The best trainer to have is one with experience, and one with the body you would love to have in, say, 3 months. You have found your match right here!

  I have always been active-since I was a toddler I was involved in a sport.  I competed in high level gymnastics up until high school, where I then played volleyball for my school team.  I was also involved in  cheerleading, skiing, snowboarding, playing softball & basketball (but the last one was a short stint in Middle School, definitely not a basketball player!), running, and weight lifting as an adolescent.  As the time came for College, I continued to run a minimum of 5 miles a day & would do abs religiously.  Funny enough, my nickname in high school was "muscle beach" because at a Catholic School we had to wear skirts and all you could really see were my calves!

  I arrived at Kent State and decided to take competing Figure to the next level & see what all the hype was about regarding the Dave Liberman Natural Ohio Competition.  I then hired a trainer and went to work.  I was charged $50 per week plus $200 for my offseason diets.  I, now regrettably, paid this insane amount of money to get information that was not pertinent to my body type.  It was a stereo-diet, the kind that you give to all of your clients with hopes that one or two of them will succeed in their upcoming bodybuilding or figure contest.  This is where my love of the sport and training in general came about!  I always was interested in certain aspects of the body, athletics, dieting, etc. but this was the kick in the butt I needed!  I am the epitome of bull headed, stubborn, and "my way or the highway" of an attitude; I knew I had to do things myself or they would never get done the way I wanted them to.

  Let's just say the diet he gave me was not working.  He didn't ask for my input regarding foods I liked and disliked or cardio preferences, and did not acknowledge the fact that I was becoming much too muscular for figure.  He continued to tell me to work out just the way I had been, which was unfortunately not effective for the toning effect figure competitors need.  This is the improper way to train!

  My way---
is much more effective, learned from experience!  I thought about what a good trainer should be-someone ultimately concerned with your success as being a reflection of themselves as a person!  Passion could be an appropriate word; you train someone because you love what you do and if you run into a problem you do everything in your power to fix it and make them look the best they can be, feel the best and know that you've changed someone's life (and someone's health) forever!  My father had a heart-attack at the age of 59.  This was probably one of the most traumatic events that has hit close to home for me-he was lucky enough to make it through unscathed, however I wish that all people had the understanding of how to avoid having this happen to you and your family.  Because of this, I also try to reach out as much as possible to those not interested in contest prep, but who want to get healthy for reasons similar to my own family's.

  Besides competing, I am an avid snowboarder and studier.  Seriously-I am majoring in Nutritional Biochemistry & Metabolism and it's a difficult one.  I am also the recipient of a fantastic grant, Choose Ohio First which awards those in the Biomedical field with entrepreneurship experience, and am trying to apply to as many Undergraduate Research Opportunities as I possibly can.  I have a mini American Eskimo named Prada who is seriously the devil (no pun intended!), a wonderful boyfriend (Graham), an addiction to Ebay (only when I have extra money).  I write under Kris Gethin for www.bodybuilding.com and will be shooting a 5 page feature spread for BodyFitness-UK magazine in April under Mike Lackner.  I also love http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/kimmypoohx3 add me-it is a great motivation and I have met so many inspirational people on there!

  In regards to work experience, one of the best things about me is my well-roundedness!  During the majority of high school I worked at abercrombie as a "professional clothes-folder"!   I have dabbled in web-design since I was about twelve years old; I have previously worked as a web developer for a large Cleveland-based automotive dealership and done other freelance web work (if you ever need a website/logo/business card design feel free to inquire).  I also have worked at Boston Mills/Brandywine Ski Resort in the Ski School Office, and naturally have trained at such gyms as Bally Total Fitness.