Dismantling Body Image And Racism in the Wellness Industry with Chrissy King

Going Beyond with Randi Zinn

I am so honored to have Chrissy King on the podcast with me today! Chrissy is a strength coach, as well as a writer, speaker and coach for anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion in the wellness industry. Using her degree in Social Justice and Sociology combined with her work as a strength trainer, Chrissy fuses social justice with fitness and wellness to empower individuals to stop shrinking and start taking up space and learn how to use their energy to create their specific magic in the world (3:52).

Our conversation begins with Chrissy’s personal journey in the fitness industry, which she began with one goal only: to lose weight and be skinny. It took years of obsessing about her weight and never missing workouts, that when she finally reached her “goal weight”, it wasn’t enough. That’s when she turned to powerlifting, and realized that fitness wasn’t about body image, but rather about feeling strong, empowered and energized. This realization in the gym began to shift in other areas of her life, and today, she preaches “body liberation” to the clients she trains - the idea that who we are is not about what we look like on the outside, but how we feel on the inside. Chrissy mentions the importance of approaching fitness and wellness holistically as not only a tool to improve physical health, but mental and emotional health as well. (4:57).

We then talk about the other side of Chrissy’s work: anti-racism, diversity and inclusivity in the wellness industry. Organizations often ask Chrissy to assess what steps they can take to be more diverse and inclusive, but what she sees is very consistent: most companies want a quick fix to the problem. Instead, Chrissy explains companies should, on both an individual and collective level, learn how to become anti-racist, and then incorporate ways to make their environment more diverse and inclusive (14:36).

Chrissy leaves us with some really impactful advice to helping all of us become anti-racist. Chrissy and Randi agree that white women in particular have a harder time doing this work because of our inherent need to seek perfectionism and avoid saying or doing the wrong things. Chrissy encourages us to instead, sit in this discomfort because this work individually will spark greater change in the world (22:10). And it’s so important not to do it alone! There are fantastic books, films and articles to consume individually, but having tough conversations with a variety of people (including a variety of people of color), is what will take your work to the next level, as well as allow you the support you might need as you feel intense emotions from these conversations (32:58).