With an approach centered around empowerment and self acceptance, Barbara Trujillo-Gomez is one of the country’s most well-loved fitness and wellness experts. Her message is simple: healthy is the ultimate standard of beauty. After spending many years herself chasing the ultra-thin, no-curves body so often seen in magazines and television, she realized that she failed to appreciate her numerous fitness achievements. Her own perspective had been skewed by a popular saying from her Cuban-American culture that uses the name Barbara and calls attention to Latinas’ most noticeable curves – the ones “from behind.”

As she came to this realization it occurred to her that other women, Latinas and non-Latinas alike all had their own perception challenges to deal with when it came to body image. It also occurred to her that she had the power to change things for the better.

In a matter of a few years, Barbara abandoned her high-powered corporate sales and marketing career with Jaguar Land Rover North America, and became a fitness, yoga, nutrition and cardiovascular guru; the founder of her own fitness brand – B&B Fit; the author of the exceedingly popular “…Barbara por Atras” – A Latin Woman’s Guide to Fitness; and a leading expert on multicultural health and wellness issues. Today, her insight is sought by individual women ready to change their lives for the better; businesses and media outlets that want to include more responsible messaging to multicultural audiences; and community groups promoting an overall message of healthy beauty.