The vegan lifestyle expert and Hollywood mogul, Shaka Smith, brings awareness around healthy eating and why it's important to stay on top of a clean diet.
Smith is a former body builder who is most known as ‘shakastrong’ on social media. He became a successful Men’s Physique competitor within the NPC. Growing up he played water polo and took part in swimming throughout his high school years.
As he progressed in his fitness journey, he moved to Los Angeles in 2011. Ever since then, Smith's career has taken off, with a new docu-reality series titled The Getaway Los Angeles coming to BTV Studios soon.
The series follows a group of friends who are looking to build their professional endeavors. The core of the group consists of transplants from across the nation, moving to Los Angeles to pursue a better life - not only in their careers but in their personal lives too.
The trailer has garnered over 20K views so far, and collected interest from bloggers on numerous websites like T! News.
Because of the great physique he was able to build, Smith has gone on to achieve success in his fitness career – finishing in 1st place in competitions such as the 2011 NPC San Francisco Championships, and the 2012 NPC Gold Coast Muscle Classic.
Earlier in life, Smith was diagnosed with Hemophilia, a medical condition in which the ability of the blood to clot is severely reduced, causing the sufferer to bleed severely from even a slight injury.
Smith has been faced with many challenges like this one, but never allows it to get in his way of success. He has even hosted numerous shows at Afterbuzz, including his own fitness podcast that helps motivate his audience to stay fit and to keep healthy. It's clear Smith takes pride in bettering those around him.
Recently he took part in the charity LifeDriven Foundation, where he posted on Instagram "Great day of love benefiting LifeDriven Foundation, Inc and their mission to provide financial assistance to children fighting cancer." He then went on to thank Jamie Foxx and a small team for their impact in the charity and his invite to take part in the event.
The Princeton alum started his own charity as well, currently focused on having a hand in cleaning the beachfronts in Santa Monica and surrounding areas. His charity, Beryl Foundation, has partnered with Save Our Surf to regularly take action.
"The earth is what we all have in common," Shaka posted on Instagram one week ago promoting his efforts to combat the pollution across the beach. He even asked for more people to get involved, posting, "...see you September 10th Tower 26 Santa Monica 11am-1pm."
But that's not the only activity he's looking to get his foundation involved in. A source close to Smith told BTV Insider he's wanting to host other events too. Smith has much focus on a variety of new business endeavors, many of which include promoting a healthy lifestyle and helping give back.
Check back for more about Smith and his new series, The Getaway Los Angeles, announcing a premiere date soon.