Nibras Panni :
20 years! It has been a long struggle to reach where I am today. I first stepped into a gym in 2002 where my aunt used to conduct aerobics classes. I enrolled myself in her classes as she was a certified fitness trainer from the USA. As I was progressing and learning, she started training me in a different way, saying that I possessed the right qualities of becoming a fitness trainer myself; the enthusiasm, body language and knowledge. From that day onwards, I set a long-term goal that I would one day become an accomplished person in the fitness industry.
As months went by, I trained under her and eventually started teaching classes myself in the same gym. As I had a huge network, I informed all my friends and family that I started taking classes, and within 10 days, my class was packed with 20-25 students. From aerobics, I gradually shifted to weight-training, kickboxing and hardcore bootcamp sessions, which expanded my array of expertise. As a single parent of two children, it was very challenging to balance parenting, my profession and my personal life. However, my never-ending passion for health and fitness paved the path for me to accomplish greater things in life, and I am ever-so grateful. During my initial years of fitness education, there were barely any methods of learning besides books. So, whenever I travelled, I used to buy training books and study at home on human psychology, anatomy and how to train individually.
Over the years, I self-taught myself and in between, I travelled to Delhi for 2 weeks of training under Nike & Adidas. Even now through a lot of research through podcasts, articles and YouTube, I’m learning every single day and improvising on my training. I finally wanted a website of my own, which I launched in 2015 as NibrasFitness. It received a lot of rapid engagement and immediately went mainstream. Shortly afterwards, my personal training clients tripled and my group sessions were flourishing as well. Fast forward to 2023, I have been the Executive Director for aamraActive corporate gym for the past 2 years. Alongside, I’m continuing personal training clients in my own home studio.
Some of my accomplishments: I was selected as one of the 50 notable women of Bangladesh by HerNet TV, the first Asian internet women’s channel. I was also chosen as part of the Digital Entrepreneurship and Communities Summit organised by Meta. I am one of the leading brands of Khelbei Bangladesh, a platform that fulfils sporting aspirations of people of all ages. I am also currently working as a health and fitness consultant at Pulse Healthcare Services. Recently, I was invited as an honorary guest speaker to speak alongside Sarah Zakir and Konak Chapa Chakma, who are legends of Bangladesh. My objective in life is to help my community with my knowledge regarding health and fitness. After 20 years, I feel that I have finally established myself as an entrepreneur in the fitness industry and the corporate world.”