We recently connected with Athena Perez and have shared our conversation below.

Athena , appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The risk? Creating a seminar.

Not the polished, Instagrammable version —but the gritty, messy, deeply human one that people living in larger bodies carry with them when they step into a gym for the first time.

When I first started building the Scaled Nation Working with Larger Bodies seminar, it wasn’t just talking to gym owners or coaches about programming or the physical body. It was about finally giving a voice to an experience that most of the fitness industry didn’t understand—and often didn’t want to look at too closely. I knew the physical hurdles people with obesity face, yes—but I also knew the emotional weight. The shame. The bravery it takes just to walk through the front door.

The risk wasn’t just launching something new—it was telling the truth in a room that wasn’t used to hearing it.

Would they get it? Would they dismiss it? Was I going to be able to tell our story in a way that was honest—but also empowering?

I didn’t know. But I knew one thing: I was proof that it works. That transformation is possible. That the barbell doesn’t care what size you are—and the methodology works, but it has to be delivered with compassion, and understanding.

So I took the risk. And it turned out to be the most powerful thing I’ve ever created.

Because when people heard it—coaches, athletes, owners—they didn’t just nod. They leaned in. They saw people in their gyms differently. They saw themselves differently. And they started asking better questions.

Athena , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I didn’t come into fitness through the front door. I came in through the fire escape—with 500 pounds of weight, trauma, shame, and survival strapped to my back.

I wasn’t born into this industry—I clawed my way into it. I discovered CrossFit during one of the darkest chapters of my life, and it didn’t just change me—it saved me.

That’s where Scaled Nation was born.

Today, I’m a CrossFit Level 2 coach, CrossFit gym owner, author of Lifting the Wait, and the founder of Scaled Nation Training—home to the seminar “Working with Larger Bodies.” This isn’t just a seminar—it’s a reckoning. It’s designed to help coaches, gym owners, friends, and family better understand and support people in larger bodies—particularly those living with obesity—who are walking into gyms not for performance, but for survival.

I create education, seminars, and tools that empower coaches to step into human-centered coaching. But I also work directly with individuals—people who are navigating weight loss, identity, and healing from a lifetime of being overlooked or misunderstood.

What sets me apart? I’m not here to guess what it’s like. I live it. Every single day.

I’ve lost over 250 pounds, but more importantly, I’ve lost the weight of other people’s opinions, and one-size-fits-all coaching methods. I speak the language of lived experience. I’ve stood in the back of the room, modified every movement, and questioned whether I belonged.

What I’m most proud of is creating space—for both athletes and coaches—to have honest conversations, ask hard questions, and challenge what fitness has always looked like.

That’s the work I do. That’s the heart behind it.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to think if I could just get it “there”—whatever there meant—it would land better. Be taken more seriously. Reach more people. So I delayed launching my seminar. I tweaked, obsessed, edited, doubted… and honestly, I wasted time trying to polish something that didn’t need to be shiny—it needed to be true.

What I learned is this: the people I was building this for didn’t care about perfect fonts or flawless slides. They cared about being seen. They wanted someone to speak their language, tell their story, and show up with something real.

So now I live by this: be a rough draft. Launch messy. Adjust as you go. You cannot improve what doesn’t exist.

And all that stuff I was scared of? Nonsense.

Every time I said, “I’m not ready,” what I really meant was, “I’m scared.” But growth doesn’t wait for readiness. It waits for action.

That was the lesson. And once I unlearned it, everything moved.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When I launched Scaled Nation and started creating education around working with larger-bodied athletes, there wasn’t a roadmap. There weren’t ten other people in the space to look at or compete with. We weren’t trying to be “better”—we were trying to exist in a space that hadn’t made room for us yet.

So in that sense, yes—it was specialized. Incredibly so. And we had the gift (and challenge) of carving out something brand new.

But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have to prove our worth. Because we did.

Every seminar, every coach, every gym—we had to earn that trust. With real stories, real data, real lived experience.

We built a reputation not because we were flashy, but because we were undeniable and most importantly—we delivered.

No gimmicks. Just grit, compassion, and a whole lot of “I’ve been there”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.scalednation.com and www.athenamperez.com
• Instagram: @athenamariebt