Woman of The Month: Edea Nor

FIT TO ASPIRE, READY TO CONQUER

Our Little Miss Healthy's gonna bring 

some fitness into you!

Some (or in this case nowadays, MOST) of us women may not have the time to fit some exercise routines into our 'Oh-please-I-have-no-time' schedule, but Edea Nor has found a great way for the women community to stay perfectly in shape without having to run a mile or squeeze out a kilogram of sweat in the gym for 2 - 3 hours.

Owner of Curves Ampang Avenue, Edea has lived in the States for a long time and has been an active person all her life.  When she came back to Malaysia, Edea found it difficult to adjust her fitness routines in this country, with the weather being extremely hot and for some safety reasons as well.

"I realized that I couldn’t just run at five in the morning for safety issues, not that it’s not safe in other places but it’s not safe for women to go running out alone." - Edea Nor

  

"...since we eat a lot here in this country (laughs), I personally gained about a kg (kilogram) per month when I came back for good, so I needed something to keep me going and since Curves is a 30-minute workout, it worked for my schedule." - Edea Nor

Curves is a facility specially designed for women that features a complete 30 minute workout and weight management program that’s fun, fast, safe and effective. This revolutionary fitness concept is changing women's lives all over the world, with a proven record of nearly 10,000 clubs in over 90 countries. 

Edea decided to open up Curves at Ampang Avenue in October last year and has gained a lot of support from the women here since.

WoM: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you end up doing this business (Curves Ampang)? 

Edea: Many personal experiences led to the opening of Curves Ampang Avenue. The main reason was to encourage the women of Malaysia to lead a healthier lifestyle and to be aware of the importance of incorporating exercise into their weekly routine. I've been active my whole life and keeping healthy is very important to me. Having lived abroad for the most part of my life, I was used to running outdoors at any given time of the day. Unfortunately, safety has become a big concern here in Malaysia, especially amongst the female community, and I did not have the same luxury of going out and running whenever I was in need of a stress reliever. Due to the lack of safe environments for women to exercise here in Malaysia, I decided that Curves would cater perfectly to meet our needs. When Curves came to Malaysia about a year and a half ago, I jumped on the opportunity to open a franchise as I knew right away we'd benefit from this proven fitness program that has been specially designed for women. In a country like ours, where many women wear headscarves or are much more reserved when it comes to exercise, Curves provides a safe and convenient outlet for
women to exercise without having to be in the company of men. It’s a place where they can share their weight struggles, exchange diet experiences and advice, all while inspiring each other and having a great time doing it. Curves fits the fitness needs of women of all ages, body types and gender, regardless of their fitness backgrounds or goals. Curves has been around for 20 years and has helped, and continues to help over 4 million women worldwide.

WoM: Was it hard for you to start this business? How did you deal with the setbacks?

Edea: Curves is a franchise from the U.S., so the template on how to succeed has been laid out. They are very support and the guidelines are very easy to understand. I just had to follow the methods, work hard and start inspiring. It’s very important that you have a good team when running any kind of business. I am so lucky to have a more than supportive father and my upbeat coaches who are always up for the challenge. Discipline, diligence and passion are the 3 keys I think are most important when starting a business. Once you have these embedded into your mindset, you’ll wake up every morning fully charged and ready to achieve your business goals. In life there will always be naysayers and pessimists who will want to discourage you for some reason or another. I’m so lucky to have a handful of people who have backed me up and pushed me forward throughout this journey. You have to be driven to succeed in life, so brush those “Negative Nelly’s” aside and just keep trucking forward. As one of my coaches always says “Always be at your best!” Curves is an amazing fitness concept and health education has become increasingly important here in Malaysia. I’m delivering a great service that’ll benefit the women and future generations to come. I stopped worrying about people who doubted me cause my goal is to make a difference in women’s lives and I’ll keep doing that for as long as I am able to.

WoM: Why is it important for us women to go to the gym? 

Edea: In general, women should exercise. Whether it's hitting the gym or not, we need some sort of physical activity to keep active and healthy. We need to take care of our body by exercising and eating healthy to help prevent diseases. Exercise not only keeps us fit and helps us stay in shape, but as we get older our body will need a lot of firming and toning up, especially in all our “problem” areas. Since our metabolism decreases with age, exercise helps keep the weight off so we stay energized and mobile. Plus, when exercising the body releases endorphins which is a natural way to relieve stress and make us feel good. We also need to set good examples for our children and taking care of our body is one of the many ways. While most women prefer more cardio-centered workouts, we should always remember to include resistance training to strengthen our bones and muscles. Curves has made it fun and easy to stick to a fitness regimen of 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week, combining both cardio and strength training in one fast and safe hydraulic based workout. So ladies, if you want a better quality of life, stop procrastinating and start exercising!

WoM: In your opinion, what makes a woman beautiful and confident? 

Edea: Oh wow, I can go on forever! (laughs) There are so many things that make a woman beautiful and confident. She is beautiful when she smiles and cares genuinely. She is confident when she stands her ground and believes in her cause. And as cliché as all this sounds, as women we need to be beautiful from both the inside and out. It is crucial we take care of our appearance so we look fit and healthy. But it doesn’t stop there, we need to also glow from the inside, meaning we need to feed our body with good nutrients, while exercise will help keep us in a well-maintained physique. This in turn will reflect the outer beauty, which will give us a good confidence boost. When you feel good on the inside AND the outside you will automatically be a more confident person.

WoM: Any future plans for Curves? 

Edea: Yes, plenty! We are pretty new here in Malaysia, and my club has only been open for 7 months now, but there are so many things happening in our pipeline. This year we plan to start the Curves Circuit with Zumba, which brings a bit of Latin flavor to the current Curves program. I personally love Zumba, so I hope once we kick off the Curves Circuit with Zumba, our Curvettes (what we call our members) will too. We also have this amazing technology that’s exclusive to Curves. It’s called Curves Smart and we can't wait for it to arrive Malaysia. It’s this cutting edge technology in fitness, where each workout will come with your very own “electronic personal trainer”. Plus we always have great monthly promotions such as the 2-for-1 Special this month and in October we will be having a huge Breast Cancer Awareness campaign. And of course our on going in-club activities we do to keep encouraging our Curvettes to meet their fitness goals. It's really going to be a very exciting next couple of years. Other than that, the Curves franchise has been growing with nearly 10,000 locations worldwide. We hope to attract more women here in Malaysia who are interested in starting their own business and/or want to venture into the fitness industry.

WoM: Lastly, is there any personal message or advice that you would like to share with all the young women out there in Malaysia? 

Edea: To all the beautiful WoM readers, always believe in yourself, laugh often and love all. Believe that YOU can make a difference no matter how small that change or affect might be. Always count your blessings and pay it forward. We only get one life to live, so let’s not take it for granted and make the best of it! Finally, a quick reminder to all, as delicious as Malaysian delicacies are, it may not always be the healthiest. Our food is tempting, affordable and available at all hours of the day. Therefore, we need to remember to “Eat Right and Exercise”

Be sure to follow CURVES AMPANG AVENUE 
on twitter @CurvesAmpang 
and stay updated at their Facebook page HERE!

Photographer: Nick Dorian (Candid Photography)

Make up: Mimie Razali

 

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