The Diary of a CEOHow She Built Her Confidence, and Then an Empire with Krissy Cela | E57
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 2:50
Setting the Tone: Honesty, Judgment, and Being Underestimated
Steven introduces Krissy as a heavily underrated entrepreneur and sets the intention for an unfiltered conversation. They dive straight into how people judge her as a ‘pretty fitness girl’ on Instagram and fail to see the scale of what she’s built.
- •Podcast’s mission is raw, uncomfortable honesty about success, not glamorized narratives.
- •Steven frames Krissy as a serious entrepreneur with multiple multi-million-pound businesses.
- •Krissy explains she doesn’t seek public credit; her ‘reward’ is seeing women thrive.
- •They discuss snap judgments made about attractive women online and how wrong they usually are.
- 2:50 – 10:40
Beyond the Image: Misconceptions About Female Fitness Entrepreneurs
Krissy recounts being reduced to her appearance by dates and strangers who assume she ‘gets her ass out’ for money. She explains why that narrative is infuriating but also motivating and insists her success is rooted in message and impact, not looks.
- •Men have told her her success is because she shows her body online.
- •She counters that no one builds a 30-person team and sell-out product lines on looks alone.
- •Sexist double standard: handsome men aren’t assumed to have succeeded only because of looks.
- •Judgment both angers and fuels her; she uses doubt as motivation to exceed expectations.
- 10:40 – 24:30
Immigrant Childhood, Bullying, and the Birth of ‘Do This For You’
Krissy shares painful school memories of being the ‘foreign, hairy’ Mediterranean girl with a moustache, eating lunch in toilets and desperate to fit in. A cheating boyfriend and social exclusion left her angry and depressed, until a train ride epiphany led her to sign up for the gym and commit to doing something for herself.
- •Childhood bullying for her looks and being foreign deeply hurt her self-esteem.
- •She ate school dinners in the toilet for six months and internalized feeling ‘less than’.
- •A boyfriend’s infidelity made her blame her looks and try to become ‘prettier’ to keep love.
- •On a train from her retail job, she realized she did everything for others and nothing for herself.
- •She coined ‘Do this for you’ when she joined a gym—then initially avoided it for two months out of fear.
- 24:30 – 38:00
Finding Strength in the Gym: Therapy, Discipline, and Community
Krissy describes how the weight room became an escape from depression and anger, even though she started with zero knowledge. Over time, training gave her discipline, therapy, and eventually a global female community bonded by shared struggle and transformation.
- •She was intimidated by weights and gym culture, with men in the weight room and women on cardio.
- •Early on there were no Instagram tutorials; she taught herself by trial and error.
- •The gym, which many see as a chore, became her only mental escape from life and rage.
- •Consistent training sharpened her focus at university and proved she could stick to something.
- •She began posting videos just to check form; organic follower growth revealed high demand.
- •Her platform evolved into a community for women dealing with abuse, eating disorders, and mental health struggles.
- 38:00 – 46:00
Self-Belief, Vision, and Building With a Partner
As her Instagram grew, Krissy felt an inexplicable conviction that she and her then-partner Jack would ‘achieve something by helping women’. She credits the gym for building the self-belief that powered their joint leap into business and scaled into a large subscription app and team.
- •She told Jack, while he drove her to a waitressing shift, that they would help women at scale.
- •He initially dismissed it, but she broke down in tears because the belief felt so real.
- •Her belief came from herself, reinforced by proof from fitness discipline.
- •Gym-built habits spilled into academic and business performance—more focus, less procrastination.
- •She sees energy and self-image as magnets: the more you believe you’re worthy, the better partners and opportunities you attract.
- 46:00 – 1:00:40
Love, Co‑Founding, and an Engagement Under Pressure
Krissy unpacks the complexities of building Tone & Sculpt with her fiancé Jack, surviving a costly lawsuit, and ultimately ending the relationship while preserving their business partnership. She still deeply respects him and frames their breakup as a casualty of relentless entrepreneurial stress rather than lack of love.
- •Tone & Sculpt faced a £50k lawsuit over app ownership, forcing a complete rebuild on their own tech.
- •Sue-and-rebuild period generated huge pressure, blame, and resentment inside the relationship.
- •Working, commuting, and living together meant every conversation defaulted to work.
- •She calls Jack ‘everything a woman would want in a man’ and says his shoes will be hard to fill.
- •They chose to split romantically but continue as co-founders; she’d ‘give him a kidney’ if needed.
- •Her only anxiety about his future partner is that they might try to pull him away from the joint business.
- 1:00:40 – 1:16:20
Dating a High-Achiever: Insecurity, Control, and Being ‘Hard to Date’
Krissy and Steven turn the lens on modern dating, especially for ambitious people. Krissy admits she’s ‘hard to date’—she falls in love fast but falls out just as quickly, is highly defensive, and struggles with men who are either intimidated by her success or lack drive.
- •She recounts an insecure man trying to dissuade her from a major LA shoot because he felt threatened.
- •She realized his feelings stemmed from his insecurity, not her behavior, and refused to adjust her ambition.
- •She’s uncomfortable bragging about success and doesn’t obsess over money or follower metrics anymore.
- •Krissy confesses she falls hard then switches off when love isn’t reciprocated at her level—her own ‘issue’.
- •Both she and Steven wrestle with whether they want an equally driven partner or someone calmer to balance them.
- •She sees her over-analysis and high standards as self-protection but knows she can be ‘mean’ and hard to satisfy.
- 1:16:20 – 1:28:00
Immigrant Grit, Family Trauma, and Work Ethic
Krissy opens up about immigrating illegally to Europe in a lorry as a child, her family’s arrest, her parents’ grueling work, and her father’s gambling problem. These experiences hardwired her views on hard work, money, and relationships—and influence her triggers today.
- •Her family came to Europe in the back of a banana lorry, were arrested in France, and separated into rooms.
- •She remembers the turquoise detention room vividly at age four.
- •In the UK, her mother worked three jobs; her father worked nights as an HGV driver.
- •Her dad’s gambling caused financial strain and emotional burden on her mother.
- •Her mum stayed and loved him through it, reflecting cultural norms against leaving husbands.
- •Now, even a partner placing a casual bet can trigger her fear of gambling addiction.
- 1:28:00 – 1:42:00
The Cost of Ambition: Workaholism, Relationships, and Regret
Krissy and Steven confront how their obsessive focus on business makes them emotionally unavailable and hard to reach, even for family and best friends. Using a ‘you die next week’ thought experiment, Steven forces Krissy to admit she’d regret not living more outside of work.
- •Entrepreneurial life means never truly clocking off—your brain is always on the business.
- •Krissy describes living in sweats, having few close friends, and being a relentless self-critic.
- •She admits she could be in a room with someone and be mentally with her companies.
- •Steven shares his own regrets about weak family relationships and missing his nieces’ lives.
- •The deathbed lens makes Krissy acknowledge she’d regret ‘just working’ and not traveling, going to museums, or being present.
- •Loved ones hesitate to call her because they assume she’s too busy—something she now actively pushes back against.
- 1:42:00 – 1:52:40
Dark Places: Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, and Climbing Back
Krissy reveals her battles with severe depression, including nights when she wished she wouldn’t wake up. She emphasizes that her current confident persona sits on top of years of internal struggle, and that mental health matters more than any outer success.
- •She describes ‘dark places’ where she contemplated ending her life just to escape emotional pain.
- •A vivid night of sobbing herself to sleep became a turning point: she realized she couldn’t stay in that mindset.
- •She stresses people often can’t imagine her past struggles because they only see her present success.
- •For her, mental stability is more important than businesses, money, or follower counts.
- •Her motto ‘Do this for you’ is rooted in rebuilding herself mentally, not just physically.
- 1:52:40 – 2:01:00
Community, Responsibility, and the Weight of DMs
They discuss the emotional weight of receiving thousands of deeply personal DMs from women worldwide. Krissy has built a customer support and community infrastructure specifically so women feel heard, while staying clear about her limits around giving mental health advice.
- •Steven shares being overwhelmed by 8,000 DMs in a week after a depression video went viral.
- •Krissy receives thousands of messages daily, some from women in crisis.
- •She’s clear she can’t ‘fix’ people or offer clinical advice, but she can listen and make them feel part of a family.
- •Tone & Sculpt has one of its biggest teams in customer support/community to ensure people are acknowledged.
- •She calls her community ‘familia’ and believes many of them understand her more than people in her offline life.
- •She discourages followers from attacking haters; you don’t cure hate with hate.
- 2:01:00 – 2:05:20
Women’s Bodies, Online Negativity, and Redefining Fitness
Krissy candidly discusses her insecurity about her breasts and how followers sometimes critique her body. She uses these moments to reinforce a healthier narrative about bodies and to model self-acceptance, while also explaining why her community is unusually positive.
- •She’s openly insecure about her ‘saggy boobs’ and was hurt by a cruel comment attacking them.
- •Her community often steps in to defend her—but she asks them to do it with compassion, not more hate.
- •She feels lucky to receive relatively little trolling compared to many public figures.
- •She frequently appears on Instagram without makeup or filters, sometimes forgetting she has 2.3M followers.
- •Fitness, for her, is about feeling strong and alive, not fitting an aesthetic mold.
- 2:05:20 – 2:16:20
Do This For You: Sustainable Fitness Over Quick Fixes
Krissy outlines the philosophy of her book ‘Do This For You’, rejecting 20-day transformations and event-based goals in favor of life-long habits. She wants women to see health like brushing their teeth—daily, non-negotiable self-respect rather than punishment.
- •She’s ‘sick and tired’ of 20-day challenges and crash diets promising unreal results.
- •Her programs are up to a year long, deliberately counter to quick-fix marketing.
- •She teaches readers to build a deep, sustainable ‘why’—not ‘look good for summer’ but mental stability, strength, and self-worth.
- •She reframes fitness as maintenance and nourishment, not a chore or form of self-hate.
- •The book is designed to be a ‘thinking book’ people will read and pass down, not just a workout manual.
- •She emphasizes that bad days are okay; consistency over time matters more than perfection.
- 2:16:20 – 2:26:40
Honor Active, Representation, and Redefining the Fitness Ideal
Krissy introduces her activewear brand Honor Active and its long-term, non-trendy positioning, then explains why she added athlete Danielle Wilson—a 200-pound, 5'11" Black woman—to her app. She sees Danielle’s presence as vital representation that challenges narrow, aesthetic-based fitness standards.
- •Honor Active is built around timelessness: collections like ‘Classic’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Effortless’ are made to be go-tos, not fleeting trends.
- •She wants the brand to be trusted and revisited, like Nike or Lululemon basics, rather than chasing hype.
- •She slid into Danielle Wilson’s DMs because her athleticism and presence inspired Krissy personally.
- •Danielle doesn’t match the typical ‘fitness Instagram’ body type, which is exactly why Krissy wanted her.
- •After Black Lives Matter protests, five brands approached Danielle; Krissy notes Tone & Sculpt came long before it was ‘on trend’.
- •They discuss how representation can change a young girl’s worldview—and why Krissy encourages Danielle to choose platforms that amplify that impact.
- 2:26:40
What’s Next: Business Momentum vs. Personal Happiness
In closing, Steven asks Krissy whether she’s happy and what’s next. She admits her career and community joy are high, but her personal happiness lags behind. She knows she must be kinder to herself and less defensive, even as her businesses continue to scale rapidly.
- •Business-wise, Tone & Sculpt is growing fast: 120% month-on-month at one point, 20+ employees, new trainers.
- •Honor Active continues to expand with a product philosophy based on trust and longevity.
- •Personally, Krissy doesn’t know what the future holds: love, marriage, and children feel uncertain.
- •She acknowledges she needs to take a breather, work on personal happiness, and adjust self-defensive patterns.
- •Steven reflects that ambitious people must sometimes relinquish control to find personal fulfillment.
- •They end on mutual gratitude for honesty and the hope that Krissy’s vulnerability will help others on similar paths.
