula. The messages that I’m a former firefighter, now founder of The Fierce Formula, focusing on females, 40, 50-plus to be fit, fierce, fabulous, fearless and F-able.

You lay it out there the way it is. Here’s the thing, how old were you when you started taking on this task of, “Nobody’s going to tell me I can’t be a firefighter. I’m going to go on and I’m going to prove everybody wrong?” That’s how I started. Everyone told me that I’d never make it. To me, you either listened to them or when you listen to them, you prove them wrong. The best thing to do is to prove them wrong. At what age where you said, “You are not going to stop me.” Whatever discrimination, that’s your limitation, not mine. If we buy into their belief and their limitations, we’re as guilty. When you say, “Thank you for that gift,” now you can go back and thank them for being the woman that you are.

Use anything that happens to you as a lesson and a building opportunity instead of something that holds you down. Share on X

When they see me ride around on my Harley as you have around town, they know I thank them because I made change in how they hire women across the country. They consider me a silent hero and all of this because it was a big deal. I didn’t stop there. I made change. It was a lawsuit. I lost my career. I gave it up to help women so they don’t have to go through what I did. It’s emotional because it was a big deal. It was painful. On the other hand, I became this ten-time champion. What happens to you is not the end of you. It can be the beginning.

It’s the end of the pain and the beginning of a new life. How come only 10? Why not 11 or 12?

Because I have ten tips. You want to lose 10 instead of gain 10. I am a 10 and a 10-time champ, so there you go.

You’ve got to let somebody else take the stage once in a while too.

That’s true. I have to give it up. The fitness thing is for a personal goal, not to gather a bunch of trophies. You talked about fitness celebrity and all that. I’ve had the opportunity to have some great times with some big names.

They don’t know, but you’ve been on TV shows. We’re in another country and two people recognize you from TV. He’s like, “Can I get a picture?” They’re scared because they’re thinking, “Is she approachable?” Lauren is the most approachable human being in the world. She’s like a little puppy dog. Lauren loves everybody.

Celebrity Fitness Legend: The best thing to do about naysayers is to prove them wrong.

We took the pictures. We’re in Aruba and I get recognized. I’ve been an actress since 2004. It’s been a while and they’ve added up. I’ve done cameos on many TV shows. I’m on TNT on a show called Claws. I’ve done Lucifer to name a few. The music videos were huge.

I don’t know if you can mention all of them, but mention some of the ones that you talked about some of the videos we saw.

Somebody was asking because they’ve followed my career. Justin Bieber, to name one, came out and that was exciting. There are about 100 extras. I got placed right next to him and got featured quite a bit. I had a lot of camera time. Before that was Jennifer Lopez, you may have heard of her. That was exciting. I got a photo. She’s in my book. The Justin Bieber came out before that. My first big one was with Lady Gaga and that was awesome. That was a two-day shoot. It was big. Beyoncé, I started the video with her called Telephone. Check it out if you haven’t seen it. That was fun. I have 2 Chainz from different genres of songs. Probably two dozen music videos all with big names.

You did it with 2 Chainz. Did you ever see his TV show?

Yeah, 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne and E-40. I don’t know any of them. I was just on it. It was a 1:30 in the morning call time. I had to wake up at midnight, drive to LA, and go into hair and makeup. We came out of there fifteen hours later and it was sunny out. It films all night. Music videos are a trip because they’re long. There are a lot of hours involved. At the end, to see how it’s edited is exciting. The whole world gets to see them so there you go. I’ve been blessed and the reason is because I don’t give up.

People seek you out because of who you are. Not celebrity-wise but who you are from a heart, from a person and they get you. That’s the most beautiful thing about being your friend. We can do anything together and you always got somebody’s back. That’s the thing. She’s got everybody’s back out there because she looks at their heart. That’s what I love about you. You’ve got a huge following on Instagram. A lot of them, don’t you?

We are all champions underneath. We just have to figure it out and be true to ourselves. Share on X

I got verified as a fitness celebrity on Instagram, which is nice. Facebook is doing well. The Powers Fitness event is doing well. We have one coming up on October 17, 2020 in Huntington Beach. The next Powers Empowerment, if any of your audience want to be involved with you and me, we’ll be booking some new dates. We’ve got August 22nd booked. If you want to meet me in person or if you want to be part of my event, come on my stage, reach out to me, Lauren@LaurenPowers.com. I’m simple to find. I’m on everything. I do look at my own things. I’m not one of those divas.

You don’t have a VA, a Virtual Assistant yet where they’re doing all this stuff that makes it look like you’re the one answering.

I need it. Let’s leave it with that. I do need one. If somebody wants to be my virtual assistant, please be my personality if you can.

I plan on doing a lot with you because I believe in what you do, the mindset, and all that. The one thing people lack is they have desire, but they’re missing that little piece of mindset. How do we get them to take action? I talked to you about let’s co-brand something and leave it all in your name. I want people to get the result where we know we can push them to move forward and get the results. It’s not big changes. People look at you and because of that, they get intimidated thinking, “I can never be that person.” I look at people that want to be a hypnotist. They see me on stage. I go, “You don’t have to be on stage traveling the world. Be who you are, be the best person you are. Take one little step.”

My whole passion and purpose is to get people to be the best version of themselves from the inside out. I’ve got this great nutrition supplement now that I want to share with the world. It’s brand new. It’s a single-based supplement based on your DNA. The supplement is based on science. No more guesswork. If they want, it’s called Uforia. I endorse it heavily. I’m an influencer with the company. It’s a big deal. It’s not a big money maker, but it’s a way to help get people healthier from the inside. It also helps them with their physique and all of that. If they want to compete, I can help them with that. Most of my audience are women that are 40, 50-plus that want to have more energy, sleep better, feel better, get hydrated, take care of themselves, get off prescription drugs, get their hormones in balance so they can have time with their families, be there, put themselves first, and focus on this thing that we call self-care.

Most of the women I’ve dealt with are like, “I don’t have time. My kids and my husband, I do the laundry and make dinner for my family. I don’t have time to go to the gym.” They were complaining to me about time for themselves. I’m like, “Sweetie, you’ve got it backwards. You’ve got to put yourself first not last. It’s not being selfish. It is being smart because if you go down, who suffers? Your loved ones.” It makes no sense. It’s that mindset you talk about, Mark. You’ve got to change your mindset and put yourself and make yourself the most important.

Celebrity Fitness Legend: Put yourself first. If you slow down, nobody suffers more than your loved ones.

People that say they don’t have enough time is because they do a minimum wage work. Meaning that if you have value in your time, get somebody to do the things that you can hire out for minimum wage. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you’ve got to do laundry all day, take the time to take care of yourself and let somebody else do the laundry. Let somebody else take the trash out and clean your house. Even if you sit there and do nothing, but spend it with your family and build that relationship. That’s going to be healthier for you than you running around being busy. You create this sickness in your body because you’re stressed out and you get this “dis-ease.” This disease coming back before you know it. The only thing we have is our one body. We don’t get to replace it. If we don’t take care of it, where are we going to live?

I’ve made it my sole purpose to make these women at least change their mindset and quit putting their business first and then their family or their kids or whatever order they choose and themselves last, to put them themselves first in a healthy manner. It’s important. I’ve got friends dying all around me because they don’t take care of themselves. As you said, this is the only body we have. You’ve got to take care of it and there are ways. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat is not what it used to be even a decade ago. It is not healthy believe me, but you have to do some research and find ways to combat some of these things that are happening.

The GMOs, the food is not even real half the time. We’ve got to be mindful of what we’re doing to our own health. The older we get, the harder it is. I’m all about that. I’m no spring chicken either, but I’ve got more energy than anybody I know. I keep feeling better and better with my nutrition thing and my own fitness plan. Having that mindset, I wake up every day. I’ve given my body exactly what it needs. No more blind nutrition, no more guesswork. I know what works for me. I stay hydrated. I try to get as much sleep as I can. Take care of myself and get a little bit of exercise in there, here and there. I’m not living in the gym. People are like, “You must live in the gym.” I haven’t even seen the gym.

That’s the misconception. I asked you, “Do you work out every day?” You go, “No, I don’t work out every day.” I go, “How often do you work out?” “Once a week, maybe.” You’re maintaining and you do drink a lot of water. I renamed her Aqua Woman.

I believe in hydration. I believe in a lot of things. My program, the Fierce Formula, it’s online. If you go to LaurenPowers.com, I’ve got free ten tips for your audience on things I’ve been talking about. It’s all there for you. My book is on there, BeneathTheMuscle.com. It explains a lot about if you want to know more about my life.

It’s LaurenPowers.com and she’s giving away free tips. Nobody asks you to do that. You didn’t have to do that but thank you. I want to create a lot of events and do all of your events if I can because together, we can empower everybody. Not just women, but anybody who wants to come. If men want to come, can they come and bring their spouses too?

Your discrimination is your limitation, not mine. Share on X

Yes, bring the whole family. It depends on your content. I have been to your adult show as well in Orange County. I’m speechless and that’s a hard thing to do. We’ll do a lot more of these. Let’s leave it with that. Any information to find out more about me, what I’m up to, and all of that, it’s on my website. Everything is there, the media, the videos, all that we talked about, and some of the TV shows.

I don’t even want to tell them everything because I want to do another episode with you later on. We’ll save some of the other stuff.

Our life has been amazing. It’s a journey. Live it, enjoy yourself, and be happy.

What’s the one tip you can tell somebody that they can start doing right now in their life that they can apply? It’s simple, easy and effective that you would say, “If you want to create something different in your life, get a result. This is what I’m going to tell you to do, start here, start small, but start now.”

I would say change your mindset and put yourself first.

After they do that, then what? Get their health and they get to swab. That way you know.

Celebrity Fitness Legend: You have one body. Take care of it.

That is LaurenPowers.UforiaScience.com. All information is right there. It’s amazing. Doing everybody healthy though, one body at a time. My whole goal is to make health a habit. That’s the bottom line.

That should be your next book, Make Health a Habit. I like that a lot. Start empowering. We’re doing it right now. We’re creating a brand-new book. I came up with a title. You write the book and we’ll co-author. That’s how partnerships work.

Stay tuned. We’re going to do a lot more episodes. We’re going to do more events. We’ll do live events where you are in the country. Make sure you book with us and fly in. We’ll change your mindset, your life, and your health. We’ll get you healthy and laugh all the way.

Laughter is the best medicine. I want to thank you, Lauren, for being here. I appreciate it. We’ve got a ten-time champion here. She’s more than just a champion without a trophy. She’s a champion in her heart. She gives a lot to everybody. As you can tell, she’s a good artist. She does it all. She’s an incredible, powerful woman. She went from being discriminated to being a powerhouse. Now the firefighters respect and love her. They gave her the key to her heart because she made a difference in many lives.

Check out LaurenPowers.com. Thanks for tuning into the show. Make sure you subscribe to get notified. We’ve got lots more of this coming up. GetYourMindSetWithMark.com. Email me if you have any questions. I’ll make sure I put you in the hot seat. We’ll change your life and make it better, not just for you, but for whoever else you want to influence out there. If you’ve got a challenge, a problem, a question, a solution, a goal, a passion, or whatever it is you let me know. Get my free book, Creating the Life You Want. Thanks for reading. Rock on.