Simi Williams, Ex-Banker: How Burnout at 26 Forced Me to ALL Start Over again

From Burnout To Beyond: The Untold Story Of Building Africa’s Leading Wellness Brand
Guest: Simi Williams, Founder of Beyond Fitness

At 26, Simi Williams was hospitalised from burnout while working in high finance in London.
She lost $1M in funding when investors saw she was pregnant — but that didn’t stop her from returning to Nigeria to build Beyond Fitness, now one of Africa’s most respected wellness brands.

In this powerful episode, she opens up about the cost of ambition, postnatal depression, gender bias in fundraising, and the daily fight to build a global business out of Lagos.

In this episode:
→ Burnout and the illusion of success in high finance
→ Motherhood, postnatal depression, and recovery
→ Losing $1M in funding because of pregnancy
→ How gender bias shapes fundraising for women
→ Building Beyond Fitness into a global brand
→ Balancing family, faith, and entrepreneurship
→ Why Lagos taught her control is an illusion
→ Redefining what success and purpose really mean

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This episode is sponsored by Inverroche Gin, South Africa’s premium craft gin that fuses heritage botanicals with innovation.

Discover more: https://www.inverroche 

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Hosted by

Eche — https://www.linkedin.com/in/eemole/   

Chika — https://www.linkedin.com/in/chikauwazie/   

Timestamps

0:00 - The Gym Incident That Started Everything

0:38 - Introduction: Simi Williams - From Banking to Beyond Fitness

1:51 - Trying to Be a Global Wellness Entrepreneur

2:34 - When Success Was Breaking Me: Hospital at 26

4:40 - Childhood Connection to Fitness

6:03 - Losing My Therapy: Three Times Movement Failed Me

8:25 - Double Entrepreneur Household: Managing Two Businesses

13:06 - The Birth of Beyond Fitness

15:28 - Fundraising While Pregnant: Losing Investors

19:06 - Being a Woman in Fundraising

21:02 - Reinventing Myself: From Finance to Fitness

22:56 - Moving Back to Nigeria: The Cultural Shock

25:04 - Did I Make a Mistake Coming Back?

27:12 - Bible App Moment & Beyond Fitness Experience

31:29 - Creating a Culture of Care

33:09 - What Banking Taught Me to Unlearn

35:03 - Every Role Except Security: Building From Scratch

37:20 - Why High-Profile People Drop Their Guard at Beyond

39:20 - The Tender Parts: Bamboo Season

42:11 - What I Want My Daughter to See

43:25 - Global Vision for Beyond Fitness

44:48 - Beyond on Tour: Wellness Retreats

48:46 - When Everything Goes Wrong: The Bus Story

51:13 - What I Want to Be Remembered For

51:30 - Rapid Fire Questions

52:46 - Motherhood: What It Taught Me

54:05 - Birth Center Decision

56:00 - Who Should Be Next on the Podcast