Most of my life, I have been a goal setter. I always had big goals and desires at a very young age. I was a Midwest girl born in Detroit, MI, but raised in Whitewater, WI, a tiny town, and that never seemed to stop me, since I knew what I wanted. In 7th grade, I made the decision that I would be working with marine mammals. My love and passion were over the top for all types of marine mammals, and I KNEW in my heart of hearts that I would make it happen.

Why did I know? That is just who I am: I knew I would make shit happen. I knew I would succeed at what I wanted in life because I decided to make it. Now, getting through this journey was not a comfortable journey, but music fuels my soul, and I remember listening to Garth Brooks’ “The River.”

“You know a dream is like a river

Ever-changing’ as it flows

And a dreamer’s just a vessel…”

“I’ll never reach my destination

If I never try

So I will sail my vessel

‘Til the river runs dry…”

I am happy to say that I made a 14-year career out of working with marine mammals, and they were some of the best years of my life. Those moments with the animals will always be in my memory, and no one can take that away from me.

The motivation for rethinking my life came in the last six months of 2008, with the death of my father at only sixty-two years of age, and two miscarriages (later had four miscarriages).

In that crisis, I relied on four critical resources: 

1) A renewed interest in spirituality and a higher power

2) Support from my family and friends

3) Self-help in the form of physical activity, whether it was running, triathlons, CrossFit, yoga, dance classes, cycling, or swimming.

4) Self Love and Forgiveness

I lost that desire to make shit happen in my world, after my losses. I knew that if I didn’t go back to “Sailing my Vessel” for my other passion, inspiring people through health and fitness, that I would never “reach my destination.”

I decided to leave my “dream job” to go back to school to get my Master’s in Kinesiology, pursue my passion of coaching endurance athletes. I got a TON of questions and comments:

1. Why would you leave Sea World? That is a dream job.
2. Won’t you miss the animals?
3. What? We don’t get to see you swim anymore?
4. I will miss you being here with us.

What I realized was that if I stayed in my “dream job,” would it be my dream job anymore? Why would I stay if I weren’t as passionate or happy about my job? I needed to go back to that 7th-grade girl from Wisconsin and make “shit” happen since I decided to move on and inspire people daily through coaching: Mind, body, and soul.

As a coach and an athlete, I always tell my athletes – and I go by this motto as well:

”RUN YOUR RACE”

Don’t worry about the athlete behind you or ahead of you. Concentrate on what your goals are for this race. If you look funny running, who cares? If you backstroke the whole time in the swim portion, who cares?  You do these events because YOU CAN. YOU decided to do it. YOU are the one that is making “shit” happen.

Go “Run Your Race” whether it is doing a triathlon, running your own business, being a parent, etc.

Interested in jumping on my calendar to learn about YOUR race in life? Sign up for a 15-minute call with me! CLICK HERE!