A member of the group “Mink taką” in Lithuania was able to reach the heights of music, but she went abroad: today even Hollywood celebrities turn to her for help.

– 21 years ago you left your musical career in Lithuania and went to Great Britain. Tell me, what made you take that step?

– Perhaps financial deficiencies. At that time he was studying opera singing at the Juozas Gruodis Conservatory. The parents gave him 10 litas a day, which was not much for the young man. Science has done well, but talented musicians are very lazy. I wanted to sing, but I was too lazy to learn the theory. Give me to sing, don’t put the notes together. I attended all the vocal conferences. The teacher was perfect. Awesome man. I still remember it. Before I thought it would only go out during the summer. But I didn’t go back that way.

– Have you never regretted leaving here not only a family but also a musical career?

– I never thought about it. I went downstream. I missed my family, my mother, my grandmother, the Lithuanian nature, but I did not have a terrible trauma. Five years later, I got used to it. Now I miss Lithuania more than then. Sometimes I even think that I had to put up with those days, I would have graduated and everything would have gone well. There were many possibilities, he had acquaintances, friends. But I needed the world to work, I didn’t like sitting still. So it turned out that I came here. I didn’t have time to regret it. I studied, graduated in beauty therapy, worked in a prestigious clinic, got married, gave birth. 9 years ago, my mom contracted cancer and it changed a lot. I started visiting Lithuania more often. Mom was everything in life to me.

– Haven’t you tried to continue your musical journey abroad?

– Interestingly, life often unites me with music people in the strangest places. I remember once flying a plane from Lithuania to the UK. I was very tired so I wanted to lie down and go to sleep. But I see a man approaching and, with the same deliberation, he joins me. Turns out it’s Kostas Smoriginas Jr. We talked the whole flight. He asked me why I would not pursue a musical career, said he would help me, etc. So I was able to continue, but I don’t know if it was a shame, maybe I thought I couldn’t. I have such a character that either I am in the first place or I am not involved at all. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it annoys. If I don’t win, I won’t even attend. Although sometimes second place is not so bad either. I have the arrogance, the power and the virgin desire of the Lion to help, love and respect. I will never willingly hurt another person to be the best.

– But aren’t you singing now?

– I didn’t break ties with music at all. Every year I meet friends from the Mink Trail group. We have to see you every year. If there is a special party, I sing to friends, to family. But, as I say, now I am a singing coach: first sports, then music. During my workouts, women often cry because I can step out of my comfort zone. And that’s what women need. My goal is to help women love themselves. It all started with my mother’s illness. I don’t know if my mom loved herself very much. He loved others. He worked in medicine. The most famous teachers still remember her and speak of her as the best person. She could not. When he got sick, I realized that I needed to change my life. I didn’t love myself either. Maybe I am in my 15s now when my husband even realizes that I am a bit selfish at times. It will not be otherwise. Now I will begin to love myself. But it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. What is love for yourself in general? It’s not about buying the type of shoes you want or going to the salon to get a manicure. For me, it is much deeper.

– Women come to play sports mainly because they do not love themselves as they are …

– Court. I didn’t love either. It took a couple of years. Nobody starts playing sports out of love for themselves. You start out because you hate yourself. There are times when you hate sports. Get up and your motivation is zero. But after that you think so much has happened after all, you have to get involved. I realized that motivation comes from within. I won’t get it anywhere. You can read hundreds of books, listen to hundreds of seminars, but cannot find them. It is within us. We are like the sea. There is no coral on the surface, but if you dive deep you will see the most beautiful images. Beauty is in the background. Also, keep in mind that it won’t be found in a month. You will discover, you will lose again, you will discover again and well. You don’t need to be constant. No matter. You are not a robot, you are only a human. Relax, life is short, rejoice, slip, get up and go. Every stumble is a great lesson.

– How did you discover the sport yourself?

– Thanks to your husband. First of all, I was overweight, I suffered from depression. When her mother got sick, she was only 48 years old. She was young. I am a stressful woman, I started to eat a lot. My mother told me: You live for yourself, not for me and not for the children. Now I understand. I love my children, but I know that one day they will come out, and then what? The loss of my mother changed my way of thinking. He weighed 100 kg. My husband, for whom I am thankful, said he needed to start exercising. I have always been quite an athletic person. I was never great. As I gained weight, I began to dislike myself. I wanted to hide. For me, a man ordered a video training for such a well-known trainer, Shaun T, the founder of Insanity. He was my guru. I got hooked. I did it one day before and not the next. It hurt, but the time came when I missed training. I slept badly if I didn’t exercise. So I decided to try a sports and nutrition plan for 12 weeks. I did it. Then I told my husband that I would love to meet this man live who helped me do that. He says, “You have a ticket.” He bought me a ticket to a meeting with that coach! I decided that I wanted to be like him. I want to help others, inspire them. Everything started to roll. I went to university. I started teaching myself. I started being invited to seminars. I did everything with love. Today my name is Life and Fitness Coach. My classes are attended by parliamentarians and executives from major corporations, Hollywood stars, gallery owners, and the chief designer of Burberry House. This is how my career began. Sport helped me survive. If I exercised well, otherwise, I would even start looking at my mother’s illness. All kinds of ideas shot through our minds about what we could do together. I started to breathe differently. But a person will not understand this after exercising for a month or two. It takes a long time to exercise. But don’t get me wrong, sport is not the main thing in my life, it just got me where I am now. For Hollywood, aristocratic clients. Now I also have plans in Lithuania. I want to create something for Lithuanians. My husband is from Iraq, but he is fluent in Lithuanian and we could go to Lithuania at any time.

– How did you meet?

– He worked in a cafe. I went in for coffee once and he asked me: “With sugar or not, why are you so sweet?” They won’t really turn my head. “I thought I was a bit Italian. I didn’t go to that cafe anymore. Then a couple of months later a friend and I walked nearby. She offered to go buy juice. I say okay , but I buy you because those guys put money there. But that time it wasn’t like that anymore, he asked me why I didn’t visit him anymore. I said I was talking too much. He says: “Okay, I won’t talk, I’d better take you to somewhere. “That’s how it all started. We’ve been together for twenty years. We’ve been raising two daughters, one for 8 years and the other for 17 years.

– Did you feel cultural differences?

– At first, yes. It was difficult, I thought, I … he or he … me. So we somehow live together. My mother agreed with him very well. He knew how to explain everything. He was very tolerant. I have never seen my husband cry except during my mother’s funeral. I am not saying that we are not angry now. We are angry. I’m stubborn, but show me a home that’s smoke-free.

– And how did your parents receive you?

– His mother said the first day that she would only guide me soon. We still communicate perfectly with her, she loves Lithuania, she visits often. Her sisters and her mother live here. His mother is a writer. We can chat all night. He has created poems for Saddam Hussein himself. My mom and her mom got along really well. They both cared for a granddaughter. One taught Kurdish, the other Lithuanian. Thank God my eldest today speaks English, Spanish, Kurdish and Lithuanian. The little boy also speaks Lithuanian. My husband even improved the Lithuanian men in my family.

– Are Lithuanian men different?

– It’s very different. It is also not ideal, but it is different. All houses have their own smoke. And those who say that her husband is perfect are an absolute lie, like that lie when it is said that a 12-week sports program will help you lose weight and not gain weight again. It is not, has not been and will not be. You need to work hard all the time. I have clients who had stopped but came back because they lack motivation for independent sports. Sometimes that fits some. They surrender to me. I submit the application and receive a report every day. Even after the first consultation, I know who will need me and who will not.

– And how do you see plastic surgery? After all, sometimes it is much easier to lie under a surgeon’s knife once than to bother in the gym for three months.

– No, seeing my mother’s suffering, there is no possibility. I’ve seen what happens after anesthesia, how it hurts when the thread heals. No thanks. I had clients who said they would get liposuction first and then go to the gym. To those I say: “Then I will not train them.” There is more here than external beauty. Love yourself as you are.

– What are your immediate objectives?

– Now I am filling my Lithuanian group, which is called “Body Shape Revolution”. In that group, I first want to teach you to love yourself. Every time I say: don’t be afraid to take selfies. It doesn’t matter if the drop falls there. Women are ashamed of themselves. But you will inspire others in this way. Relax. Let others feed off those bad words. The more they talk about you, the better. I’m not the one who poses in thongs because I don’t need them at all. But I want women to feel good in bikinis. If Covid allows it, I want to organize a camp in Lithuania. We already did it last year, it was a one-day program for the whole family. We talked about nutrition, sports, I was a psychologist, a photographer, we had a farm. This time I would like to organize a longer event. With music, with chebra. But I look forward to what the situation will be. Another idea is that I have always wanted to open a sports boutique in Lithuania, where there would be very specific workouts, niche things that are not yet available in Lithuania. It would not be a sports club, but a sports boutique. With a good aura, with women’s parties, with long dresses and high heels. It’s a club you hang out with in high heels. Because we miss him. We don’t always succeed, we don’t have time. We dare not dress up because we think there will be too much here and too little here. I want a place where women don’t feel too much or too little.