Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Fitness Influencer Feared Competitor Was Trying To Steal Her Ideas But Discovered He Had A Very Different Goal
A fitness influencer was convinced her competitor was trying to steal her ideas, however, it turned out he had a very different goal in mind.
Heidi Somers, 35, is the owner of Buffbunny Collection, a female athletic wear business.
She bumped into Christian Guzman, the CEO of the athletic wear company Alphalete Athletics, at fitness expos when they were promoting their rival brands.
When Guzman began quizzing Somers about her business, she mistook his interest in getting to know her for wanting business intel.
Although she initially rebuffed his advances, Somers and and Guzman are now together – they ended up going on their first date eight years ago.
Somers, from Houston, Texas, said: “When we started dating we were like ‘That’s great we’re both in the same field,’ but we realized we’re actually competitors.
“It’s attractive being a bit competitive.
“The way he got me to go on a date with him was he would ask me about business. I wasn’t interested at the time. I was like, ‘No I’m going to focus on my business and my career.’
“But he started asking me questions about business. I started answering him back and it did naturally fall into a really great conversation.
“We always joke as well that I was very closed off until he started asking me business questions and then I felt really warmed up.”
The 35-year-old admitted that she was initially very suspicious, even having her assistant strip all business notes from boards and hide them away in case Guzman was scoping for ideas.
“Everything that was on my ideas board she hid, she took off, she hid in drawers. My team thought he was trying to date me to steal ideas,” Somers recalled.
Nowadays, the couple have work dates at home, helping motivate each other and working together.
Somers explained: “If we’re at home or if it’s after hours we might be like, ‘Do you want to have a glass of wine, prop up the laptops and have a little work date?’
“We chat and talk but we still hone in and focus on the craft. We motivate each other to do better, we make it fun.
“Some people might be like, ‘That’s so toxic’ but we love what we do and we can do it next to each other.”
Although the couple, who got hitched in March 2024, are very happy together, Somers has acknowledged that it can be difficult switching between CEO and wife.
She said: “When I’m at the office I’m the alpha woman, I’m the boss, the leader, the CEO.
“When I come home, I joke around like I’m just a girl. I want to be able to relax a little bit. I’m making dinner and I’m being that wife.
“But sometimes even I struggle, I still want to talk about business and work.
“As two CEOs that live together it’s trying to find the time and trying to find the boundary of ‘It’s time to turn off and not talk about work’ and talk about silly things and joke around and flirt.”
Somers explained that the pair have created ‘boundaries,’ as they are ‘technically competing with each other.’
“I’ll be like ‘I can only talk about Buffbunny Collection right now, I hope your launch goes well and I might post about it once but I really have to focus on my collection coming out and focus on wearing it every day,'” the business owner shared.
“We have separate offices. So Monday morning comes, I go to my office with my team, he goes to his office with his team.
“At the end of the day we’ll come home and I’ll make dinner, or sometimes he makes dinner, and we talk about our day. The annoyances and the wins.
“On the days where one of us has a harder day the other one will help pick up what we can and uplift the other.
“We’re going eight years strong and we’re super happy and we love our companies so I think we’ve figured out the boundaries over the years.”
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