#Masked - A series of interviews with inspirational women - Swetha Subbiah

In the whole of last year, we had been blessed with the opportunity to get to know some really good souls. #Masked - the name of the series we had been doing was all about knowing inspirational women who had chosen unconventional career paths. And we ventured out into unexplored territories. Simply put, we connected with lovely women from diverse careers. And believe us, the whole experience to get to know them was out of the world. Each of them, the ones whom we interviewed had their stories to share which were unique in their own way. They all had carved out a path for themselves in a world which is difficult to conquer. Illustrator, actor, photographer, visualizer - yes we did explore a lot of areas. 

The person whom we are going to talk about in this blog is from a completely different calling. For her staying fit is a lifestyle. And when staying fit is a profession you have chosen, there's nothing else you could ever fall in love with. The passion and energy she puts in her work is palpable. Just a few hours with her was not enough to know about her work, her struggles and of course her as a person. Meet Swetha Subbiah, NIKE Training Coach and co-founder of Sisters in Sweat along with Tanvie Hans. To start with, let's talk a bit about this beautiful community created by them. Sisters in Sweat had been created exclusively for women and by women. A community bonded by sport and wellness. What started off as a small football based fitness session turned out to be a huge success with a growing group of women coming together every weekend for a session. As of now, the group has over 300 women, through purely organic methods. And, it’s constantly growing.

We at Bare couldn’t be more excited to interview Swetha and know her a bit more. So, after a ritual mail exchange, we decided to do the photoshoot on the 6th of November last year. We were a bit confused on what products would suit her personality best. From a prior discussion with Sahar we came to know that any beauty products like lip balms or face masks would not at all go with Swetha’s persona. So, we went ahead with Dessert Dry Shampoo and Lavender Levitate Bath Salt.

Swetha Subbiah, NIKE Training coach and Co-founder @sistersinsweat

Swetha Subbiah at Bare HQ

As always, our setup was at Bare HQ and it was the perfect time to do the shoot at around 1:30. Under the pleasing afternoon ambient light, we almost made Swetha run around our whole office while shooting. It took us sometime to get her in character. Yes. She was quite conscious initially during the shoot but eventually became comfortable. It was a shoot unlike the others we had done till then. Swetha is a sports woman, hence, getting that out in the photos was quite important. Till then, we had only collaborated with actors or illustrators who were different in their own way. But, with Swetha and her friend and co-founder Tanvie, it was a completely different experience. Tanvie joined us later in the afternoon for her photo shoot.

Swetha Subbiah at Bare HQ

Instagram: @swethasubbiah

It's a tradition at Bare to take a small interview of our favourite women hustlers. Swetha was detailed, intricate with her answers and gave us some really good piece of advice on how people can make changes in their lives for the better.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

1) What made you start Sisters in Sweat? Tell us more about this community of badass women you created?

Sisters in Sweat literally started over a conversation at a party when a common⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

friend of ours requested us to hold a session, a football based fitness session for her friends. So, Tanvie and me agreed to do it and we asked her to invite some of her friends and I invited some of our friends. Honestly we didn't expect more than 4-5 people to show up but, we were surprised that almost 15 people showed up for the first session. And, at the end of the session all the girls had such a great time that they requested that we do this every weekend. And, that's pretty much how we started without a vision and without any expectations. The group now has grown from 15-17 to over 200 women without zero advertising and purely organic means.

2)  It's quite important for us to realize that we cannot be overnight athletes - can you share with us some of your advice on how people can make changes in their lives for the better?

It is absolutely true that in most cases you cannot be an athlete overnight. There is the exception of some cases where people are just born with great skill but for the majority of the population getting good at anything takes hard work and consistency. Speaking from a sistersinsweat.in perspective, today we are at a point where the ladies who have trained with us over a period of two years are now ready to play in a league. What is important to see here is that over the course of two years most of this women who started off never having played football before and some who have never even played a sport before are now at that level where they can play in a competitive league.

3) Given your busy schedule, what is your self-care routine to restore balance?

Besides training other people it is very important for me to keep up with my own training routine. So, in a nutshell building a routine which is based around good nutrition, exercise and rest is what I do for my self-care. Besides that I think it is very important for me to have a good laugh and meet my friends and family. I try to build that in as well during the week.

Credits: @sistersinsweat.in
              @tanviehans @swethasubbiah