We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Dunn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.
Amanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Social media has NEVER been something that has interested me, as a matter of fact I steered clear of social media until 2020 when I was encouraged to compete in the Ms Health & Fitness Magazine cover contest and a requirement of the contest was to develop a social media following via FaceBook and Instagram. At first, my following consisted of my family and friends and fellow competitors, and I was dedicated to keeping my social media private and my circle small; however, sometimes things evolve and circumstances change!
Shortly after the competition ended, I was contacted by a fellow competitor and asked to join her online community as a health and fitness expert, which I gratefully accepted. It was during this time that I discovered how much I loved to educate others on the benefits of health, fitness, and the positive impact it has on mental health. I decided to pursue my MCPT (Master Certified Personal Trainer) and Nutrition Coaching certification so that I felt as though I had authority to speak on the things I was “teaching.” It was during this time that it became painfully obvious that I was doing the majority of the teaching in this group and decided to pursue my own path. I did not know what this would look like, I just knew that I wanted to reach as many people as possible.
One AND Dunn Health and Fitness was created in 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when local gyms were forced to close their doors and people were unfortunately subject to “lock-down.” Instead of letting the lock-down control me and my efforts, I chose to use this time to become more engaged in social media and increase my reach. I enlisted the help of my boyfriend’s sister-in-law who is a genius when it comes to branding and asked her to develop a branding logo that made sense. One AND Dunn, is just that, One = your one stop shop for everything health and fitness; AND = well, that just made sense because my name is Amanda Nicole Dunn; and DUNN = because it’s my last name and I help individuals get things Dunn (done)!
To provide some background, my weight fluctuated the majority of my childhood and when I graduated high school, I was at my heaviest weight ever. I hated everything about myself and ran past mirrors so I didn’t have to look at myself. It was in a dressing room when I was trying on a pair of jeans, in what I thought was my size (they weren’t), that I decided to make a change. I was in tears, and I did not buy those larger jeans, I shimmied my way back into the jeans I had worn into that dressing room and decided I was going to start making changes. I had zero help, zero support, and had to learn how to eat “clean” and gradually add in working out and weight training. I ended up losing 54 pounds in a little over a year. During the next two years I would lose a set of twins and subsequently give birth to my now 19-year-old twins. I gained exactly what I had lost during my pregnancy (54 pounds) and was determined to lose that weight again! I will spare you the details of how I endured a sh*t*y marriage, got divorced, raised two boys, returned to school, and am where I am today; however, I will tell you that all of those things that I went through kept me true to myself and my weight loss journey. I have kept my weight off for 24 years. It was important to me to continue my journey and keep getting better because my sons are my inspiration and I wanted them to know what hard work and dedication can bring you in life.
I want other people to know that being a single mom or dad, or having other life obligations does not mean that you have to leave yourself behind. I want busy moms and dads to understand that “me” time is a real thing that is necessary. I want to leave this world a better place and I want to have a positive impact on as many people as possible.
Amanda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
For those who do not know my background, I did not compete in high school sports, I was not a D1 college athlete, and I fell in love with health and fitness in my own way. I was 20 years old before I decided it was time to take control of my sh*t*y habits, and that was after being brought to tears in a dressing room as I tried jiggling my way into jeans that I thought were my size. I ran past mirrors, I hated looking at myself, I wore baggy clothes to cover myself up, and the list goes on. I never realized how unhappy I was with my physical appearance until well after I lost 54 pounds the first time and remember asking my mom “why didn’t you tell me I was so fat?!” I say, the first time, because I lost 54 pounds twice! You read that right, twice! After my initial weight loss, and after the loss of my first set of twins, I gave birth to my now 19-year-old twins. During my pregnancy, I gained the exact amount of weight as I lost at the beginning of my journey. At 44 years old, I have kept that weight off for 24 years. I have been different versions of “fit” over the years. I’ve been skinny and lived the cardio bunny life, I’ve been muscular, I’ve had a “runners” body, you name it! Most of these body types were brought forth by unrealistic expectations of what I thought OTHER people thought I should look like. Once I realized it wasn’t about other people, or pleasing anyone else, I started focusing on what I thought was attractive, and where I was comfortable.
I think this is where I set myself apart. I have lived a hard life, and it started very young. I honestly don’t share the sad or hard parts of my life because those things are my past and I choose not to live there. But I will share, that it made me who I am today. If you ask most people to describe me in one word, it would be resilient. Life has its way of hitting us sometimes, but I have always stood back up, more determined and even stronger than before. I pushed through being a single mom that drove two-hours a day to work to ensure my boys had the things they needed, I put myself through college and would sit through classes on my lunch hours while I listened to other young mothers talk about how they were spending their grants on partying, while I just wanted to have a better life for my boys and me. I did not go to college right out of high school, so I was 26 or 27 when I returned to college to obtain my associate degree, and then I continued until I had two master’s degrees. I did all of these things, while still making time for myself. I would sometimes not workout until 11 pm and sometimes I would be lucky and get enough sleep that I could get up and workout at 4 am. All of these things, including the scenarios discussed earlier, encouraged me to start One AND Dunn Health & Fitness, and help others on their health and fitness journey.
I am an f-bomb mom, I will call you out on your bullshit, and I will always ask that you take a chance on yourself because you are worth it! I will never tell a client that they have to do a workout I love or eat the foods I love because this journey is there’s and if they don’t enjoy what they are doing, they won’t stick to the plan and their goals, if they’ve set them, mean nothing. Health and fitness is so much more than what we eat or how we behave physically, it is how we talk to ourselves and how we see ourselves. I help people uncover those insecurities and face them so that we can break through the barriers. I believe in a holistic approach, and I do not believe in a one-size-fits all programming.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I truly believe my honesty and candor is what has helped me build my reputation within the health and fitness community. I am not afraid to drop f-bombs, post memes that may be controversial, and tell people my honest opinion.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the lessons I had to unlearn is that you have to tone it down for people. This is absolutely not true!! The people that you want in your circle, and those that you want to work with will never ask you to tone down who you are. Surround yourself with people who don’t expect you to be anything other than who you are!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oneanddunnhealthandfitnessllc.godaddysites.com
- Instagram: @one_and_dunn_healthandfitness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.dunn.5895
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-dunn-2a503ab2/
Image Credits
Courtney Heesacker