- Introduce yourself shortly.
I am 23 years old. I hate school but I go there anyway. I lift weights. I create media. I am honest and loyal. My hero is Arnold Schwarzeneger. I mostly eat chicken and oatmeal. I’ve never had a 9 to 5 job and never will. I can’t buy myself a playstation because I’m too busy. I love my family, friends, girlfriend and my pug named Mia. I like being at home, my home is the best. This is something so lame to say but I am also a Youtuber. I believe in hard work. I don’t understand lazy people.
- Tell us three facts about you.
When I was five I tried to fry uncooked macaroni on the pan and almost burned the house down.
I weigh my food.
My mom cut my hair until I turned 17.
- Tell us a little about your hobbies.
Well, a little hobby of mine is to be as good in bodybuilding as I can. That takes quite a lot of my time. Most of my work is related to photography and videography as I run a one-man production company. I love creating stuff and because I can’t paint or sing I use cameras and a computer to create something. Also, I work as a marketing specialist and I am one of the two guys behind Estonia’s most popular fitness Youtube channel called The Aesthetic Project.
- How did you get involved in bodybuilding?
After I finished the 2012 season in football I felt like I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I could. I had some injuries and this affected my performance in the Estonian National team. Then I started going to the gym – 3 weeks later I called my coach and said I was going to quit football. Never looked back. Bodybuilding is such a disciplined sport and something that needs decades of work and dedication. I’m that kind of guy who loves walking the road the others don’t really understand, so as bodybuilding is a very untraditional sport that needs years and years of work, it’s exactly for me.
- What are the biggest benefits of exercising and having a healthy lifestyle?
Well, I guess you just feel better. When it comes to competitive bodybuilding – the last stages of competition diet is not really healthy but in the off-season the stress levels are normal again. But most of all, I enjoy being in a better shape and being unique in my own way. I kind of like to stand out – if you’re not charismatic, you need to have gains. It’s sad that people don’t really understand what it means to be healthy in the bigger picture. It’s about balance and mindset, not only eating veggies, drinking mineral water and taking you multivitamin. It’s being 100% satisfied with what you are doing and loving every second of it.
- Why did you decide to study business?
Business is a universal language. I don’t want to waste 3-5 years of my life studying something that I can only use in one way. Business is everywhere. I also love marketing because it’s the formal way of being creative and coming up with new ideas every day. To be honest, I don’t really value the academic education as much as skills – basically, nowadays you can learn to code from youtube. I just like big projects and finishing them. The longer they take, the sweeter the result is. Still, I understand the value of a diploma in the society, so EBS was the reasonable choice.
- If you had one superpower, what would it be?
Man, that’s easy – eating without getting fat. I don’t care about being able to fly.
- Where do you see yourself in the far future?
Doing work that needs creativity. Being in good shape. Not valuing material things too much yet never being in need for them. Living with my girl and pug somewhere where we are happy while doing things that we enjoy.
- Your favorite quote.
I am really not a quote guy, every time I hear that „It’s not about how many times you get hit, it’s about how many times you get hit and keep moving blah-blah“ I want to vomit (“Rocky” is a classic tho). But actually one quote I remember:
„So how did I make my first million dollars? I bought 100$ of goods, sold it for 200$. Then bought 200$ worth of goods, sold it for 400$. Then my uncle died and left me 1 Million.”
Cheers,
Mikk
Translator: Triin Tikk
Photo: Mikk Jürisson
Editor: Kart Mättikas