Strong Like Mum - Interview with Shakira Akabusi

  Today Zoe speaks to Shakira Akabusi, a speaker, podcaster and women’s health trainer. She educates and shares a plethora of information on the incredible female body and is also a superb mother of four!   KEY TAKEAWAYS For Shakira, the first child was the hardest. She now has four children but still says the biggest challenge was the life change that you experience when you have your first. Before Shakira became a personal trainer she worked in the theatre industry but an operation on her vocal chords that sadly went wrong meant she had to change careers completely. Shakira set up ‘Strong Like Mum’ and specialises in pre and post natal training. She finds the community she has built around Strong Like Mum makes her feel really empowered. The more we share and open up about the female experience including our normal bodies, physical and mental health the better. It shouldn’t be ‘brave’ to show your post partum body or talking about your imperfections, it should just be seen as normal. As a society we need to change the narrative around pre and post natal bodies in the fitness industry especially. The narrative shouldn't be around ‘bouncing’ back etc but should be about creating deep, meaningful respect for what women’s bodies have achieved.   BEST MOMENTS   “I have managed to connect with a very positive, real group of women that I find really empowering”   “We have to change the narrative”   “The female body is just amazing”   “We didn’t evolve as instagrammers, we evolved as animals”   “I now see how much joy anxiety robbed me of”   VALUABLE RESOURCES   www.petalscharity.org www.tommys.org www.arc-uk.org www.sands.org.uk   @shakira.akabusi @stronglikemumuk       ABOUT THE GUEST Shakira Akabusi @shakira.akabusi @stronglikemumuk     ABOUT THE HOST Zoe Cresswell Devoted mother of two (and a big hairy dog), UK trained midwife, doula and personal trainer, specialising in pre and postnatal fitness. Zoe was born in the UK and before moving to Dubai in 2013 and worked as a midwife in central London, both in a birth centre and a very busy NHS hospital. Although late to the scene, Zoe is an aspiring athlete having won numerous triathlons and representing Great Britain where she placed within the top 10 on the world stage. With her husband James, the couple will soon be launching their cloth nappy company, Bop & Bee, where they hope to inspire families to swap a few disposable nappies a day for the more planet friendly option of cloth. Zoe’s goal is to share her knowledge and experience, tell real life stories, manage expectations and open up those often difficult conversations. Zoe’s own motherhood journey has been full of twists and turns as she put everything on hold and went through numerous miscarriages and rounds of IVF.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram : @zoecresswell_me Facebook: Zoe Cresswell LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-cresswell