Life and Work with Chelsea Varilla

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Varilla.

Chelsea, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up, I was always an athlete. I started with soccer when I was really young and when I got into grade school I joined volleyball and basketball. By the time I was in high school, I was playing volleyball and basketball during the school seasons and club volleyball during the rest of the year. I also joined track a few years to keep my endurance up during the downtime.

When I went to college, things kind of fizzled out. I’d play sports recreationally when I had time, but I was focused on other experiences that college had to offer and fitness took a backseat. After college, I went even more stagnant. With a full-time job and other responsibilities now on my plate, I let sports and really any activity fall off my radar. Fast forward a couple of years and my parents decided to focus on their fitness together and join a gym. Someone at their gym recommended they try out the local Spartan Race. It was a Spartan Sprint – 3+ miles, 20+ obstacles, no big deal. At the time I wasn’t interested in joining them at all, fitness was still on the back burner in my life and I’d lost a lot of confidence in that realm. That wasn’t going to stop me from supporting them though, so early on a Saturday morning, I headed out to watch them complete the race.

Watching them race and taking in the atmosphere had me intrigued, so I decided to try out the same race the following year when it came around again. Fast forward to February of 2015 and I toed the starting line at my first Spartan Race. Even though I wanted to try it out, I hadn’t put much effort into preparing for it and was relying on my natural abilities to get me through it. The race was hot, muddy, and harder than anticipated, but loads of fun. As I ran across that finish line, I knew I was hooked. I thought okay, let’s try out the Spartan Super (8+ miles, 25+ obstacles) and Beast (12+ miles, 30+ obstacles) this year to complete what the organization calls a Trifecta – one of each type of race completed in a calendar year. By the end of 2015, I accomplished that goal and was more hooked than ever.

I started putting a bigger focus on my fitness. Noting which obstacles or terrain types gave me trouble and hitting the gym specifically to train for those. Branching out into other types of workouts to make sure my entire body was getting stronger. In 2016, I earned my Triple Trifecta – 3 of each type of Spartan race, 9 races total for the year. But still I wanted more, so in 2017, I went for my 5x Trifecta – 5 of each type of Spartan race, 15 races total for the year. It became a sort of obsession of mine to continuously improve and also blow the previous year’s goals out of the water.

So, in 2018, I went for my first Endurance Trifecta. This is different than the normal Trifecta and includes three Endurance races – the Hurricane Heat 12 Hour (military-inspired, 12+ hour overnight event), Hurricane Heat (4+ hour team driven event) and Ultra Beast (30+ miles, 60+ obstacles). Each of these races presented a new obstacle in itself for me and I learned so much about the importance of mental toughness. All three of them were incredibly tough and challenged me in ways I never anticipated. But after successfully completing all three on my first attempt, I felt a sense of pride that nobody was ever going to take away from me.

Along the way, I’ve met countless incredible people. From first-time racers to seasoned veterans and even the pro team, the community that Spartan racing has given me is irreplaceable. It’s a special feeling to travel around the country racing and likely run into a familiar face at every venue. Heading into 2019, I have some new goals up my sleeve that you’ll have to wait and see!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been all fun and games. Fitness is hard. Finding motivation to get into a fitness routine, exploring new workouts, making time to work out every day – these are all things I still struggle with. Even after running 38 races, I can still step up to an obstacle I’ve nailed countless times and slip off midway. I can train for weeks for a big race and still feel gassed during the first few miles because it just isn’t my day. Like any sport, obstacle course racing presents many opportunities to fail. I think the most important thing to remember is that every failure brings along a valuable lesson. Instead of dwelling on failures, think about what you took away from that experience and how you’ll use that in your next endeavor.

For the first two years, I struggled with confidence. Every time I felt like I was getting stronger, I’d see another racer who was faster, stronger, more agile. I let those things get to my head for a while before I realized I needed to embrace others in the sport, and let those that were stronger than me be my motivation. As soon as I started doing that, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, and I was able to learn from others and become more confident in my own abilities.

My main piece of advice to anyone starting a similar journey would be to just go for it. Go all in, push aside any fears you have. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Please tell us about your work.

Something I carry with me both in my racing endeavors and professional career is the drive to make things better. With racing, I am always trying to make myself better than I was the day before or the race before. Whether that’s challenging myself with a new type of race or just becoming smoother on an obstacle or stronger overall, I always want to leave feeling like I’ve made a step forward. Similarly, in my professional career, I want to make an impact on the clients and brands we work with, leaving them better off due to the work we’ve done. I know that seems like an intuitive drive, but I think it’s the core of what motivates me to do my best always.

Outside of all that, I’m working towards getting certified as a personal trainer. As I’ve gotten more invested into my own fitness and racing, it’s become so rewarding to help other people out who want to jumpstart their personal fitness goals. I’d love to work towards making more time outside of work to focus on helping others in that realm.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
Be yourself. That sounds obvious, but so many times in networking situations, people go into them with a facade of what they think they should act like. I’ve made the most meaningful connections with people by just being my true, weird self. Be open to sharing your background, interests and unique things about yourself. You never know what random factoid will spark a bond between you and somebody else.

I’m a naturally shy person at first, but I would encourage others to push past that and just go for it. If you see someone on social media share an interesting article, comment with your thoughts, message them directly, don’t be afraid to start the conversation. I’ve created so many friendships and mentors from just asking questions or advice from complete strangers who I see doing something that I’m also interested in.

Don’t limit yourself to things that only fit your interests. Get out of your comfort zone and join a local group, attend a seminar on a topic you’re not well-versed in, get to know people who are experts in things you may not know anything about. You’d be surprised how much you can learn and how many doors you can open by meeting people at these types of functions.

Contact Info:

• Email: chelsea.varilla@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelyeah_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chelsea.varilla
• Other: https://www.spartan.com/en

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