Meet STAMINAPRO Ambassador Karla Medina! Karla served as a cop for 20 years before retiring from the department. Now, she's sharing her expertise through her own program Recruit Prep Program where she serves as a training instructor for aspiring police officers in the state.
But that's not all! Karla is also a successful entrepreneur, having founded her own fitness brand, Sudor Taino. Through her brand, she inspires and empowers others to achieve their fitness goals, using her expertise and experiences to help others reach their full potential.
"I'm not guaranteed another day on Earth, but if I plant seeds in other instructors to lead authentically and in turn inspire their tribe, it helps bring about a class that really touches people's spirits, minds, and bodies."
Karla is a true powerhouse who is making a difference in the lives of others every day.
You're the owner and master trainer at Sudor Taino Group Fitness. Can you tell more about it and how it came to be?
It goes back to when when I was on the job working midnights. I gained 80 pounds because I was eating like crap and I wasn't sleeping very well. And at that time, I also got into an incident where I almost lost my life. I was dragged from a vehicle and severed all the tendons in my left hand — which is a place I wear my STAMINAPRO patches. After that incident, I began to question if my being heavy contributed to the incident…
I asked myself: “Could I have done better?”
That’s when I decided that I had to get into shape. I started doing cardio kickboxing and weight training. Then I began wanting other people to have this feeling too — I wanted to motivate people and inspire people to do what they could.
So, that’s when I began my brand, Sudor Taino, with the belief that wellness looks different for everybody. I opened up a fitness studio, I started hosting big events, and I also wrote a book about my experiences named: Divinely Fit.
In a nutshell, wellness became a way of life for me. Now I’ve been doing fitness for 24 years and my studio is 14 years old.
As a fitness instructor, what advice would you give to someone who wants to begin training and doesn't really know where to start?
Find the genre of fitness that moves YOU. You need to be passionate about what you’re doing. If you’re having a good time, you're smiling, and you're giving it everything you’ve got, then it’s going to translate and create a fire within you.
Finding something that moves you is the most important thing. For me, it was cardio kickboxing. That's what gave me my first start. It’s also why I love teaching what I do.
How do you hope to make a difference in people's lives through your work?
Just touching as many lives as possible and letting people know that they can be well and stay well in their own ways. And by teaching other trainers. I'm not guaranteed another day on Earth, but if I plant seeds in other instructors to lead authentically and in turn inspire their tribe, it helps bring about a class that really touches people's spirits, minds, and bodies.
It's a gift to be able to move crowds of 100 people or 1,000 people.
I share my truth with everybody because I truly had a near death experience.
So it's important to me that people know I was gifted more life. I could have died on the side of that road that day, but I'm living proof that you can do it. On top of that, after having two back surgeries, I was told that I would never exercise again. I'm three years from my first surgery and a year and a half from my second surgery and I was working out within two months.
It's also the reason that STAMINAPRO means a lot to me. Along with a chiropractor and physical therapy, STAMINAPRO was my recipe for getting better. For me, having STAMINAPRO in my pocket is just a way for people to understand that I not only care about them working out with me, but also about their well-being because STAMINAPRO is helping that cause.
Where is the best place you've traveled and why?
I want to say Puerto Rico and when I say the best place, I mean because it's native to my roots. We all come from different backgrounds and cultures, and I think that going back to where you’re from is very important in keeping you grounded.
My business name is Sudor which means ‘sweat’ in Spanish and then Taino represents the ‘Taino Indians’ that settled in Puerto Rico and who cultivated the land of Puerto Rico, like we cultivate people. That's where the connection comes in.
How did you discover STAMINAPRO and why has it remained a staple in your routine?
I discovered STAMINAPRO from a sample that I received. I have so many ailments — my back was the worst, but I’ve also had a shoulder injury and a wrist surgery. I was using KT tape and all these other products, but STAMINAPRO knocked everything out. I was able to stick to one product and I became so passionate about it because it worked for me, it worked for my husband, and it worked for my daughter who had foot surgery.
Now, I share it with everybody that talks to me about any ailment!
Follow Karla Medina on Instagram!
