How It All Got Started
About 6 ½ years ago, I was looking at myself in the mirror, wondering what happened. What I saw was a far cry from the strong athletic person I once knew myself to be. I wasn’t in horrible shape, but I felt so disconnected from myself. I was about 20 pounds overweight, and I felt it.
My jeans were tight. Again. Actually, they really didn’t fit.
Back then I worked a lot and was out of balance. I was constantly scrambling to meet everyone else’s needs before mine because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do. I didn’t sleep well because I was stressed.
I ate to avoid facing how unhappy I was and to avoid doing tasks I found uncomfortable, like picking up the phone to call clients. The more I ate, the more weight I’d gain and the more I judged myself harshly.
If this was what getting older looked like, it sucked. I was just pissed off about it, really.
I knew that I needed to do something to take care of myself, so I looked at joining a Crossfit gym. I had never invested that much in myself before for a fitness plan, and even though I started to make up reasons not to go through with it, I tried it anyway. I did this for 3 or 4 months and then I stopped after another crisis pulled my attention away.
But the pattern played out for another year.
I reached a breaking point and finally admitted to myself that I couldn’t do it on my own.
Asking for help was the hardest thing for me to do. I had to acknowledge that I didn’t have all of the answers and let someone else show me what to do.
I looked at my options and found a kettlebell class that seemed interesting, so I signed up for it. I enjoyed it but felt defeated at the same time because I could barely lift 15 lbs. I had always seen myself as someone who was strong and athletic. I felt like it would be impossible to get to that again.
I kept at it, though. Slowly, but surely, I started to improve. I got stronger. My fitness started to return. I started to recognize myself again.
As I got stronger, I got more confident.
I looked at my before and after pictures after 90 days of training. The results were amazing. At the age of 40, I bought a bikini for the first time in my life.
A few months after that, I joined a new soccer team where the average age was 26. They looked to me for inspiration because I was fit and one of the fastest players on the team.
I felt confident, and years lighter. I felt invincible.
I decided that it was time to make a drastic change in my life. I shut down the business that no longer worked for me.
I wanted to help other women regain their confidence and health in a way that didn’t rely on fad diets and quick fixes.
That’s how Invincible Women Fitness Academy was born. I’ve made it my mission to spread the message of empowerment and leadership as a motivational speaker and coach.
IWFA Ethos
What Does IWFA stand for? It’s Invincible Women Fitness Academy. I started my career in fitness after a long career in sales and marketing. I founded this Academy based on three core principles.
Belief #1: I believe that every woman deserves to feel strong, fit, and powerful.
If there’s ever a time where we need strong, powerful women, it’s now. We need women to make our voices heard. We need to stand up and go to our windows and shout, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”
If you saw the movie Network, you may find that refrain a little familiar.
More than ever, we need women to discover their true power and speak out against injustice, and a system that is designed to keep us numb, fat, and unhappy.
My purpose is to help you discover your true power through fitness. When you feel invincible, you can go on to do incredible things. You, yes, you can help right the wrongs of the world. One small step at a time.
Your being, your voice has a purpose. I truly believe that. I want to help you discover it. Use it for good.
I want to help you find that confidence and power from within. Yes, fitness plays a key role in that. I wouldn’t be here doing what I do if I didn’t.
You might be saying, “Heather, I’m just a woman doing my own thing. There’s nothing invincible about me.”
Yes, there is. I believe that invincible is found in the ordinary, not the extraordinary. You can make small choices each and every day that compound over time. That’s how you make a genuine difference.
Belief #2: Giving Corporate America the Middle Finger Through Better Health
Here’s the other belief that IWFA was founded upon. I believe that the best way to give big corporations the middle finger is to take better care of yourself.
Think about all of the systems that benefit from our crappy food choices. First of all, there’s big agriculture. The meat industry, sugar industry, etc. All of them lobby elected officials at your statehouse and in Washington to get the best subsidies and lower regulations and accountability.
They know their products aren’t good for public health. They have to lobby those in power to make sure their profits aren’t harmed.
Then there’s the healthcare industry. We all know that our diets are tied to so many chronic and preventable diseases. Yet, there’s that profitability factor.
So, they instill fear that we’re coming for your red meat and freedom, and everything else you hold dear.
How do we break that cycle? Become informed consumers. Understand the impact our purchasing decisions impact everything from our health to the environment to the stock market.
These are the deep questions that this company is committed to helping you find the answers to. They’re the hard questions that bring about change. These are problems that can be worked through together.
Belief #3: You Are Your Own Person
The other guiding principle of Invincible Women Fitness Academy is that you are your own person. I recognize that what works for someone else might not work for you.
What works for me might not work for you. That’s part of the problem with generalized fitness information. You’re lead to believe that just because something worked for a few people, it’s guaranteed to work for you.
That’s not quite it. The truth is that there are dozens of factors that go into your success. Sometimes, a lot of it comes down to trial and error.
That’s the beauty of having a coach that tailors everything to you. You have the best chance to reach your goals because you have everything customized to your needs.
