Meet Africa Rubio

Tell us, what was your move to the United States like? What were some culture shocks for you? 

I moved to Boston from Madrid, Spain, in December 2014. I originally moved here because my best friends lived close by, and I always felt more comfortable. I was a fearless 21-year-old, and I thought I had it all figured out back then. The plan was to start in a smaller city (Boston) for a year and then move to N.Y.C. once I was more settled. Little did I know that the next two years were going to be full of unexpected things that would dramatically change who I was and that I would still be in Boston years later. 

I experienced, and still do, a lot of culture shocks. One of the biggest culture shocks I experienced when I moved here was ‘college life.’ Now it is becoming less common, but in Spain, you live with your parents all the way through college, until you find a job or get married. Unless, of course, you are doing a semester abroad. At this point, I had never lived alone, hadn’t had to take care of bills, grocery shopping, clean, or holding myself accountable to go to class and study. I guess you could say that I was a little sheltered in that aspect. I could not believe that anyone that was under 25 had their own apartment. I also experienced shock with the food in the United States. The diet and times of meals here are drastically different from Spain. I was not used to having dinner at 6pm or so many fast-food options on every corner! 

How was B.W.M. (Boston Women’s Market) founded? 

At this point, I had been living in Boston for about a year and a half, and I felt desperately alone. I missed having a sense of community, and I was looking for a purpose. I always admired small business owners. It takes dedication and passion for starting your own business. The B.W.M. team wanted to create a selling opportunity for female-owned businesses in Boston. Our first Boston Women’s Market was supposed to be a one-time event at The Loring-Greenough House in Jamaica Plain. Still, after seeing how successful the event was, we decided to expand. Fast forward to now, we have hosted markets all over Boston and the outskirts. We still open and close seasons at the location of our first market every year in Jamaica Plain. 

The company is growing fast! Starting out with 5 businesses you helped promote 4 years ago, to now having a waiting list! What’s the secret to such rapid growth in such a short time? 

I think the key to our success is the close relationship we have with the vendors. We always go the extra mile to make sure their experience with us is great, whether online or in-person! We have made wonderful friends through B.W.M. as well. 

Another key to success has a good team! Cara Loffredo (B.W.M. Co-Founder) and I have a great connection and complement each other’s strong characteristics. We are not only co-founders of B.W.M., but we are also great friends! 

How has COVID-19 changed BMW’s platform? 

Before the pandemic, 2020 was going to be our busiest year so far! We had a market planned out for every week until December 2020. B.W.M. is now completely online. Opening a Boston Women’s Market Online Shop was a goal to complement the in-person markets, but the pandemic made us move faster towards that goal. During this time, we have provided B.W.M. vendors with resources to help their businesses thrive during the pandemic. We have hosted webinars that range from marketing, e-commerce to legal resources and social media management. 

From co-owning BMW to now also co-owning Namastay Well, tell us more about this new endeavor! 

Both businesses are passion projects! I’m a very passionate human, and I wanted to create something regarding health and wellness and support small business owners. I’ve always been interested in health and wellness, but I never thought it would turn into a career. As 

I explained before, one of the biggest culture shocks I experienced when I moved to the U.S. was the food I was eating here. I was not used to many food, labels, and traditions, which made me make unhealthy choices and develop some allergies. I started my holistic nutrition journey after hitting rock bottom with my health, after a few years of research trying to figure out what food to eat, what to avoid in food labels, what kind of exercises were good for me, etc. I stumbled upon The Institute of Integrative Nutrition and signed up for their health coaching program. After I graduated from their program, I continued my education with them. I graduated from their advanced hormone and gut health programs. I’m passionate about Hormone Health! Keep an eye on our upcoming program Namastay Balanced! 

Jennifer Martin, Namastay Well Co-Founder, and I had previously completed several teacher training and taught in various studios around Boston. Namastay Well started as an Instagram account for fun, to share our schedule with our followers and promote our classes. We saw an opportunity to build a business doing something we both loved! Now we offer on-demand workouts with the option of monthly memberships and one-time purchases. We individually coach clients, and we are looking forward to launching our online coaching program in 2021. 

Now, more than ever, people are becoming more health-conscious. Any chance you could give our readers a tip or two on how to improve their physical/ mental health? 

There are so many things I could recommend. Still, something I want to bring to everyone’s attention is that we all are drastically different from one another. A term we use a lot is the term ‘Bio-individual,’ which means our physical, emotional, and nutritional needs are one of a kind. What you define as good health and the path to get there might not work for everyone else. Keeping this in mind, a few good tips for everyone to follow are:

– Eat whole foods

– Cut out processed sugars and keep an eye on added sugars on labels

– Increase leafy green vegetables

– Experiment with different sources of protein (animal or plant)

– Regular physical activity

– Drink more water

– Sleep 8 hours every night! 

For more personalized guidelines, I could assist you further during a one-on-one coaching session. 

I think it’s great that you are taking health awareness past basic physical health! In our meeting, you mentioned mind, body, medicine, nutrition, and the science behind it all. What types of programs do you currently offer on your website? 

We offer one-on-one coaching sessions. We look into all aspects of your health and wellness—daily movement, nutrition, lifestyle, relationships, and goals. If you are looking to book sessions with us, email us at namastaywell.co@gmail.com. We also offer two on-demand fitness programs: Namastay Home Workouts – monthly membership and Namastay Home Workouts – On-time purchase. Our library of on-demand home workouts has been developed with flexibility in mind. You can choose from a combination of high intensity, strength, and recovery classes to support a Namastay Well lifestyle and achieve optimal results for an affordable price.