Wheeling Park High School students had an interesting discussion with a Patriot graduate who was more than 7,000 miles away.
Wheeling Park students in the class of teacher Audrey Abraham recently spoke via Zoom with Ashley Verma, who resides in Uganda. Verma is the host of the “The Bizzimumzi” podcast, and she has also performed on Broadway and worked as a fitness trainer with high-profile clients.
Verma is originally from Moundsville, but she wanted to attend Wheeling Park because of its excellent fine and performing arts program. She said that program was important in helping her achieve her dream of performing on Broadway, which she did at age 19. Students asked Verma about her career and the time she has spent living in Europe and now in Uganda.
“It was lovely to speak to some of the kids at Wheeling Park High School about business creation in the wellness sector,” she said.
Verma describes the Bizzimumzi podcast as a weekly dose of parenting “ups, downs and all arounds.” Each week she is joined by a fellow striving, thriving and surviving “Bizzimumzi” – who shares their own journey. During the podcast Verma recounts her own experience of becoming a first time Mom in February of 2020.
Verma began a professional career at age 19 performing on Broadway and around the globe. It was while performing that her fitness career began, teaching sold out classes and personally training the elite. Jumping the pond with her British husband, she launched her first fitness business Define London. Verma’s fitness business was thriving pre-COVID-19, and she was the personal trainer for celebrities Jourdan Dunn, Pippa Middleton, Lorena Rae and Lisa Snowden.
The global pandemic gave Ashley the harsh slap of reality when she found her Define London brick and mortar having to close down. Forced to pivot to virtual practices, she had just given birth to her daughter, Adiya, and her husband was frequently traveling to Uganda building his solar energy business. She felt overwhelmed, finding great struggle at times, but began to combat the postpartum depression by sharing ‘Mommy and Me’ workouts and vlogging adventures with Adiya on their Youtube channel, Bizzimumzi.
Celebrating her daughter’s first birthday, Ashley began to feel a bit more normal in a ‘new normal’ world. She and her husband were expecting a second child, but things took on a tragic turn at 12 weeks when they received news of a miscarriage.
“Motherhood, parenting…. It’s bananas,” she said. “I found myself spiraling, depressed with the miscarriage news. There is no baby book for this, It’s life.”
Surrounded by family and friends, Verma was encouraged to start a podcast about her journey and bring on other “Bizzimumzis” to share their life experiences. Her journey creating “Bizzimumzi” has been beyond therapeutic for her and through weekly feedback after a podcast launch, so does her following.
#experienceTHEPARK
#TogetherWeAchieve
#WVEd