Thrive Like a Mother Podcast
I'm Ebony and I'm a mama to 3 beautiful souls. I'm learning how navigate my trauma healing while building the life I never dreamed was possible. I'm a survivor of childhood abuse and for the longest time, I believed that if anyone knew my story, I wouldn't be worthy of love. Many years later and now I know that it far from the truth.
On the Thrive Like a Mother podcast, I'll share the resources and tools I use on the daily to cultivate a healthy mindset break the wheel of survival. Here we're about honesty and transparency. Because at the root of it all, my purpose in creating this podcast is so that you know you are never alone in your journey.
There may be laughter, there may be tears and we'll do it all by linking arms and learning to thrive together.
Thrive Like a Mother Podcast
Whole Health Over Hype with Miles Richards
What if your strongest years are still ahead because you stopped training for the mirror and started training for your life? We sit down with trainer and entrepreneur Miles Richards of Rich Work to unpack how a brutal Achilles tear, constant overwork, and a faith-led reset transformed his approach from aesthetics to stewardship.
Miles takes us through his commitment to the grind that led to injury and the moment he realized he wasn’t practicing what he preached. From there, we get the blueprint for sustainable fitness:
- treat rest like training
- build stress relief into your week
- honor the unsexy habits that make results possible
For moms carrying a heavy mental load, Miles offers a refreshing start line: choose what you like first, then build momentum with 10‑minute wins, playful movement with your kids, and the “read and react” method to stay consistent when schedules shift.
We tackle comparison head-on, especially around postpartum “bounce backs,” and reframe the narrative toward self-love and purpose. Miles shares simple strength markers plus realistic nutrition, recovery, and mindset cues you can actually follow.
Faith threads it all together as he frames fitness as stewardship. Caring for the body that lets you protect, provide, and be present for the people you love.
If you’re ready to stop chasing shortcuts and start building strength that lasts, this conversation gives you practical steps and a grounded mindset to keep working with compassion.
Thank you so much for listening in! If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world to me if you left a review or shared it with a friend. And don’t forget to tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me spread the word.
Follow and chat with me on Instagram:
Podcast account - @thrivelikeamother.podcast
Personal account - @thrive.empowered
Sending you light and love always!
We spend a lot of time focused on the outside, but we're not looking at the whole picture. Like you see so-and-so, and they look good, but you didn't see that. They meal prep this week. They stretched when they got home. They uh stress relief with meditation or talking to their therapist, or like they're doing all of these things to cover these areas, and you only hit the gym.
SPEAKER_00:Hey love, I'm Ebony, and welcome to Thrive Like a Mother. On this podcast, we're here for our food, but that's you're right, you feel like you're ready to go and what possible. Let's bring the arms and drive together.
SPEAKER_01:Hey loves, welcome to another episode of the Thrive Like a Mother Podcast. And I'm really excited for our guest today. We have Miles Richards. He's a trainer, he's an entrepreneur building rich work, which is a faith-based driven fitness brand. And now it's all about really staying active for life, not just the aesthetics. And I'm excited for y'all to hear his perspective because he is really about making sure that your goals are not just about vanity, but really for long-term health. How do we stay healthy on this earth with all the years that we have? Uh, so we're gonna really jump right in because when I asked you, Miles, about what season of life that you're in, you talked about how this one is one where you're rebuilding and things. So can you uh talk about just your journey right now with your injury, growing your business, and really like deepening your walk side?
SPEAKER_03:Okay, so basically I started training right after college in 2018. I was doing basketball training solely, so no personal training, aesthetics, none of that, just getting young athletes ready. And then around the time of COVID, I tore my patel attendance. So I couldn't train basketball anymore, and I had to switch, and the only thing other that I could do is tell people to do squats. So I was like, all right, we can do personal training. I'm already a big athlete, and I've been doing that for a while. So it was really just a switch over to athletes to trying to get other people to be athletes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so the pandemic hit, I tore my fatel attending, and then I started training more people. I trained one of my friends, and she wanted to get a big butt, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So that started the journey, and then people was like, oh what? You did that for her, help me. And then one of my friends came back from uh he played college ball and he had an injury, so I helped him fix the injury. And then it's like, oh, you can do that too. And I was like, Well, now I can, so let's keep going. And then we started there. Um, so then recently I taught my Achilles just from doing too much. So I want to be an athlete, but you need rest, and now I'm learning to take your time. Like, for example, Saturdays, I don't work on Saturdays anymore because before I would work seven days a week, train everybody, and not take no breaks.
SPEAKER_01:And yeah, we need breaks.
SPEAKER_03:We learned all of that through these last 10 years, and um, hopefully we have no more injuries, but now we're in a space where I can slow down and focus on the community aspect. So I did the basketball, we did the aesthetics, and now I'm finding that people don't realize after like 40, you should still be healthy. They think 25, I gotta look good, 30, I got kids, I still gotta look good. And then when you get old, it's like, okay, well, I look good. My dad had a stroke, my uncle had some uncles had some problems. I'm like, everybody's gotta do better. So that's the goal now.
SPEAKER_01:That I love that. So how let's talk about your most recent injury. How did that shift how you just think about movement and health? I know we talked about, you know, as we're getting older, we have to keep it up. Like, you know, our bodies. I know one of my friends, she talks about this. Like, our bodies are machines, right? We should care for them as such and you know, do upkeep. Um how did things shift for you when out of your account?
SPEAKER_03:I like that your friend said upkeep because I realized I wasn't doing my upkeep. So I'm telling everybody to, you know, rest, recover, stretch, hydrate. Yeah, but I'm missing some key parts that led to my injuries. Um I played in a basketball league, right? I play basketball. Play in a basketball league on Sundays. I also trained basketball, so I played more basketball during the week. Yeah. And I was forgetting the rest part. So I was piling up just like little hurting feelings like, oh, my ankle feel off or my quads feel a little tight, but ignoring it because I got stuff to do.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And then we won the championship of the league, and then right after that, I went to go play in another league. So, but the championship of this league, so let me explain. Just so you understand. So you probably should do like a hundred and something minutes a week or a day of activity. And I did Friday, we had practice from two hours. Then Saturday, I went and ref two basketball games. So instead of playing basketball, I'm running up and down the court. And then Sunday, we had to play best of three, so we had to win twice to win the championship. So we did that. And then Tuesday, I went and started the next league.
SPEAKER_02:So I had no rest at all.
SPEAKER_03:And then Tuesday, they needed me. It was like tied up at the third quarter. I went to make a move and then my leg just exploded. And my brother, he already tore his Achilles, so I like I seen three Achilles tears right in front of me, and I'm like, Yeah. Oh yeah. As soon as it happened, pop, I'm like, Yeah. Should have sat my ass down. But as soon as I didn't do that, so now looking back when I was, as soon as it happened, my first immediate was uh thought was, You're right, Lord, I should have sat down. Like, why did I come play? I would, I was tired. There's not even a good league. I just wanted to do something. I just should have sat my ass down. Going through that injury, I realized people, we spend a lot of time focused on the outside, but we're not looking at the whole picture. Like, you see so-and-so, and they look good, but you didn't see that. They meal prep this week. They stretch when they got home, they uh stress relief with meditation or talking to their therapist, or like they're doing all of these things to cover these areas, and you only hit the gym.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, like, oh, this must be what they're doing. That's it.
SPEAKER_03:We just did some squats, and now you got the abs in the there's a whole layer, like, even relationships. Who you who's supporting me? So all of that, I was like, okay, we gotta change my training to match the lifestyle of most people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_03:Everybody not LeBron, so we can't afford just to have somebody tell you what to do, but you should you should know what it is.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. All right, so as y'all can see, we're in the gym, we're in the gym, we're at Rich Works. Can you talk to us about what inspired you really to start this gym, to start the Rich Works movement? Like, where did that come from?
SPEAKER_03:So when I was in high school, I was trying to make the high school team. I didn't. But me and my cousin, Jason, we were training at LA Fitness. So right after high school, I was like, well, I still want to make the team, so let me try to try out for college. Still didn't make the team, but every morning, 5 a.m., 6 a.m., we're getting up, going to LA Fitness. Yeah. And then one of my pros, Long Live NJ, he started coming with us. And then after a couple weeks, he was like, you know, we gotta get that work in. We on Instagram, of course. He's like, no, we gotta get that work in that. What's your lap? That rich work. So he just named it right then and there. So then after that, um, we kept the name ever since. And then right after in college, that's when I figured out I wanted to do exercise science. And then after that, uh, me and my cousin started in Snailville training basketball, doing camps and clinics, and then it just grew from there. So from Georgia State, Snailville, now me and Lilbert.
SPEAKER_01:Love it. I love it. Okay. So I know there are a lot of moms, they are either on their finished journey or thinking about starting. And for a lot of us, it's like, oh, it's just that like one more overwhelming thing that we have to do. You know, like the mental load of moms is insane.
SPEAKER_03:I can only imagine.
SPEAKER_01:Where can a mom that's listening to this right now, where can they realistically start? If they're feeling already feeling overwhelmed about, oh my gosh, I need to get in the gym. I don't know where to start.
SPEAKER_03:I wouldn't start in the gym, I would start with something you like to do. So if you don't have anything you like to do, which is the problem that I see most people have, is they don't even know what who they are or what they like to do. So I like to play basketball. I like to, I like competition. So if you give me anything and you say, I bet you can't, I'm there. So that's me. That's how I know I'm gonna get myself motivated. If I need to work out, I say, I bet you can't do 50, and then now I'm on the floor doing 50 push-ups. That's just me. Some people, they like music. They play some music, now they're ready to go. Some people, they need peace and quiet. You give them 10 minutes in the car, they're ready to go. Some people don't like to exercise at all, but that doesn't mean you don't do it. You just need to find out what's gonna get you to exercise. So do you need a reward? Do you need to go to TJ Maxx and buy a headphone set so you can listen to your I don't know. But find something you like to do and then that will give you some motivation to start.
SPEAKER_01:I love that. I love that. Well, you just said, don't just show up in the gym and just wait. We don't even like coming to the gym.
SPEAKER_02:Let's just start somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So, um, how can we help our listeners reframe? I always hear people talk about, oh my gosh, just had a baby, look how fast she bounced back, or they get into this mode of how can I fix my body? How can we help them reframe that mindset?
SPEAKER_03:From going from my body needs fixing to something that's more coming from, you know, a place of energy and confidence. Harrison first is a thief of joy, so stop comparing yourself to whoever you've seen on Instagram. I know there's one person I watch is Mecca. Mecca Day, she just had a baby and everybody's watching. Oh, she snapped back fast, but Mecca's been an athlete for 20 years. So it's easy for her body to do that. You have never ran a mile, and you want your body to go from what it was before to something it's never been. So stop comparing yourself to other people, is the first part. The second part is love yourself. So stop comparing yourself and then love yourself because the situation you got in is not because you don't love yourself, you love your kids. So now it goes from I'm not so-and-so, I'm me. And because I'm me, I love myself enough to take care of myself. There's nothing wrong with your body. Maybe you got some fat, but everybody got some fat. I got some fat, right? So it's not that you need to fix anything. It's just God put us here for a reason, and part of that reason is to take care of what he gave us. What he gave us was our body. And so if you don't work out, your body deteriorates quite literally. So you kind of have to work out in order to do whatever it is your purpose is.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:If you don't, you won't be in shape, and if you're in shape, you can't help nobody. So that's why no comparison, love yourself. This is something that you have to do every day, like brush your teeth.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:If you don't brush your teeth every day, then we got new problems.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's a different area. Go see somebody for help about it. Please. Okay. Um let's move on to consistency because we're talking about, you know, starting with something you love, reframing that mindset of, you know, don't beat yourself up. You know, you are who you are. Everybody's body is different, everybody's journey is different. But consistency, that is something that can be hard for moms. Can we speak to that? Um, I know definitely for me, three but three babies, every single fitness journey after I've had a baby has been completely different. And I've, you know, sometimes I've gotten a mode and been like, like, this used to work, like, let me try this. And it was not, it didn't work, right? So, how how can we talk and share just some strategies on how to keep showing up even when things are like not perfect, things are crazy.
SPEAKER_03:I think, so again, I train basketball, so read and react is something that we go over often. So reading the situation and reacting to what is presented to you and how things happen is the way that you stay consistent. So it's not gonna look the same week to week, month to month. You got kids that are growing and their attitudes are changing, their schedules are changing, your temperament is changing. So reading the room and adjusting to what is being presented to you is the first part of staying consistent, I think. So find out what your schedule is, and then when something comes up, adjust your schedule. Every workout don't gotta be an hour, it could be 10 minutes, it could be just a stretch. It could be one movement that you've been practicing. So I think staying consistent is about keeping moving. So, yes, you do have to do specific exercises to get specific goals, but as far as movement goes, that's something you can do every day. If you sat down all day, stand up. If you did not do a squat, if you ooh, involve your kids too. So do that part. Play with your kids. They are creative enough to make you do something you'd be like, I ain't did that in 20 years.
SPEAKER_01:They're so flexible.
SPEAKER_03:Oh boy.
SPEAKER_01:There's so many times I can't deal with the girls as much anymore, but I will literally use Henry as a there we go.
SPEAKER_03:Use your kids. They want to be thrown in the air and flipped upside down and all of that. So that could be your weight right there, especially if they're getting bigger.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely. So, how how does your faith uh inform your approach to fitness and your coaching as well?
SPEAKER_03:I would say God gave me this body. And I always think back to the Garden of Eden when he set Adam in charge of everything. So we're called to be good stewards. So he was set in charge of everything on earth, including his own body. So if I take care of everything else except for this thing that I'm in, and it's the only thing that allows me to take care of everything else, then I'm gonna be in trouble when it starts to go bad, because then I can't take care of whatever else he gave me. So hopefully one day I start a family. If I'm not in shape, they don't have my protection, they don't have my provision. So it's like, you gotta be in shape to take care of whatever it is you gotta do. So that's how my faith plays a role. Like he gave me this vessel, and I can either abuse it or I can use it. And when I abuse it, everything's not good for me. So that abuse is gonna give me consequences, and I really don't want the consequences anymore.
SPEAKER_01:How's that? Okay, so rapid fire. I like to do like fun questions uh with my guests. And so, first one, what is your like go-to quick meal or snack after a workout?
SPEAKER_03:Um, a smoothie. I just throw stuff in there or rice and chicken. Rice and uh specifically popcorn chicken from Walmart is in a blue bag, it's fried already. Yes, I do eat fried food. Okay, and a lot of sauce.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, I love sauces. I don't know why people are like, don't put sauce on it. Y'all use the sauce, season your food.
SPEAKER_03:Use your sauce, please. Make you eat it.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. And I've been following you for a while now, Miles, and I swear, like every time I come on your page, you are doing some like crazy workout move, and I'm like, mmm, I might try that, I might not. But what is one of your favorite workout moves right now? It could be crazy, it could be simple.
SPEAKER_03:When you say workout moves, like specific exercise or in general, something that I like?
SPEAKER_02:Maybe both.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Right now, my favorite is the squat. You need to be able to squat. So any type of squat. Deep squat, zertry squat, high bar squat, low bar squat, gobbler squat, squat. And then crazy move, I'm learning how to use a bow staff. So I just learned how to twirl it a little bit. That was pretty cool. I might post it later. We'll see.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I know they would love to see that. Okay, so are you are you someone who does like to listen to music while they're gonna do it?
SPEAKER_03:I listen to music all 24-7. I'm never not. I don't even know why we're not actually we listen to music right now, but it's just a I'm listening to music all the time.
SPEAKER_01:All right, so what is a song that is like never gonna leave your your playlist? Like that's always your constant. That one song.
SPEAKER_03:The one song that's in every playlist. J. Cole is in every playlist. Even the gospel playlist.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna say cold summer.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:That's like a relaxing song. Like, yeah, no matter what vibe I'm in, I'm in a crunk vibe, smooth workout vibe, I can play cold summer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. It has been all right, and last one, what is a model that you live by in the season?
SPEAKER_03:Model that I live by. Keep working. No matter what the problem is, or you gotta keep working no matter what. Like even when you get to the answer, you still gotta keep going.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So it's yeah, always.
SPEAKER_03:You stay consistent for a month, okay. Keep working. You didn't raise your kids till they was 18, okay. Keep working. They got kids to raise of their own and they still need your help.
SPEAKER_01:That's true.
SPEAKER_03:You made your goal of losing 20 pounds, okay, keep working. The 20 pounds could come back. True. It has happened to me.
SPEAKER_02:All right, so keep working.
SPEAKER_01:Don't stop. All right, so if you could leave our listeners with one message today about fitness, self-care, anything like that, what would it mean?
SPEAKER_03:Okay, I know everybody tells y'all to start in the kitchen, and that's true, but I would say go deeper than that and stop looking for other people to tell you what to do and where to start and look inward. Look at yourself because you're the only person that knows what you can do. Like other people can look at you and be like, oh, I bet they could know, but you know what you could do. So if you are starting your journey and if it's lose 20 pounds or something crazy, like do a backflip like me, you still gotta look at yourself and be like, all right, I tried this, it didn't work. You either try the same thing and you're insane, or you try something else and then you figure it out. It's either gonna work or it's not gonna work. And then that keep working part is either worked or it didn't work. So keep doing it or change it and do something else. But don't do the same thing over and over again. You started your journey, you fell off. You started your journey, you fell off. Okay, that's not working. You personally cannot start a journey and continue the journey. So choose another path. Hire a trainer. It may work, it may not. You may like the trainer, and then you might get results, and then you know, okay, well, I got the trainer, I got the results, let me keep going with the trainer. Or I got the trainer, I got the results, I know what to do, let me keep going. It's either gonna work or it's not gonna work. But don't keep doing the things that don't work. Don't go online, see somebody with a waist trainer, and then you get the waist trainer, but your waist is not training, and then you keep wearing the waist trainer. That don't make no sense. Obviously, lied to you. Don't go online, see somebody do 30 leg raises a day and tell you that you're gonna get abs. You do 30 leg raises a day, you don't get abs, and then you're like, oh, it must be the 30 leg raises. No, you do something else, yeah. Read and react. That's what I leave y'all with. Read and react.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So tell the people where they can connect with you. Instagram, websites. Of course, I'm gonna link these in the show notes too, but I try to keep everything simple.
SPEAKER_03:Miles the trainer or miles the trainer underscore. Business name, Rich Work, RichworkLc.com. Everything, even the other trainers that I work with should be on there. Got Coach DJ, shout out. Uh Coach Jason, Coach Tay, Coach Maya. Any other Coach Evaniz, you're supposed to be helping my clients sooner or later. So Miles the Trainer or Miles the Trainer underscore and Rich Work.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Thank you. It was an honor. Thank you for inviting me. I hope you come back. Yeah. I come pull up to the house. Yeah, yeah, you gotta help me out. Yeah. I've been working out at home for I don't know, even since I had Olivia, who is now seven, and haven't really been consistently in the gym.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, let me ask y'all just for all the ladies out here, how heavy do you lift?
SPEAKER_01:No, the most you ever dead lift. Oh, that's a hard one. I would say at my peak, I got to at least 30 with a um like a chest press. That was heaviest for me. And I was my peak. We're not there yet.
SPEAKER_03:If you train with me, woman, man, child, dog, you're gonna be trying to lift your body weight. That's the goal. If you can lift your body weight in any exercise, you are strong and you're probably gonna be in good shape. So, whatever your body weight is, yeah, maybe not chest press, but deadlift, squat.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Maybe a rope, but if you try to lift heavy, I've been seeing too many women lift 15 pounds above their head. All right, the third month in a row. 15. You just have to keep increasing.
SPEAKER_01:To a certain extent.
SPEAKER_03:But yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Thank you, Mrs. E. Thank you, thank you. And y'all remember it's not about perfection. Miles has really taught us today that it's really just about showing up for yourself with love, with compassion, with grace, and then keep showing up in a way that feels good and sustainable.
SPEAKER_00:Amen. Thank you so much for listening. If anything in today's episode resonated with you, share it with your bestie or share it on social media and tag me so we can chat about it. As always, any light and love and remember you are worthy, you are enough, and you deserve subscribe.
