We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Theresa Wells. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Theresa below.

Theresa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
I have taken two risks. The first deciding to start my own business some years ago. I threw myself into it without a clue on what to do or how to do it. Just something inside me said do it. So I did. I read some articles and blogs and researched other fitness entreprenuers who had been succesful. I was heavy in the gym and around fitness instructors often. So I began paying more attention to their interactions with members. I started taking instructor trainings to teach classes. I sought out private gym owners and asked to teach classes at their locations. After a month or so my comfort and confidence level grew, I gained hands on experience and knowledge from certification courses and actively watching other instructors. I made sure to let everyone I could, know I was a fitness instructor, had business cards made and continued to take classes taught by other instructors so my learning base would grow. It did grow and I started getting referrals from friends. I began to grow from then on. As I gained more experience, knowledge and confidence, Tone At Home Fitness began to take on a life of its own. The second big risk is the one i’m taking now. I made the decision October 2021 to resign from my current career and run my business full time. I gave myself 6 months to get everything in order. I took a hard look at myself, asked myself what’s stopping me from taking that leap. The answer was fear. Fear of what ifs… mostly scared about not being able to pay my mortgage on this new house I bought, medical insurance; all the adulting stuff. I am still scared. But, I had to realize that until I decide to take that leap and fly, this would never happen. There would never be a right time. The only time is now. In order to speak it into existance, November 10, 2021 I was in a meeting with the adminstrator at my job and announced I was thinking of resigning. That the end of March 2022 was the deadline I gave myself. That this is the plan right now. Is what I said in our meeting. In hindsight, I should have waited until the month of March was closer, you never want the right hand to know what the left hand is doing. Simply so you have time to transition as smoothly as possible. However, it felt right. I felt good about saying something. I needed to hear myself say it out loud. I am over qualified underpaid, rarely respected and the environment at the current job is toxic. My mental and physical health is declining, With all the life coaching about mental and physical health, eating right and self care discussions I have with those seeking my help and support, it is high time I take my own advice. It’s time to take that leap and fly. It’s time to build a better me. This is my transformation. In the course of this self fulfilling, crazy, scary and rewarding entreprenueral journey, I began to share my build a better me mindset with my clients and students. The Tone At Home Fitness family members. In my sharing and caring, I created Build A Better You! Fitness & Nutrtion Program. I’ll be launching this Tone At Home Fitness; program February 1, 2022. Talk about risk taking. Sharing this with your readers has brought this more into the forefront. It becomes more real each day. What I didn’t mention earlier on is that, my resigning in March of 2022, has actually been bumped up 2 months early. I will be working from home full time end of January 2022.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I threw myself into the fitness industry by way of my own personal fitness goals. I was obese, always sick not eating enough or eating way too much. I was running in circles of peopl who weren’t focused on being healthy or wanting to make changes. You become who you hang around. It’s not someone elses fault that I had gained a lot of weight or was not eating healthy as I should have. That’ was my fault. I want everyone to realize that you become who you surround yourself with. For months I had been telling myself I was not in good health and that I needed to move my butt. One day without even thinking about it, I grabbed my jump rope and went out to the back yard and started jumping. from there I renewed my gym membership and started putting in work. After a year or so I became consistent with my workouts and began taking group fitness classes. After falling lin love with TKB, I decided to take the training to teach. Then it was Shawn T’s Insanity. Zumba and Hot Hula. I eventually became a strong nation instructor. Not long after, I decided to take it up a notch and become a personal trainer. You can read more about this in the previous interview I did with Sd Voyager. http://sdvoyager.com/interview/meet-theresa-wells-tone-home-fitness-bonita/ Moving forward a few years, I have become a marathoner and distance running coach. As well as nutrtion coach. It takes great focus, hard productive work and tenancity to be an entreprenuer. Many lonely days and nights and grinding to be your best. The greatest at what you love. You have to have a clear head, patience, an understanding and experience working with people of all types. It’s a part of the craft. The skill of graditude, doing things with intent, wanting to learn the psychology of talking to people. Amongst so much more. It’s not all business skills and making money. It’s about helping people. Supporting your tribe. Building relationships. Giving and attracting the right clients for you and your business. You have to learn their why. But only after discovering your why. What I provide at Tone At Home Fitness is: guidance, support, education and aiding you in recognizing your pain points and next steps for leading a healthy lifestyle. From weight management, nutrition coaching, reducing cravings, ridding your life of binge eating and confusion about food, exercise and overall good health. What you’ll never get from me: cookie cutter workouts, fads, gimmicks and other temporary fixes. My job is to assist you in learning how to live healthy and sustain a healthy life until you know and feel inside your soul, you no longer need me. That you got this. I show you how to build a better you, by simply asking you, how I can help you. I actually listen, take notes and we work together on creating a program that fits your goals and lifestyle. It’s your body, your life, your goals. Your happiness. Which is why I am launching a new program on February 1, 2022. Build A Better You! Fitness & Nutrition Program This is my baby! my biggest launch yet. From physical fitness, nutrition, life coaching, living in abundance, group fitness trainning, accountability check ins, a copy of my healthy cooking recipe book, ” Coach Wells’ Kitchen” and access to a closed FB group specifically for those taking a chance on themselves and going through Build A Better You! Fitness & Nutrition Program. If you live in my training area I come to you. In home personal training and nutrition coaching. I also offer online programs with zoom trainings. For those who want to learn without a personal trainer, you can always register for my online school Fit For Life. This is what sets Tone At Home Fitness apart from others offering similair services.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I have faced much difficulty throughout my journey. The loss of my grandparents and my mother within a 7 month time frame. A car accident in 2016 that has left me with permanent damage. Limiting my athletic performance. Being harrassed and discriminated against at work for required accommadations from the car accident. Recently, resigning from an over 20 year career to do what I love most. To follow my life story. Which is working from home full time. Owning and operating my in home and online personal training and nutrtion coaching business. This is 10 years overdue. I had to let go of the rear of what ifs. I have to do this now or it would never happen. Despite what I mentioned above and other life disasters along the way, I have not given up. There are times I wanted to let myself melt into a nervous breakdown, give up and hide from the world. There have been days just in the past year, I’ve been so afraid. Too afraid to take a chance on myself. Suffering from insomnia, PTSD and depression along with physical disabilities was more than I could handle. I do not know how or why I am still stnading. Nevertheless, I am here. I made it through. I survived. In situations like this it is best to look ahead. Visualize my future. How it IS going to be. Visualize how successful I WILL be. How wonderful I will feel helping others. Giving back and celebrating my client’s successes. Not hover over or dwell in the past and mentally hold myself back with past pains. I believe it was the one thing I wouldn’t give up on that was my glue; Running. My love of the marathon. How confident it made me. Knowing I can do something so strenuous, mind bending and at times physically painful and not stop. The freedom I feel on the asphalt and dirt roads. Being outdoors with the sun on my skin and the wind at my back (on good running days). Running in the rain seeing the steam come off my body as the heat I emit mixes with the cold air. Running is my therapy. My go to. My love. If I had listened to the doctor that told me I cannot run anymore, I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t be a full time entrepreneuer, or coach. I wouldn’t have fought so hard to be able to run again after the accident. I wouldn’t be a personal trainner. I wouldn’t be a mother to my son. a part of me would be missing. At some point the bigger picture became, not having achieved or lived. Really accompalished any goal or growth. I hadn’t experienced life. Fast forward to today, I am running, training, networking, helping others reach their greatest potential and have learned how to manage (mostly) the physical pain, stress and anxiety. I even started international travel for the first time. Facing all of this has taught me that I am stronger and more powerful than I thought I was. Needing to run for my mental health and emotional healing has made me grateful that I am still here. Made me grateful for what I can do. Made me grateful that I can still walk and run. Much of my strentgh came from thinking about my son. Knowing he watches what I do. He is not a young chlid. My son is an adult. A 30 something adult. Even as an adult he leans on me. No matter how old your children are or how far away they might be, there is still a connection. Even when you’re angry with one another. At times I think about my grandfather. How he was my go to. I think I subconciously look for a sign from him that he’s here and everything is okay. Sulking and feeling sorry for myself isn’t going to change the past or fix the present. I know my grandfather would have told me what I should do. Then give alternatives on how to do it. I picture myself in those conversations. Reflection time happens and then I adjust accordingly. All the struggle built my resilience through tenancity, hidden strength and admittedly my stuborness. Truthfully, my journey is just beginning. The one I am meant to take.

Have you ever had to pivot
Well, I just did a pivot. I resigned form an over 20 year career in education in January or 2022. Why…I mentally checked out months ago. I needed to leave 5 years ago. The district became more and more toxic before COVID. Some of the school sites I worked at were run poorly. The envorinments are toxic. Education is about youth about families about growth and life. But never treated that way. Our chlildren deserve better. Educators deserve to be treated better. With all this going on I had to go. I am no longer happy being in that field. Not in the capacity I was working in. At least not in that school district. I will still continue to work with our young people. It will be done with fitness and nutrtion and athletic conditioning. Combining the two things I enjoy, working with young people and supporting those who are ready to lead a healthy succssfully fit life. The best pivot you can make is one of mindfulness, with intent and gratitude. A pivot that allows you to walk in your truth. Speak your truth without ridicule. Be who you are. Not what someone else wants you to be. Never have expectations during your transition. Expectations set you up for disappointment. Pivot how you’re meant to. Only you know how, when or why. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone when you do. Never feel guilty. Do what makes you happy. Don’t pivot…transform. Shine brightly.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.toneathomefitness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportyspicewells/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TWELLS1913
• Linkedin: http:www.linkedin.com/in/toneathomefitness
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/theresawells
• Other: Fit-For-Life-toneathomefitness.com

Image Credits
Photographs by: NNC Visuals