Today we’d like to introduce you to Sylvia Wrosz.
Hi Sylvia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
A born and raised San Diegan, I am the daughter of 2 immigrants. My Polish father and Mexican mother met in an English speaking class here in San Diego and I feel like that alone is a huge part of my identity and story. I grew up ESL (English as a Second Language) because my first language was Spanish. I learned English in school and eventually Polish and German; but growing up first generation comes with a lot of battles for belonging. I felt different than the kids at my school, but when I would travel to Mexico and Poland I saw so much of myself and my culture in these places, and still didn’t feel a sense of full belonging there, either.
While I also grew up extremely privileged, flying gliders and playing piano concertos, peace wasn’t promised in my childhood home and words often cut deeper than silence. That challenging environment, in addition to the task of being the eldest daughter and helping to raise my two younger siblings, shaped me in complex ways. My upbringing had every opportunity to harden me or make me bitter, but I still find myself to be extremely sensitive and empathetic; almost to a fault. And I take great pride in how my early environment taught me strength, self-awareness, and the importance of healing.
I wasn’t shown the healthiest models of love early on, which made me more intentional about learning, unlearning, healing and rewriting the narratives around love for myself. But I have still always dealt with slight depression and anxiety which ultimately made me gain weight and incur other health issues.
After my divorce, I was at my heaviest and had high cholesterol. This was a big wake up call and one of the lowest points of my life. While I value and cherish and love my ex-husband for everything he taught me in this life, I was deeply unhappy in an coming out of that marriage. This is when reclaiming my health began for my, at age 25.
I originally fell in love with boxing because it was such a beautiful reminder of how strong my legs were. And after gaining so much weight, I often found myself criticizing my legs for their size, cellulite, how they fit in clothing, you name it. Exploring workouts that made me learn to love my body and reclaim my strength were what I searched for. Eventually indoor cycling became another passion. I loved and hated how challenging it was to keep up, but I loved the way group fitness and movement to music activated something deeper.
Dance is, psychologically, one of the best things you can do with your body to positively stimulate the brain. But group fitness has an equally powerful science to it, in the way it stimulates the brain. Indoor cycling has an element of dance to it, so when you have a class like that in a dark room with a really motivational instructor there is so much power for a therapeutic element to be added to the experience. After years of class and pounds shed, I suddenly looked up and realized that that dark room held me through some of my darkest times and most of my 20s. At 30 I decided that I wanted to be a part of that for other people. I wanted to provide and hold space for others to heal. I wanted to keep it real and relatable and I wanted to everyone to feel welcome. Having dealt with weight issues I was painfully aware that not all fitness and wellness spaces were inviting to people of all shapes and sizes and between that personal experience and my upbringing, I never wanted anyone to walk into my room and feel unwelcome, unwanted or unmotivated.
After almost 4 years of teaching, I still love what I do more than ever. Watching people grow, develop, lose weight, hit PRs and reach their goals while having an element of rhythm and fun sprinkled in is my daily joy. There’s no bigger compliment to me than when people tell me they cried in my class. When I first trained to become an instructor I was asked, “what type of instructor do you want to be, in one sentence”? I answered with “I want to be the type of instructor that moves people both physically and emotionally”. And every time someone expresses how deeply they felt something in my class, I feel I have accomplished that in some small way.
I have had the pleasure of teaching at multiple boutique studios and gyms throughout San Diego and my brand has always been to keep things very real, authentic, at times explicita and intuitive. When the wildfires were happening in LA, it felt odd to play Cardi B… so I opted for a fully instrumental playlist, with a more introspective feel. People notice when you are aware of the environment that surrounds us all and at the end of the day we crave connection. In fact we require it. And so not only providing space, but doing so in a meaningful way is something that makes what I do so special.
Last year, 2024, I decided to launch my personal brand Sylvia Sessions. Originally a good friend told me I should have a podcast with this name. But I really liked how “Sessions” could essentially be anything… and I have always been a jack-of-all-trades who doesn’t like to be put in a box. So now this is my personal brand that encompasses anything I do from fitness and wellness coaching, to fitness consulting, speaking engagements and more. It’s a brand rooted in the building of community, educating people on wellness habits and lifestyle changes that could make their experience on earth better, and an overall desire to curate meaningful experiences for people I come into contact with.
This year, I hope to have many more events, launch my first retreat, and collaborate with more folks while not only building my own brand, but helping other incredibly powerful people in this community to bring their practices and modalities forward so we can heal as a collective, with like-minded people who understand that truly impacting the world starts with the work we do on ourselves.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say that my relationship with my parents has been the biggest struggle, not only in my childhood but into my adult life. As a certified lovergirl, I am deeply passionate, very loving and when I love, I love BIG. Even being divorced, I have never stopped believing in the power that a good love can bring into our lives. But because I didn’t grow up with a strong familial foundation, it made things more difficult at times—especially when it came to feeling supported in the things I was passionate about. I’m grateful to have built an incredible chosen family through my friendships, and I remain close with my siblings, especially in the matriarchal bonds we share, but the absence of that early structure left its mark.
The echoes of a turbulent childhood stayed with me—where raised voices and heavy hands made it hard to trust safety, even in quiet moments. Adulthood was a journey of learning how to feel secure in my own skin.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
By day I work in property management. I have done so for 12 years but I am not passionate about it: just good at it. I deal with people well, and am very organized, which works well in this profession. But it pays my bills and my healthcare and gives me the flexibility of making my own schedule.
In making my own schedule, I can fit in the things that spark joy: like teaching, coaching and curating these events, rituals and spaces for health and healing. My hope is to eventually be full time with Sylvia Sessions endeavors and leave my job in property management, which actually came in very handy when I was offered (June 2025) to take over operations and management of the Fitness Collective in Pacific Beach where I am aiding them in restructuring operations of all areas and management of the team and building.
I am also a co-host on an existing Podcast called Vive Con Huevos where Sylvia Sessions has a presence contributing to discussions in wellness and health.
I currently teach at Verve Studios in Del Mar and The Bar Studio in Pacific Beach as well as the occasional subbed class at Fit Athletic.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is an interesting thing to me…
On one hand I don’t believe luck has a lot to do with our lives. For example: it’s unlucky to grow up in an abusive environment, because no one would actively chose that. But it’s equally lucky to have been blessed ten-fold in the people that are in my life that came in to support me in the ways my parents never did. So then does one lean on the side of “I am very unlucky” or “I am so lucky”? It depends on who you ask, I suppose.
For me, luck doesn’t have much to do with the choices we have, and ultimately make, to create the life we want. We all are dealt unfortunate hands at some point in our lives… but if you’re willing to take a step back and look at this big, beautiful life with a broader perspective- even the biggest problems can become a drop in the ocean. You just have to willing to become bigger than your pain and struggles; to use them to your advantage for growth and development instead of a reason why you couldn’t do or have something.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sylviasessions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandiego.sylv/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvia-wrosz-93873bba/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/sylvia_sessions/
Image Credits
Blair Kirby, Patrick Martin, Tyler Coplea, Sydney Hickey
