She started as a personal trainer and has since expanded the RushTush fitness and wellness empire to include an app, Glow Series e-books, beauty products, fitness challenges and athleisure wear.
Sticking to her philosophy that women can do it all, Rushda Moosajee, 36, is leading by example and proving that you can be a mother, run a multimillion- rand company and feel mostly amazing while doing it. After years of growing her reputation as a fitness and health coach, she soared to popularity with her well-loved Glow Cleanse and infamous Hulk Juice, but what many might have seen as a trend or health craze, has still remained the superstar of her eating plans because of the benefits and results women consistently experience.
Rushda encourages a healthy, balanced and disciplined approach to life with no quick fixes, but the aim is never for clients to look like her, it is for them to feel the way she feels. She believes that if you have respect for the people who trust you with their health and fitness and you work with integrity, success will automatically follow. She is a straight-talker, who lives life on her terms and has found that sweet balance in life that many women strive towards, but that does not mean that every day is perfect and that she is always as put together as her social media posts. What it does mean, is that she has learned to listen to her body and what it needs. Sometimes that means working out more and other times it means drowning out the noise and treating herself to a solo breakfast date or having her nails done. Most importantly, it means giving yourself grace and being gentle with yourself.
‘Sometimes you have to be a little selfish and make it about you, because if you aren’t doing well, how are you going to be able to give your best to your family, career or any other part of your life? As women we can be so hard on ourselves and not take that break we need or give ourselves the credit we deserve for all that we do. We have this all-or-nothing mentality that gets instilled by society – they expect us to be the perfect mom, wife, employee and have the perfect body, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Through my brand I’m here to support, nurture and help women find that balance in life while feeling amazing about themselves,’ she says.
‘I want women to get excited about how their bodies feel, what it can do and how it works at any stage and in any phase of life. As my own body has changed and gone through phases like pregnancy, I have used that experience to adapt my products to help at different stages of life. This has helped me stay relevant and flexible in my business. Many people have the idea that I want them to be running around, looking the way I look or working out 7 days a week, but each person is on their own journey with their own goals. I just want people to feel comfortable and confident in their skin, whether that means showing it off or being covered head to toe.’ For Rushda it is important that people love their body, no matter what size or shape it is and when asked about her famous bum and the fact that it has sparked a lot of conversation on and offline, her answer is simple; ‘My bum is for me and it’s just a bum, we all have one. If other people are sexualising a woman’s body, that is on them. But if I want my body to look good, I’m going to put in the work to make it the best bum for me.’
She has always been strong and has never been interested in pleasing people. Instead, she leads with passion and moves to the beat of her own drum. She uses passion as her compass and has always found a way to turn the things that she loves into work and believes this is one of the reasons for the success of her brand. ‘It’s the RushTush quality. We work hard, but we are not aggressive or forceful. We educate and assist with self-discovery,’ says the mom of three who believes that health and fitness should always be something you invest energy into. Her fitness journey started at the age of 23 when she decided to make a career switch and started working in a gym. She was never into fitness before that and has always been a creative at heart, but once she was introduced to fitness and the understanding of how the body moves and what it can do, she was amazed and instantly swept up in knowing more.
‘We did a lot of functional training and worked with weights and kettlebells. It was an organic journey of self-discovery. When I saw what my body was doing and how it was changing, it really made me feel good, and that feeling is the best. I knew early on that I wasn’t a track person or a bodybuilder, but I liked working with kettlebells and doing functional training,’ she explains. As she grew, her client list started growing too and more women started asking for her as a trainer. ‘When I started in the industry 13/14 years ago, it was still a very male-dominated industry and I think many women felt more comfortable and gained understanding by training with me. I loved trying new things and matching people you wouldn’t normally match with say yoga and seeing them excel at it,’ says Rushda, beaming. It was also while working at her first gym that she received the nickname that has now become the iconic brand RushTush.
‘At one point I was really into lifting weights and because I’m so tiny, my bum and thighs just kept growing. One day my boss told me, “Wow, you have such a Rush Tush,” and it kind of just stuck,’ she says laughing. One thing led to another and after finding herself no longer being welcome in the spaces she was training in, she was forced into a situation where she had to make the decision to swim and find her own feet. She describes it as a growing pain, but has not regretted it since and knew that there was no option for her to fail. ‘When I made this shift into fitness, my parents were worried about how I would support myself, because it wasn’t really seen as a career. I knew I had to make a success of this, because I did not have anything to fall back on in terms of financial support. It was very stressful at times and took a lot of hard work and pressure, but diamonds are created under pressure and not by just going with the flow,’ she says.
‘That was my motivation, I just had a feeling that this was what I was meant to do and I believe that when you do things with the right intention and not just because it’s trendy, you will make progress and meaningfully succeed. If your product is not good or you are not authentic, people will pick up on that and then popularity counts for nothing. Word of mouth never lies, even though the internet can.’ Although Rushda has built a strong online presence for herself and strengthened her brand by successfully utilising tools like social media, blogs and e-commerce, she warns those wanting to become entrepreneurs not to fool themselves into believing that likes and follows will turn into money.
‘You can amass thousands of followers, but if your product doesn’t speak to solving a need that people have, it won’t turn into a big-income business. You don’t need a big following to start a business or be successful. Start small and if you can, start without creating debt. Use what you have. When I first started, I was making use of parks and promenades, because I couldn’t afford to rent a gym space, those kinds of challenges shouldn’t stop you from following your passion, if it’s something you believe in. It’s never too late to make a change whether it be to your fitness, your career or anything else in your life – you just have to do it.’
She says becoming a wife and mom has elevated her life and given her a different kind of drive. ‘Marriage has not only given me a best friend, but a business partner and safe space to grow in and nourish my talents. I love building a life with my husband and being a mom makes you want to build a legacy and teach your kids how to be dedicated and successful, to look after themselves! In all that I do I want to show my boys that you can create your own success and not wait for someone else to validate your hard work and efforts,’ she says.
Aside from the support of her family, Rushda credits a big part of her success to surrounding herself with the right team who share her love, passion and philosophies in business. ‘You can’t do everything and you shouldn’t if you want a balanced life and time for other important things. It won’t always be easy and people will disappoint you, but when you find the right people, help them to grow with you and you will gain success. I’m so grateful for all those who are passionate about others succeeding.’
Text: Tarren-Lee Habelgaarn
Stylist: Amy-lee steenkamp; stylist assistant: Tyla Johannessen; Photography: Callen Jefferson/hmimages.co.za
Photography assistant: Kyra Welch; retouching: Adri Papakonstantinou; make-up: Pam; hair: Amori Birch/Supernova
