“When it comes to the work I do with my clients, it’s about standing with Integrity. Nutrition as the foundation, Healing the Inner child that often shows up..... When we know our worth, truly, we treat our bodies like we’re worthy." - Terra Dawn
I was asked recently, about my story
How I got here
And about what brought me to publish a journal (saving that for a future post)
Or what brings me to doing photo shoots… (also a future post)
There’s so much to all of that.
So here it is - business journey edition
It’s almost been 10 YEARS!!
And please tell me if any of this resonates for you in your own story!
And thank you in advance for taking time to read <3
This story really begins with me being 40 lbs overweight at the age of 18 and a ton of unhealthy habits….. BUT. That can be a whole other post… you dig hard enough, there’s a few of those in there somewhere lol
And I’m happy to share again!
I started as a Coach with an MLM company - yes. I was the person who used to hit up people in their inboxes with the “hey girl”. I apologize to each and everyone of you that I did that to. (mlm’s really need to quit teaching their people that method)
It was a great opportunity - for a while - when it stopped being a great opportunity, is when I saw all around me, the “sell outs” Of the business in selling the product as a quick fix to a problem that was needing way more than just the potions that were being sold.
I had always known that physical weight, in part was a result of the emotional and mental weight that people were carrying, that behaviour changed had to be part of it. To me, It didn’t stand with integrity to simply sell the quick fix. I chose educating and asking for behaviour & routine change of my clients, and they did!
I quickly realized as the company changed, I needed to get out.
I certified as a personal trainer, and that coupled with my years of knowledge in my own health journey, as well as working with athletes in the past - it was a logical step
I moved into running bootcamps and doing personal training sessions
And yet, I still came back to the knowing that the healing work needed to accompany it. I merged my college education of behaviour change and healing work into the personal training work
My Vision for my clients is to have them create long term habit change for a lifestyle they could depend on, that stood with integrity and allowed them the freedom from the chains of the food that held them hostage in emotional and addictive eating.
March 2020 happened. Everything went online. Including my business
Between 2020 and 2023 I became certified in sports nutrition and still remained with the PT and life coaching mix.
I decided to ditch the PT almost a year ago - why? Because exercise will get you stronger and contribute to health, and I see so many using it as the crutch for weight loss, when really it was about what they were eating and why they were eating. As a recovering food addict, myself, I wasn’t willing to allow crutches in my business.
The food is the centre of everything
Feel like crap? It’s likely the lack of food or the lack of quality of food you’re eating
Feel tired? See above,
No energy and brain fog? See above
And why do we choose to eat less or eat poor quality foods?
Old programming - “eat less you’ll lose weight”. NOPE. That’s not how it works - 90% of my clients are under eating when they come to me
Eating poor quality foods - usually high stress, emotional eating, coupled with hormonal imbalances have us craving crappy foods… we eat like crap when we feel like crap… and the cycle continues because eat like crap and then feel like crap.
When it comes to the work I do with my clients, it’s about standing with Integrity. Nutrition as the foundation, Healing the Inner child that often shows up like the rebellious teenager wanting what they want and not wanting to let go of the foods and habits that got them there, and leaning into learning self worth. When we know our worth, truly, we treat our bodies like we’re worthy. When we know our worth, we feed our body to fuel and eat with pleasure as the exception to the rule. When we know our worth, we have discipline and hold ourselves to a level of integrity.