Bordeaux Expats recently touched base with Pamela Joa to find out about her personal fitness training courses 

Read on to find out more!

Where are you originally from?

I like to consider myself as a world citizen. It’s a bit complicated to explain my origins in only one sentence. I was born in the Dominican Republic to a Chinese mom and a Dominican Dad. I spent all my childhood travelling between New York and Santo Domingo, and educated under the American system at private American school back in Santo Domingo. Thus, needless to say that the American, Dominican and Chinese culture were all omnipresent during my upbringing.

Where are you living at the moment?

I live in La Bastide, 5 minutes away from Bordeaux centre. My husband and I used to live in the lovely Bordeaux old town, but once we had our first child we decided to move to a quieter place. La Bastide is a buzzing, very family-friendly neighbourhood. The best part of it, is having the beautiful Jardin Botanique and Darwin right around the corner from us.

How long have you lived in the region?

I’ve been in France for a bit more than 10 years now. Before moving here, I was living and working in New York.

Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux?

I’ve noticed that like many expat women my age here in France, LOVE is what brought us here. And that is exactly my case. Just in like in the movies, I fell in love with a Frenchman and I’m happy to say that our love is stronger than ever. I left an exciting and thriving job in corporate America to follow my French husband to Bordeaux, with no regrets.

What do you do for a living? Was it easy finding work?

When I first arrived here, I had been offered a few job opportunities in Paris, however my husband is not very fond of the French capital, so we decided to move to Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, getting a job in my field of International Business and Marketing, was harder than I thought. It took me a while to find a job where I was finally fully recognised as someone valuable and important to the company. A few years down the road, and after having both of my kids, I started considering a career shift. Being a mother made me a new woman and with that came new dreams and goals. I no longer wanted to be part of the system and I wanted to be more present for my young children and my family. With the support of my husband, I decided to make my passion for health and fitness my career. I successfully became a Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Expert. After working at local gyms, I now exclusively teach private fitness sessions at my clients’ homes. And boy let me tell you, I’m having the best time of my life!

What is the best thing about being a personal trainer?

There are so many perks about being a personal trainer. I get to organise my own work schedule and work in a fun environment, and the ability to help someone is very self-nurturing as well! It’s an honour to have people come to me for help. I love seeing their smiles when they actually work hard and accomplish their goals!

What is the hardest thing about being a personal trainer?

Building a client base from scratch is by far one of the most difficult things – and I’ve done it multiple times. In a gym it’s a bit easier but it’s still a grind. It’s your business and it pays your bills. When you don’t have enough business to make ends meet, you either quit and do something else or you persevere and make it happen.

Another hard reality about being a personal trainer is the public misunderstanding of the fitness and health industry. Good personal training is far deeper than simply putting someone through a tough workout and leaving them gasping for air during a workout session. Anyone can do that. A successful personal trainer also knows how to help someone change their life. There is constant research on the latest fitness, health and dieting trends. Hours and hours of reading scientific studies in order to give the best service possible to your clients.

How is being a personal trainer in Bordeaux different from being one in the States?

Compared to other countries, especially the United States and England, the personal training field is extremely unregulated in terms of certifications. That’s not always a bad thing. In fact, I think having a variety of certifying bodies is beneficial as it allow individuals to pursue whatever interests them. However, the big risk is that it allows anyone to create a certification and this is what confuses the mass public.

Also, the French fitness industry is very different from that of the States. In terms of revenue, the US is the single biggest market worldwide regarding the health and fitness industry. And with that huge Return On Investment in this industry comes the great fitness and health technological advancements that we cannot find here in France, unless you live in Paris and are a member of the hottest high-end fitness club. But what is motivating, is that, earlier this year, France was ranked number 10 in a study of the world’s healthiest countries. People’s healthy diet and small portions is what makes France one of the healthiest countries.

Do you have a business/website/ blog?

www.pamelajoa.com is my website, although still under works, where you’ll get full explanation on how I work and my philosophy of what it means to be fit and healthy.

You’ll get weekly tips and motivation on fitness and nutrition on my facebook professional page www.facebook.com/pamelajoa.coach.

Follow me there for fun workout and recipes ideas and for details on my upcoming events.

I’m also an active member of the Facebook group: Mums Space Trim and Healthy
– This is where I give my professional view and advice to other women who are going through a fitness journey. You can also reach out to me and other members for a community support on fitness and healthy lifestyle.

Are you part of any associations, groups, teams?

In terms of my career , I work in partnership with other professionals in the health industry. I work together with a local osteopath, Guillaume Delaunay and massage therapist, Guillaume Labadan, in Bordeaux to help clients find a healthy baseline.

On the social side, I am part of an English speaking group of Moms here in Bordeaux. It’s a community of expat women who give each other tips and moral support when it comes to living in Bordeaux as an expat Mom and wife. The fun part is that we meet regularly for playdates and coffee with or without the kids.

Final thoughts?

I love meeting new people, if you have questions on living in Bordeaux or just anything about fitness or health, by all means drop me a line or two ! I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.

contact@pamelajoa.com