Tapiwanashe Zimhamba is a 32-year-old Bodybuilder and Fitness Trainer born in Harare but grew up in Bulawayo. He is a Certified Accountant from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). His qualification from ACCA landed him a job with Edgars in Bulawayo for 4 years, but his passion for bodybuilding and fitness led him to quit his full-time job and pursue his new career in Sports Science. He has facilitated fun and fitness programmes for a lot of individuals and corporates including Yanaya, SkyzMetro, Cimas, Acess Forex, Shake n Toss, and international brands like Verimark and Generations the Legacy.
He is an avid content creator with a lot of views and followers on social media. “My creativity plays an important role in improving my skills, sharing my ideas, strategies and solutions of where I’ve faced obstacles and overcame. I’m driven by passion in what I do. My goal is not just to influence but to impact as many people as possible.”
TB: The Brandpreneur believes that everyone is a personal brand, with the potential to inspire and influence others. Tell us, what does your brand believe in, and what does it stand for?
FD. I define myself as a Fitprenuer, somebody who believes in bringing the best out of people in terms of helping them develop their physical, mental, and spiritual fitness. People call me The Fitness Doctor because I take them through a surgery; “physical, mental and spiritual surgery” that brings transformation into their lives. I believe that the highest point of our personal growth and success needs all aspects to be balanced, a holistic approach to the best version of yourself, and not just the physical body.
TB: What inspired your brand identity?
FD. To be honest, l believe one person can change the world through what we call the domino effect, where if l teach one person how to become the best version of themselves, they also teach other people how to become the best version of themselves. I’m always inspired by how powerful it is, to impact or empower just one person and cause a chain reaction that gives birth to a whole lot of self-aware and powerful individuals.
TB: Delivering a great experience is the essence of every brand. How has your brand continued to serve people (Matt 20 v28) and keep its brand promise (expectations) and commitments?
FD. My brand has managed to serve people in several ways. I’ve seen a great transformation in the lives of many people who follow my online and one-on-one fitness programmes. These programmes have brought a holistic approach to training the mind, body and spirit, and bring change to people’s lives. In my philanthropic way, I also run a charity programme called Feed For Free, where we feed the homeless during weekend days.
TB: You’ve managed to position your personal brand very well in your industry and social media. To what do you attribute the success of your brand positioning and awareness?
FD. Consistency and persistence l believe are some of the major principles that have helped me position my brand the way l have. People also love discipline, it’s amazing how people will go to a soccer match and watch soccer players exercising what they do best. Not only because they love the game, but because they are exercising a certain level of discipline to showcase results.
I think being intentional about staying disciplined has drawn many people to my social media platforms because l consistently do what l say. Sometimes teaching and motivating people through just word of mouth is not enough, they need to see as you do it and how you do it. And the reason why I try to show up every day is so that if another person sees me pushing and sweating every morning, they can also be motivated to get up and believe that it’s possible.
I give a lot of thanks to God, He has given me the strength, and discipline to maintain this brand and lifestyle, and l attribute a whole lot of my growth to Him.
TB: What kind of books, podcasts, or training have you invested in to help grow and maintain your personal brand?
FD. They say “Leaders are readers”, and l am a very well-read individual, any chance l get to grab a good read, l use it. My five best reads are; Think and Grow Rich By Napolean Hill, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success By Napolean Hill, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and The Richest Man in Babylon by Gorge S Clason. These are very good books that l have invested in and they have taught me a lot about leadership and how to be a great leader. I also listen to a lot of podcasts, that have extremely helped me grow and build my brand, especially “Diary of a CEO, Impact Theory and The School of Greatness” to mention a few.
TB: Most people nowadays measure the success of their personal brands by the number of followers, likes and impressions they have on social media. How else would you measure the success of your personal branding efforts?
FD. As much as people can talk about followers as a sign of growth and all, to be honest for me that is not it. What shows me that my brand is growing is the impact that it has on people. I have had some clients who struggled with certain addictions, and the moment they come back to me and say, l no longer smoke or drink because of what you did in my life, for me that’s more of a win than the number of followers or likes l have. I can have 40,000 or 100,000 followers but how many people am l impacting daily that’s success for me. So for me, it goes back to the number of people that come back with positive feedback on how their lives have been transformed, and they have been a lot hey!
TB: What advice would you give an aspiring or upcoming brand builder about social media and personal branding?
FD. I would say that instead of focusing on the product/ service that you want to give (or sell) focus on building a great personal brand. The moment you are able to build a great personal brand you will notice that it will be a lot easier to sell anything else. Invest more in yourself, your mental, spiritual and physical health and you will notice that everything almost becomes simple.
Don’t rush the rewards, money is just going to be a by-product of what you do. Do what you love and not what you are forced to do, and you will notice that you will never feel like you are working a day in your life. Chase your dreams and not what society is trying to impose on you. Be a person who will choose to walk a path of their own because sometimes Brandpreneurs are misunderstood a lot, but keep on pushing where you really feel your passion lies.
