From Homelessness to Faith and Fitness (with Petar Krastev)

[Dana] (00:01)
Welcome friends, whether you’re out on a walk, running errands, or relaxing at home, it’s wonderful to connect with you. Joining us today is Peter Khristev, founder of CoachPK, a fitness coach and a business owner with a passion for both health and entrepreneurship. He loves discussing the intersection of fitness and business. How staying physically fit can fuel success and help entrepreneurs and leaders perform at their best. Peter, welcome to Phoenix in Flame.

[Petar] (00:44)
Thanks Dana, thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

[Dana] (00:47)
This is wonderful. Now I know from some of your story and we’ll get into it as we talk together today, but you left your home country when you were just 22 and you just had 10 euros with you and a bag of clothes and living on the streets, working grueling jobs, spending 18 months in a lockup garage without any amenities. mean, this, you really, you had a very interesting story and I’m very interested in people’s authentic stories of what they went through and what it felt like and how they came through it and what they their phoenix moment. So start wherever you would like, wherever is most comfortable for you and tell us about your story.

[Petar] (01:28)
Yeah, well, you covered the most interesting part, which is me landing with 10 euros in my pocket in the UK. I had to do this because I had a very toxic relationship back in the day. And also, I was struggling a lot. We couldn’t pay our bills. We couldn’t cover anything. So I was forced to find a solution. And the only solution that came up was for me to travel to the UK to work in a car wash. And I took it.

[Dana] (01:55)
So where did you travel from? Where did you start from? Okay.

[Petar] (01:57)
From Bulgaria. Bulgaria, when I grew up there and the time I grew up was the time when Bulgaria just left the communism and it was a very tough place to live in. The economy was really, really bad. And that’s what led me to find myself in this situation, really. And I think, yeah, that… Leaving for the UK was such a key moment in my life. I never expected it, I never wanted to do it. I just was kind of forced to do it. And that’s why I believe it was my path, something that I had to walk through. And I’m very grateful for it. But it was extremely hard. I don’t…

[Dana] (02:45)
Well, you were just 22. I mean, that’s so young for doing, I mean, going all off on your own. And what was, I mean, you left everything that you knew and went to a totally different country with very little money and just a bag of clothes that must’ve felt, I’m imagining terrifying.

[Petar] (02:48)
and already here. And that’s the small part of it. I was in a relationship, I was a stepdad at that age, had no clue what’s going on. The relationship was toxic, so I had responsibilities, looking after the kid, paying bills. Yeah, it felt like I jumped into the deep waters, like literally in the ocean, and I barely can swim. But I made it. I made it somehow. It took me years.

[Petar] (03:32)
I found myself quickly on the streets and then I found, started living in that garage because it was very cheap and affordable. I remember it was 78 pounds a month and I just needed all the money that I was making from my like third job at that time. All the money I needed to send back home to my girlfriend for the child. So I was eating just the cheapest foods possible. I think donuts was my preferred choice. I loved sweets and they were 60p and the pack of donuts provides you with a huge amount of calories so it can last for long time. But that was a very unhealthy way of living, both mentally, stressfully and physically I was just not being very active the way I’m supposed to be. I was going to the gym every day to take showers to be honest, actually that’s probably the one thing that was really good. This kept me moving but the food was horrible. And being alone all this time, was my biggest struggle for a few years.

[Dana] (04:37)
Can I ask you a question really quickly? I talked to a lot of people who are in toxic relationships and I’m impressed with your ability to be able to leave at such a young age and looking back now, because I’m thinking about listeners that might be listening to this podcast that might be in a similar type of relationship, might be in a similar type of situation and they haven’t found

[Dana] (05:07)
the ability to leave and so they’re just they feel stuck. If you could go back to your 22 year old self and share with us like what how were you able because you you identify as a relationship is toxic and a lot of people are not able to leave those relationships. What was it that gave you the ability to to leave?

[Petar] (05:31)
Well, if you actually see the story, I didn’t really leave the relationship when I left the country. I still maintained the relationship. The idea was I helped my partner, my girlfriend, with a very severe health condition that she had and we needed to pay for it and help her treat it and at the same time support the child. So me being in the UK the first few years was in that relationship and that was… really getting worse, so I was probably stuck in it. The only way to get out was if I find a way for us to split so she doesn’t lose her child again because there was that kind of weird situation where if it wasn’t me helping her, they would have gotten separated by whoever. And that would mean a second trauma for that kid, which wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t ready for it. That was just two years old girl. And I decided if I leave them early, that would mean the kids gonna lose their mom and that’s going to be devastating. And that’s because I made a promise when we jumped into the relationship to look after them and to never let this happen. And me quitting my promise, know, not fulfilling what I promised. I decided to just stick to it. And that’s why I was stuck. and I had to get out of this situation, which meant I had to make all the money. I had to just find a solution of this complicated problem, which was a very, very expensive problem back in the day and kept me stuck. So the way I ended it at the end was almost four years later, after we started the relationship, when I did what I did that was practically impossible for many people. Nobody believed it could be done. I’ve achieved, we healed that health condition and I made all the money, even got some extra money to buy a car so we can have a little bit more normal life back home. And I was already planning for us to move in together and start doing things together again. And all this time I spent sacrificing my health, my time, everything for them. And she just posted a photo with another guy on Facebook the day I bought the car. And that’s how it ended. Yeah, it was a bit of an experience. But to be honest, I was more happy about it than anything else. I got really angry at the beginning. But the relationship was so toxic, so bad. And I think it took me about 15 seconds to become very excited about it. Because what I did was bigger than anything I…

[Dana] (07:58)
Oh my. Mm-hmm. I understand.

[Petar] (08:25)
ever imagined I could do. I didn’t know anyone at the time who was able to overcome such a struggle every single day. mean, that’s a very, very long time, a lot of struggles. used to want to end my life on multiple occasions. I was crying almost every night, sleeping in that garage. There was so many things that happened. This podcast will never be enough for that. And I overcame all that. I found myself on the other side. I was like, yeah. Yeah.

[Dana] (08:54)
Well, what are the let’s just take our time and slow down for a moment and just kind of hover over that experience for you, because I feel like we need to honor that. And not that we are have time to cover all of it. We certainly don’t. Like you said in this very short podcast. But when you look back, what are just one or two of the things that you feel like that you were going through that made it exceptionally what you had to sacrifice, what it was like, like bring my listeners. with you there in that garage. they were walking with you, living your life, what are some things that they would notice you having to sacrifice or having to do or endure that made it really super hard? Just maybe one or two things that come to mind.

[Petar] (09:41)
Yeah, of course. If you think a normal person’s life, growing up in some place, you usually have a bunch of friends. And I was at that point in my life when I jumped into the relationship, when I had good friends, a lot of friends. I was being semi-popular around them and that meant I enjoyed companies, I joined girlfriends, I enjoyed good life. We had nightlife in Bulgaria, we had the daylife, you a lot of people around there, we had the Black Sea, I was living on the coast. I had all these things, relationship with my parents as well, with my brother. And because of all this mess, I found myself in a country living in a lock-up garage without electricity or water, without any people around me having to hide myself every single day so they don’t find me there. Outside the country, we’re talking about Hamel-Hemstead comparing to what I had in Varna, that’s like for me the quality of the surrounding area is way below. All you have is a few roads, houses of bricks and I remember the bricks very clearly and the roads and the pavements and cars and people who don’t like me don’t talk to me. absolutely everything that I had was gone. So for me, yeah, so for me that was tough, that was tough, but I was tougher. And the toughest part was that I was feeling really alone and that toxic relationship was so draining. You want some love and you want somebody to support you, but she was doing exactly the opposite and she was doing it well.

[Dana] (11:09)
was stripped away, right? toxic relationships are very, very draining. Yes. What do you think? What is something that you feel like looking back now that really, really was helpful to you when you look back when you’re you’re crying every night, you’re so lonely, you’re used to being popular, you’re used to being around other people and being in a very different place geographically. Now you’re in this very kind of desolate feeling, desolate looking place. Nobody wants to talk to you. You’re alone. trying to stay hidden.

[Petar] (11:33)
They’re training on their own, yeah. Imagine they’re.

[Dana] (11:59)
You’re crying every night, you’re sacrificing so much. What is it looking back now? What is one or two things that comes to mind that really kind of helped you keep going when you felt like you could not?

[Petar] (12:11)
Yeah, one, I did not want to quit or give up because I felt like my parents didn’t deserve that. That’s not why they raised me and that’s not why they put all this effort to give me some life, which I didn’t appreciate that much at the time, but now I see how much that is. So I recognize the fact that it’s my responsibility to keep going. It’s not just for me. And that was a big thing because if it wasn’t this, I probably would have ended it there for myself. Life wasn’t feeling like worth living and I had no hope really. I just knew that if by any chance I make it out of this mess, then I’ll make it out big because I just know nobody comes out from there and just being nobody, you know? So that kind of kept me going. And the other thing which practically helped me… on daily basis that was me going to the gym and that’s why I dedicated my life to this industry because I was going for showers every day. And every single day that was giving me a little bit of hope, little bit of motivation, a little bit of strength, it’s making me better. And yeah, these two things, just the responsibility of keeping going because of something bigger than me, not just myself. And… and my fitness.

[Dana] (13:36)
I like that. And really it makes me think of how you’re taking your passion. It’s an interesting mixture of your passion for health, which I’ve had other people on the podcast before that were very passionate about health and fitness and that kind of thing, which is fantastic. You seem to take it to another level where it’s that, but also… you marry that with your passion for entrepreneurship and kind of reaching out to people in business and kind of helping them to see, like you say, the intersection of fitness and business. So share with us kind of how that evolved for you and what difference that makes for entrepreneurs and people that are in the corporate space.

[Petar] (14:10)
like to say. Mm-hmm.

[Dana] (14:27)
to listen to you and what, because if I have some listeners now that are in those spaces, what is it that you bring to them?

[Petar] (14:36)
Yeah, well, I’ll share a very short story of my experience, which I’m pretty sure a lot of these people who listen will resonate big time. Because that’s the clients that come to me. Everybody has a very similar story. When I was very young, I found myself like wanting to be an entrepreneur, wanting to be successful. I had this in… passion from a very early age and me going to Bulgaria and going through all this mess didn’t make that go away but it made it extremely painful for me emotionally that I can’t chase my dreams until I get out of the situation. Nevertheless, I tried a lot of things. I tried a lot of things in Bulgaria, I’ve tried a lot of things after this relationship as well, few things. Some businesses took off a little bit and then they fall apart. Many of them didn’t even show up on the surface as something realistic. but I never stopped trying. And I remember this pattern in my life, an actual pattern that I was observing for years. Every time I felt like my business or my work, whatever I was doing was becoming a bit too exhausting, a bit too demanding. And I had to just find more time. The natural reaction I always had was to stop training and put all the time that I have into my business.

[Petar] (16:01)
Immediately after that, like there was a period of three months every single time there was a period of three months immediately after stopping training where I find myself in a very hard place. Emotionally, my business endeavors weren’t moving anywhere. I felt drained, disorganized, low productivity, low self-esteem, not liking myself at all. And at that time, three months after I stopped training, I was realizing I need to get back on the horse with training too. And it was a constant jiggle of training and running the business. Training and running a business and doing a job and doing so many other things. And training was always a thing that I just start and stop. I start and stop. And every time I started, things were getting so much better. Like almost instantly I was becoming as a… better as a person, as an entrepreneur, my self-esteem, my confidence, my productivity, everything was going through the roof. And for some stupid reason, a few months later, I always forget how did I get there and I stop again. And that’s the cycle entrepreneurs live, like the vast majority of them, the vast majority of executives with higher positions live in this cycle. And if you find a way to stop this cycle and make your fitness a lifestyle then you can really achieve your full potential. I truly believe it’s not possible for somebody to achieve his full potential without being fit all the time and training and keeping up with himself. Yes, you can achieve more than other people and if you compare yourself with the average person, maybe you’ll be super successful because most people are extremely lazy and arrogant. So it doesn’t take that much. But if you want to fulfill your own potential…

[Petar] (18:03)
then you need to be training, period. I don’t think you have any chance of fulfilling your own potential without keeping fit. Not to mention what happens if your health deteriorates and you develop health complications. What are you going to do then? You’re going to make all this money and what are going to do with it? Die, die and just pay for health treatments and hospitals and stuff. Yeah.

[Dana] (18:20)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

[Petar] (18:33)
You know, make a choice. Make a choice what it’s going to be.

[Dana] (18:38)
There is absolutely a lot of research that supports exactly what you’re saying. There’s a lot of research in the psychological community about how fitness supports mental health. And so when we’re in entrepreneur, you we’re out there in the corporate space, we’re entrepreneurs, we have to have strong mental health to be able to keep going and to face all sorts of things, to face rejections and unknowns and… all these things and that the research supports exactly what you’re saying and like I don’t think I agree with you nobody could really be at their best game if they’re not also tending to the physical side of things their fitness as well because that’s gonna that’s gonna make a big difference there.

[Petar] (19:28)
Yeah, they might feel like they’re in their best game, but it’s not true. There’s more that maybe they haven’t never discovered, you

[Dana] (19:33)
Why? Yes, yes, well, they’ll feel I mean, they’ll physically they’ll feel better. They’ll they’ll look better. They’ll feel better in their clothing. They’ll have more concentration. They’ll have more stamina. Their self-esteem is higher. It just goes. Yes, it’s well, well worth it. I mean, I think what you’re doing is fantastic. So let me ask you to in your bio, you also mentioned your faith life and how that.

[Petar] (19:48)
The list is long. The list is long. Yeah. Yeah.

[Dana] (20:02)
came about for you and that that was important to you. Do you want to take some time to talk about that impact for you?

[Petar] (20:08)
Always, yeah. This is the most important part of my life right now. And I plan to keep it its way. So, I was always kind of an atheist. I was rejecting that God exists. For me, it was all a scam. And that’s how I lived my life. I believed I have to do things because somebody else has done it. I I always believed in the human potential in that… that we can do it alone, that we can figure it out. And I failed, as you know from my story, and I failed hard many times, the thing is, everything was overwhelming. I failed to find a way to be successful at the age of 28. That’s years after the relationship. I really realized at some point that I’m running out of options here. Everything I was doing everything I was trying it wasn’t changing me. I was still the same guy quitting not knowing how to stick to things Not knowing how to be faithful in relationships not knowing how to be just a good person that I wanted to be and I wanted to be a good person But I couldn’t do it it my sinful behavior my stupid habits were always always taking the best out of me and It my efforts were never enough and that’s

[Petar] (21:36)
Like at that point I found God because of a guy who told me to pray and I finally listened after the many signs that I had which were obvious but I just ignored all the signs that I had in my life and I listened and I was humbled enough from my own decisions, from my own life to be willing to say Jesus if you really forgive me and show me who you are. And I did that and…

[Petar] (22:06)
On the next day, something happened to me and my whole life changed so much. It’s never been the same. It’s never been the same. Everything changed like night and day. Whatever was working against me, it was gone. Everything started working for me. My personal behavioral faults, they disappeared. I became a different person. I found my passion for fitness and everything just aligned so perfectly well. Like all the struggle was meant for me to take me there to find God. And now he’s guiding me in everything that I do and he’s blessing me every single day. He’s just unbelievable. So yeah, from the outside, if you’re not a believer, you probably can’t see what I’m talking about. But if you actually are, I’m sure you’ll see. straight what I’m talking about. It’s just the way it is. And it’s guiding me, It’s part of my life, it’s part of my business. It’s guiding every decision that I make.

[Dana] (23:16)
Mm hmm. I understand that. I’m a Christian as well. And I frequently pray. I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a psychotherapist. I’m a podcaster. I’m a keynote speaker. I’ve got boundaries courses, all the things, all the plates spinning and frequently pray things like in my weakness, you know, God is strong. And that gives a lot of give provides me a lot of comfort.

[Dana] (23:46)
that I don’t have to rely just on my own abilities because there’s a limit to those. if we’re honest, like you were saying a few moments ago, we recognize our own failings, our own limits. And if we think that’s it, that’s as far as it can go, we’re only relying on ourselves, then I don’t know, that’s just my walk. I’m very respectful of everyone’s journeys and that kind of thing. And I think we’re called to… witness our own journey. And I think that’s what that’s what you’re doing.

[Petar] (24:17)
You’re very right. Yeah, yeah, I think so, yeah.

[Dana] (24:22)
Mm hmm. So how do you feel like that your your walk with trying to develop your fitness program and reach out to to corporations and you know, entrepreneurs? How do you feel like that would be different if you did not have your faith?

[Petar] (24:45)
If I started at all in the first place, if I ever got to the point where I’m actually having a business, I would have quit a long time ago. Not to mention the blessings that I’ve got, which were tremendous. I literally became the founder of one of the best health and fitness communities for health and fitness professionals, for experts on clubhouse during the COVID virus. That was an opportunity that nobody else around the world has got. think I would, mean, a handful of other people had the chance to do something similar and participate in what was going on there. I was surrounded by some of the best experts around the world in health and fitness, which from the very beginning, even before I really started my community, they showed me that I don’t know anything. And everything that I thought I knew was kind of wrong. It was false because I learned it from YouTube, from the internet, from some courses that I did to learn how things work. And the amount of knowledge that I’ve got there, I contribute that 100 % to God and nothing else. Before I found God, never in my life had an opportunity like that, never was blessed with something. Everything that was coming to my life was something that’s taking away something from me. That thing blessed me so hard that it’s unbelievable. mean, the amount of knowledge that I’ve got and the confidence, self-esteem and the credibility I’ve got from running this club, which had hundreds of people, thousands on the stage and in the room and we’re talking all the time and the amount of knowledge is incomparable to anything you can get on the gym floor for 10, 15 years. It was beyond. It was multiple people’s lifetime experiences, experts in their field of nutrition, training, coaching, athletes, scientists, you name it. All the world-class titles, we had them in the room, they were my friends. So don’t think I would have gotten anywhere close without God.

[Dana] (27:06)
That sounds amazing. So as we’re kind of beginning to wrap up the podcast, I’m wondering what words of wisdom or encouragement or whatever you might have. If we have some listeners right now who are kind of where you were years and years ago, where they might be either atheistic or agnostic, or they just kind of feel like what you said earlier, that the whole religious thing is just a scam. It’s just people that just, you know, they’re just trying to look for crutches, they just, they don’t feel comfortable relying on themselves. And they’re just looking because of different people and experiences that they’ve been exposed to along the way that they just don’t really have good experiences and feelings about Christianity, Jesus, faith, that kind of thing. What would you say if they were listening right now? lords of encouragement, what would you say to them?

[Petar] (28:03)
Well, it’s a great question. I’m not going to argue with them in their viewpoint. As you mentioned earlier, it’s super important that we live our own journeys and we go through them and we accept them. So I would say just keep moving and keep observing on your own. think sometimes we need to be able to think for ourselves. make your own analysis of what is what and what’s true and what’s not true and try not to follow the masses and just keep moving whatever the hard period is right now. It seems like there’s no end but it seemed like there was no end back in the garage to be honest and it took me years and living years of struggle it’s harder than most. can imagine every single day feels like it’s your last day and suddenly a few years pass and then you find yourself on the other side so I would say it’s just you will continue moving and keep keep learning and accept that journey and have that faith that one day it will be for a reason and you will see what it is on the other side and if God decides to save you and show you who He is He can do it and you can search for Him right now.

[Petar] (29:28)
and you will find him too. That’s very easy. Let’s it here.

[Dana] (29:36)
So as we wrap up, because I know that there’s listeners that not only are thinking, I want to hear really more about what Peter has to offer, what he has to say. want to, I want to hear more, learn more about the fitness side. There also might be some entrepreneurs that are listening. There might be some people in the corporate space that are listening, thinking I’m doing pretty well, but I really need to up my game. And this, you know, Peter sounds like he’s got an answer of something that I need. I need to add the fitness aspect so I can really reach my apex performance at work. Where do you want them to go to be able to access you and what you have to offer?

[Petar] (30:19)
Yeah, thanks for that. I would first say that we have a community which is spread out throughout the world. So from the US, the UK, Europe, Germany, Austria, Canada. I work with people around there and we have one of the best communities for health and fitness that has members only, entrepreneurs and business minded people, which is outstanding. So we have something very, very special. which you can be part of and if you want to find out more and what it is to work with me one-to-one being inside the community as well You you need to go just to my website which is pk.coach pk.coach and you can also find my name on Google Peter Krustev I feel if you type that in you will see the necessary Social media channels that you need or you can even find me there. Honestly, just use the search bar You don’t need to remember handles it. I’m gonna come up

[Dana] (31:19)
Got you. Wonderful. Well, Peter, I really appreciate you spending your time and listeners, you weren’t privy to the conversation that we were having before we started recording. But where Peter is right now, it’s right now, it’s probably about 5.30, 5.45 in the morning.

[Petar] (31:19)
Yeah. in the evening.

[Dana] (31:39)
in the evening. So it’s kind of like that’s one of the beauties of being able to do podcasting is you can reach people from all around the world that we are in different, you know, time spaces and everything. Peter, thank you for taking your time. I know you’re busy. You have a lot going on for spending it with me, with my listeners and really sharing with all of us your journey and being willing to be transparent and helping us to see what helped you get through some really tough times.

[Petar] (32:06)
Yeah, I’m honored to be here, Dana. So thanks for having me. Thanks.

[Dana] (32:09)
Thank you. Listeners, I know you’ve heard multiple things today from Peter that you’re thinking, this is fabulous. And I know a best friend, I have a family member or a coworker that really needs to hear what Peter has to say. Take this podcast episode, copy and paste the link and text and email, put it on your favorite social media platforms so that we can grow our Phoenix and flame community and let people know you are not alone. Thank you for. Spending your time with us, I hope your day has been great and the rest of your day is fabulous. I’m Dana on Phoenix in Flame.