We had the good fortune of connecting with Arielle Miller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Arielle, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
One of the most important factors behind the success of my brand and the work I do is authenticity. For me, being completely true to others about what I am experiencing, whether it’s to share in success, or be honest about my life’s struggles is important in the role I play in this world and how I connect with others. I believe that what people need is a dose of honesty that is often lacking in our day to day interactions. I think my openness about my triumphs and challenges resonate with people because I am real–my social media isn’t just a highlight reel. It’s REAL and in today’s world; we crave genuinely connecting with others through the stories of our lives.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Nothing about my life has been easy. Every single thing in my life that I have came at a price and that hefty price was grit and perseverance. I am not really very gifted at anything. I do a whole lot of things fairly well, but I do not have any sort of stellar ability. I guess you can say that I am just pretty normal in that respect. I achieved mediocre grades in high school and college. School was always something I enjoyed, but I was generally just uninspired. Also, I never had a teacher whom I felt saw me, truly taking a vested role in my success, and I vowed to be the teacher I always wanted, but never had. Once I move to LA from NY and got the keys to my first classroom, there was a huge shift for me–all of a sudden I cared. And by cared, I was obsessed with greatness. I could not accept being anything other than my best self, always. That meant getting to school early, staying late, working weekends, raising money and securing donations on my own for field trips and materials, and so much more. It wasn’t until this shift at 23 years old that I developed what I call ‘academic maturity’. So naturally, when I enrolled in graduate school, I worked my butt off to earn a 3.92 GPA and right now I am eagerly awaiting notice whether I got admitted to a doctoral program! While I may not get into the doctoral program I applied to, I took the harder route in applying to my dream school. The easy way would have been to apply to where I earned my Master’s Degree, and while it’s a good school; I knew I could do and wanted better so I aimed high. That’s what life is about. Put in the work, there is no substitution for good ol’ hard work and determination. It ALWAYS pays off–even if it takes a little longer than we’d like, but it always, always, pays off!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many things about this city I love. What I would say I love most about it is that you can do anything while being anyone and everyone is welcome here. Some of my favorite things to do in LA are go to Coffee Commissary and enjoy a hot almond milk latte with avocado toast. Coffee Commissary has by far THE BEST avocado toast in the city, and yes, I have tried A LOT. Now that we’ve got the coffee out of the way, some of my favorite things to share with others are the things I love to do like move my body. So, I would take visitors to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Legacy Los Angeles in Burbank. Maybe we’d also hit Equinox for some lifting or even some yoga afterwards too! My sister always jokes that when she comes to visit me from NY that visiting me is like a fitness retreat or bootcamp because I drag her to take all the classes I teach and then to do the things I like to do for myself, whoops! Sorry not sorry! Other things I love to do are go to the beach and I enjoy walking around The Promenade and the pier in Santa Monica. I also, love going to Abbot Kinney and grabbing eats at The Butcher’s Daughter. I really just love that this city has so many wonderful outdoor spaces to walk around from The Americana in Glendale, to the Grove, Ventura Blvd in The Valley, or Tujunga in Studio City where I can get pizza at LBK or the best breakfast burrito around at Cactus Taqueria. Now that I think about this, the more I am writing and thinking, the more I realize much of my joy in this city comes from the delicious food that can be found all over it. No matter which part of town you are in, there is somewhere I can tell you to go eat and/or have a great cocktail!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have two careers. My day-to-day job is working in public education serving the urban schools of Los Angeles, and my other profession is teaching fitness classes and training clients. My work in education has helped me become a better instructor and the same reciprocity applies for fitness also making me a better teacher. But the only reason I am the woman I am today are because of the wonderful and courageous young people I have educated over the years. So, I would like to dedicate my shoutout to the students who have walked through the doors of my classroom and surrendered themselves fully to embracing what I was offering, diving deep within themselves, and rising up to carve out a place in this world in which they wanted to reside. My students come from challenging home lives and situations that most of us could not even fathom. They are warriors and ambassadors of change and I could not be more proud of the children I have shared space with and educated, they are beautiful souls worthy of admiration and respect.

Website: www.thegirlwithpurplehair.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arielle_miller
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purplehairedgrl/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCotLdfch8xbYD7FbEWSQ5bA?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
The photo of me in the rose gold Nike sweatshirt: Photo credit: Tina June