Today is Labor Day, and I’m celebrating hard work. But I’m also celebrating friendship.

Because building something on your own is not the same satisfaction as building it with someone who shares your goals, fuels your passion, and wants to keep building greatness together.

Pavel Ythjall and I have been one strong team since we met in 2001.

We shared the immigrant adventure. We made a name for ourselves in the United States of America together. We worked hard, built careers, and created things that neither of us could have done the same way alone.

He has documented nearly my entire career, helped create the fitness image you know me for, and taught me how to become stronger in front of the camera.

But what I value most is that we never stopped building.

Pavel is disciplined, focused, and creative. He shows up. No excuses. He doesn’t sit on old merits and think they will last forever. He keeps evolving, and that fuels me too.

He is my best friend and former business partner. I know his loyalty, his honesty, and the kind of person he is when the work needs to get done.

That is what I mean by finding people who share your mindset.

Not people who just talk about what they want to do. People who actually DO it.

People who fuel your passions, keep you motivated, and want to see you succeed while they keep building their own lives.

Being alone building is not the same satisfaction as having united minds that want to build greatness together.

And we have more to do than sit around talking about the past.

Pavel, thank you for the friendship, the hard work, and everything we have built together.

We’re not done.

Pauline Nordin