Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother. She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
and emotions about this world. In these difficult times in human history, we need to bring the
cultures of the world together. And when we listen to real people, to real lives of women
from other countries, we connect our humanity without our differences or stereotypes and we
get inspired by their stories to live a better life. That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Bianca Isabella Raduta. Bianca was born in Pitești, Romania. She has been a
professional swimmer for 15 years. She won multiple Romanian championships, participated
in international competitions like the Balkan Junior Games and the European Championship for
senior athletes. And she won hundreds of medals. Bianca studied social psychology for three years
in the United Kingdom, then moved to Liverpool to finish her master's in sports psychology because
she understands the dynamic of having a deficit in psychology when it comes to sports achievement.
Currently, she is a trainer in a multinational company as she left the UK and is now living in
Athens, Greece four years ago. Bianca has experience as a translator for the Romanian
community in the UK, as a swimming teacher, an assistant teacher helping kids with autism and
ADHD as a lifeguard. And she lived for a year in Cyprus. Bianca is a part-time content creator.
Because of her skincare problems, she developed a community on Instagram focused on skincare
product reviews. Bianca likes photography, although she doesn't have enough time for it.
And she loves dogs. She has multiple dogs and loves taking care of animals. As her partner is
a dog trainer. Bianca, how are you today? Thank you very much Aziz. I'm very nice. Happy to be
here and happy to do this podcast together for this amazing podcast. Yeah. Thank you. I'm honored
and privileged to have you here and very curious about you as a person. So I'll begin with this.
If your friends could describe your personality, what would they say about you? That's a very good
question to start. You start really strong. It's very difficult, I think, to describe. I think it
will be very difficult for them to describe myself with only one word. But a few things that they
will say, probably they will say stubborn, independent, strong, determined, shy before you
actually know me. And then a real true friend after you get to know me very well. Those are
really, really wonderful and interesting kinds of characteristics. And I'll ask, and you said that
I begin strong, so I will. How did your sport experience and the strength and overcoming of
any psychological deficits, as you described, help you face, deal with, and be okay not feeling too
bad when it comes to skincare problems? Very nice connection in here. To be honest, I never thought
about it, but obviously doing professional swimming for so many years built my character in such a way
that I can handle a lot of stuff. And I started to know myself very well because of it. Sport also
gave me tears, joys, so I kind of taste from everything, if I should call it like that. And
it was, you know, a long road that brought me a lot of things, both personally and professionally.
And then I believe the relationship with skincare, because I've been struggling with acne for almost
10 years and I've learned again to don't give up because of the swim experience. I never gave up
chasing to find the best product that I can use, to love myself the way I am, to understand that I
am worthy and I'm doing the best I can for myself, just like I did in swimming career. And from there,
actually, I started to be really interesting into skincare. And I started to realize that the things
that I was facing, there were also other girls, maybe my age, younger or older than me, facing the
same problems. And I believe that I wanted to help, giving support, making them understand that it's
okay to have acne. It's okay to love yourself the way you are. A spot on your face or a wrinkle on
your eye is not defining you. And this was the base of how I actually started and I'm trying to
create this beautiful community that I already have on my Instagram account.
I love what you're saying. And I'm curious to understand, because as you said, you have struggled
with acne for 10 years. When you see people, is it like, you know, when a woman buys a new red
dress, it seems that she notices all other women have red dresses too, or someone has a new car
and they notice everybody seems to be driving that. So your reticular activating system notices
exactly what is important to you. Did this make you notice even more the skin of all the people
you meet? It became something like if you love shoes, you notice everybody's shoes. Or because
you understand how you are beyond your own skin. You began to fall in love with, resonate with,
understand people's energy and souls and see that as the most important part rather than the
physical. So did it take you to this direction or to the more spiritual one?
It will definitely took me to a more spiritual direction because outside of the creams and
skincare, I'm trying to understand the girls that I'm talking to. I'm trying to see how can I help
if they, in fact, they relate to my story or I can relate to their story. And most of the time,
it's more than just an advice about a skincare product or a cream. I see beyond that. And the
girls that actually understand, they actually remain on my account because obviously there are
people that don't see apart from a recommendation on a skincare product or they don't understand.
There are girls that are looking at my pictures or they are online present when I'm making stories
on Instagram. And they send me messages like, what is your problem with your screen? Because I don't
see anything on your face and things like that. But they don't know that throughout the years,
the struggle that I got to reach a point to actually be happy with the skin and be happy
in my skin, it's more than just, again, a skincare product. So not everybody is able to see it.
This is, I think, one of the things that I try to highlight all the time when I'm recommending
something or when I'm making a skincare review product, when I'm just speaking about my experience
with acne. So definitely it's more than just that. It's a spiritual direction. Yeah.
Thank you. Honestly, every person that I have met has been through struggles, become so wise and
interesting compared to people who didn't struggle as much. It enriches if you choose to become
better rather than to get bitter. And I notice in your community, you write in the Romanian language.
I assume that you have a lot of Romanian girls who are following you. And you, as someone who's
living in Greece, lived in the UK, how would you describe or compare the personalities, attitudes,
mindsets in general, maybe when it comes to skincare for girls in Romania, girls from the UK
and Greek girls? Very, very good question. I would start saying that girls in Romania,
they really want to learn. They are really willing to put the effort and they are very interested,
not just, let's say, in a few products, but taking into consideration all the options.
When I'm talking with the girls and they ask me about products for the eye, for example,
I'm giving them through three, five, six recommendations from my overall experience.
And they're very happy with that. Whereas when I was in UK, let's say that girls look more at the
brands than at the ingredients or what it's beneficial for them. They care more about the
superficial side of skincare. And in comparison with Greece, let's say that in here, I still see,
I still see comparison with UK or Romania, that things are a little bit back. Let's say girls
don't take very much care of their skincare or if they do, they're very, let's say, not shy,
but not willing to put the effort. And for example, I'm giving a very basic example.
It's very recommended to use sunscreen throughout the whole year, not just in the summer. And
whenever I'm telling my friends in here things like that, they don't, I mean, they don't
necessarily believe it because they think skincare is just marketing and you don't actually need to
put nothing on your face because you will get aged in a normal way anyway, with or without using
skincare, which in fact, I can get it, but it's not 100% true. So let's say people in Greece
are not so open into the skincare world, not so willing to invest and to learn about it yet.
Thank you. That's an interesting difference. And I noticed you spoke about some girls being shy
and you described yourself as being a shy person until people get to know you. As a content creator
who needs to communicate a message, do you believe shy girls should try creating content as a way to
learn to communicate with others, to be less shy, to face their anxieties and fears no matter the
topic they speak about? Could you discuss a bit if content creation has changed your personality
in any significant way, or was it already changed in a big way because of the years and years of
sports and swimming and that already molded you? So content creation was just a continuation and
an expression of that evolution? Not at all. Speaking in public was always not a fear,
but let's say being a shy person, I never took the initiative, very, very rare occasions when I
actually started a discussion, let's say with someone. And since swimming is such an individual
sport, so therefore you don't need team players to communicate with them. So you don't necessarily
develop that skill throughout the years because it's only you and the swimming pool. It didn't
help me in that sense. And it was very difficult actually when I put in my mind that I want to
start, let's say this small part-time career in Instagram as a skincare reviewers and products,
it was very difficult for me to communicate. I remember I was practicing in the mirror things
that I wanted to say before I actually was going live or on my Insta stories and actually say it.
And I practice in front of the mirror, I practice with my phone in my hand to see myself how I am
actually communicating and then analyze it into the sense of if I was a follower, I would be
a follower to this person. Would I like to see this type of things or would I like to see this
type of things expressing or this girl expressing her like that? And I was a very big critic of
myself in the beginning. And I remember having girls later on telling me how you are so natural
and how you are so comfortable, even friends of mine writing me messages because they were saying
they were seeing my stories and my starting career, small career, let's say. And they were
very shocked for the fact that I actually took this initiative. And they asked me like,
how did I do it? Because it seems so effortless and so easy and so natural, but actually behind
story was not at all. My partner was like hearing me every day speaking about without me recording
myself or something. And he thought I'm crazy. But then he understood like, this is helping me to
become better in communication, especially when you are communicating online. It's very difficult
to actually reach people's souls or people minds or people interest, because you're not physically
there to actually have a real one-to-one connection or communication. So you really have to be there
when you are communicating something, because otherwise even the slightest, the smallest
community that you have, you can lose it in a matter of seconds if you're not honest and
you're not there. Thank you. That's such a wonderful way to describe things and to express
your evolution and lessons you're learning. And to ask you even more, you mentioned that swimming
is more of an individual sport. It's you and the swimming pool. And then later on, even though
you studied sports psychology, well, a big part of it is psychology. Did you feel that because
of the years of swimming, you became more shy, more like awkward when dealing with others? So
you wanted to learn psychology to heal yourself and to understand people and communicate with
them better? Or was there a part of you that always loved people? You needed that connection
you're speaking about. And therefore, psychology is a way for you to understand people better,
to build a better connection. And it's something that is a part of you since forever that you're
a people person. I cannot describe myself as a people person at all. I am not in a bad way,
not in a matter of that I don't want to help. On the contrary, I always want to help. But in the
sense that being comfortable around people or being comfortable around strangers, because that's my
biggest challenge all the time. And swimming actually, as I said before, and as you highlighted,
it actually took me away into the direction of being alone, being a solitaire, being comfortable
being alone. And it was very awkward, actually, when I moved in UK, in the swimming team in UK,
because it was such a big discrepancy between how swimming relationships are in Romania,
where everything is so individualistic, and how swimming is perceived and it's dealt in UK. In
UK, even though swimming is an individual sport, you are a part of a team. And there is such a team
cohesion all the time. And people are supporting you, no matter what. And I've joined, I remember
in my first year of university in Loughborough, I joined a team of about 70 swimmers. So it was a
huge difference from what I used to have in my team, in Romania, with only five people. So I felt,
you know, very stressed about this difference. And it was very difficult to me to understand the fact
that those people actually cared about me. They were not just my swimming coaches and friends,
they actually cared about me. And it took me a while until I actually got comfortable being around
so many people. And yes, about the skincare now, which is related again with everything and with
psychology. I believe if you will ask any psychologist, either practice or not, why did they
started the psychology or why they were interested in study psychology? Most of them will be because
they wanted to heal themselves or they wanted to heal something, let's say, inside of their
personality. And that was one of the reasons that I actually started psychology, because I realized
that I like to be alone in some part. And I realized also that it's not good to like all the
time to be alone. So I wanted to develop that thing in myself. So therefore I started to study
about it. And then I was interested. I also saw the difference between Romanian sport psychology,
which was almost zero at the moment that I was actually a professional athlete. And when I
actually moved again in UK and I had psychologists coming in the team speaking to us at least once
per month. And I saw how big a difference as in mindset it gives you having someone from outside,
from outside of the swimming, from outside of your family or friends as a psychologist is
to be able to openly speak about the things, the problems that you are struggling as a professional
athlete, not just swimmer in general. And then I actually started to understand that I want
something into that direction. I want to help athletes. I want to help people opening themselves.
And I am still learning about it and definitely have a lot of things to learn for it.
But I'm on a better way and on a better road than I was, let's say, 10 years ago.
I like your focus on the process. I see the effect of swimming and of such a career of sports and to
ask you even more because you are speaking about the difference in culture, Romania, how swimmers
are more individualistic while in the UK, it's a big team and everybody cares about your success
and you're not alone. Nowadays, as someone who is more grown and mature and has experienced more,
specifically about two countries that are not so far from each other, Romania and Greece,
how would you describe the difference in culture? How are the people, how are the girls from Greece
compared to Romanian girls? Maybe someone never had friends from neither country. How would you
describe them? What is their personality, their attitude, their common traits? And of course,
every woman is very unique, but in general, culture does affect things.
In terms of differences between Romania and Greece as a cultural differences, I cannot say
we have a lot of differences. I mean, the bigger the differences between Romania and UK or Greece
and UK, then it is between Romania and Greece. We are very much alike. We have, let's say, this
volcanic blood and we see things very much alike. So I didn't encounter, I was actually surprised
and that was very nice for me because it made me feel like home. But in the other side, coming
after five years of living in UK, where I was already used with their character and with their
culture, shifting back in this type of culture, which was very familiar with what I had when I
was growing up, was a little bit of a shock because many times I felt like I was actually
in Romania. But then the only difference is that we just don't speak the same language. So
it was a very, very interesting moving from this country to another. Yes.
Thank you. That's interesting that the Balkan blood, as you said, brings cultures together.
And although they speak a different language, you could imagine it's the same people just in a
different geography. I would love to switch from people to animals. When did you discover
that for you the love of animals is a very important part of who you are? When did you
decide to begin helping them more? Did you have a phase where you thought animals are more lovely
than people? I prefer them. I'm too shy, but I'm never shy with new dogs or new pets. Tell me about
that. And are you a person who is more an empath? Can you feel the energy of the animals? Can you
feel them in a way that allows you to understand them without words? Or is it more of kindness
and positivity and that innocence? I can relate as well as in regards to what you say earlier about
never being shy, meeting a new dog or a pet. So my love for animals started when I was seven,
being the only child to my parents. I always wanted a brother, but unfortunately my parents
couldn't. So let's say to recover from that, they bring home a baby boxer, a dog boxer,
which literally until the day he died, 12 years later after we bring him in the family,
it was my smallest brother. I mean, everything that we did, we did together. Every time that I was
living for a swimming contest outside of my city, I was sad because I leave him at home and I
couldn't take it with me. But I knew that all the time when I'm coming back, he will be waiting for
me no matter what. So the fact that I know he's going to wait for me and all the time being so
happy seeing me back was something that brought so much joy all the time. And then being my first
dog, I lost him when I was actually in UK for my studies. And my family called me to tell me that
he passed away. It was very sad. I think to be honest, I cried after him more than maybe I cried
right after other members of the family. It might not sound very nice, this, but that's the truth.
I was very, very sad. And I didn't even want to see other dogs for about one year and something.
Whenever I was hearing a dog, I was starting to cry and think about my dog. And it was very,
very sad. It really impacted me. And then throughout the time of UK, when I was living there,
I felt moving from one city to another, they're also for studies. Even though I had friends from
swimming or from university, I always felt like something is missing. I always wanted to
have this feeling that someone is waiting for me home because obviously my family was not there.
It was just me. And I always thought that having a dog would have helped me so,
so much into making the overall experience of staying in UK so much better. Unfortunately,
I knew that I might not live forever in UK. So taking a dog and then having to move in another
country and all these things would have been difficult with a dog. So I stopped this feeling,
even though I didn't want. I stopped the feeling into wanting a dog and I put it to pause actually
because I knew until I actually will make stability in my life, I cannot bring and I
cannot drag another soul after me into my journey, let's say. Then I moved to Cyprus and again, all
the time I was thinking that I would like to have a dog. And then finally I moved in here in Greece
three years ago. And with my partner, we decided to take a dog, again, a boxer, the same race.
Unfortunately, she passed away when she was only 14 months. And it was devastating because we loved
her so much and she passed away in a very painful way because she developed brain cancer. So it was
again, very devastating. And for months I was terrible, psychologically speaking. And then now
in my life, in our lives from the past three months, we also have another baby, another baby
boxer. And she's lovely. She's filling our hearts again with joy and happiness. And I don't think I
need now a lot of words to feel what they feel or to express myself. Many, many times I'm just sitting
next to her and I feel like she gets what I want and I get what she wants. And the only fact that
I'm staying next to her and she comes next to me in my arms, it's the only thing that I need many,
many days. So I believe it's just a connection and a communication in another level that I cannot
explain, to be honest. Thank you. You mentioned twice now the description and the word connection.
You spoke about your connection with your community. You spoke now about your connection with your
baby dog or new baby. To you, what is the meaning of connection? How do you feel it? Is it like you
said where you feel they understand you, they care about the same things you care, and you're on the
same path together? Is it a metaphysical, spiritual thing where you feel, oh my God, we're like almost
a community of soulmates and we're one soul in different bodies and different locations? Or
what is that connection that you desire for you and how do you describe it?
So yeah, connection, definitely I would define it as something that you cannot describe it words,
something that you rather feel it than see it. And just feeling being related to someone so close,
without effort, and just something that, let's say, people will feel when it's a real connection.
And many, many times this is what I'm trying to develop in my community, small community on
Instagram. And I believe until now I succeed because many pages, for example, having so much
followers, so many followers, but they actually don't reach them. Let's say I believe into the
fact that numbers don't necessarily mean something. I would prefer to have 100 people, but actually
being there for me, with me, listening in a real way, what I have to say, than having 10,000,
and they don't care about whatever, and they don't just, I don't know, they are not there.
So, and let's say until now, I think I actually got this because, okay, there are 14,000 people on my
account, seeing and listening to my everyday stories and posts. And throughout the years,
because I'm doing this almost three years already, they haven't left. They haven't grown,
that's true. They have grown actually slowly because not, I didn't have in the first day 14,000 K,
but I just want to say that they haven't left. I mean, they start to follow me and they start
to connect with me and they remain there. So not because of the giveaways that I might organize,
not because of the gifts that I randomly give at some points. I have a tradition in every
Christmas. I try to give randomly to the girls that I have the most communication throughout the
year. I try to send them skincare products, gifts. And until now, I managed to make girls very happy,
girls that have never win something and they never, let's say, been surprised in such a way.
And the fact that they're so happy for that, it makes me so happy. And it's a feeling that
I cannot describe. And then this year actually starts another tradition when every month I am
again, sending to one person from my community, a small gift as, let's say, a symbol of my
appreciation to their support. And I try to do this from now on, every month, even for 2023,
I will do this the same. And this is all coming back to connection, how you develop a connection
with someone through texts, through videos, through photos, without actually knowing them
in real face-to-face life. I really can feel your heart when you speak about your community
and the people you love and the pets. It's really, really wonderful. And it makes me think,
what are your spiritual beliefs or metaphysical ways of being? Do you believe in karma and
manifestation? Do you believe in destiny? Do you open the tarot reading every day after your return
from work because you're fascinated with that? Or do you believe we're all human, we're all part of
a big soul that loves itself and therefore every person is a manifestation and an expression
of this energy? Do you believe this, like your life and the future, everything will turn out okay
and you put the effort to deserve it, but you're somehow protected on the right path? Or how do you
view it? How do you see other people in a more metaphysical way? How do you perceive reality?
I really do believe in karma and destiny. There are two things that
many times I'm thinking about it. The what-if question, what if I wasn't moving in the UK?
What if I wasn't moving in Greece? What if I wasn't starting psychology? And all these what-ifs.
But then at the end of the day, I'm like, you know what? I mean,
at the end of the day, I am where I was supposed to be, definitely. And maybe many times I'm thinking
about myself. Maybe if I would study or if I would have remained in UK, maybe at this point, I was
already a psychologist or like practicing psychology in the real way. But then I go back and I think,
okay, maybe I'm not now, but certainly at some point, I will be on the right path or I will be
on the path that I am supposed to be. So many times people are desiring something so much that
actually is not for them. And then when they get it, they actually understand it was not meant to
be from the beginning. So putting the effort into something that you believe it's for you is not
necessarily the correct thing. Obviously, everyone is free to make their own choices and follow
whatever they believe they deserve. But at some point, I stop pushing myself for things that are
not happening when I want to happen. So the fact that I studied psychology, sport psychology,
but I don't practice psychology at this moment, it's not something that will take me down.
I started other passions like skincare product, and I actually understand that I like it and I
love it. So maybe I'm thinking maybe psychology was not meant to be at all, or maybe it's meant to be
after a certain period when I'm accumulating other experiences that will actually make me
better in the things that I will do. So I really believe in destiny. And I also believe in karma,
because I really believe that what you're giving at some point, you are getting back. Even if
you're not getting back now, you are getting back in the future. So I believe in destiny.
And if you're getting back now, at some point, in a way or another, it will come back to you.
So that's why, call it selfish or not, I'm trying to do good and to be good. Because in the end,
if I do good and people are doing good to me, trying to boost the goodness in the world in that
world, it will come back to me. Thank you so much, Bianca. This was my privilege and my honor to
have this conversation with you to understand and explore more of your mind and your personality.
I wish you success. I wish your community deeper connection and more growth. I wish you happiness
when I choose to live in, to continue your journey and adventure and story. And thank you again for
participating in this project. Thank you very much. It was an amazing opportunity for me. So
nice to meet you and to hear about this podcast. I believe we really need it. And congratulations
you do. I know how much work it's behind about all this as a content creator myself. So I really
appreciate your time and I wish you all the best.
