Throughout our lives, relationships come and go. Every person has opportunities to connect with different people in various circumstances. Connecting with people is a huge part of my life, and I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with some really amazing people. I recently got to connect with Adee Zukier, CEO and Founder of Working Against Gravity and 63kg lifter for Catalyst Athletics, and we tackled a lot of subjects from weightlifting, to mindset, to starting a successful business from scratch. 
 
Adee can be found @adeezukier on Instagram. Her business is WorkingAgainstGravity.com and is also on Instagram @workingagainstgravity.
 
For those who don’t know, what’s your story? Where did you grow up? Did you play sports growing up?
 
I grew up in a suburb just outside of Toronto called Thornhill. I played every sport under the sun from winter sports like snowboarding and skiing to water sports like slalom skiing, wakeboarding, and air chair. I also played volleyball and basketball. For the longest time I was a figure skater, which has a lot to do with why I spin to the left when I lift. I did one year of hockey when I quit skating, and then after hockey, I played no sports at all until starting CrossFit at age 20.
 
What was going on during that gap of time between childhood sports and CrossFit?
 
My first two years of high school I was at my heaviest and really struggled with my self-confidence. I was too heavy for figure skating and water skiing. It wasn’t even just that I was heavier but I was too weak, I couldn’t pull myself out of the water to get up on the ski, and I didn’t have the power to jump high enough for the skating tricks. High school is such a transformational time anyway, so it was hard. After two years of inactivity, reaching my heaviest weight, my mom intervened, and I lost 50 lbs. This made the second two years of high school completely different, people treated me differently, boys began to notice me, and I learned a lot about myself.
 
Who were your biggest influences growing up, and who are your biggest influences now?
 
My parents are amazing, and my mom was a huge influence for me. They have done everything for me and I will be forever grateful. Other than them, I would have to say my teachers. I had some really great teachers growing up which is probably why I decided to get my Masters in teaching.
 
As far as who my influences are now, there are so many! Of course my parents are still a huge influence and inspiration for me. Their relationship is pretty amazing and the love they have for each other is rare. I would also have to say that Aimee Everett (my coach and client) is a huge role model. Our relationship is very special to me. We help each other in very different ways but some how it just works. She has taught me so much about being a friend, fierce competitor, and what it truly means to be loyal. More than anyone though, my boyfriend Michael Cazayoux has taught me so much over the past year, from being a business owner, to a great human being and friend. He pushes me out of my comfort zone and has really changed my life in the most positive way.
 
Social media is such a big part of personal branding these days. You seem to always have been pretty good in that arena, so when did you start that?
 
When I first got into weightlifting was also around the time I started using Instagram. A family friend of mine had an account called @inspiredtobefit, and the kind of influence she had from simply sharing her story was pretty amazing. She inspired so many people to prioritize their health and fitness from Instagram alone. At the time I had learned to keep off all the weight I had lost and was in school, while focusing on lifting, so I figured maybe I could share my journey too and do the same.
 
You’ve trained in various places in two different countries, so what’s your weightlifting journey been like?
 
I started to train exclusively Olympic Weightlifting in 2012 after taking a year off from CrossFit. My first coach was very technical and very old school- from no music to not letting me sit during training sessions.  For two and a half years I drove 45 minutes each way and showed up without fail three times a week to train. I learned a lot from that experience. Summer of 2014 I moved down to North Carolina, where we met, to train under Travis Mash for around four months. That place is pure energy and really helped me understand that if it’s not fun, it’s not worth it. Now, living in Santa Cruz and being on team Catalyst I can say that it is one of the more unique experiences in my weightlifting career. The first thing that stuck out to me was there were so many girls on the team, and twice a week you could see anywhere from a 58 to a 69 kg female snatch 90 kilos or more. That’s crazy. Beyond that, everyone is so supportive. I might only have 35 kilos on the bar and everyone is cheering for me. Overall I’ve learned more from my coaches’ behaviors and personalities than their methodologies or programming. Programming was never really something I was interested in learning about.
 
So you’re a weightlifter and a business owner. How did Working Against Gravity come about? And how does your mindset help you in all of this?
 
When I was doing my Master’s degree, I realized that I wanted to focus more on being an athlete rather than becoming a teacher right away. I used my final project, which was creating an e-portfolio to get jobs in the field, to instead create a blog that would market myself as an athlete. That was right at the same time that I was moving to North Carolina and cutting down a weight class.
 
In North Carolina, I got a lot stronger and a lot lighter which everyone told me was impossible. I documented that journey and people began asking me to help them do it too. After Travis offered the program to his athletes it grew really quickly. I think we continue to sustain that growth because we have always been very serious about providing the best service possible with what’s available to us, and our team is always trying to make the experience better for our clients. It really is all about them.
 
As far as mindset goes, at a young age I developed a strong intuition from my mother. Growing up, I would bring a boy home to meet my mom, and she would say “He better not rub me the wrong way.” I found that so interesting and started trying to see if I got that same “rubbed me the wrong way” feeling, and I’ve continued to develop that. It is something I still try and get a deeper connection with. I use that intuition in business daily.
 
The thing that has affected me most in recent past is a book Michael recommended to me when we first met called Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. That book ended up being so right on for that period in my life it was life changing. It taught me so much about being vulnerable and authentic, and how being real is hard but in the end it is totally worth it. That shift in mindset has made a world of a difference for me.
 
What’s your message to people and what do you hope to communicate through who you are and what you do?
 
Right now I believe that my purpose is to help people find a way to love themselves. That’s my goal, and I currently do that through the avenue of nutrition and social media. The WAG program goes so far beyond just macros. We want to help people learn that they are worthy of love and acceptance no matter what point they’re at in their lives. I want people to know that working on themselves is not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of strength. I would like to promote becoming more self-aware and present to self. The concept that comes to mind is like when a flight attendant tells you to put your own oxygen mask on before you help other passengers. Helping yourself will automatically help others. You will be a better friend, spouse, parent, and so much more. I want to help anyone I can do that.
 
Adee, thank you for taking the time to share so much great insight into who you are as well as where your journey has taken you over the past few years. Best of luck to you!