Becoming a fitness guru and inspiration for women was not a straightforward path for Randa Carrabba, in fact she began her journey in business during her time in college at Texas A&M University. Today, Randa continues to grow her PowHer.fit fitness business and now also operates PowHer Meals, a meal prep company which focuses on providing healthy, convenient and delicious home-cooked meals that can be delivered straight to your door. We sat down with Randa to learn more about her business journey and how she started PowHer.fit; here’s what we learned.
IN: Thank you so much Randa for joining us — we have a lot to unpack! Let’s start with how did you end up at Texas A&M University?
RC: “I'm actually a first generation Aggie. I was born and raised in the big city of Bremond, Texas, population 876, graduated with a class of 30. My godfather actually was in the Corps here and I grew up coming to the football games with him because he had season tickets, and there was just something just so special about Texas A&M. I didn't apply anywhere else to go to school — I graduated valedictorian in the top 10% so I knew that I would obviously get in, but still just like receiving that letter that I got into Texas A&M was really powerful. I’d be the first one in my family — my mom or dad didn't go to university, my grandparents didn't go to university — and so that was really, really special. Being an Aggie is something that's really really special to me and being from a small town that's only 45 minutes away and being family-focused. I grew up very rural and within agriculture, I showed cattle and was on the judging team at A&M.”
IN: How did you get involved with the A&M judging team?
RC: “I actually came in as an ag economics major because I felt like that’s what everyone suggested if I was interested in pharmaceutical sales, but I dreamed of being on the judging team, and that is animal science based. I didn't do any judging in high school, we didn't have a judging team and our A&M Judging Team is really, really good, so you pretty much have to have done it in high school or at least gone to a junior college. If you're an “in-house kid” that didn't go to junior college, it's a lot harder on you to get on the team. I wanted to be on the judging team, so therefore I decided to switch to be an animal science major because I wanted to be in that environment. I became Dr. Chris Skaggs’ assistant my freshman year. I knew I still could do pharmaceutical sales or leadership type positions in organizations like a cattle breed association. I interned with the American Angus Association and had a love for junior organizations. I eventually made the All American Livestock Judging Team and was named the Top Senior for the Animal Science Department as well as the College of Ag & Life Sciences.”
IN: At what point did you begin to shift your focus to your first business, Southern Jewlz?
RC: “When I was on the judging team, it was the thing back then to wear all the authentic turquoise jewelry. You know the types you think of from Albuquerque or Santa Fe, New Mexico. However, authentic turquoise jewelry can be very expensive. I come from a very middle class family and had put myself through college, so I could not afford to pay hundreds or even 1000’s of dollars. So, I sourced out where I could get look-alike beads and I was able to make these pieces for myself for only $20 or $30. I didn't start by saying “I’m going to start this business”, I was just hand making my own jewelry. The girls just wanted what I was wearing so I literally started carrying around this little caboodle; I’m not kidding! Then I got one that was on wheels and I'd go to the stock shows and people would just buy my jewelry.”
IN: So, how did this transition into the Southern Jewlz that everyone knows and loves today?
RC: “When I graduated from Texas A&M, and when I tell you it was like the most bittersweet moment, because I loved being an Aggie and being a student at Texas A&M so much that I almost felt like a part of my life was over. I actually graduated with honors in the ag department and I turned down every grad school offer and I told everybody to give me a year. I want to see if I can make my own business work. I did not come from a small business background. No one in my family is an entrepreneur, we are very much more like growing up in terms of living within your means — Don't take risks. Don't put yourself out there in a way that could put you in a lot of debt. I had a little mall on the kiosk because I could do it month to month and it was like a safe secure net that could allow me so I to go through a holiday season and see what my sales could be, then I can figure out if I'm going to make this a real thing or how if I need to go back to school.”
IN: And so we know now that Southern Jewlz really soared, and even landed you a spot at the 2014 Aggie 100. What was that experience like?
RC: “I had my godfather, my parents, my business mentors and my now-husband, who was actually my new boyfriend at the time, like literally within just two weeks. I remember telling everyone at the table, “I am so proud to be here and I would have never thought I would have made the Aggie 100. So, if I am number 100 and I'm the first person that gets called, we just cheer and clap — there are no losers here.” And when they got to the top 20, my now husband at the time (he's very good at finance and numbers) he leaned over to me and he was like, ‘Hey, what's your annual compounded growth rate?’ And I said, ‘I don't know LOL.' When they got to number 11, they called me and I was like up there with all of the big oil guys and people doing really big things — it was just so surreal.”
IN: So, what happened to Southern Jewlz after that?
RC: “Just two years after that I actually lost over six figures in that business — some of it was getting back to the basics and figuring out how to keep going. What was hard about it is that I did not realize how much of my identity was wrapped up in who I was as a businessowner. I really loved what I did for work, maybe even a little too much. I felt like I got women ready for the exciting things in life — Aggie football games, engagement pictures, date night, etc. I ended up re-directing and shut the store at the end of 2016.I went online only for 2017. I felt I needed to prove it to myself I could run a profitable online only business and I didn’t want to see the company fail. I learned that I did not like running an online facility. I was basically doing industrial distribution, customer support, shipping and I was not styling women in person anymore — it was just different.”
IN: What caused the shift in mentality after going through the hardships of navigating the solely online Southern Jewlz with little overhead?
RC: “I was getting ready to get married and I quite frankly was needing to rebuild my confidence. With no store to run starting in January 2017, I the gym every day for a month leading up to my wedding. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I chose to lift weights because I had lost a lot of weight the year before from stress and overworking myself topped with under-eating. It wasn’t healthy at all. I wanted to look and feel healthy and I wanted to be strong, as I was rebuilding myself. I was sharing and documenting my journey and put it out on social media because my business all along had always been on social media. And you know what I learned through that? People were resonating with me so much more about my fitness journey even though I wasn't a certified personal trainer. Even though I did not have a clue what I was doing because it was almost like that's where everyone starts. It was almost like BECAUSE I wasn't a personal trainer, I wasn't intimidating in terms of my fitness content. I think people followed along just to see what I would figure out, if I would stick with it and how I would balance staying consistent. With my store, I felt like there was a certain age range or a certain style or certain size, while fitness, wellness and strength training was for every woman of every age of every style of every background and I started to realize that I might be stepping into something that had a much larger demographic than I had previously worked with.
IN: How did PowHer.fit come into play?
RC: “When I started PowHer Fit, I was very open and honest that I was not a certified personal trainer and I really think at that point people were generally following me because I wasn't. I made sure to hire the best trainers on staff for PowHer Fit, but I wanted to focus myself on being the face of marketing and the woman leading and living the lifestyle.”
IN: Can you share a little bit more about what PowHer.fit memberships offer?
RC: “I was filming them in a virtual interactive way for both the home and the gym for beginner, intermediate and advanced skill set. It’s completely tailorable to any of my client’s current experience level and capabilities. Going through one of my workouts is like having me right there with you through the phone. I do voice over coaching commands, have written descriptions for every movement prescribed and we pair our training nutritionally with macro counting. Every client is guided through a customized experience to learn what their current maintenance calories are and then based on their upcoming (realistic) goals, we set their calories and macro splits so they know how much protein, carbs and fats to prioritize consuming each day. We teach them how to track their macros through nutritional diaries and learn habits that will set them up for long term success. We do not cut any foods or food groups, nor do we believe in redundant restriction. We've got over 500 tried and true recipes from our members with new recipes drops every month that come with barcode scanning for instant tracking access. All recipe drops come with grocery shopping lists and meal plans examples. Probably one of the biggest things PowHer.fit does is our competitive fitness challenges — our last fitness challenge paid $50,000! I learned that women wanted to start on their own timeline and most of our members choose our home workouts, both for convenience as well as being comfortable when they start. And moreover, they want to feel encouraged, supported and held accountable in a positive environment; so that’s exactly what our community is built upon! We have 20 Empowerment Coaches who each run their own small groups so that our members feel connected with other members to create relationships and friendships in a safe space where they can be vulnerable.
IN: You said that each member will get an Empowerment Coach, how do they find the coach that best fits them and their lifestyle?
RC: “It is 100% up to the member to choose who their coach is. I want the members to truly feel like that is such a personal decision. I always encourage my clients to choose one of our Empowerment Coaches who they relate to or are in a similar season of life as. Questions like: Did you overcome a disease or do you have PCOS? Have you gone through postpartum seasons, where you were breastfeeding and a working nurse while raising these two babies? Those are the things these women are looking for. We have coaches from the ages of 20-60 from multiple states and a diverse background of experience. The coaches are basically built in hype-ladies that help create over 70% of the PowHer.fit success stories!"
IN: As the figurehead of PowHer.fit, what’s your favorite part of getting to be the name behind such a powerful fitness business for women?
RC: “It can come with a lot of pressure, some of which I put on myself, but I'm a very strong Christian. I know my role here on Earth is to help women believe in themselves — to know that if they want or desire: they can do more, they can be more, they can overcome hard things and they don't have to settle or limit themselves for anything less. Once women become a mother, they still have their own identity outside of motherhood. Once they become a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, (whatever profession they choose), there's still their own identity outside of their work. And I think so many times, life hits and happens so hard and so quickly for so many people. That’s when limiting beliefs can start make women think they can’t win, they aren’t strong enough, or like their role and identity within just themselves isn’t apriority anymore. I am that person that has a pink blinged hotshot (can you tell I’m a cattle girl at heart?) behind him saying: yes you can, yes you will and someone is here to help believe in you! I want women to show up for themselves before they believe in themselves.”
IN: Why would you encourage women, especially in the Brazos Valley, to take that leap of faith and become who they want to be?
RC: “It is worth taking that leap to become a stronger, healthier, more profound you with your fitness journey. Typically what starts as finding yourself working out to gain confidence and build muscle becomes the absolute best thing any human being can do for themselves. In terms of aging, building muscle is the best thing you can do and it actually builds your bones stronger, too. Living a sustainable strength training lifestyle that prioritizes high protein nutritionally, will help increase your metabolism as well as keep you active and healthy. I mean I can just go on and on and on about the benefits of building muscle. I'm not talking about losing fat and I'm not talking about being a certain size. Maybe your strongest and healthiest self is actually 10 pounds heavier than you think. Being your lightest, skinniest or leanest self is not always the most healthy version of you — especially for women. I would tell women: 'Your kids are worth it. Your grandkids are worth it. Your future generations are worth it and quite frankly YOU the longevity and quality of YOUR LIFE is worth it!' I always tell my husband I say I'm going to be the most meme-worthy person on the internet when I'm 80 years old because you better believe I'm gonna be lifting my weights and wearing my cute outfits haha. I don’t believe the best of my life is behind me, but I know the best lies ahead of me. All too often I see women not embracing aging or getting older. When in reality, it is such a blessing! I want women looking forward to the rest of their lives that lie ahead. Becoming the strongest, healthiest and most confident version of yourself from strength training always leads into a powerful self-development journey with lots of mental, emotional and even spiritual benefits. Strength training is one of the best ways to naturally combat anxiety and depression! I truly believe wellness is multi-dimensional into four parts: physically (nutrition & exercise), mentally (also improved from nutrition & exercise), emotionally (really improved through nutrition, exercise AND uplifting community support) and that even leads into becoming stronger spiritually.
To learn more about or get involved with PowHer.fit, visitpowher.fit or find PowHerFit on the App Store.
