From Rock Bottom to Radiance: The Nina Ibarra Story 💪🔥

Trigger Warning: This story contains themes of struggle, self-doubt, and triumph. But mostly triumph. 😉

I wasn’t always the confident, strong, and radiant Human-Computer Interaction Designer and fitness guru you see today. No. Five years ago, I was a shadow of myself—broken, lost, and drowning in self-loathing.

At 22, I hit rock bottom. Fresh out of college, I landed my dream job in tech, only to realize I was the only woman on a team of 30. The sexism was subtle but suffocating. My ideas were ignored, my presence tolerated, my worth questioned. I started believing them. I stopped speaking up. I stopped working out. I stopped living. My body became weak, my mind weaker. I gained 40lbs, cried into my keyboard daily, and fantasized about quitting… or worse. 💔

Then came the moment. One rainy night, I collapsed in my tiny apartment, sobbing over a microwave dinner, and realized: I was letting them win. The next morning, I dragged myself to a dingy gym, lifted a pathetic 5lb dumbbell, and vowed to rebuild myself—inside and out.

It wasn’t easy. I faced setbacks (hello, torn ACL 🏥), sleepless nights debugging UX disasters 💻, and the occasional "You’re too pretty to be a nerd" comment (eye roll 🙄). But I persisted. I transformed my pain into power. Today, I design interfaces that empower millions and deadlift twice my body weight. Take that, impostor syndrome. 💥

Why share this? Because someone out there is where I was. And if my journey—from a trembling intern to a thriving HCI designer and fitness warrior—can light even one spark in you? Mission accomplished. 🔥

Join me. Let’s build strength—in code, in muscles, in life. #NinaUnfiltered