A 15-year veteran in the health and wellness industry, Fatima Batook is motivating women in Saudi Arabia to lead a more balanced life, while blazing trails for future generations of female fitness professionals. When she was 19, Fatima signed up for a Spin class at her local gym, where a motivational instructor inspired her to test the limits of her physicality. After that class, she set out on a path toward achieving her own personal health and fitness goals, while making it her mission to use exercise as a tool to liberate and empower women and girls in her country.

In 2013, Fatima began a lobbying campaign where she presented case studies to government officials on the importance of sporting facilities to combat the rising rates of obesity among women in the community. She spoke about the role exercise can play in empowering women to reach their potential and the subsequent benefits that physical activity can have on society as a whole. Through her advocacy efforts, the government officially sanctioned sporting facilities for women. In 2015, Fatima opened the country’s first female-only Spinning and Fitness Studio in Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia, and a second branch in Jeddah two years later.