Meet Gina D’Andrea-Penna | Health Coach & Neuroscientist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gina D’Andrea-Penna and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gina, how does your business help the community?
Our mission as Nexus Fitness is fairly ambitious: we want to empower individuals and drive a global shift toward living more meaningful, reflective, and happy lives. As a neuroscientist, I’ve dug into research underlying interactions among the mind, brain, and body. I came to realize that mental and physical health are intricately interconnected – such that a truly healthy mind can’t coexist with an unhealthy body.

Today, rates of chronic illness rise while mental health declines – and it’s no mere coincidence. Many chronic diseases affect both the body and mind, making it hard to live an enjoyable and fulfilling life. Fortunately, such ailments often derive from lifestyle choices, like poor diet, lack of exercise, inadequate sleep, and chronic stress – which means we can prevent them by making healthier choices.

…And that’s where we come in. Nexus Fitness aims to reverse this downward trend in mental and physical wellness by helping individuals implement healthful changes, cultivate a growth mindset, and develop a sense of purpose and life clarity. In particular, our coaching addresses exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress, and mindset through protocols customized to the individual.

While we hope such transformation will ripple up from the individual level, we’re also partnering with San Diego Social Leagues, a local non-profit organization, to offer group exercise classes and wellness programs that will ultimately target underprivileged communities (who are often at greatest risk for chronic disease). We’ll be launching our very first program at the end of April, which includes exercise classes emphasizing functional strength and mobility.

What should our readers know about your business?
Nexus Fitness takes an innovative, integrated, and evidence-based approach to fitness and health. Whereas most fitness coaching addresses solely physical health, we view health holistically as a concept encompassing both mental and physical wellness. This holistic perspective spawned from my own dive into health neuroscience. Our services not only include customized exercise programs and nutrition plans, but also feature sleep and stress management protocols and our one-of-a-kind mindset program. As such, we take both a bottom-up (from physical to mental) and top-down (from mental to physical) approach to wellness – which we’d argue is the only effective way to do so.

Building our business was far from easy – but the challenge is what makes it worthwhile. Prior to Nexus Fitness, I had little to no experience with entrepreneurship, a world that starkly contrasts academia. I could easily develop the ideas and vision inspiring Nexus Fitness, but learning the business smarts took time. Each day I continue to learn more about the business side (marketing, sales, systems, etc) – in part due to Gil’s extensive knowledge in the field. Fortunately, Gil and I complement each other’s weak points: I bring the scientific, academic, and conceptual perspective whereas he’s got the business, marketing, and systems dialed in.

Starting a business from scratch is particularly difficult in the fitness space, which is inundated with coaches and gyms. As a result, we’ve had refine our services and vision to set ourselves apart from competitors. Along the way, I’ve discovered that business – like neuroscience – involves a lot of experimentation, which allows us to learn and improve our services, systems, and strategies. And I’ve come to reframe our experimental “failures” more positively as learning opportunities that are necessary for ultimate success.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend visiting, I’d be sure to take them to a farmer’s market – specifically, the La Jolla Open Aire Market in downtown La Jolla, which is one of my favorite places to buy fresh produce and unique gifts. From there we’d probably walk to the Cove to enjoy the ocean and watch the seals (pretty much obligatory for any visitor!). I’d also take them to Torrey Pines to walk and enjoy the scenery, along with Balboa Park to check out some museums (my favorite is the Museum of Us – and be sure to take a California tower tour!). If we had extra time, we’d also stroll along Coronado and stop by Garage Buona Forchetta for some food (we know the owner from the gym, and the food is great!) We’d also have to grab sushi one day at Sushi Lounge Point Loma and get some ice cream at the Craft Creamery afterwards. Oooh, and of course we’d head to 24 Hour Fitness UTC so they can meet all my gym friends and get in a workout!!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people who’ve supported me throughout my life and business venture….But I’d love to dedicate this shoutout specifically to Gil Acevedo – my partner in business, in the gym, in life, and in love. Meeting Gil changed me (and my career trajectory) in more ways than I can count. When we first met, I’d thought I’d stay in academia after earning my neuroscience Ph.D. Though I clearly held a passion for fitness, I’d never considered starting my own business. Gil saw my passion and encouraged it, allowing me to dream and supporting me throughout my career transition. He reminded me that there’s never a dream too big to shoot for – and that, with enough dedication and hard work, anyone can succeed. Gil helped me reawaken my inner entrepreneur, who was willing to radically shift careers and follow my deepest ambitions. Without him by my side, Nexus Fitness wouldn’t exist, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

Website: www.nxsfit.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gdpenna/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gina.dandreapenna/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nexusfitness

Other: https://gdpenna.wixsite.com/alessoninresistance (personal blog)

Image Credits
Holly Dong & Gil Acevedo