I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii as both my parents were in the USAF, but raised in New Orleans. I knew from a very young age that becoming a professional dancer was the path that I wanted to pursue. It is what and still to this day, fuels my fire. But dance has a certain aesthetic requirement depending on the genre/company you enter into. Coming from a family that struggled/struggles with obesity, my genetics were up against me. By the age of 15 I was being told that if I really wanted to have a professional career in dance I had to work on my body… simply put, lose weight. Although I was blessed to have a multitude of professional experiences, I never truly felt that I achieved my “best” because I could never figure out the nutrition part. Fast-forward about ten years, I’m retired from my life as a professional dancer but now a lead Teaching Artist and Communications Coordinator for one of the dance programs that trained and exposed me to the great big world of dance.
I am a perfectionist and over-achiever at heart and blessed with many talents. I am slightly obsessed with makeup, fitness apparel and photography… I love to be creatively challenged. I recently joined a running group MYBKREWE to challenge myself, but also because I am pursuing entrance into the Officer Program of the USAF as a Pilot. Oh and did I mention I’m pretty silly. I love to laugh, hate to cry – but sometimes tears are unavoidable.
I’m a firm believer that everything happens in God’s perfect timing and it’s such a beautiful feeling when you know and see things falling into place.
In May of 2015, I was at a place in my life where I was finished rebelling against working out and “eating right’ because I started to not like how I felt. Nothing fit me right and I really didn’t want to go shopping because I had so many clothes that I absolutely loved but couldn’t fit. So I took it one step at a time. I first challenged myself to get on a regimen and work out at least one day a week. I did Herbalife for one month exactly and I worked out one day a week. June 2015, I went on a spiritual fast with my now ex-boyfriend and continued my workouts, but I was introduced to Pure Barre at this time and added that to my regimen as well doing just one class per week. In July 2015, I went back to a program that I had visited with several times in my past… Weight Watchers. It allowed me to not feel deprived or on a “diet”. My body started to change and the weight was coming off. I had added another day or two to the gym and was taking one to two Pure Barre classes a week. By the time August/September rolled around I was desiring more. I knew I could do more.
I had been following Massy since my time in New York which around 2009 and she had put out I believe her first MA30Day challenge. I was skeptical, so I didn’t sign-up. I wanted to see results first before I committed to anything physically or financially. Well…. the results came in and I was sold. I signed up for her very next challenge beginning in mid-October 2015. I started seeing major changes after the first week. I was fully committed and not looking back. Loving the results I got from the first challenge I committed to the December challenge. I was feeling and looking amazing and officially a MAWarrior. I completed three more challenges and I don’t every remember a time in my life when my body looked the way that it did or a time when I could say I look amazing.
For some reason or another I feel this huge sense of loyalty to Massy and the MAWarror family. Sure I’ve mixed in other programs here and there in the year that I’ve been a part of the MAWarrior family, but Massy is sort of like home. I always come back to her. My body has responded the best to the knowledge and training that she has exposed me too and I am living proof that this program works. You just have to trust the process. The goal is to be real, not perfect and I have learned along my journey to just embrace it all.
