Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Courtney Byers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Courtney, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

Over the years, I’ve witnessed a significant surge in the popularity of strength training among women, a trend that is truly heart warming to observe. I am optimistic that this momentum will become a solid foundation for women’s self-care and personal development journeys.

Reflecting on my own journey, growing up as a 6-foot-tall girl in the 90s, I found myself admiring supermodels and women in magazines as many of us did. During that era, there was immense pressure to conform to a very thin physique. However, my inclination towards sports and athleticism led to a physique that was more muscular, which often left me feeling inadequate in terms of conforming to the popular beauty standards at that time. It wasn’t until I embraced my identity as an athlete and appreciated the empowerment of taking up space as a woman, particularly in the realm of fitness, that I began to cultivate genuine self-love and confidence.

I aspire to pass along this sense of empowerment to all women that work with me or are a part of the Bodies By C community. You are so much stronger than you think. You deserve to take up space.

The growing popularity of strength training among women just highlights how important this truly is. It’s not just about the physical changes that occur.

There is so much confidence and resilience that is built through hard strength training and that carries over into other aspects of life where you need to show up as your full self, take up space and be seen.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I felt at home playing team sports all through my early school years. Approaching my early 20’s I found myself searching for a community and I needed direction when it came to athletics as I no longer had a team or a coach. Which is how I stumbled upon bodybuilding, I immediately fell in love with the sport and I have had coaches ever since.

I discovered weight training and right away jumped into a prep for a bodybuilding show. Knowing almost nothing about the process. That process highlighted some very problematic behaviors and a terrible relationship with food that I had actually had for years prior. As far back as childhood. But without the structure and guidance of a coach I was able to ignore it.

I love the experience of a bodybuilding prep. (in fact, I am going through one right now) I find that I come out of every prep a little different mentally. My level of self love grows every time.

This first experience played a huge roll in my decision to later become a coach myself. The more I explored my relationship with my body, and my relationship with food the more I began to discuss what I was experiencing with friends and acquaintences. When I came to realize that so many other women were also experiencing this.

I became fascinated by the psychology behind why we do what we do when it comes to our bodies. How we can develop a stronger relationship with self and ultimately change our relationship with things like movement and nutrition.

Then Bodies By C was born.

Over the years I’ve had an insatiable hunger for every ounce of knowledge I could gather when it comes to womens health and womens bodies. From gut health to hormones, mindset & psychology, menopause, pregnancy & post partum. I think our bodies are absolutely amazing. I pull from that knowledge when working with the women I coach inside of my programs.

My goal is to not only help you create the habits and discipline required to create a physique you feel at home in. But to also help you develop a mindset and a relationship with self that can support you and carry you through all of lifes ups and downs. The two truly go hand in hand and often times the mindset shifts need to occur prior to physical changes.

The gym is the perfect outlet to do this.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is tricky. It’s always changing and evolving, but one thing that never changes is that people genuinely want to feel seen. And people genuinely want connection.

Because I coach women it felt important that I show the highs and lows I also go through as a woman navigating things like entreprenuership, fitness, the relationship with my body etc.

I try to be as transparent as I can be with my online community which helps build that relationship and creates more growth.

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

Perfection.

I had to learn that done is better than perfect.
Progress is better than perfect.
There is no such thing as perfect and if we are constantly waiting for the “perfect” time. We will never start.

Once I started showing up messy and imperfect in all aspects of my life Is when I began to see the most progress.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bodiesbyc.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bodiesbyc_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/461485479130068/
• Other: I am the co founder of Seattle Wellness Society. A womens community here in Seattle, we focus on wellness, community & networking. Supporting women in our community and getting active together are the foundations that we have built this community on. www.instagram.com/seattlewellnesssociety

Image Credits
Headshot – Russie Denay Photography Gym Photo- Connor Mac Studios