Danai Gurira burst onto many people's radar as Okoye, the leader of the Dora Milaje, the undeniably powerful army of superwomen heralded in the record-breaking box office smash Black Panther. What many don't know is that Gurira, 40, has been putting in the work for quite some time.
Whether it's as a nonprofit organizer and playwright (the nonprofit, Almasi Arts, supports and facilitates the dramatic arts in Zimbabwe, and she's currently adapting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's award-winning novel Americanah into a TV miniseries), or starring in The Walking Dead, her strength has also come from rigorous workouts, a commitment to her spirituality, and a continued connection to her passions and goals.
Gurira recently sat down with Women's Health Magazine to talk about her fitness journey, but the gems she dropped are mantras that we can all incorporate into our own fitness AND professional journeys.
Take one look at Gurira and it is clear that she is well-trained and finely tuned. World-class athletes like Serena Williams and Simone Biles have been, on one hand, praised for their domination of their particular sports, while on the other hand, lambasted for their muscular physical appearance.
This double-edged sword is also felt by we regular women who may be afraid to go to the extreme when it comes to our own physical training. To that, Gurira says:
"As women, we're not always encouraged to find the fullest extent of our physical power...There's something so exciting about tapping into that part of ourselves."
Under the wing of trainer AJ Fisher, Gurira has crafted her enviable physique using a method Fisher dubs as "Corectology." The method involves high-intensity intervals, Pilates-inspired moves, and a lot of circuit training. Described as a way to "even out muscle imbalances while improving strength, mobility, and cardiovascular function," Gurira has been successfully practicing this method at least four times a day for the last three years.
For those who aren't quite ready to jump into such a high-demand workout regimen, Gurira explains:
"There's no need to break records tomorrow. It's just about slowly finding what feels good and what feels rewarding."
She also advises that women should try different activities in order to find not only what works for them but what they enjoy—"it might be lifting weights, it might be boxing, it might be something a little less [intense]."
In addition to revealing her workout secrets, Gurira was also incredibly candid about her upbringing and what drives her passion. "I was in a home where I was allowed to freely find myself," she says, which undoubtedly set the tone for the not-so-traditional career path she has chosen.
She wants others to know they can also make similar choices, too. Her work with Almasi Arts is guided by her commitment to enhancing the lives of women and girls. Part of her self-described journey includes fighting gender inequality. Through her nonprofit work, she is "making sure unheard voices are heard and celebrated." She tells Women's Health Magazine:
"The struggles of women and girls is something that I'm very passionate about. I have to do what I can in the world. We all have to do what we can."
The global success of Black Panther has given Gurira and other creatives of color another example of why our stories are just as important as the rest. She admits, "It kind of affirms that little African girl's instinct that these stories would resonate if they were told with passion, integrity, and excellence."
In a world of instant gratification—one where success is attributed to the glamorized grind—we don't often see how hard hard work really is. Particularly, we rarely get to see the pitfalls and difficulties that are inherently tied to most people's perception of success. To that, Gurira drops some major Dora Milaje advice:
"There's no app for skipping hard work; you have to seek your purpose and pursue it."
There are, indeed, no shortcuts to success. Gurira reminds us to always keep our why at the forefront our minds by "remembering the goals," which will inevitably provide the fuel to power us through the difficult times.
To read more about Danai's workout routine, diet, and additional methods of practicing self-care, click here. Read the feature story in Women's Health Magazine when it hits newsstands July 26.
Featured image by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for CNN
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From the day they met, food has always played a role in their relationship, and working together in the food industry is what we call a full circle moment. Learn more about Bryant and Daniella’s story of finding love with one another.
How they met.
Bryant: We met at a mutual clients’ house. She was doing the lady hair, and I was cooking for the lady. The client sent her downstairs to record me while I was cooking to, I guess, see what I was cooking, and I caught her recording, but we didn't talk. I caught her recording, we laughed it off, and she went about her day.
So I guess that was the first thing that made us interact with each other. A few months down the line, I think she posted something [on social media]. I hopped in her DM and responded to it, and then we decided to just meet up and hang out. I looked at her as an entrepreneur. I'm an entrepreneur. She don’t need nothing. I don’t need nothing. It's good to hang with people who don't need nothing from you.
When we linked up, our chemistry was just so soft and just so nice. She is a great person, but after meeting up with her [for the] first time, she went back to Miami. She came back [to Atlanta], and we just kicked it off that next weekend, and ever since then, we've been locked in.
Daniella: That same client had flew me back in so I knew I had to come up here for work. But I told him that we'll meet up and [go] on a date and see each other again. When that happened, everything else was history. It just happened organically. It wasn’t forced or anything.
Bryant and Daniella Williams
Courtesy
First impressions.
Bryant: I knew for a fact for her to come downstairs and try to record me, I knew that she was brave, and that said a lot about her, because I barely even talk when I'm cooking for my clients. So you have to talk to somebody for them to feel comfortable to play with you, or do certain things. I feel like the client sent her downstairs because she knew that she's an outspoken, bubbly type of person who don't mind laughing it off if she gets caught doing it.
When she came back to Atlanta, she booked me to cook for her family. So while I was cooking for her in the kitchen, the whole time she was in there talking to me. It was like a date in the kitchen, and I cooked her food. Once the food was laid out, I just left. We had a great conversation when I was cooking for her, and also when she came downstairs and tried to record me.
Daniella: I was impressed how he was multitasking because I was asking him deep, interesting questions, and he was cooking the food, and he was still answering my questions. But I was in a relationship at that time, so I wasn't really in tune. It was no emotions. But when I came back and flew in to work, we met with each other.
He came and picked me up from the hotel and we drove around Atlanta, sightseeing. We went to the African club. So when he came downstairs, I was like okay, you not gonna hug me, you not gonna say nothing? He was shocked and we stayed together for like eight or nine hours, and he took me back to the hotel. I think he picked me up around nine at night. He took me back to the hotel around seven in the morning. Then he walked me to my hotel door. He gave me a hug and he gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you.' And I was like, what?
We stayed together for like eight or nine hours, and he took me back to the hotel. I think he picked me up around nine at night. He took me back to the hotel around seven in the morning. Then he walked me to my hotel door. He gave me a hug and he gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you.' And I was like, what?
The one.
Daniella: When we first linked up, he took me around Atlanta. He was soft and gentle. He was a gentleman. He opened the door for me and I never had nobody open the door. He opened the door every single time I was going in and getting out the car, and when we went to that restaurant. I was like, [there’s] something about him, and he was just nice, calm and patient. So I knew he was a little different from what I'm used to.
Bryant: [I knew she was the one by] how she cared so much. She didn't really know me like that. She knew of me, but she cared so much about me. When we first met, she would lay on me and just relax. For someone who just wants to relax on you, that says a lot about them towards you. It wasn't like I had to prove myself and she didn’t have to prove herself with me either. It wasn't nothing like that. We were willing to take whatever came with it. But it just was really a break. It was like the best me meeting a woman because I didn't try.
Any other woman, I might be trying to dress up, take her to this place, I did not try at all. I picked her up and I actually thought that she wasn't gonna go on the date with me because of her status and my status. I'm such a laid back homey dude and she's from Miami. I thought she would be on the City Girls, you gotta do this, do that. But she wasn't. She was the total opposite. She was a homebody, chill, like me.
Bryant and Daniella Williams
Courtesy
Marriage advice for couples.
Bryant: Work together. Communication, put your mind together.
Daniella: And keep your family out your business.
Bryant: Keep it private please. Y'all work it out first. When y'all make sure it's solidified, then you tell them, or let them find out on their own. Privacy is the most valuable thing.
Daniella: And date each other because people get married and they stop doing the things that they did to get you, or stop doing the things that they did while they were in a relationship with you, before y'all got married. No, do the same thing. For me, I get bored easy, and I think he knows that. So just keep it spicy. Keep it interesting.
Bryant: We like spontaneous stuff like last-minute trips, trying different foods, going out the country just off a spur of a moment. You gotta make it fun. Don't just make it all business. And I think one person out of the relationship needs to take the initiative to make sure their partner is relaxing and at peace. A lot of people carry functional depression to where they’re functional, like we're doing this right now, but they can be going through something.
I don't think it's male or female. I think whichever one, the other partner should notice it and work with their partner to get through whatever they get through, like, for postpartum depression and stuff. That's something that most men don't even really know exist, but that's something when she had our daughter, I had an anti-postpartum depression plan put in place for her. She didn't know about it, but I knew I was gonna be extra sweet to her.
She won't have to think about doing nothing with the little baby. My little girl was watching the football game with me, when she was a few weeks old, because I was giving her that peace, so she can just relax, because her body has been through so much. So you got to be considerate of your mate's mental state and their mental well-being, because when it's gone, it's gone and it takes a lot to get it back, so I think that's important.
When she had our daughter, I had an anti-postpartum depression plan put in place for her. She didn't know about it, but I knew I was gonna be extra sweet to her. She won't have to think about doing nothing with the little baby. My little girl was watching the football game with me, when she was a few weeks old, because I was giving her that peace, so she can just relax, because her body has been through so much.
If you see something not right with your spouse, help them get help. It's okay for them to talk to a therapist by themselves, or it's okay for them to talk to somebody, but don't just sit there and let them go into this decline and self-destruction. I think that's the most important, because sometimes she be overwhelmed, and I have to be that person to hold her up. And then sometimes I'm overwhelmed. To her, baby, I don't want to do this no more. She's like, you gonna do this. We gonna do this. And she reminds me who I am. I remind her who she is, and we come back feeling more motivated.
Daniella: I think business owners should date business owners because they understand your hustle, your hunger. They understand when you can have a day where you make $0 and you have a day when you make $1,000. But I feel like if you dating someone who is in corporate America, and you a business owner, there's going to be a lot of friction, a lot of tension, and I just feel like I want to date someone that has the same drive as me.
Because I don't want to feel like I'm trying to build a bear, build a man, and I have to pull you and drag you, or just being with somebody who got they self together. For instance, my last relationship. I won't say I was the breadwinner, but I was kind of established, and I felt like I was sleeping with the enemy. I was growing fast and I wasn't stagnant. I was trying to get to the next level. He started to be jealous of me and I feel like a lot of women deal with men trying to be jealous of them. Men also have ego issues where they don't really want their woman making a certain amount of money or making more money than them.
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