Arthur: [00:00:00] Welcome everybody to Pitching Passion. Every day is special here recording these interviews with different people, today is no exception. We have today Behart, who has fought quite an unusual challenge since the age of 17 - when you were diagnosed with narcolepsy. You've gone on to trailblaze and do what many people dream of, which is having a community where you're serving people and making a living out of it. You got over 5,000 people paying what is it? Ro- roughly 15 pounds a month?
Belle: Yeah, about about that. But it ranges between 14 to 24
Arthur: You are training thousands of people.
Let's just jump in. So narcolepsy, what is it?.
Belle: First of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to tell my story, my journey, my life with you all. Narcolepsy is a, excessive daytime sleepiness condition. However, I don't really like that [00:01:00] sort of caption or phrase for it, because if you Google it, that's what it will come up with.
But it's not necessarily just excessive sleepiness. It's the fact that we don't actually have the hormone what's called orexin in our brain, which actually regulates your sleep-wake cycle. So someone without narcolepsy, for example, will know if you follow the circadian rhythm, that when the sun goes down, you will naturally start to feel tired, whereas we don't have that rhythm, that cycle.
If I at 2:00 in the morning can't sleep, and I was to say I'm gonna go for a run," my body would not question it. Be like, "Okay, that's cool. That's fine. We're a bit tired, but we're gonna go for a run." Whereas the normal person would feel like, hang on a second, it's 2:00. We've only had four hours sleep.
But I'm so used to broken nights, broken sleep. I think the maximum I actually ever sleep for without waking up is probably one [00:02:00] and a half, two hours
Arthur: There's so many exciting that we're gonna be talking about, but I wanna set the scene, for people on what your day looks like in terms of how it affects you
Belle: So when I was first diagnosed, it was a case of me wondering why I am struggling to stay awake in class. That was where it started. And back then I was having maybe 14 or 15 sleep attacks a day whenever I was still. I remember that one time in CCF, at school, which is like an army thing, and we were stood in a circle, and stood still, and I was stood up. And this was the first time that happened standing up, and we were learning about something, and one of the trainee guys saw me a step forward because I fell asleep, and I almost fell over, and that's when I thought, hang on, I'm not sleeping just in the [00:03:00] car or just on the bus anymore.
It is happening all the time. Now, fast-forward twelve, thirteen years later, I have got a hold of it, and I do feel like I've got as much control as I possibly can of this condition. It is not completely in my control. But I nap now I have two or three scheduled naps, which are seven to fourteen minutes within the day, and that does seem to eliminate most of my sleep attacks.
Whether I'm in the car or sat watching television, that's a different story. Like that is, I can't really do that without falling asleep. But in terms of going about my normal day, as long as I have my three naps, then I seem to be alert between them now.
Arthur: Just jumping back. You see a doctor and they're like, "Oh, maybe you should, give up exercise." And one day your mother looks at you after you went on a run, having, having felt super sleepy. And it was this weird moment [00:04:00] looking back.
It's this fork in the ground where you realized exercise actually was a superpower for you.
Belle: Yeah. So I was told by my sleep doctor when we were first diagnosed, I was in the children's hospital and my mum and I sat across from the doctor and she said, "Yeah, she's got narcolepsy." And we were like, "We don't know what that is." After I went for a sleep study and she basically said, "- there's no cure, and unfortunately it will only get worse.
At the moment we don't have very good medicine for it, and yeah, there's no cure kind of in the future at the moment." And I went away from that meeting feeling very disheartened and scared. I was so scared for the future because she did just say it will just get worse and that time I was falling asleep fourteen times a day.
Then when I went back for a checkup, I had ex- experimented with exercise. I was always riding horses, . i loved sport at school, but I [00:05:00] never pushed myself too hard and if I started to feel slightly tired or if I felt tired before the exercise, I wouldn't do it 'cause she advised me, "Take as much rest as you can and sleep when you need to sleep."
So even if I felt a tiny bit sleepy, oh, I would sleep. Then I went back to an appointment and I said, "Oh yeah, on the weekend I'm running a 10K." Didn't think anything of it, and she was really shocked and she just said "I, I wouldn't advise my clients, my patients to do that sort of exercise for such a prolonged period of time."
And I went away, "Shall I do it? Shall I not?" And I thought it's not gonna kill me. All it's gonna do is make me really tired, or I could fall asleep halfway round." But I've never felt tired during exercise. Once I started doing it, I've always felt so alive. So I did it and I finished and my mum and dad were like, "Who is this girl?"
She's back." "Our little girl is back." And I was chatty and my mum even said to me like, "Have you taken more medicine?" And I just... I wouldn't stop [00:06:00] chatting, and that's when I realized I need to make this into a career because I can't do anything else. I can't sit at a desk, I can't do university, I can't finish school, so how can I make exercise part of my whole being?
Arthur: And then, fast-forward you train and you realize , this is your path. You've got two kids at the moment. Y- and you meet this guy called Michael at the bar in Austria skiing, and not, long story short, he ends up being your man.
But you move out there. - You have a three-year long distance relationship with him, and then your mom's thinking, God is this like, right for Val?
And there's this moment at the dinner table where you briefly fall asleep and your mom's thinking, "Oh no let me wake her up." And Michael just says to your mom no. , She's fine. She's good. Let's just let her have her moment."
It sounds like that was quite a formative moment for your mom and, in realizing, wow, what a [00:07:00] man
Belle: Yeah, because I've had my fair share of guys after I was diagnosed with narcolepsy. I had two kind of long relationships, more like maybe a year, and those two ended because they were like, "I just want a girl that can stay awake in the cinema," and, "I just want a girl that can stay awake when we go out for dinner."
And they would be like, "Belle, you're so embarrassing stop it." And, 'cause you have hallucinations with narcolepsy, and a lot of people think, "Oh, narcolepsy, you just fall asleep like this." No,.. there are a lot of side effects. And I was once taking my chips off of my plate and stroking them on my napkin thinking it was mayonnaise, and this was with an ex of mine, and he was so embarrassed, and he said "This is so embarrassing.
Everyone's looking at us." And I was just then " I'd come to believe this is embarrassing. I am embarrassing. If I fall asleep in public, it is embarrassing, and no one wants to be with someone like that. So when I met Michael and when he was just so open, and open to learning about it, and [00:08:00]understanding it, and not googling it...
I did say to him when I told him I've got narcolepsy, "Please don't go and google it," because at that time, I do feel like I have shared so much about it online since then that I hope that there's a bit more real side of narcolepsy on the internet. But at that time it was Rat Race, the film, and it was sleeping, running.
You would fall asleep, running. You would fall asleep just, like you'd just fall to the ground, and that's just not how it was. So I told him not to google it. And yeah, three years down the line, I had traveled to the Netherlands, traveled back, and he had seen me fall asleep in a restaurant out in the Netherlands without my mom being there.
And when it happened then with the three of us sat around the table, my mom was like, "Oh, she d- she obviously doesn't want Michael to see this. This is embarrassing." But what she didn't realize is that we have spent time together, just the two of us, and I've never mentioned it to her. I'd never said anything about me falling asleep in a restaurant while he was there because it wasn't a big thing.
He didn't make it a big thing. Whereas I had said about [00:09:00] me falling asleep with exes to my mum because it was a story and it was... I was so embarrassed that it was worth telling my mum. But because Michael saw me as so much more than narcolepsy, that whenever I fell asleep in a restaurant, I didn't even really remember doing it because he was like, "No worries.
Put your head on my shoulder." And he was like, "I'm gonna just catch up with the football on my phone." So that was why my mum was so shocked with his response because she's never experienced anyone be so calm about it
Arthur: One quite beautiful thing that you talked about that's come from this is it's helped you filter out, t-to just have really great people around you. Those that have got your back, those that are trusting and h- you know, having had these experiences where people are judgmental. You must be pretty ruthless with your time and energy given that you've got so many people looking up to you.
You've built such an incredible life for yourself. I-i-is that true?
Belle: Yeah. [00:10:00] Yeah, I think that's... there are... I would say, it sounds strange, but I wouldn't change my life. I wouldn't get- tell narcolepsy t- if I could, I wouldn't click my fingers and have it gone tomorrow because of the things that it's taught me and the things that I have learnt over the years, especially your circle.
.. When I was first diagnosed, I had a friend, and .. i was driving at the time, and started to feel tired behind the wheel. And when we got home, she said to me, "So do you know when it's coming on? Can you feel when you're falling asleep?" And I said, "Oh, yeah, no, I was really struggling for the last 10 minutes of driving."
And she said, "Ah, yeah, I kinda noticed, but I just really wanted to get home." And I thought to myself That's not really a type of person I want in my life because now I've filtered out those types of people, I realize how incredibly [00:11:00] impactful having a positive, supportive, and helpful group of friends is.
I have maybe three best friends, and all of them would never ever say anything like that. It's... They would notice straight away, they would help me, they would tell me, "Do I want to rest? Do I wanna switch? Do they wanna drive?" It would be so much more supportive than just a, "Ah, yeah, but I wanted to get home."
And I know it's a very... sounds a bit severe, me cutting that friend off straight away there and then, but those sorts of comments are comments that just show how unsupportive in a whole some people can be. And it's not just with Michael that he's shown such a open understanding and learning kind of attitude towards narcolepsy, it's also with my friends.
They [00:12:00] support everything I share online, whereas when I started sharing online, I also had friends that would say, "That is so scary. That's so scary and so embarrassing. I would take that down. Why do you... What's the point in showing people that?" Me falling asleep. And I am so glad that I kept sharing and I kept showing people me falling asleep, because there is a really big point behind me doing that.
And it's not for people that don't have narcolepsy, it's for people who do. That's who I was doing it for. So you're right, it might be scary to you, but you can keep scrolling. But now I've become the number one narcolepsy influencer worldwide, I have been in touch with thousands of people with narcolepsy purely from sharing videos of me falling asleep.
Simple, but they can relate so hard to that feeling that they don't feel so alone anymore
Arthur: Thinking about narcolepsy, it's like a forced way to show your vulnerability to people, right? Like it [00:13:00] forces you to be vulnerable with people. Be it from a, a level of optics, but also in a physical capacity. You're very open about your world to your followers and, people talk about how authentic you are. As a result, I imagine part of why people love your community and look up to you i- is because you are open with that. But people must be very open with you. What's that like? It must be very moving.
Belle: , Yeah, there's - one side of my followers is obviously people who have narcolepsy, or actually I have a big following of parents of children who have narcolepsy. And the messages I receive from them are normally along the lines of, "I never thought I could have children. I never thought I could exercise.
I watch my son and I don't see a future for him. But you've shown me that actually this condition, it's hard, but it has made me [00:14:00] so much stronger." And also not just necessarily stronger, but more understanding to the outside world, to many other kind of conditions, and accepting lots of different hurdles that people face.
So on the other side of my following, there is a big or an audience of ladies who just like to exercise, and not necessarily gym-goers. Because I'm not a gym-goer. I'm not a gym girl. I don't like to follow necessarily a certain amount of reps. I like to move my body every single morning because it makes me feel good.
Of course, I lift weights, and I follow a structure, and I plan my workouts for my members. But my members who do the exercise are people who send me messages like- I did it in my pajamas this morning, and it's changed my day." Or, "I haven't exercised for so long. I hate going to the gym. I'm scared of [00:15:00] the gym lifting heavy weights, but you've taught me that I can do it wherever and whenever, and I feel so much better than I ever have going to a class or following a program in the gym."
And that isn't because they have seen necessarily physical results. Obviously, the physical results are a, a big bonus, but they've kept coming back for more because of the emotional and mental results, and that is why I started doing this. So that's where it ties in narcolepsy and fitness, is that I didn't move my body every day because I wanted a six-pack or I wanted a bigger bum or I wanted to run a marathon.
I moved my body every day because it genuinely woke me up. It made me feel so far away from my narcoleptic self that I wanted to keep coming back for more. Now, that doesn't-- exercise doesn't ha-- or my program is not specifically tailored for people with narcolepsy. In fact, it's [00:16:00] actually not. It's just showing people that exercise shouldn't be, one, a burden or, two, a chore, or three, a punishment.
Exercise is such a celebration of what we are physically able to do, and by doing that emotionally and mentally, you benefit so much more than continuing to rest. Obviously, take that with a pinch of salt. You've got to rest when you've got to rest. But I really genuinely believe that if you start to move your body every day, a lot of problems will be solved
Arthur: Moving staff. You must get a message every week from people opening up about the way that you move them. Can you think of a few people that
Belle: Yeah, I get them daily. We have a WhatsApp group more with just my community members, so not necessarily people with narcolepsy. But a few of the ones with narcolepsy that are really touching are ones like, [00:17:00] "I got married this year. Five years ago, I generally thought no one would love me for who I am, but since moving my body every day, realizing the potential I have, and being inspired by you five years ago, I'm now living a life that I never could've imagined."
And that really is so touching because essentially I'm just a girl sharing my life, but sharing the real raw moments of it, but also sharing the passionate side of it. And it's just me going about my day. I'm never thinking, "I must write a post today," or I don't know how I'm gonna write this."
I generally just offload my brain into a story or into a post or into a video, and that's l- that's how I share my content, is just me being vulnerable, me being completely raw, and me being completely myself. And I think that's why people can relate to it [00:18:00] so much, and also not necessarily just people with narcolepsy, but also people without.
Because everyone has, in a moment of their life, felt tired. And the messages I receive from members are more- The emotional side of exercise. So for example, they've tried the gym, they've tried going to - classes, and it's just not for them, and that's what they see on their social media all the time, is gym, classes, signing up and being within lots of people.
And I think my app and my workouts are a way for people to get that feeling but not have to leave their house. And it sounds maybe strange to some people because they feel exercise is a way of being sociable, but I have never felt so connected in my community of online members. I have the best group of friends, and I've just done my first Belle [00:19:00] retreat, and it was 12 ladies, and I was very nervous because they didn't know an- they didn't- they've never met each other.
I'm not saying they didn't know each other, because we have chatted now for six years. I have a WhatsApp group. We have an Instagram. People are sharing what workout they did. People are commenting on the app. You can comment on the workout, and they've gotten to know each other. They're like, "Oh if Julia did it, and I saw on the workout, on the comments, I saw that Julia found it tough, so I know that I'm gonna find it tough 'cause I'm about the same level as her."
These ladies have never met each other, but they are great friends, and I think that's what makes this whole career and this whole app and online workouts so special, is because it's not... it generally doesn't feel like work. And I never, ever thought that I could build a business out of this, and I even sometimes feel strange saying, "Oh, I've built a business," because it just feels like I'm doing what I love.
I'm doing what gives me energy, and somewhere along the [00:20:00] line, people like it, and they also like it being part of a community, being part of sharing workouts. It's just workouts, but they're sharing that, that morning passion and that morning energy together. Some of them would message saying "Oh, the ending with the burpees, it's really set me up for the day."
And the other lady would say, "Yeah, I've got an exam today, and just doing that and the, the stretch song was really good." Sometimes I play Proud by Heather Small, and they all love it 'cause they're like, "Yeah, you know what? I am proud. I'm proud of myself for doing just 30 minutes of movement."
And that is so incredible for me to read, just them chatting. I don't even have to chat with them. Just seeing them chat and knowing they've come together through the power of my home workouts is, I can't even put into words how amazing that feels.
Arthur: Nor can we. One of your philosophies, seems that it's this whole thing of . It doesn't have to be perfect, just, do what you can the moment. [00:21:00] And there's a reason why thousands of people, follow you. It's 'cause you've really hacked clever ways to consistently, follow all sorts of things that are just fundamentally really important to being happy.
What's your advice for people who want to improve their ability to connect with a movement, a form of movement? And... they come to the classic moments where it's like it's dark outside, they've had a long day working or, they've still got loads of admin to do.
Belle: You mentioned admin. The first thing I'm gonna say is that the average person, most people in the world are way more productive doing two hours of focused work than sitting behind your desk for six hours, feeling tired, feeling unmotivated, feeling like there's not much they can get done, but they don't have time for a workout because they've got to sit behind their desk for six hours because they've got so much work to do.
My advice would be that within the app we have these classes [00:22:00] called Just Starters, and they came around because I saw that there was a lot of ladies who loved the 40 minutes, 45 minutes, but they are already very dedicated ladies. They're into the rhythm, they're into the routine. Whereas I thought there needs to be something for ladies who are not necessarily into home workouts and not necessarily into the rhythm of moving their body every day, but I want them to feel that, that high that these ladies are feeling after 45 minutes, but within 20 minutes.
So we've got these Just Starter workouts, and they are workouts that are designed for you to switch your brain on, switch your energy levels on, switch your productivity on, and it is just, yeah, moving your body, and it's not necessarily me do- saying "Okay, now we're gonna work the bum, and now we're gonna work the legs, and now we're gonna work the abs."
It's just moving your body. And some people call me crazy, and some people say that yeah, the, [00:23:00] the workouts are really silly, but these Just Starters are there to provide happiness, energy, and, yeah, productivity. We start slowly, so even if people are feeling like, "How am I ever gonna end feeling energized?"
Or, "How am I ever gonna start this workout, because right now I feel so tired?" Okay, that's fine. All I'm asking you to do is stand on your mat. That's all I'm asking you to do is stand on your mat, and then we're gonna start slowly moving. And within five minutes, within seven minutes, within 10 minutes, they're like, "What?
I never thought that I would feel this way, but I'm starting to feel it. I'm starting to feel it." So that's the advice that I would give people who genuinely have no idea where to start. We have a guide in the app called Start Here. These are full of these types of workouts. Obviously the physical change is a bonus, but this guide is specifically designed to want you to come back for more tomorrow.
Or maybe you're gonna do another one later on this afternoon, 'cause these [00:24:00] are just like 15, 20-minute workouts. So the advice I would have for those ladies is forget everything. Forget having to have the perfect gym wear, forget having to even have a pair of trainers, forget having to step out your house.
Do it messy. Do it with things around you. Do it with water bottles. Do it with baked bean cans. Just start. So this is what I say to- ladies who are just lost on how to start uncomplicated all. You are designed to move, and that's all we're gonna do. We're just gonna move our body. Don't think, "Oh my God, I'm gonna be worn out.
How am I ever gonna do it?" Just give it a go. So that's the advice that I would give people who feel like they, one, don't have time, or two, don't know where to start. And the advice I would give specifically people with narcolepsy or even new moms or people who are struggling with tiredness is that the first thing that you need to do is switch your mindset.
So I completely understand when people say that they [00:25:00] need to sleep. Trust me, I completely understand. But if I tell myself when I get up in the morning, "Okay, I'm gonna give myself two hours, and I'm gonna be positive, and I'm gonna be open to opportunities. I'm gonna open to change, and I'm gonna a- approach all of the hurdles that I face within those two hours with positivity."
So even it can be like, can't find my workout shorts. Really annoying, really frustrating. I've got a child screaming here and I just can't... Fine, no worries. Put your trackies on. Just open your cupboard, see what you can find, and put them on. Great. We're gonna just approach the day with, or the first two hours, with positivity.
After those two hours, you can sit down and you can have a little rest. Whether... If you've got narcolepsy, then I suggest a little nap. But if you don't have narcolepsy, pour yourself a really lovely coffee. Have a moment to yourself. Five minutes, 10 minutes. That's all it is, because everyone has five minutes.
A lot of people scroll for five minutes, so you have five minutes to just do something nice for yourself. So either read [00:26:00] something or make a coffee. And then after those five or 10 minutes, or however long you wanna take, but I would say maximum 20 minutes, next two hours we're gonna start this with positivity.
Okay, I said I was gonna do a workout, so I'm gonna do it. I'm feeling a little bit tired. I'm not feeling very especially for women, I'm feeling a little bit bloated, and I don't wanna put my workout shorts on. Fine. No worries. Do it in your baggy clothes. Do it in your trackies. Do it in your jammies.
But you said you were gonna do it, so let's just start. If you don't finish, that's fine, but let's give ourself the opportunity to start. So I break my day down into two hours all the time, and by the end of the day, I get to the end of the day and I'm like, "Oh, I've actually had quite a positive day."
I've gotten things done. But that isn't because I woke up in the morning and was like I've got a massive list and I'm gonna have a really good day." Because the majority of the time I get to lunchtime and I'm like, "Phew, exhausted. I'm gonna just... Yeah, that's it for today." So I really try to break it down, and if I make myself a list of three things, just three things, so that could be a [00:27:00] workout, that could be make myself a really nice healthy lunch, and maybe sit down and have a nice conversation with my husband.
Just three things, or maybe it could be a work thing as well, but not massive things. I write them down the day before, and I make sure I do them. I make sure I do them. Even if it's like a, I sit down with my husband at the end of the day and that's... And I'm like no, we said we were gonna have a nice conversation."
By the time that I've done it, same with a workout, by the time that I've started that, yeah, of course. Of course I can do it. I said I was gonna do it yesterday, so there is a possibility to do it today. It's only our mind that's holding us back from starting things that we have in place. Our bodies are physically able to do it
Arthur: you're clearly very good at drawing back and, creating the small steps for people so they can build a habit and rewiring things, right? So what's the most basic thing we're gonna achieve here? Let's keep things really simple. And I guess when you meet people who are, good at getting things done that, that's what it often comes down to, [00:28:00] right?
They're just quite clever at creating a system, a process, keeping it really simple and then driving it. So let's run into this. So COVID happens and, if I'm listening to this, I'm thinking, "Gosh what's Belle doing?" COVID hits e- everything's online.
What happens to, her with her training? And must have been a like everyone else an overwhelming moment, and you thought, "Hold on. No I can train people online." So at this point, you were living in Amsterdam, right?
Belle: Ja. Ja
Arthur: You're living in Holland, and you're like, "No, I'm gonna do this online.
I'm gonna train people." - So you were training people for free. D-How many people joined to that?
Belle: In the Netherlands we went into lockdown like a week before the UK, and I had a following of about 2,000 people on Instagram, mainly just sharing the physical benefits and the mental benefits I have from exercise with narcolepsy. So a lot of my followers were people with narcolepsy. And I was like, "All of my favorite fitness influencers are going live.
I'm gonna do the same." [00:29:00] And I was doing it for a whole week, which made- I think this made a little bit of a difference with, in terms of people in the UK. Because I was doing it for a whole week, the people in the UK were like, "This random girl is going live with workouts every day, three times a day."
I was doing mon- morning, lunch and evening. I was like, "No one's stepping in my time zone. I'm gonna do every every time in the day that people would potentially work out." We dragged the... We had a tiny studio, and we dragged the bedroom from the, the bed from the bedroom into the living room. So our living room, you couldn't even walk in the living room.
But now the bedroom was my studio. So my poor husband was like, "What is going on?" But now I had my little studio, and I was d- teaching my workouts in there, and I did it for a whole week. So I already had... On my Instagram, I had 21 workouts f- before anyone's even gone into lockdown in the UK. And then when you guys in the UK went into lockdown, I was prepped.
I was ready. I was prepared. [00:30:00] And I went live on, I think, the second day you guys were in lockdown, and I had over 1,000 people going live with me. Now, to say I was like, "Oh, my, this is overwhelming. I have no idea what's happening." These are my home workouts, and I've been doing them for so long.
I've been teaching for so long in the gym with a restricted audience, obviously, because it's only people who can physically be there. And now I'm living my absolute dream teaching people worldwide and getting my passion and my energy and obviously my workouts across to people in Australia and also in the UK , America, in Germany.
There were people messaging me from everywhere in the world being like, "Loved that HIIT class this morning," or, "Really love your energy," or, "Really love the way that you can connect through the camera." And I was like Whoa this is super cool. But I don't know if I can continue with this.
I just almost was like, "Oh, this will be a shame when it's over." That's what I [00:31:00] thought. It's really cool right now, but it'll be a shame when it's over. I did that for about 11 weeks. I did three workouts a day on my Instagram totally for free. Nobody had to pay anything. There was no barriers.
It was just, I wanna help people, and I wanna show them that they can move their body without going to the gym, and they can feel great even though we are going through this massive global pandemic, which is... can be very stressful for people. Let's do one thing that we can do, because there are a lot of things we can't do right now.
Let's move our bodies together. So over that 11 weeks, I obviously built up a bit more of a following, and people were loving the workouts. I was putting together weekly schedules. Speaking to hundreds of people every day. We were having Zoom calls. We were creating what I had no idea would be the Belle Hut Live community.
At that time, it was the Belle Hut Live community, because it was just live. Very original name. And then [00:32:00] when it got to 11 weeks, my mother was like, "Belle, you can't keep doing this for free. You can't keep..." And I was just loving it so much that I was like, "Oh, I, I can. Of course I can. I'm just moving my body."
But then, yeah, she was completely right. I had rent to pay in Amsterdam, and the gym that I was working at no longer , gave us money while we weren't working So she was right. So I set up had no idea how I was gonna do it quickly. So I set up a private Instagram, and I had a website already, so I set up a paywall.
I say a wall, it was me manually, my husband and I oh my goodness, there are so many peop- I put a video out, and I had over a thousand people sign up overnight to this private Instagram to do my workouts. And - when they paid, they had to put their Instagram name in, but obviously a lot of people didn't really read the instructions, so their Instagram name wasn't there, but I was linking them manually.
Okay, so you paid, now you can go into the Instagram because you had to request to follow. So it was, like, one of those moments where I'm like, "Okay, I'm gonna do this, but I'm not gonna think what if a thousand people sign up?" [00:33:00] Because if I think that, then I won't continue doing this.
I'm gonna cross that bridge when I get to it. That bridge came quite quickly. But yeah, my husband and I, he would stay up at night, 'cause I would just fall asleep behind the computer. He would stay up, and he would be matching all the payments to the Instagrams. And then I did that for two years, and for the money that I earned through that private Instagram, I put all of it into developing an app that would do this for me, that people could sign up through the App Store, through Apple or Google, and I could teach my live workouts on an app.
And over those two years, the community just grew stronger. People wanted to meet in person. People were starting to find their favorite workouts. People were requesting types of workouts. I had new trainers on board, and it just organically grew because of the people doing the workouts. I wouldn't necessarily say it was...
Obviously, I'm doing the workouts every morning, but I would say the members doing it [00:34:00]were the biggest part or the biggest reason this has been a suc- or Belle Hut has been a success. Because they provided such a caring, genuine, supportive community. We set up a group chat on WhatsApp, and just still to this day, every day, people are inspiring people to move.
Belle: People have made friends. We met in London a few times. I did a few meetups with Oti Mabuse. We did dance, and then we did workouts, and my ladies were there. We can't dance, but we gave it a shot, and then [00:35:00] the dancers were there, and they were like, "We don't like bells-- burpees and everything." But we came together, and that's what I saw the power of exercise is so much more than...
why I started to work out, through the power of exercise, I've been able to feel just awake. And now through the power of exercise, I have built such a loving, caring, wonderful community that off the back of that, it's become a business.
Arthur: a thriving business at that. What do people get when they join the app?
Belle: When you download the app, you can sign up. You get seven days completely for free. There's absolutely no tricks or hooks or I'm not gonna take your money without you trying it. For seven days, everything, you can access everything. And then after those seven days, you really can decide whether you want to subscribe.
. All I would say is the first thing you do, download sign up, see how you get on. That's all you [00:36:00] need to do. But I would say in those seven days, really give it a good shot because when the seven days is over, like stop saying, "Oh, tomorrow I'll do one. Tomorrow I'll do one." If you dedicate yourself to do five Bell workouts within those seven days, you can start a guide.
There are, like, 13 guides and it's forever growing. These guides, whenever we do a challenge, that goes in there, or there's a guide, like the Start Here guide I mentioned. So if you go into the guide section and you say, "Okay, for the next five days during my free trial, I'm gonna give it a great shot and I'm gonna do day one to five of the Start Here challenge," then you'll be like, "No-brainer, of course I'm gonna sign up."
Maybe this is a little bit... feel like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but honestly, for £24 a month, or if you pay for a whole year, it's £14 a month, I go live five days a week. Five days a week, so it's less than a pound a class In London, I don't think you can actually go to a class for less than 24, 25 quid, [00:37:00]an actual one class.
So if you think about how much you're paying, or even if you are having to sacrifice, if you feel like I can't really afford to pay 24 pounds a month, think about it more as an investment to yourself. So switch out what you could potentially not buy that month for 24 quid. So a takeaway or a new candle, scented candle for your living room.
Think about the benefits that this can bring you physically, emotionally, within your relationship with your husband, with your kids. Everything will be better, I believe, when you feel physically more energized, more able, and just more positive. And I generally believe that's what my workouts can do but the best thing I would say about joining the app is joining the WhatsApp group as well. It is an incredibly inspiring group of ladies.
And I don't want people who join to think, "Oh, not another WhatsApp group," because it's not just another [00:38:00] WhatsApp group. When you finish your workout in the morning, whether it's live with me or it's an on-demand one, there are over a thousand on-demand workouts. So even if you're just away and you're like, "Oh, I'm going to flick through and I'm going to find a 20-minute class," that's there for you.
But when you do any type of workout and you write in the WhatsApp group, "Just finished one, didn't think I could start, but I did it," you will have ladies cheering you from all over the world. Basically been there for six years or been there for one year or been there for a couple of weeks. , They are so supportive to everybody.
You also get like direct access to speaking to me, whether that's through WhatsApp, whether that's through Instagram DM, I generally want to be there to support you through your whole journey of working out with me. I want to keep it so personal. And when you're training with me, I want you to be able to talk to me. So even if this m- this morning you did a class, like we did a lower body class [00:39:00] this morning, say if you started and you felt, "I didn't really like this exercise or this workout or this type of movement," or you feel like you're struggling with how to do a type of movement, I just respond and say, "Send me a video.
Send me a video of you doing it 100%." I'm there to help you. So I think that's the biggest thing I wanna get across to people when they do the Belle workouts or when they download the Belle app. I'm not just a-- I'm not another perfect influencer with a perfect fitness life, and I'm always energized, and I'm always working out in a beautiful active wear, and my hair's slicked back, and I've got...
No. I'm getting up in the morning, I'm doing it with you, and if I can do it, you can do it. And it's a real human connection.
Arthur: Epic product. And Bill what are your plans going ahead for what you're doing?
Belle: . I've got so many new features in my mind that I wanna build, and I want there to be a bit more of a celebratory part of the app. So for example, if when you - finish 10 Bell workouts, you earn a little badge. There's a little [00:40:00] celebratory moment in the app.
So there's definitely a lot of room for these extra tiny features to really make a difference and to make it a little bit more personal. . I have a whole backlog of things that I'm definitely gonna improve within the app, but I'm also really excited a little bit more towards the side of real human connection.
Obviously, what I've built has been basically mainly online, and I have members doing it every day, and that's what we kind of tick along with in the background and how we stay fit. But I've just done my first Bell retreat, and I've seen the power of positive, like-minded women being in the same room, and I want that more.
I have such a passion and such a drive to be around more women like that. So I definitely wanna do more Bell retreats, but I would love to share my story more. And I [00:41:00] wanna inspire people to never let the hurdles of life set you back and only try to look at things from a positive point of view.
Because what I was served with when I was 16, 17 very easily could've become my whole entire personality and a reason to stay at home, need a carer, and never leave my mom's side. But it's actually given me so much more than I could have ever imagined. So I always say to my to members or people with narcolepsy is that we're all served a set of cards, or we're dealt a set of cards, and it's just how you play them is what makes a difference.
I wanna inspire more people, and I want to just explore more opportunities that are driven by the power of exercise. Hopefully help them realize that movement is not complicated.
Movement is what we were designed to [00:42:00] do, and it can bring so much more than just a sweaty workout
Arthur: are you spiritual
Belle: . I would say I'm much more spiritual than I used to be because I don't know whether it's since having children or, I don't know, since meeting Michael, but I've really drawn everything back. And I think I was... I absolutely loved the way that I was brought up, but I believe that there was an element of more is better.
And since having narcolepsy, I've realized that actually just being able to stay awake while you eat dinner is something that I would love to be able to do, and then that actually feeds into other elements of your life. So I think as long as my children are healthy, and if I am gonna try something, I'm gonna give it my all.
Or if I'm not necessarily happy or not even happy, but like I feel like there's more to life. So for example, we don't live in Ampsom anymore, we live in Spain, [00:43:00] and that was to the sacrifice of my husband's salary. ... He now is at home with the children, and I'm able to work. Whereas I was brought up in a world or a, a family where it's both work, send your kids to school, or both work, send your s- kids to daycare.
Like you've both gotta work, and you've gotta both be suc- successful. We have a lot less now we live in Spain in terms of material-wise, in terms of money-wise. But essentially, and maybe this is spiritual, but I feel like I've got a hell of a lot more because I'm able to actually spend quality time with my children.
My children are spending a fabulous amount of time with their father, which wasn't the case when they were first born. And It goes back to narcolepsy, all of this, because I see other family members, and they are still driven by kind of material things. And I've really tried to teach them that as long as we're healthy, and as long as we're [00:44:00] happy, and I have a roof over my head, and I'm able to give my children like a education and an upbringing in a healthy, happy environment, isn't that the most important thing?
So the number of handbags, the number of shoes, the number of different clothes really doesn't inspire me. Doesn't... Obviously, I love a nice outfit, but if I'm gonna wear something that's three years old, that's fine. I am so much more invested in time, and energy, and health than material things. And I think definitely narcolepsy has taught me that, is that if I struggle to stay awake, then just being awake is an incredible feeling
Arthur: What you've been through clearly has very sharply made you work out what you do have. You seem to gravitate your whole focus from that, from what do I have? It [00:45:00] seems like it's brought you on a journey to realize what is important to you, but also how you can get that whilst giving to other people.
When you meet people, and I'm just thinking, must be people of all sorts of ages in your community who are often looking to you for guidance. People who on the surface might not look like they're open to getting advice. What do you share that you've not touched on today?
Belle: I've shared obviously a lot about my narcolepsy, but I would like to share a little bit more about becoming a mother and being a wife because the role that we have both taken, my husband and I, is not the kind of traditional way of doing things, and a lot of people have said what's your husband doing?"
He's just at home with the children." And that opinion has been put on us many times, and I quite easily could have taken [00:46:00] that personally and not taken this leap to move to Spain and actually decide to live not the traditional way or not the way that most people or our family wants us to because I would-- I'm gonna be honest, like a, a lot of family members have questioned it and still question it.
I would say, the advice I would say is if you want something without voicing it to anybody and it's still in your mind, because Spain was in my, in our minds for about two years. And when we finally decided to do it, we actually put our house on the market without telling anybody. I didn't even tell my mom, I didn't tell my sister because I knew that if I did, external opinions...
Obviously they have advice, and she's my mom, and of course she cares about me, and it comes from a caring place. But when you have something in the back of your brain keep saying, "But what if you do that? What if you were to do that?" The advice I would say is don't tell anyone, give it a shot. [00:47:00]Because the worst thing that could happen right now is that we go back to what we were doing.
That wasn't even bad. I liked our life in the Netherlands, but I really truly believed that there was more to life, and that's not more money, and that's not more things. That was more time. I didn't marry my husband to spend five days of the week away from him and then be exhausted on the weekend and then stressed with the children.
And I completely understand that this is maybe an opportunity or maybe a thing that not everyone can do. But if you do, and you really truly believe, and you really truly want more time with the people that you love and less, less demanding place at work, really take a step back and ask yourself, "Why am I doing that?
Why am I stressed all the time? Why am I tired all the [00:48:00] time? Who am I spending my time with? Is that worth it?" Because I know it sounds very corny or cliché, but you really do only have one life, and what is the worst that can happen if you just lived it? And you stopped thinking, "No, I've gotta do nine to five.
I've gotta do that every day of the week." If you could earn a little bit less but do a hell of a lot more, or if you could move your body a little bit more and feel a lot more energized, wouldn't that be better than sitting on the sofa, scrolling in the evening and thinking I'm too tired, I'll do it tomorrow"?
So think about the opportunities you can do when you draw back and you think about the basics: sunlight, movement, better food, less alcohol, and maybe obviously less stress, so maybe less work. Those five things, if you implement them over the next 30 days, I promise you, things will start to change.
I don't even [00:49:00] mean that success, like in career-wise or driven, but because per- physically and emotionally you will start to feel better, most things in life will start to improve, whether that's your work-life balance, whether that's your relationship with your husband or your wife, whether that's your relationship with your children.
Start with those five things will start to improve
Arthur: Things are so connected and what you've reminded us is what true wealth comes from time with great people. And yeah it's been such a pleasure to have you on. So inspiring. I'm sure people will really love listening to this and they can check you out on- online through the links.
But it's been a real pleasure. Thank you.
Belle: Thank you so much
[00:50:00]
