Conversations with Klaudia Balogh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Klaudia Balogh

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story begins in Budapest, Hungary, a small country in central Europe. I had my eyes set on the US since I was in high school. While the road to where I am today in Peoria, AZ was by no means a straight shot, it was worth every twist and turn, bump and fall along the way. Long story short, I did two undergraduate programs in Florida with a student visa, and applied for a working visa twice, but my application wasn’t drawn either times through the lottery system. So, I made my way to London in the UK for graduate school. Then my luck took a wild turn: I won the green card lottery. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I got all the paperwork sorted by the time grad school wrapped up, so there I was moving my way back to the States, now as a permanent resident, (which is exactly what I wanted from the beginning).

I experienced firsthand how everything in life happens for a reason. Spending that one year in London was exactly what I needed to be able to accomplish everything I have done ever since. With bachelor’s degrees in journalism and public relations and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism in hand, plus relevant reporting and PR experience under my belt, I was excited to land back in Southwest Florida.

After working a year as a PR professional there, however, I started to feel stuck – thinking there must be a lot higher heights I could reach. So I packed up and moved to the land of dreams: Los Angeles. Living in a major US city that’s no short of action gave me the opportunity to become the Los Angeles news correspondent of a Hungarian major news network. As a reporter, I had a chance to cover a wide range of stories from devastating wildfires, mass shootings and protests to award ceremonies and political matters. It was a job that kept me on my toes and constantly pushed me out of my comfort zone – for the better.

All in the while I was working my way up the American corporate ladder as a marketing professional, making it all the way to Director of Marketing of a digital health company. Plus, I regularly contributed to various print and digital publications nationwide in the US, particularly about health, wellness, and longevity. This is where I realized that I’ve been able to build a career where my passion translated into my paycheck.

On my flight to LA, I was reading Simon Sinek’s book “Start with Why”, and it was that coast-to-coast flight where I wrote down my “Why”: to help people understand and optimize their healthspan one story at a time. This purpose has been my north star ever since.

Needless to say that epiphany had its roots in personal experience. Rewinding just for a second. After moving to the US, my health took a turn for the worse. I gained over 20 pounds in a matter of a year, my gut health went haywire and my hormones were completely out of whack. The most frustrating part was that every time I would visit my family in Europe, I would lose weight (even though I would eat more carbs and desserts) and my body felt healthier. While part of me wanted to blame the American food system, it was time I took agency and put everything I consumed under a microscope. Yes, I started to flip over every product before I bought them to check what’s in their ingredient labels. I still do!

Fast forward to today, I am the healthiest I’ve ever been and have figured out how to strive to live to my fullest potential without being overly strict and still enjoying occasional indulgences. It’s become a lifestyle where it’s not just what I eat that’s important, but also what I do, what I think, how I feel, how I sleep, how I manage stress, and the kinds of people I surround myself with.

It was that personal health journey that inspired me to my “Why” and gets me out of bed every morning. Turns out a lot more people are in similar shoes than one would think. With hardly 12% of Americans being metabolically healthy, it’s easy to tell that we’ve got plenty of health optimization left to do.

After 4 years and a pandemic spent in LA, I felt the need to move again. So, here I am in Peoria, Arizona where I write health and longevity stories as a journalist, PR professional, and copywriter, and I get to collaborate with so many brilliant minds and scientists right at the forefront of the longevity industry. As part of that collaboration, it’s truly fulfilling to share stories and help educate millions of people about ways to live a vibrant life for as long as possible. Not to mention, I keep on learning, growing, and introducing new longevity tools and habits into my life too.

Every unexpected twist and turn, disappointment, and unmet expectation that lead me to where I am today was absolutely necessary for me to be able to show up here, and I am deeply grateful for that.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wouldn’t call it “smooth” per se, but it was full of valuable lessons and growth opportunities that shaped me into who I am today. One of the biggest pivots in my journey was moving to London for graduate school. Never in a million years have I ever thought I’d live in the UK, yet it was one of the most exciting years of my life and kicked my journalism career into high gear. I interviewed Olympians, went on beautiful press trips, and even shot and produced a short documentary.
Then the next big speed bump came when my intuition nudged me to move to Los Angeles. It was now the third time I was starting life from scratch in a new place where I didn’t know anyone. While I was still doing my writing, I knew I wanted a full-time job. It took me nearly six months to find one. No matter how many resumes I sent out, I got rejected over and over again. So I started to focus on what I believed truly mattered: showing up at events, and coffee shops, and building a network. I still cherish that network and have made lifelong colleagues through those conferences and local meetups.
I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone more times than I could count and got to a point where I enjoy keeping one foot out there – I call it the growth zone.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a health and longevity journalist writing for a wide range of publications including Muscle & Fitness Magazine and Healthnews. Through those articles, I have a chance to connect with so many fantastic scientists and brands in the industry and share stories about health optimization and longevity strategies, supplements, and evidence-based approaches to developing personalized routines for living better and longer. Besides writing, I’m also an on-air talent and reporter for The Future of Health Media where I conduct educational and inspiring interviews with industry experts and share bite-sized, actionable information.

As a personal passion project, I create content on my social media channels too (bylinebyklaudia), where I share even more actionable yet digestible stories that my friends and followers can easily implement into their health and longevity journey. My specialties are in various health optimization and longevity modalities and habits, plus I always enjoy highlighting the importance of personalization, especially for women. For additional value, I’ve built partnerships and curated an evidence-based online store, called Biohacking Boutique, with some of the highest quality longevity tools and supplements to help people sleep better, recover faster, and perform at a high level.

What I’m most proud of is I believe what sets me apart from others, and it’s how far my resilience, curiosity, growth mindset, calm, and collective nature has and is still taking me. Having been on a magazine cover and on national television are accomplishments that I never thought I’d be “good enough” for, yet both have become a reality.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice would be: Get out of your comfort zone often. It’s a challenging spot to be in, but I achieved every major milestone because I stepped outside my comfort zone. Have the tough conversations, take the leap, and most of all, trust that it will all work out exactly as it’s supposed, as long as you do your best and show up consistently. Also, this might sound a little woo-woo, but I encourage people to have a vision board and a gratitude journal. They are more powerful than you’d think. And they’re an excellent compass for the future you want to have. There will be times when things become out of your control. What I wish I knew when I was starting out is that it’s those “out-of-control” times when it’s the hardest to surrender, trust the process, and still do your best with what is in your control. So many times I stressed on pushing my narrative, what I thought was the right path for me, yet only after I stopped, everything would work out, often much better. It might not make any sense in the movement, but in retrospect it always does.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.biohackingboutique.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bylinebyklaudia/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@klaudiabaloghjournalist
• Other: https://bylinebyklaudia.com/

Image Credits
Klaudia Balogh