Krissy Cela: UK fitness creator and entrepreneur; founder of the Tone & Sculpt app and Oner Active activewear, and author of the book Do This For You.
What this episode covers
Krissy Cela tells host Stephen Bartlett her raw story of arriving in the UK as an Albanian immigrant, being bullied at school, and finding therapy and self-belief in the gym. She built a fitness following and the Tone & Sculpt app alongside her ex-fiance Jack, with whom she still co-runs the business after an amicable split. The conversation digs deeply into the personal costs of entrepreneurship: depression, suicidal thoughts, the inability to switch off, difficulty dating, and loneliness despite a 2.3 million-strong online community. She and Bartlett bond over shared immigrant childhoods marked by money struggles and parents' gambling. She closes on her book, her activewear line Oner Active, and new athlete Danielle Wilson.
The guest's own work
Do This For You: How to Be a Strong Woman on the Inside and Out
Krissy Cela
“my book do this for you how to be a strong woman on the inside and out is not your average fitness book”— Krissy Cela
Tone & Sculpt
Krissy Cela
“last year when i launched toner sculpt with jack we had a lawsuit against us you know no one really knew about that”— Krissy Cela
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Nike
Nike
“if you look at nike lululemon the biggest brands in the world they don't have fancy stuff”— Krissy Cela
Lululemon
Lululemon
“some of the best lululemon leggings are the most simplest ones you'll ever find but they're trusted and they're loved”— Krissy Cela
Big reveals from this episode
- Krissy reveals she was bullied for having a moustache and ate her school dinner alone in a toilet for six months because she had no friends.
- A 50,000-pound lawsuit over the Tone & Sculpt app added pressure that contributed to her and Jack growing apart.
- She immigrated to the UK at age four in the back of a banana lorry; her family was arrested and separated in France.
- Her father had a serious gambling problem that strained her mother, something she says she had never mentioned publicly before.
- During a server transition the Tone & Sculpt app shut down and lost 10,000 subscribers in one day.
- She openly describes past suicidal depression, lying in bed thinking it would be easier if she wasn't here.
- She candidly admits she falls hard in love and just as hard out of love, and is difficult to date.
Worth remembering
- She started Instagram just to film herself exercising to check her form, and the account grew to 50,000 followers early on.
- A single Tone & Sculpt photoshoot/app refurbish cost nearly 90,000 pounds in production.
- A viral video on depression got 30 million views and brought her 8,000 DMs in one week from people in crisis.
- Lost subscribers were valued at roughly 13.99 each, making the one-day loss substantial.
- Tone & Sculpt grew to 22 staff and a London office within 12 months with almost no marketing spend, at around 120 percent monthly growth.
- Krissy uses skipping and training as her only way to be fully present because meditation and yoga don't work for her.
- She has 2.3 million Instagram followers but says she often forgets the audience size and posts without makeup.
- She recruited athlete Danielle Wilson, a 200-pound African-American woman, to broaden what fitness representation looks like.