Recently, we chatted with Ophie Ho, a truly badass woman who can do it all: blog, give health and fitness advice, run a podcast and YouTube channel, you name it! Read our Q&A below to find out more about this extraordinary woman and her work.
Since New York Minute Magazine is dedicated to women’s empowerment, let’s start off by discussing how fitness has empowered you. How do your passions embolden you to become the most badass version of yourself you can be?
What an absolutely fantastic question to start with! Fitness has empowered me in a way that’s not only physical but emotional in many ways. As a woman naturally smaller in stature (thanks mum and dad!), I feel that I’ve always been underestimated or overlooked. Fitness has enabled me to develop both my physical and mental strength, which has in turn shaped the way that I see myself and enabled me to step into the woman that I wanted to be: confident, strong, and empowered.
It quickly became a passion (and with great reason!), when I realized that the power to develop, change and improve myself was 100% in my own hands and that I was very capable of creating the change that I wished to see. I’ve never used the term “badass” to describe myself, but I’m liking it. I’ll be using that more often, thank you!
Between blogging, coaching, traveling, podcasting, and Youtube-ing, you really have your hands full! As a badass jack-of-all-trades, how do your passions intersect and interact with each other?
“Baddass jack-of-all-trades?” I LOVE THIS, thank you! I’ve always been told that success meant to find one thing and to get really good at it. But from a very young age, I always had many different interests, all in different buckets and I refused to funnel myself into one. Whether that was out of sheer stubbornness or indecisiveness? I don’t know. But as a result, I do find that all of my passionate pursuits end up intersecting with one another and fuelling different facets of my skills in very resourceful ways!
For example, music helped me to find empathy and to feel into others’ emotions.
Having empathy helped me to be more descriptive in my writing, to speak to my audience more clearly.
Having a clear message helped me to define my purpose, both in life and business.
Having a clear purpose gave me the confidence to pursue all that I do, no matter how many different industries they might fall under.
And having so many different passions helped connect me to a much larger network of amazing like-minded women!
It must get exhausting sometimes. How do you handle your busy schedule?
I think, like many other ambitious entrepreneurs out there, I’m honestly still figuring this out. Some days I really feel like I have everything under control, but most days I have no idea what I’m doing and it’s all very overwhelming.
One of the strategies I’ve recently been using to manage this has been to take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Remember, we are the authors of our lives, the CEOs of our businesses, the control panel of all our outputs. If something isn’t going the way we’d like it to, we have every ounce of power within us to CHANGE that.
It’s easy to forget that sometimes and let life take us on a detour. So I try to remember the above and step into the woman that I desire to be. Whether that’s looking at what parts of my life can be delegated or outsourced, or finding more savvy ways to complete repetitive tasks with automation… There’s a solution to it all and we just need to be brave, creative, and courageous enough to look for it.
There’s a prevalent stereotype about health and fitness bloggers. They’re supposedly all white, upper-middle-class women. As a woman of color blogger, what do you think about that stereotype? Is it harmful? Where does it come from?
I think it’s so great that there are many women of color unapologetically sharing and educating others online in health and fitness nowadays and this is increasing day by day. It makes me proud. I’ve honestly never noticed the stereotype but there have been times when I’ve wondered whether I could even appeal to a wider audience due to the color of my skin.
If anything, it makes me feel like I’m breaking the norm by giving a voice to and empowering other women of color to feel less alone and more supported in this community, that their experiences are shared and heard by another in the same shoes.
But also that we’re really no different. We share similar anxieties and insecurities about our bodies no matter who we are.
It could potentially be harmful if we allowed the stereotype to define what we do and how we do things, but as long as we all stay true to our beliefs, values, and purpose, then I don’t think we could go wrong No matter who you are and where you’re from, people will be able to feel your genuine and raw energy.
Your 6-step guide is completely free! Wow! It’s clear that you do a lot of work to make sure health and fitness are accessible to everyone. Can you tell us more about the impact fitness regimens can have on peoples’ lives? Why is the accessibility of fitness so important?
YES! If I can simplify and break down the overwhelming parts of health and fitness, then this is how I’ll do it! Having clear goals and structure can significantly impact the way we go about our lives, and this includes having a fitness regimen that works in alignment with our lifestyles.
As Naval Admiral William McRaven so accurately places this: “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.”
Having a fitness regime is just like this, an item that you can cross off your list. A BIG item that DIRECTLY contributes to your personal health and wellbeing.
Accessibility to fitness is extremely important because so many of us shy away from setting these goals for ourselves in fear that we don’t have enough motivation, time, money, etc. But we often forget that we’re so lucky that we GET to be fit and active, that exercise is a celebration of what our bodies can do and not a tedious chore or punishment.
The sooner we can realize that fitness doesn’t have to be hard, the sooner we can all take small actions towards being and living the ULTIMATE version of ourselves.
You cook a lot on your Instagram story! What’s your favorite health-conscious recipe you’ve made?
PASTA BAKE! I like to look at recipes not as calories but instead through completeness, incorporating macronutrients that ensure a nutritious and balanced meal. So although pasta bake may not come off as particularly “health-conscious” at a glance, it’s certainly my favorite dish to cook because not only is it EASY, but you can throw in vegetables, plenty of protein and your choice of pasta! Customize this all as you wish, whether that’s adding a variety of vegetables like mushrooms or tomatoes, or mixing up your toppings with different types of cheese. This makes for an incredibly yummy, wholesome, and balanced meal in my opinion!
Now for something fun! At NYMM, we’ve had some heated debates on whether cats or dogs are better pets. Are you a cat person or a dog person? And why?
I am looking forward to contributing to this debate because with two furry woof babies at home, I am most definitely a DOG person! I heard that dog’s ages are equivalent to a human’s, but multiplied by seven, which means their lives are going at seven times the speed of ours. Their enthusiasm when you come home, even after just being out for an hour means that you’ve been gone for seven hours to them! All the little things that you do for them, from playing with them, giving them mental stimulation through training, feeding them, cuddling with them, talking to them, all of these things I feel are appreciated unconditionally by dogs and it’s so comforting to know I have such wonderful creatures in my life.
Be sure to check out Ophie’s website, as well as her podcast!
Featured Photo provided by Ophie Ho
