Nikki Sharp is one motivated lady, with a career as an international model under her belt and a successful business Stay Sharp & Be Strong with its popular 5 day detox program all to her name. You can see why The Nutritonista wanted to find out more about this lovely lady, Nikki has kindly spared her time to talk to us about her business, exercise regime, cooking tips and advice for you budding entrepreneurs out there.

I hope you enjoy what she has to say :)

1. You enjoyed a career as a international model…what was the highlight of your career?

Having billboards all over Shanghai for a huge campaign (C&A) was absolutely incredible. Also having Giorgio Armani hand pick me & dress me for his runway show before the oscars for all the celebrities the night before the oscars a few years ago was also pretty amazing.

2. How did you go from modelling to a career in health and nutrition…did the two overlap?

For me, nutrition really became something I was interested in after losing interest in food because it either became a way to lose weight or comfort myself by eating too much sugar. I decided to get healthy and that’s when nutrition really started to play a role. The two never really overlapped, instead the more I learned about nutrition & health, the less I cared to be super skinny and model. Once I realized that I was passionate about the health industry, the modeling industry no longer interested me.

3. How did your company staysharpbestrong come about?

I started my Instagram account 1.5 years ago as a way to motivate myself and started receiving a lot of followers. I realized that people wanted my advice and were willing to tell me their inner most secrets in order to hear my thoughts and to help them overcome issues. It made me want to do it as a living and about 5 months after starting my Instagram account I formed my company legally and just began by posting recipes, workout videos and other things that interested me and that I thought could help others.

4. Tell us a bit more about The 5 day detox.

The 5 Day Detox was born December 2012 as I wanted to cleanse my own body from all the holiday foods and I realized there was nothing on the market that allowed me to actually eat food (non juice cleanses), that incorporated a ton of vegetables, still let you eat fruits, was structured and tasted really nice. I decided to make my own cleanse. I started marketing it on Instagram not as a way to make money but to just get other people healthy the same way I was doing it! I charge $8 for it and it gets delivered to your phone or computer as a PDF that is yours to keep.

5. What’s your favourite meal? Do you have any cooking tips?

Biggest cooking tip is on a Sunday night just make a big batch of brown rice, quinoa, beans, or lentils to keep for the rest of the week, along with making a bunch of hard boiled eggs, some cooked chicken and steamed veggies. If you set one hour aside to do this and keep it in your fridge you will find yourself eating all that and creating quick and easy meals rather than snacking on junk. My favorite meal either has to be a big salad topped with heart of palm, kale, quinoa, avocado, almonds, sauerkraut, carrots, and beetroot. oh and steamed broccoli. For me having lots of things piled on a salad is the most delicious thing ever and I can pretty much eat it for all meals!

6. What is your favourite ever restaurant?

Pure Food and Wine in NYC. It’s the first restaurant I went to that was all about health and it was so delicious that I realized eating well didn’t mean bland. Still to this day it’s my favorite although I just moved to LA and there are tons here that I’m sure I will love.

7 . What’s your exercise routine?

I try to exercise 5 days a week, 2 of those days doing yoga. I have gone from working out 7 days a week to only being able to run two days a week, so it’s all a mix and I am always finding a balance. However, when Im doing yoga, lifting weights, doing short runs in the morning and HIIT cardio I am so content and happy with myself and my body. It’s really about finding what you love to do and what makes you happy.

8. Do you go to any exercise classes and if so are there any which you would recommend?

I’m actually not a class girl but I highly recommend people using them if they like them. I am all about cycling classes and yoga, purely because I can’t motivate myself to work as hard as a teacher will in the classes and for yoga I love being in a room full of positive energy.

9. What have you loved most about being based in London?

Honestly, the travel to Europe. I love being able to get on a plane and go to anywhere in such a short time. It’s pretty magical. I also ADORE london during the summer…it’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve lived in.

10. You are about to move to LA (London will miss you) tell us about your move and what LA has in store for you.

The move to LA just happened and I’m actually sitting in an apartment overlooking the beach as I write this. For me the move was about relocating to a place that 1. allows me to see the sunset everyday on the beach 2. is a place that is more focused on health and 3. a place to grow my brand/company. The people in LA are all about trying out new fitness and healthy eating regimes, whereas London is still growing with this. With the US, I’m already starting to do interviews for various companies, websites, and talk shows and have some really exciting things coming up.

11. Is there anyone who inspires you?

I love NutritionStripped.com by McKel, she has such amazing photography and recipes and always makes me want to improve my skills. I don’t really have time to follow that many people anymore but I just love anyone who is in this lifestyle and promotes the same things that I do without being too strict. I love when fellow foodies and health/fitness gurus still admit to ‘cheating’ and having wine because that’s what I believe in.

12. Do you have any advice for young career women who want to lead a healthy lifestyle?

Don’t try to change everything all at once. Start off with one or two changes, see how they go then add a few more changes. Food prepping is KEY and always remember WHY you are making changes. It’s so easy to say yes to donuts in the office or a piece of cake, but just remember your goals and how good you feel when you are able to say no to things you know won’t benefit you. A healthy diet creates a healthy mind!

13. Do you have any advice for young business women like yourself on setting up their own business?

It’s not about creating an all new product rather sometimes it’s just about presenting things in a different light. For myself, by no means am I the first or only personal teaching about health or becoming a health guru, I just try to do it in a different way that’s easier for others to understand. Also, BE PASSIONATE. If you truly love what you do then it will never seem like work. I can go between working 20 hours a week, to 6 days, 13 hour days… but either way I never feel a time difference because it’s all fun. There will be stressful times no matter what you do, but if you love your work, are passionate and think you can make a change then go for it because the world needs happy people who love what they do.