Meet Ilver Villasmil

We were lucky to catch up with Ilver Villasmil recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ilver , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I see life through passion, through what is essential. I don’t see it the way many people do because, to me, life is too short to waste it on something that doesn’t fulfill me.

Resilience, for me, comes from knowing that I’m on my path. When you do what you love, when you follow what truly moves you, no obstacle is strong enough to stop you completely. Of course, you’ll fall many times, but the fact that you’re moving in the right direction is what pushes you to get up, learn what you need, and keep going.

Many people spend years, even half their lives, in jobs they don’t love, simply because they were necessary. And one day, they wake up and realize they’ve been postponing what they truly wanted to do. I don’t want to live that way. To me, the key is aligning what you love with what you do—turning your passion into your work. Because when you’re on that path, everything makes sense, and any challenge becomes part of the process, not a roadblock.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Chapter 1: The Beginning of EPSE

Life always finds ways to teach us profound lessons. As Nelson Mandela once said, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” This quote became my mantra when, in 2009, during the World Taekwondo Championship, I suffered a devastating injury. My leg was broken in two parts, destroying both my tibia and fibula. At that moment, as I struggled to overcome both the physical and emotional pain, I never imagined that this same experience would lead me to create something that would change my life and the lives of others: EPSE.

I am Ilver Villasmil, born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, on April 15, 1985. From a very young age, sports were my passion, and Taekwondo became my life. Before becoming a high-performance athlete, I tried many sports, including boxing, which my father, an artist with multiple talents, taught me from the age of three. However, Taekwondo caught me in a special way. At just 10 years old, I decided to train at the School of Sports Training in Barquisimeto, Lara State, and from that day, my athletic life began to take shape.

My inspiration has always been Bruce Lee, the great martial arts master, and it was he who motivated me to follow the path of Taekwondo. Over the years, I joined the national Taekwondo team and represented Venezuela in international competitions. But in 2009, while fighting to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, life gave me a harsh lesson: a serious leg fracture. Not only was I physically broken, but I was broken inside as well. The feeling of watching my dream of representing Venezuela in the Olympics crumble was devastating.

When I returned to Venezuela, I was determined not to let that tragedy defeat me. I remember that moment on the plane, sitting next to my coach, as tears fell uncontrollably. The pain wasn’t just physical; it was the feeling that my dream was slipping away. But something inside me told me I had to rise. And I did.

The recovery process wasn’t easy. There were dark moments, but I also discovered an inner strength that pushed me to continue. The doctors told me I would never be the same again, but I refused to accept it. It was at that moment that I began to create exercises to rehabilitate my body but also to strengthen my mind. From that process, EPSE was born: Average, Superior, Expert Training.

EPSE wasn’t just a response to my rehabilitation. It was the manifestation of my experience as an athlete, as a coach, and as a human being who never gives up. Instead of following a traditional training path, I created a system that adapts to everyone, regardless of age or skill level. Since its creation, EPSE has been a powerful tool to transform lives. It is a comprehensive training, both physical and mental, that goes far beyond the limits of the body.

Chapter 2: The Journey to Miami

Emigrating from Venezuela wasn’t an easy decision. I was facing a country sunk in economic and political difficulties, and I knew that for EPSE to grow and reach its full potential, I had to take a leap. I was determined, though doubts and fears accompanied every thought, because the circumstances were not favorable, but the hope of achieving it remained alive.

I had already trained a friend in Houston, who had begun teaching EPSE classes at a combat gym. The gym had shown interest in having me teach directly, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to expand EPSE. However, the negotiations weren’t as fruitful as I had hoped, and I found myself in a dilemma: stay in Houston, with broken expectations, or risk taking a bigger step into the unknown, but with the firm conviction that only with courage could progress be made.

While in Houston and seeing how difficult the situation was, I realized that I needed to be somewhere with more opportunities, where fitness had a broader reach. It was then when, almost like a sign, a designer friend who lives in Miami, with whom I had worked in Venezuela on projects with models and beauty queens, called me. He asked for my help in training some models, and I saw the opportunity right away. So, with a suitcase full of dreams and the certainty that something big could happen, I moved to Miami. There, I began teaching the models, and almost instantly, I discovered the incredible energy that fitness had in the city, the vibrant culture surrounding it. It was at that moment that I knew Miami was the place I needed to be.

In my first year in the city, I toured various gyms, rented a car, and spent three months living in it while teaching classes and moving between the models’ homes and the gyms. I slept in the car, ate on the street, but I never lost hope of fulfilling my dream and finding a real opportunity. My purpose was to understand how the market worked, how gyms operated, and most importantly, how fitness was handled in Miami. That’s when I realized that my approach and the training method I was teaching were different from what I was seeing in the city, which gave me the clarity and conviction to keep going. I then discovered there was a real opportunity to open my own gym, with the certainty that I could offer something unique, something different.

I knew what my goal was, and I had a clear objective, but the path wasn’t easy. I started from scratch, so I decided to look for a gym where I could offer my EPSE classes and give people the opportunity to experience this lifestyle that had been born from my passion. My proposal was to partner with a gym that had the space, the time, and the willingness to teach the classes. I began searching tirelessly, but at first, it was all a failure. I found one, but it wasn’t the right fit, then I tried another, and that didn’t work either. Finally, after much persistence, I found a Taekwondo gym that gave me the opportunity to teach. There, I started teaching my classes, and now, with a year and a half of experience, the system is well established. People are getting to know it, and best of all, they really like it. This method is transforming not only people’s bodies but also their minds. I am currently still teaching at this gym, and every day I see the positive results in those who train with me, which fills me with satisfaction to see their progress.

In addition, I have the honor and pride of teaching at LA Fitness, a large and well-known chain that is undoubtedly one of the most prominent in the country. This opportunity is a dream come true, and I’m very happy to be part of such a solid institution. The fact that I can teach at this gym, in a country like the United States, which has such a unique fitness system and culture, is an experience I deeply value. It is a place where people are truly dedicated to transforming their lives, and being able to contribute to that process fills me with satisfaction.

Today, in Miami, EPSE has not only grown, but it has also evolved. The community that has formed around the system is a true “EPSE Family.” Every day, I help many people transform their lives, and that is the real success for me. The fight has never been against others, but against the limits we set for ourselves. My mission is to prove that anything is possible when we believe in ourselves because if we believe in our ability, we can achieve any goal.

Conclusion:

Deciding to emigrate and leave behind everything I knew was one of the toughest decisions I’ve made. But when I look back, I realize that every step, every sacrifice, every challenge, has been a life lesson. And now, with EPSE in Miami, I can say with complete confidence that the best is yet to come, that there is still more to achieve and more hearts to touch.

My message to all those who feel trapped by circumstances is this: never underestimate the power you have to change your destiny. Life may put us through tough tests, but those tests are only stepping stones toward success. If I could do it, you can too. What you need is to believe that every effort, every struggle, every moment of uncertainty is guiding the way to something much bigger.

Monday to Friday: EPSE Doral, Miami
Address: 8850 NW 13th Terrace #102, Doral, FL 33172
Schedule:
6:00 AM – 7:00 AM
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Break
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Saturdays: LA Fitness Flagler
Schedule:
9:40 AM – 10:40 AM

Sundays: Outdoor Classes
Sunday classes are special motivation sessions. We gather at the beach or in the park with the EPSE community to share our passion for fitness in a relaxed and open environment.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three most important qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge in my journey have been:
1. Discovering what truly excites you.
You can be good at many things, but if you don’t know what you’re passionate about, none of it will have meaning. Eventually, it will start to feel like torture. Finding what truly moves you is the first step to building a life with purpose.
2. Having a clear and well-structured plan.
Knowing what you love is not enough—you need a solid plan. Setting concrete goals and creating a strategy to reach them will give you direction and prevent you from wasting time on distractions.
3. Executing the plan with perseverance.
A plan without action is just an idea. The key is to move forward and never give up, because often, the best things happen in the toughest moments. Life has a way of testing you to see if you truly want something. If you quit at the first obstacle, maybe it wasn’t your real passion.

My advice for those just starting out:
Don’t give up. If you truly love something, you’ll find a way to make it happen. You can adjust the strategy, change the approach, but the goal remains the same. When you are truly passionate about something, there is an inner force that pushes you forward and lets you know you’re on the right path.

For me, training one person motivates me just as much as training ten or a hundred because what drives me is the act of helping others. When you do what you love, it’s not about numbers or recognition—it’s about the deep satisfaction of knowing you’re on the right path.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am looking for strategic partners who share my vision and commitment to excellence. My business model is based on offering an exclusive service through my methodology, EPSE, which is completely unique in its approach. You won’t find this method in any other gym in Miami or anywhere else in the world because it has been designed to naturally stand out from any other training system. More than just a method, EPSE is a lifestyle and a benchmark in the fitness industry, gradually gaining momentum in Miami.

To build and expand this concept, I seek partners with impeccable professional ethics and the level of commitment required to embark on a high-impact project. My goal is to create franchises since my system provides structured and replicable training for coaches. This model allows the EPSE methodology to expand not only across Miami but also to any part of the United States and the world.

In short, I am looking for partners who not only have a strong business vision but also truly believe in fitness innovation and are willing to be part of a movement that redefines the way people train and live their well-being.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.epsefitness.tv
• Instagram: Epsefitness

Image Credits

Ilver villasmil