I lost my father to suicide when I was 14. It taught me at a young age that life is short and to always tell others you love them. Today I work to raise awareness and help those in need – whether it’s mental, physical or spiritual growth that’s needed to help live their healthiest and happiest life.

Somewhere between losing my father and going through a divorce in 2008, I lost myself. After starting an incredible health journey in 2015, I have found how important it is to love myself and be as kind to myself as I would be a friend or loved one.

My hope and prayer in sharing my journey – which has been full of ups and downs – is that others will be inspired to slide out of the passenger’s seat and grab hold of the steering wheel as they fully experience the adventure that is this life.

I grew up with an active lifestyle playing baseball, soccer and running track. Being so active, I didn’t really understand or appreciate good, clean nutrition and pretty much ate whatever I wanted – which was pretty much a palette of a toddler: chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, carbs and ALL the sweets.

After my divorce, I worked to re-discover who I was and always felt there was more to life that I wasn’t quite embracing. I met my husband in June 2008 and he sparked my interest in fitness again. Even when we were first dating, he encouraged me to take care of myself – something I wasn’t very good at doing. Being a working mom to two kids, I felt like taking time to workout and take care of myself was being selfish and was time I couldn’t afford away from my family.

What I hadn’t considered is that while I was trying to accommodate the needs of everyone else, I was starving my own body, mind, and soul of the quality sustenance we all need to grow and flourish.

In 2012, I started doing CrossFit and found that I really loved lifting weights. It became a huge stress reliever for me and helped me tremendously when my husband deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. The challenge, discipline, and routine of the practice helped build confidence and stamina in ways I had never experienced before.

I moved away from my CrossFit gym in January 2015 and began working out on my own at the Air Force base gym. I printed off workouts from the Internet and did my best to find solutions to reach my goals. I struggled so much with my diet and nutrition. I researched a TON and never really found a good plan to follow that allowed me to live my busy lifestyle without starving myself. I admit I over-trained and didn’t consume enough calories. It left me feeling sluggish, tired and with various health problems (migraines/headaches, hypoglycemia, digestive issues, and sleeplessness.)

I eventually reached a point when my hectic schedule didn’t allow for me to consistently make it to the gym and it led to a lot of frustration and depression. I was desperate for a solution so I sought out a home workout program. To my astonishment, I saw better results in 60 days than I had in 3 years of other workouts at the gym. Here I thought working out at home was just Sweatin’ to the Oldies! I didn’t need a gym membership or a personal trainer to get in shape. Since I now workout at home (and even on vacation, which I NEVER thought I’d be one of “those” people), my whole family is on board. Our home has turned into our Wellness Center and has been such a positive influence for our whole family. We workout together. We meal prep and plan together. The kids are even now involved in helping with my business of coaching others to live their healthiest and happiest lives.

We see our business, Glad Warrior Fitness, as a calling – and privilege – to help others discover, embrace, and cultivate their warrior within. Feeling healthy, strong, and confident is the fuel that empowers us to live our best lives.

Coaching has completely transformed every aspect of my life for the better. I am constantly learning from my clients and find it so rewarding to meet individuals where they are right now in their journey, to coach and guide them in growing mentally, physically and spiritually.

My story is long, imperfect and full of detours. I’m thankful for every step of the journey because it’s brought me where I am today. Transforming your body, mind, and soul doesn’t have to be overly complicated – sometimes you just need someone in your corner cheering you on and giving you a path to reach your goals and that’s my greatest joy in being a Coach. My greatest blessing is to help others discover their best self and learn to live in the power, beauty, and courage they were born to represent.

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