GUAP Interviews: Fitness Enthusiast, Dani Amor, For The Isolation Issue [@danaimak_]

Over the last few months, the Covid:19 lockdown has affected the lives of millions of people all over the country. However, in the midst of the fear and confusion, came an army of young creatives who came to entertain, inspire, and motivate the masses. 
This cover is called the ‘Isolation Issue’ because it was created in the thick of the Covid:19 lockdown. We worked with talented photographers to shoot individuals via face-time and had the opportunity, to speak to them about the impacts of Covid:19 on their creativity. We had the chance to interview and feature fitness enthusiast, Dani Amor, For The Isolation Issue

Tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Dani, I’m a 28-year-old HR Consultant and fitness enthusiast from Zimbabwe. 

What inspired you to do what you do?

PE was my favourite subject at school and I used to play basketball, football & tennis for my school teams. Fitness is something that’s always been in me and recently I’ve decided to push it further/challenge myself and see how much I can grow.

How has covid:19 affected your work?

COVID – 19 hasn’t massively affected my work in a negative way since its online-based. Before Covid-19 all of my training was done in the gym. Not having access to heavyweights and the use of machines in the gym has been a pain as it has caused me to lose a lot of muscle mass. This is something a lot of bodybuilders are having to face at the moment. I’ve had to rely on bodyweight exercises, resistant bands, and low weights. You just have to do the best you can with what you have at that time.

What was the biggest challenge of working from home whilst in self-isolation?

For me, it’s not being able to see friends and family as I normally would. I like being around people and sharing moments together. Not having that to look forward has proven quite lonely at times. 

On a day to day, how do you balance a personal and professional life, especially now that you’re working in quarantine?

As I work 9-5 Monday to Friday as an HR consultant, outside of those hours I’ve made time to have FaceTime calls with friends and family to ensure we keep connected. Things like workouts & movie nights over zoom definitely helps me to feel connected.

What are some of the highlights/successes you’ve had most recently?

 I’ve met so many incredible people over social media who I would have probably never met prior to quarantine, grown my social media platforms, and will be collaborating with two of my favourite fitness brands soon. I’ve also now completed my CIPD course in HR management. 

What’s next for you on your journey?

For me, at the moment my main focus is building my brand and it’s important that I keep pushing & challenging my mind and body. I really want to be able to motivate and inspire others and to do the same. That’s my goal, to be able to have a positive impact on people’s lives.

What would be your advice to other creatives, struggling to maintain creativity and motivation in isolation?

My advice would be to constantly visualise what and who you want to be and know the work required in order for you to get there. Whenever you get demotivated ask yourself  “How bad do you want it?”, look at how far you’ve come and kept going. Stay consistent resilient and you can only get far with that.

What have you learnt about yourself and the world whilst in isolation?

A lot of times I’ve been alone with my thoughts. One thing I’ve really learned is that mindset is everything. The positive/negative things you think and tell yourself are what will become of you. It’s so important to speak good things, tell yourself you can do it, that you are capable of whatever scares you and with that, it’s limitless what you can do, that you are capable of whatever scares you and with that, it’s limitless what you can do.

How do you hope our society will change for the better after COVID -19?

I hope that people will learn not to take people and moments for granted. Appreciate everything that you have whilst you have it and always look at the bright side.

Check out the GUAP Arts & Culture section, to discover new art, film, and creative individuals.