Welcome to the “Kickstart Your Confidence” podcast with Hastings Kickboxing Academy’s owner, Carl Denne.
At HKA we work with local schools and academies across East Sussex, running anti-bullying, boosting self-confidence, teaching self-defence programs and much more, we actively work with governing bodies and local police to help tackle all different types of issues within the community. We currently teach over 300 students across 30+ classes each week.
In this show, we are going to be talking about real-life issues, and give listeners some nice helpful tips and ideas on helping to boost your confidence & become a better you.
So sit back, listen and enjoy!
In the first episode, your host, Carl, talks to Ellen Willard, one of the rising stars of Instagram. With over 160,000 followers, and regularly receiving over 20,000 likes per post, Ellen has suddenly found herself in the position to be able to leverage her growing audience to build her personal brand, and to slowly transition from full-time employment, to becoming self-employed.
In this honest conversation, Carl talks to Ellen about the pressures that social media stars face day-in day-out, how she balances her growing work schedule with her physical fitness, dealing with trolls and negativity, and how her newfound fame is impacting her family.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The exponential speed at which Ellen’s popularity has increased is incredible. It took 9 months to reach 50,000 followers, but only a further 3 months to reach 160,000.
- Especially when it comes to PB's and how much you can bench, there seems to be more of an ego-competition in lifting as much as possible at once. But Ellen finds it much more impressive to lift less for longer.
- When she first started out, Ellen was very strict with her diet. As time has gone on, she has realised that it’s far healthier to eat vegan, and to not punish herself too harshly for slip-ups. It’s about being aware.
- The protein intake industry is booming right now, especially in the fitness world. A daily injection of protein is essential to a fitness-based lifestyle.
- Becoming a vegan has made Ellen feel fresher and more energised, but she understands that these feelings may be psychosomatic; a placebo of sorts.
- It doesn’t really matter what shape you are, or what size you are. if you are happy and contented in your own skin, then who cares what anyone else thinks?
- Managing time is very difficult as Ellen’s popularity increases. Nowadays, she uses her gym rest times to interact with her audience, and makes sure that she takes a break when it comes to spending time with her loved ones.
- Trolls do make themselves known from time to time. It’s an unfortunate side-effect of Ellen’s lifestyle. She has learned to ignore the negativity, but it’s still hard.
- Ellen’s content has matured since she began. Initially, it was very body-based, but now she has developed her output so as to better show her lifestyle.
- Young people now seem to assume that fame is a natural thing, and that it doesn’t require any effort. But all success is, or should be, built upon hard work. It’s unfortunate that the work ethic seems to have slipped.
- Ellen’s new life is hard, and causes huge amounts of stress. But it also very rewarding, and Ellen recognises that the harder she works at it, the more likely she is to succeed.
BEST MOMENTS
’The secret ingredients are things like egg powder!’
‘It’s one of the most talked about topics in terms of nutrition’
‘My diet now is a healthy lifestyle itself’
‘We’re only here once… apparently…'
’Try and look at yourself, and be happy with what you see’
‘I’ve put myself out there. Negativity is inevitable’
‘Are people going to still like me if I don’t show off my arse on Instagram…?’
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Ellen WIllard Instagram - www.instagram.com/bootyby_el
Ellen Willard YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5l06Z2qMPWwHKQzD4K4UPA
HKA Main landing page
www.hastingskickboxing.co.uk/kickstartnow
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/Hastingskickboxing
HKA Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Hastingskickboxing
Adult community link
https://m.facebook.com/groups/274624209886110?ref=share
ABOUT THE HOST
Hi, my name is Carl Denne.
I was born in Hastings 1980. Married, father of two beautiful daughters, Bethany and Leigha.
My daughters, the wife, and gym ARE MY LIFE.
IF I’M HONEST, I pretty much failed at school. Heavily dyslexic, I was dismissed for being a “naughty kid” that didn’t want to learn. I was heavily bullied for having shit clothes and ginger afro hair. I didn’t have many friends.
When I say bullied I don’t mean called a “poo-poo head” and being looked at in a nasty way. I mean thrown down stairs, and hit with chairs and tables. Clothes were stolen whilst in the shower. That kind of bullying…
Oh, how things have changed…
Martial arts, and specifically Kickboxing, have changed my life, and now I am much happier and change other people’s lives for the better on a daily basis.
I am a complete adrenaline freak, so In my spare time, track days, jumping out of planes, sitting on top of them, rage buggies in the desert… The higher, the faster the better for me. I’m always looking for the next thing to get my blood pumping, so if anyone has a challenge I’ve not found yet, please feel free to share.
I do like a Saturday night movie night, Chinese, Netflix, lots of chocolate with my three little ladies. I love being around my friends and family. This is why I love the crazy HKA family so much, as this is my extended family.
I left school with pretty much nothing! A few sad GCSE’s C - D grade, BUT I did have a shit-ton of energy and passion to achieve, and to prove all the teachers and people that looked down on me for all them years, wrong. So after a few jobs here and there, I settled on working for Openreach (BT) as a cabler/jointer copper and fiber optic multi-skilled engineer with HGV.
I left this in 2015 to chase my dream of running my own Kickboxing Academy and working with the future of today, rather than a job that just paid the bills.
I’ve trained pretty much my whole life: Karate, boxing, Judo, from the age of 9, and of course, I’ve now done over 29 years of Kickboxing. I’ve passed many Instructors and coaches courses, attended many training courses and seminars, grading up through the syllabus. I passed my 4-hour hell-on-earth 3rd Dan black belt in July 2018 with the ICO.
If I’m honest my real passion and skills have come from learning the hard way; through being in the trenches. I know how it feels to be on your arse. I know how it feels to have to pull yourself out of the pit. I’ve been through a divorce. I’ve lived through the pain and have worked with thousands of members, students, children, teachers and adults over the years, and the one thing I get told every time is how well I/we keep it very real, and that I have a complete understanding on most eventualities.
Thank you for reading and listening. I hope you connect with myself and the team, take away some ideas, understand you’re not alone, and that it’s good to talk, listen and help others as and when you can.
CONTACT METHOD
