I missed this. I enjoyed blogging for that short time a couple of months ago. I had gone as far as I felt I could, though, with Breaking Booze. Dozens of ideas have gone through my head since, as to what to do next. I finally decided to go with all of them! Hence, Steph's Blahg. Get it? I wanted to start with something I wrote recently, about the time during which I decided to become a Personal Trainer - something that has changed my life for the better and maybe has even had a hand in helping to save it. I read it aloud last week for my friends on facebook. I will see about attaching that reading once this is published and I have found the time. Ironically enough, as I begin this blog, I'm also considering spending less time with all things media. I know, I know. But life is about balance, and sometimes you rock back and forth a little before getting your footing.
Here is my story:
The year I decided to become a Personal Trainer, was 2013. I was working as a Server and if I recall, that’s all I was really doing at the time. I had ceased playing softball the year before because of my back. I was no longer working with the KGLRC, nor was I volunteering. I was through with the local theatrical production of “The L Word.” I was living in an apartment on the East Side of Kalamazoo with my girlfriend at the time, and my sweet darlings, Lucky and Cheeto, and her cat, Cloud. He was fine, but we never got close. I did, however, end up with her other cat that she tried giving to my mom because she knocks things over in the night. Six years later, Sassy is called Sassy and lives with me. But I digress.
Around this time, I was pretty fit. I’d tried a Paleo lifestyle and enjoyed it. I was no longer living near the gym I frequented, so I swapped that for this Preserve nearby that a friend told me about. “This Preserve” has become sacred to me – a place where I can go, and have gone when nothing is right or everything is, and all things in between.
I knew I was ready to move on from the restaurant, but I didn’t know how. I sent my resume out to a few places. I got an interview with a Life Insurance company. As I sat during the presentation, I remember picturing myself there. I recall thinking I could do well in that role, and help people at the same time. When they offered me the job, however, I did not accept. I wasn’t ready to take the risk. I finally had health insurance through my job at the time, albeit a pain in the ass to maintain. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to do that.
I also sent an application to a weight loss camp for kids, called Wellspring. They had camps in New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. I had no official experience at the time with fitness and wellness, but I worked with kids as a Youth Group Facilitator and played sports all my life. I was a natural leader. My preschool teacher told my mom so. Something inside me said this was what I wanted to do.
No surprise there, though, I never heard back. I lacked the training. I didn’t yet have the education. I put that aside and got a Ukulele instead.
I couldn’t tell you exactly when, but it wasn’t long after that I met my boss at the Personal Training company I work for. I was working at the restaurant one day, when she came in for lunch. I liked her. She had big, beautiful, curly, dark hair and a warm smile to match. We hit it off. She mentioned to me that she was our restaurant owner’s Personal Trainer. I was intrigued.
It wasn’t until the next time, though, that we started talking about training. She said something about her new business, a Personal Training company that would go in-home and on-site to work with clients. I asked her how she got started with that. She asked me if that was something I was interested in, to which I responded very excitedly, “Yes! Very much.” She said we should have coffee, and we did. We met at Water Street not long after. By the end of the meeting, she told me that if I went and got certified, they would hire me at her company. I left that day, knowing that’s what I would do. After that, I signed up for the online courses and later was sent all the materials I would need to study and take the exam. I read that it typically takes people 3-5 months to prepare. I was ready, but I had no idea what was ahead.
My then girlfriend and I had been having problems and decided to break up. We still lived together. We may have been planning on working it out, but now I can’t be sure. A few weeks later, I got a text late one night, from my mom that my oldest sister was in the emergency room, and that it didn’t look good. I rushed to the hospital. She didn’t make it, and everything in the world changed.
A couple weeks after that, I moved my cat and dog, myself, and a few of my things out and into a friend’s house, while I found another place to live. Things had gotten bad at home with my live-in ex-girlfriend. Go figure. I ended up moving into a nice apartment off of West Main, on the coldest day of my life at that point, and with just one friend to help. Granted, an amazing friend. I still owe him for that.
But there I was, ready to start my new life in my new apartment. I had been doing my best to study the materials and take the online quizzes, but as you can imagine, becoming a Personal Trainer had taken a backseat to all the chaos. I had communicated with my new employers about my sister’s death, and they were understanding and supportive. They hired me to do their social media until I was certified, and paid me to shadow them while they worked with their clients. I was on my way, and my test was scheduled for June.
Today, as I write this, I have been working as a Certified Personal Trainer for one month shy of 5 years. I have since become a Certified Youth Fitness Specialist and even got an offer to work at a weight loss camp for kids in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. How cool is that? While I did not accept, I couldn’t help but feel proud, considering that’s something that clicked in me long ago when I’d applied at Wellspring. I am still working for the company that believed in me from the beginning, as well as freelance projects on the side. I am proud to say that despite some of the most difficult things a person can experience in their lifetime, that I experienced all in the same short time, I pushed and pulled and made my way out better and stronger than ever. And that, my friends, is the story of how I became Trainer Steph.
You look fabulous, Steph! You rock and I wish I could train with you! Never give up on helping people becom happy.