Coach, Triathlete, Mom, Wife, Friend, and Motivational Speaker
Improvement breeds Motivation
My Story & My Mission
Being active has been a part of my life since I can remember. It started on the streets of Chicago as a kid. We played outside with our friends constantly. We had no organized leagues. We just played the sport of the season. Spring and Summer consisted of biking, baseball and playing around the neighborhood. Fall consisted of football and winter consisted of ice hockey (we created a rink in the back yard from a hole in the ground where a swimming pool once sat). We had the will so we found a way.
The big game changer came one day when I was playing softball at recess in Middle School. I hit a triple and a buddy of mine asked if I wanted to be on their softball team. Wow, I didn’t even know they had teams. And from there I got more and more involved in team sports in High School. I went from being an incredibly shy child to a confident and driven kid. Sports changed my life. I went onto college and rowed. I found an instant family during a tough transition time, was in the best shape of my life (at the time), and was pushed to new limits. I was approached to try out for the national team. So I did and spent the next 6 summers rowing, rowing and rowing. During this time I accepted my first big coaching job. Well I did make a whopping 2,000!
I was coaching at Wisconsin, training, and had 2 other jobs so I could do what I love. The job became full time. I retired from the national team but participated in various athletic events. I finally accepted the head coaching job at University of Iowa where I started the program from scratch.
One day I was walking home from practice. I remember the day as clear as it was yesterday. We had a good row, the energy was up, and the sky could not have been any bluer. The warmth of the sun felt good after a cool ride in the coaching launch. As I was walking to my car, someone asked me if I heard about the World Trade buildings being bombed. I was in shock. I drove home and watched the news in horror. Were we at war? The following days we all heard story after story about the countless lives lost. I wanted to do something to honor those lives and not take my life for granted. I thought I could run or row a mile for every life lost, but I was worried that I would be injured if I dedicated all my time to a single sport. That's how I got into triathlon. I didn’t like how my life was all work. I wanted to be fit again. I wanted to improve my quality of life. After 9/11, I purposely shifted my life. Since then, I have been more consistent than ever with fitness and I am much happier. Two years ago I made a career change and now I have a chance to make a difference in the lives of others. I enjoy helping others find balance, the time to be fit, have fun, and still be a good co-worker, Partner, Mom, Dad and/or friend.
The big game changer came one day when I was playing softball at recess in Middle School. I hit a triple and a buddy of mine asked if I wanted to be on their softball team. Wow, I didn’t even know they had teams. And from there I got more and more involved in team sports in High School. I went from being an incredibly shy child to a confident and driven kid. Sports changed my life. I went onto college and rowed. I found an instant family during a tough transition time, was in the best shape of my life (at the time), and was pushed to new limits. I was approached to try out for the national team. So I did and spent the next 6 summers rowing, rowing and rowing. During this time I accepted my first big coaching job. Well I did make a whopping 2,000!
I was coaching at Wisconsin, training, and had 2 other jobs so I could do what I love. The job became full time. I retired from the national team but participated in various athletic events. I finally accepted the head coaching job at University of Iowa where I started the program from scratch.
One day I was walking home from practice. I remember the day as clear as it was yesterday. We had a good row, the energy was up, and the sky could not have been any bluer. The warmth of the sun felt good after a cool ride in the coaching launch. As I was walking to my car, someone asked me if I heard about the World Trade buildings being bombed. I was in shock. I drove home and watched the news in horror. Were we at war? The following days we all heard story after story about the countless lives lost. I wanted to do something to honor those lives and not take my life for granted. I thought I could run or row a mile for every life lost, but I was worried that I would be injured if I dedicated all my time to a single sport. That's how I got into triathlon. I didn’t like how my life was all work. I wanted to be fit again. I wanted to improve my quality of life. After 9/11, I purposely shifted my life. Since then, I have been more consistent than ever with fitness and I am much happier. Two years ago I made a career change and now I have a chance to make a difference in the lives of others. I enjoy helping others find balance, the time to be fit, have fun, and still be a good co-worker, Partner, Mom, Dad and/or friend.