PTA Degree
CF Level 1
Burgner Strength Cert
Adaptive and Inclusive Training Cert
Basic Life Support Cert
Fitness has always been a part of my life growing up. My parents instilled a love of being active in my sisters and I from the beginning, and that has never left me. I participated in school sports (volleyball, soft ball, and cross country) throughout middle school and high school. I was never one to win awards or certificates, but I learned to be a team player in ball sports and how to tap into my mental strength and internal motivation during cross country. My strength was never my performance but my consistency, which has continued to serve me in life inside and outside of the gym. I participated in Cross Training whenever my parents would let me tag along and eventually asked for a membership for Christmas one year. I have stuck with it ever since and eventually become a coach in November of 2019. My parents and I still love working out together and they even take me seriously when I am their coach. What I have learned in my short 21 years of life as a middle of the pack gal is that perspective makes all the difference. Your perspective of yourself can focus on your effort, grit, consistency, and progress. Your perspective can also hone in on your failures, lack of skill, and how you rank when compared to others. I have learned that to enjoy the process you have to embrace perspective number 1 while maintaining a healthy appetite for progress.
One big turning point in my life happened for me my sophomore year of high school. I had an unhealthy standard for beauty and bodies as many young girls struggle with. I developed an eating disorder trying to grasp something I didn’t realize I would never reach nor would ever bring happiness and satisfaction. I was terribly exhausted and depressed eating 500 calories a day while participating in volleyball, cross country, and Fitness. I got lectured by many people, but it was the women in my Fitness community that helped me begin to view beauty differently. Instead of wanting to be as tiny as possible I began to desire strength. I saw the joy they got from making progress and feeling healthy. I learned that fitness is not a body type but truly is a lifestyle and one that I learned to crave. I remember the deciding moment happened for me at one of my cross country meets. It finally clicked for me that I was never going to see progress, never going to be able to celebrate gains, never going to feel strong or powerful if I didn’t make a change both physically and mentally. It was there before that race that I chose strength.
The reason I coach is to help people find passion in fitness and a craving for progress. My favorite part of coaching is watching others learn to love this lifestyle as much as me. I love seeing people who have felt intimidated to start their fitness journey finally take that leap and join their first class or one on one session. It is rewarding to see them realize that while it may be challenging, they can do it and they are not alone in their current phase of fitness. I love seeing high level athletes and beginner athletes all working out together, encouraging each other, celebrating wins together, and craving progress together. That craving is what breeds consistently and results and instilling that in others is my purpose for coaching.
