“Are you the nanny?” 
I love this question! And boy did I hear it a lot after I gave birth to my SECOND set of twins! I’ve gotta admit, it was pretty awesome to see the shocked expressions when I fessed up – “No, I’m the mom! And yep, I am busy, busy, busy.”
But here’s the thing – motherhood isn’t going to stop me from having a strong, lean body that’s able to do just about anything I want it to. Mind over matter! And that’s key, especially when so many people told me that I would never “get my body back” after having TWO sets of twins. So what’s a competitive former college athlete and headstrong woman to do? Prove them wrong!
I’ve always had a love for health and fitness – it has always been a part of who I am. So why would it stop just because I had kids? I began running when I was 10 years old... I participated in soccer, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, cheerleading – basically any sport I could fit into my schedule.
But here’s what most people don’t know about me – I had a serious spine injury when I was 14 years old. As a freshman in high school, I was playing four sports and it proved to be too much for my lower spine. During a basketball game, I grabbed a rebound and came down hard. I didn’t walk for about 2 weeks. I went to a chiropractor twice a day for more than a year just to stay mobile! And it wasn’t until I started practicing Pilates that I truly found relief from my chronic low back pain.
At 26, I became a certified Pilates instructor. Pilates is a system of exercises designed to build strength in the core muscles for better posture, balance, and flexibility. I loved it so much! When I began my career as an expert, I was thrilled to be featured on a magazine cover, too!
After my first set of twins, I resigned from my job as an elementary music teacher (I loved teaching – especially those bright young faces whose love for music simply delighted me). As a new mama though, I wanted to focus on my family and I also wanted to turn my attention more toward my career as a Pilates instructor. 
While mastering motherhood, I dove deep into my part-time personal training position at Tarbell Pilates and took up running.
Every since my spine injury (and the chronic back pain that came with it), I had a passion for strengthening my core and back. One day I decided to channel that passion into a DVD series called “The Pilates Runner.” I am a firm believer that Pilates is essential for all runners who are interested in injury prevention and developing amazing core strength.
Fast forward... my first set of twins are 2 years old, and I find out that I’m pregnant with another set of twins. This was such a huge shock – to both me and my husband! Now I was REALLY determined to physically bounce back! And oh boy, did I need to rearrange some things in my life.
It’s called prioritization! I had to get organized, put first things first and discipline myself to set aside everything that didn’t fall under family, fun, faith, and fitness. Why? I wanted to be home and present with my children more often than not. I wanted to be the one to take care of them, to experience the precious stages of young life with them ---but I still had work to do. 
By this time, I had a full schedule of private and group classes in Pilates, private personal training, and fitness competition coaching. Plus, I was handling every aspect of my Pilates Runner online DVD business. Oh! And I was the pianist at our church every Sunday. Whew! Even with all this on my plate, I didn’t want to lose sight of the independent, fiery woman who had big personal goals! As a mom with four young children, I know how challenging it can be to find any time to take care of you. I have a pretty strong philosophy that will not surprise you: Mama’s self-care with fitness and health is a NECESSITY, not a luxury. If you’re doubting this, click here and let me help you get right-side up!
After attending some self-empowering workshops and conferences (shout out to Lori Harder, Angelike Psoinos Norrie, Danielle LaPorte, and Christy Calbos), and with my awesome husband’s encouragement, my second set of twins didn’t set me back. Instead, I found a way to strike a great balance with health, and I was rocking a world-class perspective on life. This was the spark that started my female fitness, health, and image empowerment programs – I dubbed then Women of Worth or “WOW.”
Why do I call this "Women of Worth"? Two main reasons: How you talk to yourself and what you do with your body will make or break you as a happy mama and wonder woman in this world!
I work and train with so many women who are just plain mean to themselves! They never cut themselves any slack, and there’s a constant stream of negative chatter inside their smart, gorgeous heads. This makes me sick and sad and makes me want to help them reverse all of that downward spiraling! I work with women who are simply confused by all the baloney floating around out there about food and working out. They need effective, fast, and easy ways to get this part of their lives handled! This is what gets me fired up to show them my expert tools.
I discovered the following psychological needs as I was teaching a women’s boot camp class and experimented with “chats” about:
- Believing they were worthy of living their dream life, or what I like to call a “WOW life”
- Believing they were worthy of cleansing their mind of negative thoughts and the life of negative people
- Believing they were worthy of clearing their schedule of things that didn’t serve their purpose and get them closer to their goals
- Believing they were worthy of scheduling time for fitness, health, and taking care of themselves
- Believing they were worthy of creating a life based on feeling amazing
These boot-campers loved the encouragement, and BOOM! WOW was created!
As a person who grew up “thick” (yes, other girls made fun of my “thunder thighs”) to becoming an expert trainer, cover model and national fitness title holder (2006 FAME WNSO Bikini Model PRO and 2013 Fitness Universe Tour Canadian Model Champion), I can promise you this: I know what it takes to get in shape and stay that way, despite a crazy schedule, mental challenges, AND having four young kids!
If you can relate to any elements of my personal journey (thanks for reading this far – I got real and honest here, ladies!), I would love to welcome you into my life. If you come to work with me, I’m not going to hold anything back! I’ll share all my tips and secrets for incorporating fresh and fun fitness into your daily life, how I eat to maintain my physique, and how I keep a healthy perspective on life – all while balancing my roles as a wife, mother, woman of God, business woman, and friend.
Is every moment of my life “amazing and perfect”? HECK NO! But I can truly say, more often than not, my life feels “WOW!” And that’s my hope for you as well. The programs and services I develop are designed to give you all the keys to success – I want you to eat yummy things that fuel you with energy and make you feel unstoppable. I want you to cruise through cravings and crush food addictions. I want you to look forward to your workouts because you feel sweaty, strong, smart, and powerful. That is my wish for you. So come on board with a group of loving, real women who have flaws, dreams and hopes just like you!
Let’s “Get Your WOW on!”
Certifications and Experience
- Association of Fitness Professionals of America (AFPA) Certified Personal Trainer
- AFPA Nutrition and Wellness Counselor
- STOTT Pilates Advanced Mat and Intermediate Reformer
- Cathy Savage Fitness Coach and Ambassador
- AFPA Mat Pilates Instructor
- Collegiate Athlete in the Women’s Basketball program at Rockhurst University
- Continue to hold my high school record in javelin (woo hoo!)
