MY STORY

I’ve always been an active individual. In my childhood I loved to swim, bike, and play tag; as I got older, I was into organized sports like hockey, gymnastics, and a lot of soccer. I also found joy in distance running, which I still love today.

In my early childhood, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. I often felt like an outcast, but being active in sports was a great distraction and a place for me to escape. Sport was my great equalizer too; on the team I was accepted and treated as an equal. I always tried my hardest, and I delighted in being able to see the results.

Sports and being active has never been about being better than someone else or another team. For me, it has always been about trying to improve and do the best that I can do. This holds especially true in running, which is always about an internal drive to beat the clock.

There are some universal truths that transfer from sports into the rest of life. Once I realized this, I found myself drawn to helping others who, like me, had been struggling in parts of their lives too. I knew first hand how bad I felt when I couldn’t do something and was told to “just try harder”. I had a great deal of empathy and compassion, and my goal was to be supportive and encouraging. Knowing that we all learn differently, I discovered how to adapt and modify things so that I could help my fellow friends and classmates have success too.

I was ecstatic when I was accepted into University of Lethbridge Kinesiology program. I wanted to understand in greater depth how the human body works and moves, especially as it related to sports. While at university I joined the track team and realized the value of setting goals and following a structured program to obtain them.

I still wasn’t the greatest athlete by any means, but I was there to challenge and improve myself. I also, once again, found joy in helping others, this time it was with running routines and weight workouts so they could become stronger too.

Once I completed my degree in Kinesiology, I considered getting a teaching degree, but I was presented with an opportunity to become a personal trainer. Personal training seemed like such a logical fit since I would be helping people and supporting them on their own personal health and fitness journeys–a career I had been preparing for as far back as high school.

I have been training and coaching for over ten years, and every day is incredibly rewarding, knowing that I am helping someone become healthier, stronger, and hopefully happier in their life. In July 2015, I started Apex Body Solutions. Apex to me represents the peak or summit you are trying to reach. I believe that fitness and health is something we can always be striving to improve.

My own personal goal in life is to always be improving and reaching the next peak (the Apex), and I want to empower others to reach their own personal goals regarding their overall health, strength, nutrition and fitness.