Life Updates

Hi Friend,

It’s been a while since I’ve written on the blog (or on social). And I’ll be honest that I’ve sat down several times with the intent to write, and couldn’t find the right words.

Whew, what a wild ride. I have been through an incredible amount of change - some within my control, some totally outside of it. But that’s how life works, right? I’m feeling ready to put myself back out there, but in a new way, which I’ll share with you here.

Let’s start with a recap. As you likely know, I made the tough decision to close Ascend at the end of 2021. I never thought it would end that way - I had plans to sell the studio in the future (before COVID hit), either by selling a portion of ownership or fully to someone else who wanted to continue the vision and the brand. Then came 18 months of pandemic pivoting, significant losses on the financial side and a customer base who’s needs & expectations had evolved. There were too many factors that presented challenges that, honestly, felt insurmountable, too risky for my family and time ran short. I had to walk away from 7 pivotal years of my career, a community that I loved and along with that, financial debt.

It broke me to my core. The feelings are still raw even a year+ later, and maybe I’ll be able to share more one day about the personal toll it took. For now, I can say I’ve taken time to work through feelings of grief, failure, anger and sense of loss in professional and personal identity. I know I’ve been quiet, and this is in part why.

But…there has been some beautiful change that I’ve welcomed into my life too. My daughter, Isabella, a cheery, spunky little babe, who makes my heart melt. Watching Alex and AV become the big brother & sister has been precious. The opportunity to move to Shenandoah Valley and get into farming was unexpected, but felt right on many levels. Instead of clipping into the bike and coaching lifting classes, my days are spent hauling feed bags and 5 gallon water jugs, counting cattle, collecting eggs and juggling three kids. And while it may seem like a total 180 from fitness to farming, I can assure you that it’s really not, and I have a lot to share about it.

This time has given me an opportunity to take a step back from the grind of the fitness and wellness space, and instead, I’ve been observing and reflecting. It’s afforded me newfound clarity around my experience as a fitness studio owner, a trainer, and a coach. It’s motivated me to not to give up on a profession that I love, but instead, learn how to show up in a different way. And while I’m still working on what exactly that will look like, I am ready to take some steps forward. I LOVE helping you, and to those of you who have continued to reach out for fitness and wellness advice, thank you for reminding me how much I love this job.

Wellness is a vague term, but to me, it encompasses your fitness, nutrition, recovery practices and mindset. I’ve coached women (and men) in this space for over 15 years (Yikes that makes me feel old!). The challenges and problems that are created by marketing claims, diet culture, misinformation, fear and shame are all too real, and social media can be a really toxic place these days.

I want to continue to help you discover what works for you. To sort through the mess of information out there. To adopt a healthy mindset that helps you thrive. I want you to feel empowered when it comes to your health. Truly, I believe we all have the answers to what works for us, it’s doing the work to decipher what that is. That’s where I come in to support you.

I’m starting an online community of women who want to take charge of their wellness. If you choose to join my newsletter, you’ll receive my answers to the top fitness/wellness/nutrition questions that I address with my personal clients. You’ll get a peek into my farm-life and how that has changed my perspective on nutrition and wellness as a whole. And you’ll get real life, raw stories from a mom of three who wants to do it all, but also knows that self-prioritization is incredibly important in the grand scheme of things. Finally, I’ll be taking on a couple 1:1 clients for those of you who are really ready to reflect, dig deep and make some changes (big or small!) to work towards their wellness goals.

That all said, let’s start with something different - a quiz to find out your Wellness Personality. Take it, and have fun with it! And, I hope you stick around for the free content. And if you decide you want to explore working with me as your coach, we can talk about that too.

xox

Kat