| My work as a strength and fitness coach has consisted of leading, inspiring and empowering women from all walks of life to strive and reach their highest potential in sport, fitness, health and life. I have worked at the collegiate level training athletes in their pursuit of success in their chosen sport. I have contributed to three Division I National Championships, numerous conference championships, and NCAA appearances. I have also achieved recognition as Master Strength and Conditioning Coach from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association. This title recognizes the best coaches in the field of strength and conditioning. Early in my career I realized that without authentic self-confidence, no amount of talent, training or hard work would be enough to guarantee success or personal satisfaction. I set out to find a way to teach young women to possess confidence, courage and resilience not only in sports, but in life. The result of addressing this challenge has been an expansion of my coaching repertoire by learning skills above and beyond those concerning physical training. I began utilizing concepts of self-actualization in my coaching to reach young women at a deeper level, placing particular focus on changing thought patterns that lead to shifts in self-perception and revealing one's authentic self. The results of this program have been nothing short of amazing. I initiated the startup and development of a non-profit organization, The New Beginnings Center, where I utilize my skills to empower women from low-income areas. In essence the mission of New Beginnings is two-fold: To proactively address the obesity crisis that faces America, specifically in the low-income population, by first addressing the thought patterns by which it was created. At New Beginnings we use the arena of strength training, fitness and nutrition as a platform for weaving in concepts of self-actualization. This inside-out approach results in an increased level of awareness, self-acceptance and confidence. This in turn creates the adoption of positive lifestyle behaviors such as improved eating habits, exercise and self-nurturing activities, which can then be measured concretely in decreased body weight, BMI, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and other key health measures. New Beginnings opened a physical fitness center in Nashville, TN in summer of 2013. This state-of-the-art facility is dedicated to offering individualized coaching for low-income/fixed-income women. Each woman we serve receives a scholarship that covers the cost of one year of nutritional coaching, 45 sessions of personal fitness coaching, nutrition counseling and self-actualization classes. The scholarship also provides each client with portable exercise equipment for home use so they can continue their fitness journey for life. Through the services offered by New Beginnings, I offer women the education, resources and social support that will be the beginning of a new and better way of living. I also anticipate that I can demonstrate the necessity of first addressing cognitive processes in the pursuit of creating a healthy body as well as the cost-effectiveness of taking a targeted, proactive approach toward healing the obesity epidemic in this country. |
