“I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be.” - Diane von Furstenberg

I am an online health coach, business mentor and all around girlboss. I grew up in Florida, but now live in Canada. As a coach, I help women transition towards a more sustainable lifestyle through health, fitness and life goals, while building their confidence and motivating them along the way.

Two years ago I left the life I grew up in, in Florida, to be with my family in Canada. I come from a big family – I’m the second oldest of five children and my family means everything to me. I crashed my car in a snowstorm with less than an hour left of my trip. When I finally arrived at my destination I had no car, no job, no friends nearby, no sense of self and I was crushed. I met depression and it dragged me into my bed in a dark room for weeks. It made me believe I was nothing and could never be anything and it made me unhappy with who I was.

In a world of tumblrs, pinterest and instagrams, comparison can become an everyday behavior as second nature as brushing your teeth every morning. I hated that. I focused on all the things I didn’t have or didn’t feel worthy of. I met a friend on Facebook who had just started a fitness program and was flourishing in a community of friends and health coaches and accountability partners and something just drew me to that energy. I wanted to be a part of it. And so I began my first fitness, nutrition and lifestyle program. The lifestyle catapulted me to a greater sense of being. I changed the way I spoke to myself, I changed the way I looked at myself, and I began working towards my goals. Becoming physically powerful made me feel mentally powerful. The experience developed into an opportunity to start my own coaching business and help others with the same tools that helped me. A new chapter of my life began.

My mother raised me to believe I could be and do anything I put my mind to. She is my well-wisher and I couldn’t walk through life without paying it forward by carrying her heart with me. Could you imagine what you would be doing right now if you were told you could do anything? We let the world harden us and shape us instead of realizing it is US that shapes the world.

Coaching gives me the opportunity to be that example of a human that has overcome fears, stopped comparing themselves, single handedly dug their way out of the dark depths of hormones, and bullying, and self-doubt, and persevered to become the woman I am today. My mother gifted me the cojones to go out and get life and not sit back and let life get me. I want to offer that support system and inspire that in others.

I simply want to do good and be good. I want to inspire others. I want to be the positive light in a negative world. I want to offer motivation to every person I meet. I want to leave the world better than I found it.

The most rewarding thing by far are the messages I get from people saying I have inspired them to change their lifestyle. Besides the huge accomplishments in terms of weight loss; the whole journey towards confidence, self-love, becoming a better mom, sister, and friend; to me that is the ultimate reward and my motivation to continue helping others on their journey.

I will be the first to admit that it is HARD to empower yourself when you’re dead broke, depressed, living at your mom’s house with no car, no friends and no job. When all odds are against you, you kind of just have to fake it until you make it. That was a bittersweet moment for me. For me, the process of having the courage and faith to see your long term goals without currently being there required diving into personal development. I didn’t want to have six-pack abs if I was still a miserable person on the inside.

Helping others found me in a dark time and became my healing process. Fitness is my healing process. It is a release of endorphins, it helps me balance my stress levels, it energizes me, it gives me confidence, and it healed my anxiety.

I realize I am the combined product of every person I have ever met and everything I have ever loved and that gives me a purpose I can’t even describe. There is not a person that walks into my life that I don’t take a lesson from and that’s what inspires me to do what I do as a coach. All of the obstacles in my life have prepared me for where I am today.

Of all the awards I’ve won, monumental things I’ve bought, stuff I’ve seen, I am most proud of myself for discovering the happiness within me. I have never in my life sat in silence and found happiness. It was always an unfulfilling quest – What will I have to do to be happy? What do I need to accomplish first? There was always something else that had to be done before I could be happy. These days, happiness is a blanket. Something I can come home to and curl up with by the fire. It's not an 11:11 wish or a dream but something that has grown so deep inside of me. What I have come to realize is that my happiness was less about achieving my ideal body and more about the result of my personal sense of achievement. I’m proud of myself for finding that.

Just over two years ago I wrote on a loose-leaf sheet of paper what I wanted for my life. I wanted a new car, a new puppy, a boyfriend, a house, a job where I could grow professionally, and to be with my family. That was my ten-year plan at 24. My ten-year plan turned into a two-year plan and at 26 I have managed to check off every single thing on that piece of paper.

I couldn’t have achieved those things without a plan and a vision and that’s why I create my list of goals every year with conviction. I have devoted 2016 to center around a fulfilling lifestyle. More walks on the beach. More pep talks in the mirror. Moving my body. Stretching my body. Nourishing it. Hydrating it. Amongst all the amazing lessons I have learned in 2015, this mantra is amongst my favorites “I am devoted to self-care. I can only care for others when I first care for myself.”  

I hope other women can capture the empowerment that comes through exercise. A healthy lifestyle is not about going from a size 16 to a size 6. It's about being successful in putting your health first every day. It's about the confidence that emerges when just a few months ago you were feeling pretty low.

To ease into this lifestyle I encourage women to start with 2 simple things.

Step 1: Find your why. Find the reason you will be successful at change. Envision how you will feel when you reach your goal and then hold onto this reason with fervor. When times get tough, when you can’t get out of bed, this reason will motivate you.

Step 2: Create a PLAN. You’ll need to know what time and days you’re going to work out, what you’re going to eat, how much water you’re going to drink, etc. I encourage finding a community of support: a group or a friend that you can check in with will be a crucial way to help stay accountable.

If you feel like you could use the support or need help on creating a plan that will work for your lifestyle, please contact me. I hope I have encouraged you to begin 2016 with a healthy outlook.

“If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you’ll see obstacles,” – Dr Wayne Dyer

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Sending love, luck & calm vibes.