Tavi Castro

Octavio Maginnis Castro (born February 3rd 1990), known professionally as Tavi Castro is a Mexican-born Dutch-Canadian body builder, DJ/music producer, entrepreneur and former soccer player who currently lives in The Netherlands. Castro has won international bodybuilding titles and has a sizable social media following. He is sometimes also called the “Arnold Schwarzenegger” of The Netherlands.

Early life and education

Octavio Maginnis Castro better known as Tavi Castro was born on February 3rd 1990 in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the age of 4 Castro and his family moved to Canada and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. Castro played soccer for the majority of his youth and even made it to the Canadian Youth National team where he played as a midfielder on the u-16 and u-20 teams. At the age of 17 he moved to Europe to pursue a professional soccer career. In The Netherlands Castro has played for youth teams of several notable clubs such as FC Dordrecht, FC Cambuur and Vitesse. Castro also attended University while playing soccer in The Netherlands. The combination of studying and playing professional soccer was difficult due to a hectic 10 hour a day study schedule. At age 18 he left soccer to focus on his study. Castro has a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace engineering from the TU Delft (Technische Universiteit Delft) and is completing his Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Career

During his soccer days Castro regularly went to the gym. After leaving soccer he continued to train at the gym to maintain his conditioning. After years of fitness training Castro moved to bodybuilding. Without the aid of a coach, he taught himself how to maximize his body naturally without the use of anabolic steroids by reading many books on the subject matter and constantly testing what works. He started doing bodybuilding competitions as a way of earning some cash. Castro is also the founder and CEO of Body Engineers International. A company that provides fitness and bodybuilding training and advice. Body Engineers International started as a project in 2012 to help students and business individuals with busy schedules get fit and improve their health. Now it is an online platform where Castro teaches the most important principles of building a great physique and provides health and fitness information to his students. Tavi Castro is also co-founder and co-owner together with Lazar Angelov, of sports clothing brand 4INVICTUS. With his newfound wealth and experience Castro wants to providing financial and promotional support for upcoming fitness athletes. In September 2016, Castro signed with Netherlands based Electronic Dance Music label Spinnin’ Records launching his career as DJ and music producer.

Awards

Castro has won the following body building titles

• 2012 Musclemania Junior Champion Europe 1st Place
• 2012 Musclemania Junior Champion Britain 1st Place and 2nd Place in the Category Fitness Modeling
• 2012 Musclemania World Model Overall Champion USA 1st Place

Personal life

On the morning of january 25th 2016 while driving on the A2 highway Castro was involved in a car accident. According to his management, Castro’s drove on the A2 highway in his Maserati GranTurismo when his car slipped and collided with two other cars and then came to a stop at the crash barrier. Luckily he walked away from it with only a concussion and a few minor injuries. In a interview with dutch business magazine Quote Castro implied, among other things, that his ex-girlfriend Sandra Prikker was the cause of the accident. He said he was tired and that he was thinking about the stranded relationship with his ex-girlfriend and business partner Sandra Prikker who is also a fitness personality in the Netherlands. In the interview he said that they were business partners but she did not feel like it anymore after he had helped her to make it big. He said Prikker was working in the hospitality industry before they met and now she is earning 10000 to 15000 euros per month with promotional work and as a designer for his company. She's still involved, but not in the office anymore. After reading the magazine article Prikker got furious and decided to leave the company altogether. On august 24th 2017, Tavi Castro and his current girlfriend Bulgarian fitness model and entrepreneur Yanita Yancheva became the parents of their baby daughter Avia Castro.

Popularity

Castro has a big fanbase on social media with close to 8 million followers on Facebook and 2.2 million followers on Instagram. Nochtli Peralta Alvarez, a former police officer, became a fitness model and social media sensation after being discovered and scouted by Castro. In 2017 Alavarez was named most beautiful woman in the Netherlands by FHM500 Magazine. Castro continues to work with Alvarez on furthering her modeling and fitness career.