Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Ramona Braganza, celebrity trainer and global fitness expert. Ramona shares her 30-year journey of wellness, and how she is using her passions and expertise to contribute to the fight against human trafficking. She shares her goal of providing real-world education and skills training in the health and wellness sector to young female survivors caught in the vicious cycle of India’s Sexual exploitation and trafficking business through a North American based non-profit organization she established, 321 Empower.

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 190, Wellness Training: A Path to Empower.

Production Credits: [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, every time we get together we are either having a conversation ourselves or we’re bringing in a conversation with a partner, someone else in the world who is doing some incredible work on helping us to end human trafficking. We’ve had so, many amazing partnerships and conversations that have emerged over the years. And this conversation is going to be similar, right?

Sandie: [00:01:04] That’s right.

Dave: [00:01:06] I am so, glad to be able to welcome to the show today Ramona Braganza. Ramona is a celebrity trainer and global fitness expert, and maybe most known for sculpting hot Hollywood bodies including that of Jessica Alba’s and Halle Berry’s, but also, for her love of fitness and her quest for excellence that has facilitated the transformation of hundreds of people’s bodies and attitudes worldwide. Recognized as one of the top personal trainers in the world among the entertainment industry. Ramona has worked as Jessica Alba’s personal trainer for over 12 years and continues to train many other celebrities. Ramona has over 30 years in the fitness industry and has contributed editorial content to a dozen magazines including Shape, Marie-Claire, Men’s Health, Allure, Fit Pregnancy, and many others. She is also, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. And she has established 321 Empower, a North American based non-profit organization with a goal of providing real-world education and skills training in the health and wellness sector to young female survivors caught in the vicious cycle of India’s sexual exploitation and trafficking business. Ramona, we are so, glad to welcome you to the show.

Ramona: [00:02:19] Thank you very much. I’m excited to be here and thank you very much to Dr. Sandie Morgan and to you Dave for having me here.

Sandie: [00:02:26] Well, we’re excited about what you’re doing and let’s start off with what exactly is the 321 Empower nonprofit that you’ve started.

Ramona: [00:02:39] Well it’s a passion project that I’ve started working with girls in India and it takes girls that have been saved from trafficking and helps to transform their lives through fitness. So, I empower them on a personal level and then I also, manage to give them some job skills for a growing fitness industry. It’s a 1.8-billion-dollar industry currently in India, that’s mostly dominated by male fitness trainers.

Sandie: [00:03:05] So, one of the things I want our listeners to pick up right away that I love about talking with you is you start right out with the business model. You’re not just about oh we want to do something to help the girls, but you’ve done your research. And when we want to do something to help survivors we have to have more than just passion, we have to have some expertise. And you bring a lot of expertise. Tell us just a little bit about your background in wellness and fitness.

Ramona: [00:03:40] Sure. I actually started as a gymnast when I was very young, and I grew up in Canada. My parents are from India. And for me I grew up in a small town that was very, there were very few minorities, and so, I found gymnastics as a real help in my own empowerment. And through the gymnastics that led me to do some dancing, I became a cheerleader with the NFL and then I went on to do fitness strength training and a lot of the fitness competitions. So, my own personal journey with exercise, it’s completely formulated who I am. And having dealt with adversity, it really helped empower me. And as my life continued, fitness evolved into becoming a fitness trainer. I ended up having Jessica Alba as a client and went on to start my own fitness company in Canada. And during that time, I managed to make a trip back to Mumbai where my parents are from, be a part of the fitness industry there and I recognized a real need in an industry where girls aren’t necessarily treated as they’re treated here in the United States and Canada. So, that really empowered me to do something about it and my own wellness journey led me to this cause.

Sandie: [00:04:54] All right. I love how you call that a wellness journey because we’re recording this in January and lots of us start out the new year with goals for diet, nutrition, and exercise, and how many miles we’re going to walk every day. And so, this journey concept is a powerful image. But let’s look at how you chose to do this in India. You have your own personal connection, but on your website, you talk about the problem and you say that there are almost 20,000 women and children who are survivors of human trafficking in India, just in the year 2017, up 25 percent from the previous year according to the Thompson Reuters Foundation. And child survivors make up 40 percent of India’s prostitution industry. And for people who know me using the word child and prostitute in the ...