In a world where social media criticism can make or break a brand, how do you stay true to your vision and maintain your mental toughness. Kayla its Cenis is a fitness mogul with over sixteen million Instagram followers and is the co founder of the wildly successful Sweat app. But it hasn't been all smooth sailing for Kayla, and she has received her fair share of criticism, both personally
and professionally. So how has Kayla learnt to silence the noise of the critics and focus on what truly matters? Welcome to How I Work, a show about habits, rituals, and strategies for optimizing your day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imber. On today's Quick Win episode, we go back to an interview from the past and I pick out a quick win that you can apply today. In today's show, I speak with Kayla it Cenis about how she dealt with backlash early on in her journey with the Sweat app.
When I've heard you talk in other interviews around just how much you care so deeply for Sweat and what you've created, and that's absolutely no surprise, Like it is you You put everything into it, and I was hearing you talk about how in the early days where you started charging a subscription fee, which of course now is
really normal, that's a really common business model. When you did it, it was really uncommon, and you've got some backlash, And I was wondering, as a business owner, how do you decide which battles to fight and which ones not to when business is really personal for you?
It is really personal. What I've learned is stop catering to the minority of people that are complaining about something that they're never going to download, they're never going to research, they're never going to understand. However, you are reacting to these one percent of people instead of appreciating the ninety nine percent of people who have got something positive to
say about this situation. So in the early days, when you first start business, you see a thousand amazing comments, You're amazing, you're the best, I love you, And then you see one comment being like I heard you're a liar, and you're like, wait what, I'm not a lie of my life. Then you freak out and you're like what did that? Why did that one person say that? Like I'm definitely not, And it's like you're ignoring the amazing people that support you, and you're catering to that one person.
So when the subscription came out and everyone lost their minds. It wasn't everyone. It was maybe one hundred people. The rest were like, oh my god, sweat is an app incredible A hundred people like that's too expensive. I don't want to do that. It's not worth it. I've never paid that much in my life. And I'm like everyone, I blank that everyone is freaking out. They weren't. So if you're listening to this and you run a business,
do not cater to the minority. Listen to the majority of people and what they want and what they appreciate, because you'll make you feel so much better. And journal gratitude. Journal write down you're grateful for those peop write down the things that they say because it really matters. When you read it in front of me, you're like, that's actually beautiful.
What strategies have you used to be at peace that there are going to be a small percentage of people that you're just not going to win over and assume the worst.
Yeah, I think it's really hard if you're starting out, because if you know exactly who you are and you have a certain set of morals that you stick to. It's very hard when someone questions that because you know you're not that person. But I think in the same sense, if you know who you are and you have a certain set of morals that you stick to, you know you're not that person. Therefore, nothing that someone can say that doesn't know you can affect you because they don't
know you, they don't know who you are. And I think it's important having things that you love and your non negotiables like for example, mine and my family and spending time with my kids and spending time with my husband, and I know that these people love me. So when someone doesn't love me, then I don't know. I just don't care, like I just don't care. And I think it's really hard when you feel so alone and you don't have things that you love and you don't have hobbies.
It's very easy to take someone else's opinion of you and take that as gospel, and take that offense and take that you know to heart, whereas on the flip side, lots of love, let's care about what if someone else thinks about you.
I love that Kayla, such great advice. I hope you enjoyed today's Quick Win episode. If you would like to hear the full chat with Kayla, you can find a link to that in the show notes. If you're looking for more tips to improve the way you work, can live. I write a short weekly newsletter that contains tactics I've discovered that have helped me personally. You can sign up for that at Amantha dot com. That's Amantha dot com.
If you like today's show, make sure you hit follow on your podcast app to be alerted when new episodes drop. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the Cool and Nation. A big thank you to my editor Rowena Murray and Martin Nimber for doing the sound mix.