Victoria Deborah is a Birmingham-born social media influencer. When she was 21, social media pressures became too much for her and she found herself consumed by depression and negative thoughts. Through seeking help and pushing herself, she reinvented herself into becoming a successful entrepreneur. At 24 years old, she is the franchise owner of Gym Guyz Kingston and is the fitness editor of Women of the City magazine. 

Victoria shares 3 things that helped her overcome depression.

1. Exercise and mentorship help immensely. 

VD: When you’re going through depression, anxiety, or any type of mental health issue, at the time you don’t see much but darkness. I remember being so lost that I couldn’t see further than what I was dealing with in that moment. Even the thought of tomorrow was a foreign thing.

One of the things that did help me was exercising as much as I could. For 20 minutes I would come out of my bed and do some home workouts in my room, and it literally helped me gain a sense of peace. 

I also got help from mentors and my cousins. One of my mentors helped me see things differently and think about what I wanted to do. He got me a job as an office manager in a property investing company, then he started to let me do a few jobs with him as a property investor. He allowed me to step out into a different sphere. Then I got a job in the city and I realised I could do this, and I could that, but I wouldn’t have been able to see this if I didn’t let my cousin show me.

I started mentoring young people while I was also being mentored. One Saturday morning we took our mentees to a franchise show to allow them to experience something different. We had a lot of fun and ended up seeing two companies that we really liked. One of them was Gym Guyz. So we went away and we agreed to purchase the Gym Guyz franchise a week before the UK went into national lockdown. We decided to go ahead regardless and so our business has only known Covid times. It was a blessing in disguise. We found something like a jackpot in the midst of chaos. While it was a big financial decision, it came out very good for us and it’s going really well.

2. There is power in community.

VD: The first thing about mental health and depression was that it isolated me and caused me to withdraw. I couldn’t hear or even see anyone even when I was in the midst of people because I felt so alone. When you’re depressed, being left with your mind is not the best thing.

So I pushed to be around people, good people. When I say ‘be around people’, people usually think ‘Oh, I need to be doing so much activity.’ But you don’t need to do an activity. If your family are downstairs watching TV, just see them and sit there with them. If people are having fun around you and you don’t feel like having fun, go sit there and be around them. Even if you’re not saying anything, when you’re around people you’re not left alone with your mind.

When I started Gym Guyz Kingston, I would sometimes think I wasn’t good enough or I couldn’t do this. But when you’re around a team that’s so big, and around people who love your business as much as you do, it helps. You’re surrounded by a brilliant team who remind you everyday that, you can.

Choose to spend time with good people. Take the time out and be around them. When you do and you’re not left with your mind all the time, you’ll find that their voices will become louder than your own voice. And as long as they’re saying the right things to you, they will help you. 

3. Change what you see and hear, especially on social media.

VD: When I was going through my darkest times, I was also an influencer where I was posting a lot and people were sending me things. I had the pressure of portraying an image on social media, including how the people that I followed looked like. Once I started coming out of my depression, I changed what I saw on social media. I started following people who were a bit more edifying, rather than the people who fed my insecurities. When I changed some of the things I was seeing and the things I was hearing, my mindset started changing.

If your social media is causing you stress, you don’t have to delete it. We all love a good social media and a good scroll.  But you can change what you see on it. Change who you follow, change what you see and hear. 

When my friend founded Women of the City magazine and asked me to be the fitness editor of Women of the City magazine, I remember being like, ‘I don’t write.’ And she was like, ‘No I want you to write. I think you’ll be really good. You’ve always given good advice and you’ll be really good to put on a platform where you can speak.’ So I said yes. I’m now always up for challenges and I’m known to always say yes to things. Women of the City Magazine is now on its seventh issue and it’s just going from strength to strength. I’m blessed to be part of it.

Connect with Victoria on Instagram @victoria_deborah 

To get your free body assessment from the Gym Guyz Kingston, click on: http://www.gymguyz.co.uk/franchises/kingston-upon-thames