Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorce mother.
She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women, to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives and emotions about this world.
In these difficult times in human history, we need to bring the people of the world together.
And when we hear the voices of women, when we listen to real lives of women from other countries,
we connect our cultures without differences or stereotypes, and we get inspired by their stories
to live a better life. That's what the podcast is all about.
My guest today is Leah Raduya Chich. Leah is the first Croatian girl in this podcast.
She is a level 3 personal trainer, a prenatal post-natal coach, a level 4 nutrition coach,
and an ex-volleable player living in Dubai, UAE. Leah, how are you today?
Hello. Hello. I'm doing very well. I'm so grateful to be a part of this podcast as well,
especially as a first Croatian. They are happy, happy to be here.
I'm honored, lucky, very, very excited to know much more about you, so I'll begin with this
nice first question, which is Leah, if your friends and the people who know you best could describe
your personality, what would they say about you? I think they would say I am definitely friendly
open-minded, maybe trustworthy, reliable friend, artistic into sports. What else? Yeah, I think that
would be shortly how they describe me. I love that and especially the word artistic. I want to know
more about that. As an artist, do you mean you create art or are you an appreciator of art?
And in general, what kind of art seems to resonate with you as a person? It's actually
both. I love creating art and I appreciate all sorts of art. So my mom is an artist, a self-thought
artist herself. And she's been creating things all of her life. So I've basically grew up with a
mom that's very, very, very into art, very creative. And I've always been surrounded by a lot of
creativity in my life. My personally, I love to draw. I love to paint as well. But it's not just
about visual art. I love written art as well. I've studied creation language and literature.
I have a bachelor's degree that so I've been reading a lot my whole life. And I love poetry.
Yeah, I love all sorts of art, visual, written art. I love music as well. And I really, really
appreciate all sorts of art. Thank you. This is so interesting. I have so many possible questions.
I'm curious about, but I'll begin with this. Your love for art. Why do you love it? Is it because
you feel it's like nutrition for your soul? And so it refills you with that energy and inspiration
to go back to normal life in a great mood and full of energy? Or is it in many ways an escape
like you feel you're in new universes visiting them and discovering new things because
each piece of art is so unique and different? Or do you like beautiful things and colorful things
and beautiful language? And so to you it resonates for your interest in beautiful things? Or why
is art such an important part of who you are? Actually everything that you said makes sense to me
I'm a tourist and the stories are known to love beautiful things so definitely that aspect
yes I love to see beautiful things around me whether it's in nature or in art but what I think
is the most important thing when it comes to me creating is that it really does refill me
I disconnect in that moment and nothing else exists other than the art that I'm creating
so in a way it's really as if I'm living in the now I'm living in the moment in that
little moment that I'm creating nothing really really exists and if I create anything
and I listen at the same time to something that I really enjoy it's really really really
fulfilling from the inside it makes me happy it refills my soul it refills my energy and
I really really love art in all sorts of ways even if I'm just listening to the music
something that I like it also gives me a lot of good energy a lot of positive energy
it refills me and shifts my mood if I was in a bad mood but creating creating myself
creating things myself is very nourishing for my soul I would say thank you that sounds
actually very poetic the way you described it and before we move on I'm curious because in
around a month it will be your birthday how do you plan to celebrate it how was a birthday
as someone living in Dubai compared to Croatia or any other place yeah I will be 34 in about a
month and a half so living abroad living far from family is challenging in many ways sometimes
and obviously if I'm celebrating my birthday here my family cannot be around so sometimes it could
get sad if you're not surrounded by people you love but I have a lot of friends here thankfully
and I'm thankful for them because they make my days here better and definitely they make me
not feel the loneliness that I could feel being so far from my family and best friends
so for this birthday let's see how it's gonna go I like to travel sometimes on my birthday
I I love to explore new destinations on my birthday hopefully this year I might travel somewhere as well
let's see if not just we'll celebrate here as always just with some closest friends
that still sounds like a lot of fun and I'm curious you're a music lover when you work out
do you listen to music that gives you that nourishment in an artistic way or do you try to go
for energetic music that pumps you up so that you can lift and work out harder than last time
or how is your relationship with art music and working out and fitness
so here is a fun fact about me that people are usually surprised when they hear
I listen to rock and metal so when I train my metal side comes out I listen to a lot of classic
I mean like old school metal like metallic or iron maiden but also a lot of newer streams of metal
and I know a lot of people cannot understand that type of music but to me
while I train it gives me a bit of adrenaline I would say as well and I love I know people don't
maybe appreciate a lot metal especially the vocals in metal but I love the instrumental part of
metal and rock and this is something I listen to when I train I cannot because I wait lift
and I cannot train to something that's a bit more gentle I need something that pumps me up
and the rock and metal give me that I don't necessarily listen to rock and metal only while I train
I always listen to rock and metal because it's something that I love I think the rock part is
something that my dad gave me because he loves rock himself and as I grew up with my mom being
gentle and artistic there was also my dad who was into sports and rock and motorcycles and
things like that so I've had a bit of both growing up and I definitely still listen to rock
and metal as well thank you and the way you're speaking makes me feel that you're someone who
enjoys emotions very much you want to experience everything in life to have an adventure of emotions
where you try everything and don't stay only doing the same thing every day and so usually
you'd get bored easily at the same time for you to achieve the results that you do you need discipline
a lot of tedious boring almost work every single time how do you reconcile both parts of your
personality how do you stay enjoying the adventure and the excitement and the spontaneous
unplanned emotions and experiences in life and at the same time have that torus or
father inspiration or whatever discipline over long long periods and so i'm very disciplined as
a person i did sports most of my life and i've learned discipline transport so i would say that was
where my roots in discipline and consistency started and it just continues throughout my life
but then through training and through working out i really find that me time as well
so that's important for me and i think this is how i'm staying disciplined because i'm enjoying
it i love seeing results i love seeing progress in me as in myself as a person and that pushes
me forward you're not always motivated you know there are days when you wake up and you don't
want to do anything but you know that that one hour in a day one and a half hour in a day that you're
going to dedicate to yourself only will change your mood as well obviously training you get
endurfing kick and your mood shifts better so that that helps me staying consistent because i know
that one hour one and a half hour in a day is going to be my me time where i'm going to listen to my
music when i focus on myself only no phone no distractions no conversations just my me time and
i love consistency i love a bit of our routine as well so eating well training is something that
i can consistently do and i can be disciplined about it um but i am adventurous i like trying new
things and this is where i think my more out of comfort zone out of like more spontaneous period
comes out and usually on the weekends i like trying new artistic things new sports sports
um so yeah most of the week discipline and ecosystem and then a weekend i'm trying out new
things so i have a bit of combination of both that sounds like a lot of fun i have the same time
your a coach in particular you have chosen pre-natal and post-natal women so before given
birth and after given birth which is an emotional experience for every human being at the same
time such women because of the big changes in their body they might see slow results what do you
tell them so that they keep going and stay motivated because like you said you are in love with
seeing the games and the your results but some beginner people could be further ahead in their
journey and it means they will fear results after a long time and until they fear results
how do you encourage them to keep going no matter what and not give up it's hard sometimes
and it's not just with prenatal clients it's with clients in general because it's not always
easy to stay motivated it's not always easy to stay consistent to stay dedicated to training and
eating well and staying active but I realized with all of the clients who starts to see the
change even the smallest change even if it's just change in energy levels it's easier to push
them somehow because they want to feel better they want to look better and they want to see
the change as well so I think me with the way I live with my lifestyle I really try to be
a role model to them as well and kind of prove them that on the bad days if they still push
through and they still train hard and work hard it does pay off I've witnessed this so many times
myself when I had something that slowed me down in life whether there was some kind of sickness
or something happening in personal life or even just simple thing as a vacation so you're not
trained for two weeks 10 days whatever there are things in life there there's always going to
slow us down but if you are consistent if you are dedicated majority of the time with things
it shows it really shows so I'm really trying to lead by example not just to teach things that
are not practicing but I'm really trying to be a role model and teach my example and I think that's
I hope actually that's motivating them as well thank you for that he's in very kind and very
caring and I'm very curious to know even more about you and I'll ask when people look at you you
look more like you're from Iceland because if you're blonde hair which is not very typical of
the Balkans if you think about it are you naturally that way or is that a look that represents
to you some part of your personality you are expressing and if so how does it make you feel
to look in that way which is more Scandinavian rather than in the Balkan region.
I mean I am blonde I'm very tall so I do look I do get a lot that they look Swedish or maybe Russian
which I don't mind I don't I mean this is how I look I cannot change my height or
whatever but yeah it's something I mean I like to look this way I like to be fit I like to look strong
yeah yeah I'm just I'm happy with the way I look and I'm comfortable with the way I look and
I think that's the most important thing. Thank you and tell me about your life in Dubai and moving
like you said you left your family and best friend behind how is that adaptation especially that
is a different city a different culture maybe even you say you need your me time but the dynamic
energy of Dubai pushes a lot of people to be exhausted because they push their limits again and
again and again so how was adapting to the culture what are some things you expected or did not
expect and how is that whole acclimation and getting used to in new culture far away from
home so I came to Dubai nine years ago so it's been a long time that I've lived here and it's been
actually a long time and a lot of changes have happened since the first time I moved here
I moved here in December 2013 and I was actually recruited for Hollister. I used to work in Hollister
eventually became a manager and I was managing other brands in retail after that. I lived in London
shortly before I moved to UAE so I was kind of familiar with multiculturality already and I loved
the fact that there are so many nationalities within one city and this is exactly what I've
encountered moving to Dubai as well. A lot of different nationalities and a lot of different cultures
you can learn from. A lot of different traditions and habits you can learn. So definitely
something I was attracted to. I don't think I had a cultural shock because Dubai itself is already
quite open-minded and open as a city itself and I don't think I was really shocked by anything.
It is a very different culture and a very different lifestyle from home but I don't think I was
shocked by it. I was just happy to embrace new culture and just in different way of living.
But as you said, life in Dubai is very, very fast paced. In Croatia, I don't think it's like that.
Croatia is a bit slower paced and it's a huge difference in lifestyle. But after 10 years of being
here, I'm definitely adapted to the live here and definitely not adapted to the live
by home anymore. So it's good to go home when you need holidays because you really slow
you really slow down. But I do love live here. I love people here. I've met so many different
people from all different parts of the world. And I love that. I love that. I love meeting things.
I mean, meeting new people that don't have maybe a lot of things in common with me and I can learn
a lot from their cultures, their traditions. I love that. I love that. This is something
I've, let's say, touched first in London when I live there for a little bit. And then that's
and it's been found more of it here as well. That sounds like a lot of fun. And really, I'm curious too
because you're someone like you said, you left home to go to London and then to the UAE. And you're
living life with discipline. And with routine at the same time, giving yourself the opportunity
for adventure, I will ask you for women who might feel stuck or they worry about the judgment
of others or they have some anxiety that makes them worry too much about the consequences
of any action. What's your advice for them so that they have the courage to go out of their
comfort zone and begin to follow their big dreams and live to their potential?
I love that question. I think women in general are brought up maybe not nowadays but let's say
my generation and older women than me. Maybe we are somehow brought up all of certain rules and
standards that women should follow but this is something I've learned here as well. I've learned
how to go out of comfort zone and chase the dreams and I believe no woman should be restricted
by anything. Their family, their partner, their friends, the culture, their religion. I think everyone
should follow whatever is in their heart, whatever, whatever sense their soul and fire, whatever
they feel drawn to, whatever they think is their purpose in life and they should chase that.
I think women in general sometimes put a lot of pressure on themselves because of certain
society standards that they should fulfill, that they should be married at a certain age, have
children at a certain age or have a career of a certain type. I don't like rules of that kind. I don't
being restricted in any way and I really, when I talk to other women as well, I love if I can empower
them into trying to do new things, trying to achieve certain goals of their own. I really do love
that and I love to talk to a lot of women who are very strong and confident and bold and they know
what they want and they know what they want to achieve in life. I really, really like to
be surrounded by empowering women like that and I do like to empower women to pursue their goals as
well in all sorts of ways. Thank you so much Leah. It was honestly my privilege and my honor to share
your voice and your perspective and to have you on this podcast absolutely I enjoyed every
second and you had really, really unique and interesting things to say because you're a unique
woman and every woman is and thank you again for participating. Thank you so much for having me for
my pleasure to talk to you and hopefully maybe inspire some women that are going to listen to this.
