HOW I GOT MY START IN THE FITNESS INDUSTRY

I began competing at the age of 28 when I decided to become a Fitness competitor because of my love for hip-hop dance and performing. After discovering that I had Celiacs disease, a severe gluten allergy in 2010 I quickly adapted to a new healthy lifestyle of eating clean and feeling fit for the first time in her life. In just the 15 months I had lost more than 20 pounds and cut my body fat in half! In 2011, I got my feet wet in competing in natural bodybuilding  and competed in both figure and fitness. I love to create my own choreography with a signature flirty, strong and powerful style. After my first show I was hooked and only wanted to do it all over again!

 

With each competition that I finish I am itching for another one right away. When goals are met, new ones need to be made! I live for the stage and it drives me to be a better athlete every year. My next competition will hopefully be at Fitness America in November 2015. I already have ideas for my new routine and ready to get back to my true dancing passion again with adding more training and new difficult techniques. Plus one of these days I dream of taking the Figure Pro win as well. No harm in dreaming big, right?

 

MY JOURNEY AS A COMPETITOR

In May 2011, I entered my first competition and stunned the crowd with a fast-paced, energizing Fitness routine. I won 2nd place in Fitness and shocked myself  by becoming the Mr and Mrs Natural MN Figure Beginner Overall Champion. I then entered the Fitness America Championships in November 2011. There in Vegas, I placed 6th in Open Figure Short and won over the audience with a  heart-pumping Beyonce Fitness routine. My goal was to make it into the Top 10 AND I did! I finished with 8th place out of 35 competitors for my first time in the Open Fitness Class.

 

My second year, I set my eyes on Fitness Universe in Miami In June 2012. In Miami, I continued to prove myself against the veteran Fitness performers with my fresh and funky dance choreography! I also became the Figure Universe Short Champion and won one of the very first Figure PRO cards to be handed out by the Fitness Universe federation. That was a moment in time I will never forget! In November 2012, I gave it all I had in the Fitness division with a fierce new routine at Fitness America in Las Vegas. With that performance I finally made it into the TOP 5 with 5th place and my Fitness PRO card! It has been an absolute dream to become the first Figure AND Fitness Universe PRO in my second year competing!

 

At Fitness Universe 2013, I placed 6th in both Pro divisions in Figure and Fitness. Last year in Las Vegas for the Fitness America Championships I was able to wow the crowd with a brand new fitness routine finally landing a TOP 5 win- 5th place as a FITNESS PRO. This last competition I placed 6th in the Figure Pro Class and 7th in the Fitness Pro class at Fitness America in Las Vegas!

 

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU FOUND WITH FITNESS SHOWS?

Where my vision really all sank in was when I found the FITNESS UNIVERSE federation and had my first professional fitness photo shoot with Eva Simon. At that point I started to see what the behind-the-scenes were like for the covers and articles of Oxygen and other popular health magazines. I was hooked and wanted into this fun-fit world!

 

I set out on a mission and began sharing my story. I looked for trade-shoots with local photographers so I could practice getting in front of the camera. The dream of becoming household FITNESS NAME started to become very clear in my mind. The only way I knew how to start building any exposure was to simply promote what fitness had done for me. By June 2012, my “transformation story” was published in Oxygen Magazine’s GLUTES special edition. I also have been featured on Bodybuilding.com and with my competition winnings featured in both Oxygen and Natural Muscle. My stage name "Peanut" started to stick my first year so I began a brand called "TEAM PEANUT FITNESS". It's not about me, it's about the community of fitness-minded friends that I have around me, wanting to love, support and encourage what I do so I can help keep them motivated!