4 Time Masters Nationals Weightlifting Competitor
NASM-CPT
I’ve been competing in weightlifting for 5 years following 6 years of CrossFit and I wish I had found it all sooner! I grew up playing team sports, eventually landing a spot on the club volleyball team at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I loved the game and being on a team, but there was never any push from the school or the coaches towards building muscle to become a stronger player. Fortunately throughout my adult life I was able to befriend and train with some incredible people that helped show me a path into the world of strength training and weightlifting which has had a profound impact on my life, eventually leading to my becoming a coach/trainer myself. Outside of the gym, I live here in Charlotte with my rat terrier, Linda….oh, and my husband Ben. You can find the three of us around NODA having coffee or a glass of wine and dreaming up our next trip to the beach.
Growing up I, like many other women, had been fed the narrative that my body should look a certain way. Because of these bogus societal expectations, my body image and perception of myself were at an all time low about twelve years ago. No matter how many times I went to the local globo-gym and attempted to use the weight machines on my own (only to hop on the treadmill, maybe do some ab-work, and leave), I knew my life needed to be flipped on its head if I were going to ever make a positive change. So with two middle fingers held high in the sky toward society’s expectations of how a woman’s body should look…I walked into a Crossfit gym for the first time. It was a challenge like I had never experienced before, but I quickly started to notice mental and physical changes, and I never looked back. The community and gym that were “supposed” to be intimidating became the best part of my day. I learned a lot about fueling my body properly for lifting (and life for that matter), the patience and consistency it takes to build muscle, and created healthy routines that fostered mental breakthroughs and personal commitments. I made some of my closest, lifelong friends during that time period, and am so grateful to those incredible people who helped me realize my own potential. I guess you could say that for me, the pursuit of strength has changed my life forever. From there my fitness journey continued to evolve over the years from Crossfit to finding my love for weightlifting with the Heavy Metal Barbell crew, to eventually becoming a coach myself.
I’m passionate about helping people realize that they are stronger than they think they are. Being able to introduce and use strength training as a tool for people to build confidence and better their mind and body is why I chose to become a coach, plain and simple. It’s the best gift that you can give yourself, for now AND the future. I try to bottle all the positive experiences my coaches and friends in this community have brought me over the years and shape that into how I want my own athletes and clients to feel. Strength training should be fun and rewarding, and it’s my goal to help you find that joy for yourself.
