Heya! I’m Lauren, Townie’s newest coach. (Yes! High Five!)
For years, I was a self-described health nut. I’d always loved pretty much anything and everything to do with health, fitness and wellness. My mom was a nurse and that helped instill a natural curiosity and level of compassion for others.
Get this — my dad was the Principal of my high school and my mom was the school nurse. Yeah. It was tough sometimes. After my mom had “the talk” with a class full of my classmates, I’d always hear about it. Her famous line was, “If it’s wet, sticky and not yours, don’t touch it!”
Anywho, moving on . . . many moons ago I was stuck in an IT desk-job with a high-stress boss. Meanwhile Mike (Yeah, that one — Coach Mike) and I both had this yearning to become personal trainers to help people be their best selves. So, we became trainers and worked here and there on the side. During that time Mike was introduced to CrossFit, and he brought it home to me. We loved it!
I had never played sports, never been competitive. I was way too shy for any of that! CrossFit enabled me to come out of my shell and become so much more confident and capable in all areas of my life.
Fairly soon a little slip of a dream emerged to maybe open a CrossFit box one day.
After I had finally had enough of my job, Mike and I made the big decision for me to temporarily move up to our cabin in Murphy, NC to accept a position in a wellness center there. The plan was for me to learn more, immerse myself in the industry, and see if we could make a living doing something we loved. I joined CrossFit Murphy to learn as much as possible from the coaches there, and I worked at a traditional wellness center giving gym orientations, PT sessions, and training several SilverSneakers classes (including water aerobics). It was great!
Once we couldn’t take being in different places any more, about a year, I moved back and we began planning the launch of CrossFit Plant City, the town’s first CF box! CFPC grew quickly and the fit family we all became was amazing!
My absolute favorite thing about being a coach is seeing the transformation that happens when people buy-in and commit to the process. Seeing them blossom into the people they’re meant to be is so rewarding. I love seeing people do something they never thought they could do. I love seeing the confidence being built. I love helping folks learn good movement patterns. I love when people reach their goals! Encouraging and supporting people is my jam.
I studied as much as I possibly could about CrossFit, fitness, and food. Mike and I achieved CF Level 2 Trainer status and took other CF supplemental courses. I also became certified by the USAW as a Sports Performance Coach, which meant I could train the Clean & Jerk and the Snatch.
After nearly five years of running CFPC and coaching lots and lots of classes, I was, unfortunately, getting a little burned out, and Mike was more than ready to retire from TPD. So, we sold the gym to a long-time coach who happened to be wanting her own gym, and I got a job as a small-town newspaper reporter in Blue Ridge, Georgia.
Writing is my other passion so it was awesome to be able to work on that skill-set. As part of covering events and meetings and writing feature pieces, I also wrote a weekly health/wellness/lifestyle column.
Talk about a high-stress job! I worked 50 hour weeks, on the go all the time, meeting deadline after deadline. Folks, including myself prior to the job, take reading the newspaper for granted. There is a lot of hard work that goes into each paper!
I worked my way up to Lifestyles Editor within two years. I grew as a person immensely but began to miss the gym scene more and more, and the super high-stress was really wearing me down. I was hardly working out and gaining weight from sitting too long and stress-eating. My hormones started getting ornery. I realized I needed to step-back and spend some time on self-care and reassess what I was doing.
So, for further development and inspiration, Mike and I each took a kettlebell certification. I love kettlebells and prepping for the class allowed me to focus on a goal. I took the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) while he took the harder Russian Kettlebell Certification (RKC).
Then fast forward a few months, Mike learned about Townie Fitness. We visited a couple of times and immediately loved the culture, friendliness and atmosphere of the gym and the Townie community. We decided to make yet another move!
I love living here and am excited to be joining the Townie coaching team.
We’re each on our own journey to become happier, healthier people, and I hope my experiences and perspectives can help you along your path. I pray Mike and I can enrich your lives as much as you all enrich ours. 🙂
Love,
Lauren
