Tomomi Tsuchio

When Tomomi was 13 years old, she started feeling that she was ugly and fat because she did not look like people on TV, magazines, and advertisements everywhere. She felt that all the messages coming from them were, “This is beautiful. If you don’t fit in, you are not.” She tried to fit in those standards and did things to fit in even if it would hurt herself. What is a beauty? Should we have beauty standards? What if we had all kinds of beauty presented everywhere, would she still have the same struggle? When she became a trainer, she started training her body more and had values on her looks. But she started realizing if she couldn’t work out due to an injury or something, Could she still have the same value about herself that she was feeling?? Her answer was no.

When Tomomi was running the gym with her partner at the previous location, she was under so much pressure and stress. Their rent was about $5000 a month and the expenses were from $6000 to $7000 a month, plus paying back to their investor. She was very insecure about her accent and felt uncomfortable to talk to people who were outside of her field. Her partner told her, “Remember, you speak two languages. Most Americans only speak one.” Tomomi is very responsible, always wants to do the right thing and does her best for everything. From outside or, most of the employers would love that kind of quality, but to her, it was pushing her to the edge. She had to learn to take it easy and be lazy sometimes.