. . . My mom wasn’t a runner, but she loved to walk, and she also enjoyed aerobics. The beauty was, she also found ways always to include us by taking us to aerobics class with her that would let kids participate too. Talk about a good time for a little girl; good music, fun dancing and getting to run all over the place in the elementary school gymnasium (even climb around back stage, which was only permitted after hours when no one was watching).
At home, nutrition was always important. We didn’t eat perfectly, but not a day went by that we didn’t eat fruits and vegetables. Some days, that even meant that I couldn’t leave the table until my Brussel sprouts were gone. My parents taught me a great foundation of healthy nutrition and exercise habits based on what they knew. I continued to enjoy running for exercise, joined the cross country team, became an aerobics instructor in high school and practiced healthy nutrition habits.
After attending the University of Delaware and receiving a BS in Hotel and Restaurant Management and an MBA in Finance, I was torn between my heart and my wallet. My heart wanted to go into personal training and work at Merritt Athletic Clubs so that I could help other people find the love for fitness that I had found as a young child. My wallet wanted to go into the finance industry and make a lot of money to buy cool things. At 22 years old, guess which one was the winner...you got it...money! Off I headed into the world of finance to make my millions! Things didn’t work out exactly as I thought they might, they worked out better!
My journey took me many places I never expected to go. I learned that I have a talent and passion not only for fitness and nutrition but also for public speaking. As I started my first job out of college, scared to death to speak in front of people, my boss told me that I had a natural talent and presence as a public speaker and assigned me the role of presenter for the firm and I spent my days doing public seminars on financial planning. This new found talent led me to new business opportunities and also gave me the opportunity to live in two of my favorite places in the country, Southern CA and SC. I spent ten years on the road traveling around North America working in the finance industry and speaking.
This ten year is where self-care started to become challenging but was still a critically important piece of my life. I had to learn to stay fit and healthy on the road and also to find time to fit it in when I was at home while trying to spend time with my young son. After a few years of this lifestyle and people asking me constantly, How do you stay in such good shape being on the road all the time? I realized I
had something valuable that I needed to share with the world. After leaving corporate America in 2010 to raise our new daughter, I went back to school and got certified as a personal trainer so that I could educate business travelers on proper fitness on the road. While attending the National Personal Training Institute, the director of the school also became interested in my ability to teach and speak and asked me to come work at the school as an instructor once I finished my certification. I agreed and delayed my writing of the book, but I didn’t understand it all until the following year.
It all came together for me after becoming severely ill in 2012 when my youngest daughter was just one-year-old. I had lived such a fit and healthy lifestyle from a physical and nutritional standpoint, so I couldn’t understand how I was sick. I came to realize several things, the most important being that emotional empowerment was the missing link to my health. I had the physical and nutritional side down, but I was missing the emotional piece. This was critical for me in understanding what I needed to share with the world. Teaching people how to empower themselves had to be a three-pronged approach to include physical, nutritional and emotional empowerment. None of them are as powerful alone as they are together. I have been able to achieve things in my life I never thought possible by learning all three pieces and putting them together to solidify my foundation for health, happiness, and success.
I believe that I was put here on earth and joined with Craig to spread the knowledge of this three-pronged approach to the world and provide people with the resources they need to empower themselves to become great.
Take a stand to find the life you deserve!
Happiness, health, and success!
We did!
Super easy! Super tasty!
We are so glad you liked it!
My apologies on leaving the wine off of this recipe. It is 1/2 cup dry white wine.