This week’s Instructor Spotlight is on our BollyX Worldwide superstar, Chiyomi! Not only did Chiyomi help bring BollyX to Arkansas, she also taught the first BollyX classes in Japan! Read more about this international superstar in her interview below!
Q: Tell us about yourself – what do you do when you’re not teaching?
A: When I’m not teaching BollyX, I’m taking care of my youngest child (19 month old boy) most of the time and doing house work. Sounds fun, right?
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: Making my own skin care products. like face toner, face cream, body cream etc.
Q: What other formats do you teach? Give us a little on your background.
A: I teach Zumba and other Zumba specialties, as well as Pound and Yoga.
I started my fitness instructor journey as a Yoga instructor 13 years ago in Japan. (At that time, I had ZERO fitness teaching background, already had 3 children and had 4 different jobs as a single mom. Cray Cray life back then!) Then I became Zumba instructor and got GroupX license from AFAA. 2 years after I got AFAA, I became AFAA presenter and examiner. Happily married with wonderful husband and moved to the States in 2013. I was a US Zumba Jammer from 2013 – 2015 and got to meet so many wonderful people. And when I was about to resign the role, BOOM! I found BollyX!
Q: How would you describe BollyX in one word?
A: Unique!
Q: What is your favorite part of BollyX class?
A: The Performance section
Q: How has working with BollyX changed you or your lifestyle?
A: I listen a lot of Bollywood music now! Also I have a lot of friends from India and now we ROCK OUT together in BollyX class that we have more common subjects we can talk about other than my favorite Indian food, hahaha.
Q: How long have you been with BollyX and what inspired you to join the community?
A: OK, I found BollyX website while I was net surfing in the summer of 2015. I got inspiration from the website and the videos, so I decided to contact HQ , I could tell from the first response that there is a very organized hard working team behind this format. I had no idea how BollyX is going to be but I thought “It can’t go wrong with BollyX HQ team” so I basically trusted this team before I had even experienced the class. I brought the training to my area in September 2015 and since then I’ve been a part of the BollyX community!
Q: What is your favorite BollyX song to teach?
A: Gallan Goodiyaan. I love it so much that I can’t drop the song from my playlist!
Q: Where do you teach BollyX?
A: Bentonville community Center & Walton Life Fitness Center in Bentonville, Arkansas
Q: Anything else you want to add?
A: I’m originally from Japan and recently travelled there for 3 weeks, both for vacation and to teach classes. I introduced “Boss” after one of my Zumba class and they LOVED it!!!! Check out videos from my Japan classes here!
To take a class with Chiyomi, check out her profile!