I found myself weighing in at 280 and closing in on 300lbs. I couldn’t walk to the mailbox without getting out of breath and wasn’t a very pleasant guy to be around. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. I could feel the fat rolls giggle as I walked. I was super self-conscious. My confidence was absolutely shot.

I was at my lowest when I found CrossFit and my trainer. It took almost a year to shed the weight. It wasn’t just my body that needed to change It was my whole outlook on the world. Being surrounded by such amazing people, everyone working to better themselves, had a tremendous effect on me. I opened up and started to enjoy things. I felt better about myself and as I changed inside, I noticed the outward changes. I no longer needed to stop halfway to the mailbox. I didn’t giggle when I ran… I ran. 

I started helping people around the gym. I enjoyed motivating people and helping them to reach their goals. It was an amazing journey, and I loved sharing it with others. I wasn’t the same person I was when I started and I dreaded going into work and dealing with all of the darkness and isolation at my current job. I started looking into what I needed to do to make a change. I never thought personal training could be a real career, but the more I looked into the more promising it appeared.

So I started my next journey. I studied Kinesiology and Exercise Science. I finally got certified as a personal trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. My first job was at the gym where I had been working out. I worked for the trainer that had helped me get in shape and learned a lot from her.

Since then I’ve gone on to help gyms develop their own personal training departments, helped so many people find happy healthy lives, and mentored new personal trainers. I’ve helped develop new industry software and done things I never thought were possible both physically and in business. And I love every second of it.