We’re looking forward to introducing you to Kara Sandoval. Check out our conversation below.
Kara, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I feel like I’m being called to stop playing small. For a long time, I hid behind just being a trainer or just focusing on certain pieces of wellness, because that felt safe and familiar. But what I’ve learned is that my true calling is to step fully into being a healer — not just of the body, but of the mind and spirit too.
That means using my voice, sharing my story, and creating spaces where people can start exactly where they are and grow each day. It’s about helping others see that wellness isn’t just about losing weight or gaining muscle — it’s about learning to walk in alignment with who we are and who we’re being called to become.
So for me, the call now is to embrace the bigger vision — to guide people in healing at every level, even when it feels uncomfortable or vulnerable, because that’s where true transformation begins.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Kara Sandoval, and I’m the founder of Beyond the Gym Wellness Co. My journey started in the traditional fitness world — training, teaching, coaching — but I quickly saw a pattern that didn’t sit right with me. So many people were chasing a number on the scale or the next “quick fix,” only to feel even more disconnected from themselves when it didn’t last. I’ve been in that place too, where health feels like something you’re constantly striving for but never actually arriving at. That’s what pushed me to build something different.
Beyond the Gym isn’t about six-pack abs or squeezing into a smaller size. It’s about creating a foundation of wellness that starts with presence and self-love. What I do is help people integrate the mind, body, and spirit so they can begin healing at every level — not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually too. That means teaching clients how to move in ways that feel good for their bodies, how to nourish themselves in ways that give them energy instead of guilt, and how to reframe the stories they’ve been carrying about who they are and what they’re capable of.
What makes this work unique is that it meets people exactly where they are. I work with former athletes who feel lost without their sport, with people who have never felt comfortable in a gym, and with those who are simply tired of starting over every January. My philosophy is that you don’t need to overhaul your life overnight. You need to take one step, then another, and allow those small consistent choices to grow into transformation.
Right now, I’m focused on expanding programs that can reach people no matter their background or limitations. Whether it’s someone recovering from injury, navigating a health challenge, or just wanting to reconnect with their body in a kind, sustainable way — I want them to know they’re not broken, and they don’t need to chase perfection to be well. The heart of Beyond the Gym is this: we’re not here to fix people; we’re here to remind them how powerful they already are when their mind, body, and spirit are working together.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I believed I wasn’t enough. I grew up hearing that I was stupid, fat, ugly — and that my voice didn’t matter. Abuse and neglect shaped a lot of the way I saw myself back then, and it planted this belief that I should stay small, quiet, and unseen. For a long time, I carried those words like they were truth.
I don’t believe that anymore. Today, I know I am capable, intelligent, and worthy of being heard. I know my voice has value, and that the very things I once felt ashamed of are what allow me to connect with and guide others. But I’ll also be honest — healing is not a finish line. Those old voices still try to sneak back in sometimes, and it’s a continual practice of choosing to replace them with self-love and truth.
What’s changed is that I no longer let those voices define me. Instead, I use them as reminders of how far I’ve come and why the work I do is so important. When I tell clients that healing is a daily choice and a process, it’s because I’m living that too. And I think that makes this work real. We’re all in progress, and that’s not something to hide from — it’s something to embrace.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The most defining wound of my life has been abandonment. I was abandoned at the age of two and raised by the very people who had created the mother wound for my mom. They didn’t really want me either, but they felt obligated to raise me. That left me with a deep belief that love and belonging were always conditional, and for years I found myself replaying that story — attracting relationships and situations where I was waiting to be chosen.
What I’ve come to understand is that the pattern wasn’t about me being unworthy. It was about me being given a mirror. The people who hurt me were carrying their own wounds, and I was living in the reflection of their pain. Recognizing that shifted my healing. It turned the story from “I wasn’t wanted” into “I was shaped by people who hadn’t learned how to love themselves either.”
Healing has been layered and ongoing. Therapy helped me name what I’d been through. Plant medicine opened me to new perspectives. Kangen water and whole, living foods helped restore my body so I could feel safe in it again. And daily practices of self-love — listening to my needs, honoring my wants, seeking joy, and knowing I deserve it — became my way of rewriting that old script.
This wound has also shaped how I hold space for clients. Because I know what it feels like to believe you’re not enough, I create environments where people don’t have to prove their worth. They don’t have to chase perfection or perform to be accepted. Instead, I guide them toward choosing themselves, again and again, in mind, body, and spirit. For me, Beyond the Gym isn’t just a brand — it’s a healing space. It’s about reminding people that they already belong, that they can feel safe in their own skin, and that they are worthy of the life they’re being called to live.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
think the biggest difference between fads and real foundational shifts is whether the change is built on fear or on love. Fads usually play on fear — fear of being too big, not fit enough, not “good” enough. They offer quick results but don’t address the deeper reasons why we struggle in the first place. That’s why people so often end up back where they started, sometimes feeling even worse about themselves.
Foundational shifts, on the other hand, are about building a relationship with yourself that’s rooted in love and presence. They’re slower, yes, but they last because they change the way you see yourself. When I work with clients, we don’t focus on chasing numbers or punishing ourselves into shape. We focus on starting where you are, adding small, consistent practices, and integrating mind, body, and spirit so the changes come from the inside out.
I’ve lived this myself. I spent years trying diets, programs, and quick fixes — all while carrying old wounds and the belief that I wasn’t enough. None of it stuck because it wasn’t addressing the root. My healing came from doing the deeper work: therapy, nourishing my body with food from the earth and Kangen water, learning to feel safe in my own skin, and practicing self-love every day. That’s what I now bring to my clients.
So the way I differentiate is simple: if it’s about chasing a result without healing the relationship you have with yourself, it’s a fad. If it’s about learning to love yourself enough to make choices that support your whole being — mind, body, and spirit — then it’s a foundational shift. And in my work, I’m not interested in fads. I’m here to walk with people through the shifts that last a lifetime.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
What I understand — that I think a lot of people don’t — is how powerful self-love really is to the wellness journey. So many people start with weight loss goals, or wanting to build muscle, or trying to change their body from the outside in. But the truth is, if you don’t love yourself, none of it sticks. You can reach the goal and still feel empty. You can get stronger but still feel like you’re not enough.
For me, the lifetime changes I’ve experienced — and that I’ve seen in my clients — always begin with self-love. When you start to treat yourself with compassion, you move differently. You choose foods that make you feel alive instead of guilty. You rest when your body needs it instead of pushing through punishment. You show up for yourself not because you’re chasing a number or an image, but because you actually believe you’re worth caring for.
That’s the foundation I build everything on in Beyond the Gym Wellness Co. My clients come in expecting a workout plan, and they leave with a completely new way of relating to themselves. And once that self-love is present, the external results follow — but they’re not the point. The point is that you’ve learned to live in a body you respect, to care for a mind you value, and to nurture a spirit you trust. That’s the real transformation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.btgwellco.com/about
- Instagram: @btgwellc0
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/btgwellco/
