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

Sheila, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I’ve been an advocate of health and fitness most of my adult life. Some years ago, I decided to get a personal trainer so when I went to the gym, I wouldn’t be at a lost of what and how to use equipment as opposed to just being on the bike or treadmill.
That two-year investment paid off and I became more consistent with working out and keeping my body in shape. I never focused on anyone other than my own progression until members of my church began asking me about the gym I attend, and I invited them to come with me for an introduction.
One of the young trainers at the gym who occasionally talked to me suggested I become a personal trainer for seniors. I guess he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I considered his suggestion, mainly because I had already noticed a gap in training for older adults and several ladies had approached me on how they admired how I could do lunges or some other exercise.
So, at the age of sixty-five, I became a certified personal trainer with focus on senior and women’s fitness. It was a life-changing profession that I had never considered at all, and I have been able to inspire and motivate others to have a better quality of life through active fitness training.
I am now about to be seventy-three years old and considered a social media influencer with my active posts on fitness, dancing and motivation. I’m no longer training in the gym due to my role as a caregiver. I keep my followers up to date through my Facebook group, Lifestyle Fitness for Active Adults and posting to my over 150,000 followers on social media platforms.
Not only was this a life-changing experience for me, but I have been able to change the lives of others.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

At an early age, I began thinking about aging. It wasn’t’ from a place of fear. I was facing making decisions about my personal and business affairs that were critical in deciding how I would move forward with my life. I was tied down by other people and my business at the time was failing. Making the right decisions in my mid-thirties helped propel me into my forties, fifties and sixties a free and spirited woman. That transition placed me in a position to take part in programs that were focused on women’s self-development. Over the years, I developed a passion to speak to women who would receive help from shared experiences that spoke to issues that resonated with their lifestyles ranging from health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality as they aged.
That began several years ago, but aging is now at the forefront of the news. Although ageism still exists. Adults have elevated in so many ways, we no longer are bound by social norms and rules.
I am proud to be an advocate of aging through my speaking and social media activities encouraging others to embrace and capture the essence of time to endure and succeed in spite of change, challenge and adversity.
As far as I can remember, it’s always been exciting to take bold steps, stepping out into the unknown or doing things I’ve not done before and most of all, helping others.
Have I always done everything right? No! But I’ve never been afraid to step out on faith and do it. I genuinely believe inspiring older adults is my calling.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One year after becoming a personal trainer, I was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. I was afraid my clients wouldn’t perceive me as healthy and cancel my services. It was opposite. They were incredibly supportive and when it was time for my surgery, they kept in touch checking on me weekly until I returned to work. Throughout the process I didn’t stop exercising, but I did drop weight training. Walking was my main source of exercise. In addition to the health benefit, being out in nature helped to clear my mind and focus on positive things.

When I returned to the gym, my co-workers and clients greeted me with a joyous reception. I never discussed or told anyone that for eight weeks after my surgery, I left the gym and went to radiation treatment. The technicians would tease me because I never needed help getting on or off the table with my age. I even showed to them how to get up and down from the floor if someone did fall.

I understand everyone’s diagnosis is different and I couldn’t be afflicted with something that so many of my friends and family have succumbed to and not take part and support programs that supply support, knowledge and most of all research for all cancer cures. I demonstrate and post on social medial exercise for post cancer patients to support getting back to daily activities. My primary volunteering is with the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation because it’s time we move towards a cure.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

As a teenager, I had the idea I wanted to own a business. I can’t really say how that formulated other than seeing businesses flourish in my neighborhood. In my early twenties, I was introduced to the philosophy of positive thinking through the book, “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude” by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone. (1960) They were two early pioneers of motivational speaking and success through positive thinking.

I became engrossed in the thought of achieving success through positive thinking and even though since that time I have read countless books that inspired me on my entrepreneurial and life path, I still consider my initial introduction to positive thinking the gateway to eventual opening my retail business and subsequently achieving other ventures before moving to my current phase of life.

With that said, my spiritual growth is far more significant to my life and achievements since those early years and The Bible is the source that I get guidance from these days.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sheilaagnew.com
• Instagram: @sheilasfitfiftyplus @sheilas_ah_mazingaging
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sheilasfit50plus
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-agnew-74
• Youtube: @sheilasfit50plus
• Other: Tik Tok @sheilasfit50plus