Darrick Ward

On the Move

Darrick

Ward

While visiting my home country a few months ago, I had the opportunity to talk to New York-born personal fitness trainer Darrick Ward, about his move to Sweden, what Interview & Photography by Amina Touray brought him there, and what the process was like to move to a new country and establish a business. Of course, he also gave us some tips on how to live a healthier lifestyle.

Amina Touray: Where are you from, how long have you been in Sweden, and what brought you here?

Darrick Ward: I’m from Brooklyn, New York. I was born and raised there. I attended around six different high schools. My mom was a traveling nurse, so I moved around a lot.

AT: So you’ve been all over, and now you’re in Sweden!

DW: Yes, I’m here in Sweden because I met my lady Jacqueline about five years ago in New York. It was hard for her to move to New York. I did most of the traveling, so I spent a lot of time here in Sweden.

AT: How long was the process to get your papers and everything together to move here?

DW: I think it took ten months. Faster than expected. During my interview I was informed it would take up to 18 months.

AT: How do you like it here so far?

DW: I struggled a little bit to be honest, I felt alone. Never been away from all of my family. Swedish culture isn’t really inclusive. The Beginning was definitely tough for me. Until I surround myself with some good people.

AT: Jacqueline was the only one that you knew here, right?

DW: Technically, yes, but remember I also used to come to Sweden a lot. We’ve been together for five years. A year into the relationship Jacqueline’s mom Sussie was diagnosed with a terminal illness. I decided to do all the traveling to spend time with her and her mom while Sussie was

here with us. During my trips I would spread the word that I might be moving here, just so I could see if I could find work. We received word that I was given permission to move to Sweden. A little over a month later Sussie passed away during my long weekend trip in October. So In a way yes I knew of people but I didn’t have a business and I definitely didn’t have friends. For me, if you are in my circle - you know, we take care of each other, we see each other, and we help build each other up.

AT: How are things now, because you’ve been here for a little over a year and you’ve established a career as a personal trainer?

DW: Right now, I’m in a really good space. It took a lot of time, and I’ve kind of built relationships, really good and important people. If I would have stayed in New York I wouldn’t have been in as good of a position as I am now. So I’m really glad I did the move because it forced me to stay out of that safe zone. If I’m going to be away from my family, it has to be worth something. So I need to try my best. I need to be more solution based instead of sit and complain.

AT: So you’ve built your own brand here, and you have a pretty good following too. How were you able to build a career and a brand in a new country. What was the process like?

DW: My following is from New York, I haven’t really been able to build in Sweden yet. My process is really just being me, getting to know people rather than trying to sell them something. I mean I’ve been working really hard.

AT: How does a normal week look like for you? How many clients do you usually take on?

DW: My normal goal is to have five clients a day. If I have three on a Monday, I fill the other on a weekend.

AT: Do you train them at the gym, outdoors, or where do you guys train together?

DW: Mostly I train at the gym, but with Covid, as a trainer, you have to adapt. Online Training is something I planned on doing in the future, for people in The States that I can’t be present for. Now I do it for people in SweAT: What’s unique about your way of training?

DW: I would say, my niche is functional training, and, of course, building strength and conditioning. But I really want to do personal training that people can utilise on a day to day basis. It’s like knowing how you use your body without injuring yourself, and if you injure yourself, how to get out of that pain, how can you fix that. I’ve been using rehab like movements and bodyweight workouts.

AT: And your clientele, is it both men and women?

DW: Mainly women, like group training, and most of my PT’s are women. But what I’ve been noticing is that most men won’t really do PT, unless you look like what they want to look like. The women don’t care what you look like, they just care about you knowing what you’re doing. So it’s two totally different dynamics between men and women. Women are a lot stronger mentally than men are. So I actually really love working with women. They always seem to amaze me!

AT: We’re living in a really strange time. There are a lot of things that we are used to that have changed. There have been, and are lockdowns around the world, people isolate themselves a lot more now. It’s easier for people to eat a lot more when they’re home. So, do you have any tips, or some simple steps to get back into shape and to become healthier?

DW: I think, first of all, most people need to really understand - don’t think Diet! Diet has this negative feel to it. You need to really think about it like a lifestyle. So what I would say is, be mindful of your day. You don’t eat to get full, you eat to nurture your body. Think about it like that. So I’m nurturing my body to fuel my daily task. If I’m going to have a really heavy day, running around, doing a lot of tasks. I’m going to eat more than I did yesterday because I was sitting at home. For me, like right now, I’m trying to gain weight. So if I have a heavy day, I need to eat even more now because I’m going to be doing a lot. So I would say to think more like a lifestyle situation. I always say stay away from dairy products. I’ve read a few studies, and for African Americans, we do not process pork as well as other cultures. So I stay away from pork, and also pork is a really nasty animal to eat.

“If I would have stayed in New York I wouldn’t have been in as good of a position as I am now”

Look at what the pig eats.

AT: Interesting about African Americans processing it differently, I’ll have to look that up. It’s been great talking to you. Lastly Darrick, Is there any motto that you live by?

DW: My motto is to treat others, the way you want to be treated. Try not to be so discouraged by people who don’t see life the way you see life. I always think people should be kind to everybody. Not everyone is going to think like that. Especially moving here to Sweden, no one really thinks about the person next to them, they only think about themselves. I was thinking why is everyone so rude, but it’s not rude to them because this is their lifestyle. So I had to understand that a little bit more. I mean, I’m not going to say it’s okay, but now I understand it. Lastly, hard work and dedication to everything you touch!