February 12, 2025
May Allam

Mireille Ishak is an Egyptian bodybuilder and fitness advisor with 12 years of experience in weightlifting, high-intensity fitness workouts, and nutrition programs, helping individuals achieve their goals through tailored programs that fit their lifestyle.

She obtained a B.A. in Integrated Marketing Communication with high honors from the American University in Cairo (AUC), followed by an M.A. in Mass Communication.

She began her 25-year marketing career in the automotive industry, where she worked with some of the world’s most loved and trusted brands for 13 years, becoming one of the pioneer women in the field since the late 1990s.

She then transitioned to the paints, FMCG, and real estate industries, gaining extensive experience in branding and marketing across key sectors. Her career progression led her to roles as a Marketing Director and later Vice President for Strategic Development. Nearly 12 years ago, she also began teaching marketing part-time at a private university.

Currently, she works with a consultancy and training firm as a Senior Marketing Consultant and Corporate Trainer, allowing her to share her knowledge and expertise with an even wider range of businesses and brands.

WoEN: Tell us more about yourself and upbringing. 
MI: My name is Mireille Ishak (pronounced Meerey) I was born in Cairo, but was lucky enough to spend every summer of my life in the States with family, which opened an exposure window to lots of cultures. 

I went to French Sisters School, which is single-handedly responsible for my discipline that helped me accomplish a lot. 

I am the older daughter, raised by a single mom who is both the kindest and strongest person I ever met. I wouldn’t be lying if I said that she has always been my inspiration. Every single thing I achieved she either planted the seed in me, or I did it to make her proud. This is the kind of woman who raises a warrior.  

WoEN: When did you start your fitness journey and what inspired it? 
MI: I started my fitness journey when I turned 30! To maintain a weight-loss I had achieved a few years earlier and in fear to become over-weight again. There was also a voice in my head that said “I am now 30. Either start now or never.” It was more driven by fear, rather than inspiration. 

WoEN: How does Egyptian society perceive women who train intensively for bodybuilding?
MI: My answer to that is a straight: I don’t know and I don’t care! sounds aggressive? It’s not. It’s just bold and blunt, reason being that I was subject to good deal of bullying and even mockery when I mistakenly considered what society thought. I think it was 2019 when I decided I want to share my experience with the world in an attempt to try and inspire women to live a healthy and happy life and that is when I created my social media pages. Following that I joint a few fitness and bodybuilding online groups, thinking that it was the right community for me just to be surprised with the amount of criticism and bullying I faced from both men and women. I don’t even want to go through some of the things that were said. It was hurtful to hear back then until, the marketer in me started crying out loud at me to use my marketing experience in social media before acting! I had been working on, managing, consulting in social media for years, creating many success stories and getting awarded for best practices. So I stared with the golden rule of “know your audience & find the fans” and the rest was history

WoEN: How are you coping between your full-time job in marketing and training? Tell us about a day in your life. 
MI: It is not hard fitting everything you want in your day. It just depends on how bad you really want it. The perfect day for me starts with waking up early, preparing my full lunch box for the full day, finishing my workout a couple of hours later then proceed to go to work. Some days I socialize, other days I follow up with the clients that I train online. I don’t train physically in places when it comes to sports. I know this is a very high commitment that I can’t accommodate at the moment so I don’t like to over-promise. The most important part of my day is sleeping for 8 hours at night and this is hardly ever negotiable. This is the only way to recharge for the next day.  

WoEN: How do you feel after each intensive training session, besides physical exhaustion? 
MI: After every single workout I feel grateful that I am still able to do that. Not a single day did I take it for granted and I do my best to sustain it for as long as possible. I look forward for the next time and believe it or not, I enjoy it to the point that every time feels like the first time. I look at my muscles and realize the fact that this is something money can’t buy. The biggest joy comes when I manage to make a new move I’ve been wanting to learn or go heavier and reach a new personal record. 

WoEN: What advice would you offer young women who want to train in body building? What can they do to maintain regular training and not give up quickly?
MI: This advice is for women of all ages. After all, I started at 30. There is no better feeling and sense of achievement than reaching the shape you want. Do not hesitate to give it all you’ve got, and believe me when I tell you that the gym is the only place on earth where life is fair. What you give is what you get. There is no politics, mind games, or even money involved. There is no shortcut. You can buy your way into it, but to maintain for more that 15 years that takes discipline, consistency, perseverance, and dedication. Don’t ever listen to anyone who tells you “Enough.” If you’re not moving forward, you’re going back. There is no such thing as standing still. The best time to start is right now. The one thing you’ll never get to is that which you decide to start tomorrow. Your body is the most precious thing you own. Invest in what you put in it and on it. Your priorities need to shift by time. Normalize spending more on things your body needs than expensive shoes and handbags. Never hang anything on metabolism, age, or genetics. I have personally fought them all and won! Your can have it all. The career, the sports, the social life, the family life it’s about how bad you really want it. Just do your best and trust the process. And when you get a grip on all of this, comes the most important advice of all: surround yourself with the right people. You are who you spend time with.

WoEN: Which field do you prefer working in: your professional field of marketing, or would you consider giving it up to become a full-time trainer? 
MI: Of all the fields I worked in, automotive will always be my favorite. After all, I was the girl who. cared more about barbie’s car than barbie itself!

Well, I did give it all up: the corporate life, the 9:00 – 17:00, the routine, but to become a corporate trainer that I am now. I can’t imagine leaving marketing for bodybuilding or vice versa. They are both what I love to do most in life. They’re in my DNA now. 

WoEN: How many times do you train every week? What is your training routine? 
MI: I used to train 7 days a week and this is what I love to do. However, my lovely personal trainer and amazing nutritionist have agreed that the maximum I can do is 5 days a week and I need a 2-day rest for better results and appropriate muscle recovery. So that is what I do now, but since I am not in a rush on daily bases now to catch my corporate job, I get to spend more time in the gym. I train isolation, which is to say that I train one muscle a day for 50-60 minutes. After that I do abs and stretches for about 40 minutes on some days and on other days cardio for 30 minutes. 

WoEN: Would you advise women in Egypt to follow the same path or do you find it difficult and challenging most of the time? 
MI: I advise women to follow their dreams in whichever path they choose and if it is bodybuilding, then be it. The only challenges are mental. One important thing that I would like to point out: don’t come near steroids. I personally never did. When you achieve it clean, it feels much better. There is no point in jeopardizing your health to get in shape. It should be the other way around. Sports is supported by a healthy lifestyle. Just to manage the expectations, food is almost 70% of the equation. So that you don’t end up disappointed if you only focus on sports. 

WoEN: What are your goals for yourself in terms of bodybuilding, and professionally, and your dreams for the future?
MI: In terms of bodybuilding, I dream of MORE. Heavier weights, stronger muscles and endurance. Professionally, I thought that nothing beats corporate success. Turned out that was just the beginning. Now, I yearn to turn my skills into capabilities, like I did with corporate training, by adopting the right mindset. Whereas corporate ties you up a bit, consulting and training take you to another level. So now my real passion is keep passing knowledge whenever possible on bigger scales and to always be up-to-date to stay on top of things. 

“Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it.”― Sir Henry Royce