FITNESS IS MY MINISTRY - MY "FITNESSTRY" I’ve been a fitness professional for 14+ years. It took prayer and a huge leap of faith in leaving a great career in corporate America to start a fitness business – my “fitnesstry”. My life was good but I felt something was missing..... after weeks of searching trying to fill this void, it took a night of prayer and tears and the next morning God delivered the answer to my prayers - to become a personal trainer and help people, I got hired to be a Personal Trainer "in training" that afternoon at a popular health club.....and the rest is HIStory.... This is just a gist of my my journey.... Within 2 months of getting officially certified, I switched to the community center where I was taking boot camp classes, except now, i'm teaching those classes. I opened my business and became the CEO, Owner Operator for KATz Outdoor Fitness Inc . I diligently worked hard, networked and partnered with the “movers and shakers” of community health in the Inland Empire. I opened the very first Women Only Outdoor Adventure Boot Camp in Redlands with 40 women in class! I became the Trainer for City of Fontana’s "Biggest Loser" Employee Wellness challenge, and eventually started another boot camp in the same city. As a single mom trying to make a living for my children it wasn't easy. To accomplish what I accomplished in such a short period of time, I had to sacrifice a lot, including my own health! I had chronic stress, hardly slept, hardly ate as I was always on the run, teaching 4-5 classes a day and performing at events, sometimes back to back events on the weekends. This led to a compromised metabolism which led to some weight gain followed by some weight loss struggles and body image issues. I was helping a lot of people but neglecting myself! Over the years, I've learned from my experiences, both the good and the bad. To heal my body naturally, I had made learning about nutrition my focus in the last few years and I continue to learn. I'm sharing this with you to let you know, i've had the same struggles as you. From 2006 through 2010, I worked in partnership with different Healthy Communities in the Inland Empire in both public and private sectors like:
County of San Bernardino
Healthy Families International
Desert Sierra Health Network
Network for Healthy California PA Committee
Redlands Unified School District
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Walk/Run
Rancho Specialty Hospital Bariatric Support Group
Inland Behavioral Health Diabetes Support Group
And a few others!
I was also one of the four originators of the Healthy Redlands Initiative
I moved to Las Vegas in late 2010 when I married my "best dancing friend" who then was PBA Bowler then turned Zumba Instructor and now Pastor, JJOHN. In Las Vegas, I've worked for:
YMCA of Southern Nevada (2010 - present) in several capacities including as a Health & Wellness Coordinator, Personal Trainer, Group Exercise Instructor and Coach for preventive programs for cancer survivors, people with arthritis and people with mild cognitive impairment (as part of a national study).
Opportunity Village (2011 - present) teaching dance fitness to clients with intellectual disabilities. I also delivered the "opening warm ups" for the festivities at their annual Santa Run from 2011-2019.
