Initially drawn to bodybuilding after seeing dedicated bodybuilders at the gym, Bonnie Barber, VP of sales at Ketone Labs, developed a passion for understanding how to transform the body through diet and training. Over the years, Barber said she has witnessed the evolution of women in the gym. She credits an increase in females at the gym to the growing interest in weight lifting, as women recognize the inner and outer benefits of fitness.
Barber also discusses her background in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), the study of the subconscious, which has helped her understand the power of communication and how it can impact mindset and motivation. She emphasized how energy, tone and language can impact the way people feel and respond and how understanding NLP can help navigate these dynamics.
“We make people feel a certain way by how we talk to them, our tone, our nonverbal cues and communication— only 5% of it verbal," she said.
“For the most part, everything else is nonverbal, and so I started to take notice of how people would make me feel, it really made me interested. Like why when somebody talks to me this way, do I feel motivated or less motivated, especially myself?”
Barber also shared tips from her book Mindful Momentum: Peak Performance for Leaders on prioritizing self-care, time management and clear communication of boundaries.
“I noticed when I came into corporate, after being an entrepreneur, there was no boundaries around time,” she said. “And it really got me thinking, how can I bring my experiences of being an entrepreneur and apply them to shift some of these corporate mindsets that are so set in their way?
“And so being able to restructure those boundaries and just knowing what’s important to you, I think not being afraid that people are offended. I think people take things too personally and that’s a problem because it’s really not about them–it’s about you and what makes you feel good.”
