Every once in a while, something happens that really matters. Something that will define at least the next chapter of your journey – perhaps it’s a conversation with a client, a meeting with a visionary or a major event in your personal life. Below, you’ll find some very insightful folks sharing defining moments from their journeys.

Kristy Sidlar

We all have dates burned into our memories – our parents’ birthdays. Our wedding anniversary. The birthdates of our children. But the dates I remember most vividly are the dates when I almost died. The first was April 14, 1996, when I was teaching a fitness class and collapsed in front of my students. Fortunately, my blackout only lasted a handful of minutes and by the time the EMTs arrived, everything appeared to be fine. Read more>>

Austeen Heeney

This past January I opened up my second physical business location. It was the biggest leap of trust and faith I had yet to experience being a business owner. I’m going to be honest, the only thing I knew for certain was that it felt right, and it felt like I couldn’t say no. This second location, if I were to say no to it, it felt like one of those things that I would have regretted the rest of my life. Read more>>

Armando Retana

A defining moment in my career was when I was kicked out of college because of my immigration status. I had to transfer from a public college in Maryland to a private, catholic school in Kentucky. After that, my GPA went up to a 4.0 average. That moment gave me a lot of appreciation for education and I continue to become a surgeon and be where I am today. Read more>>

Javonia Smith

Since I can remember I have had experiences that shaped my personal and professional identity, values, and approach to helping others and this work. From moments of personal interrogation and reflection to breakthroughs with clients to the realization of the impact of what I do. Read more>>

Amy DeAnda

Breast Cancer! After years in corporate project management and conference planning while being a single mom to two boys, the long hours, stress and lack of self care culminated in Stage 3 breast cancer. That year of chemo and multiple surgeries including a mastectomy really brought about a new perspective on life. Unless you’ve been there, it’s hard to really describe how much the experience changes you. Read more>>

Andrea Higgins

My defining moment was realizing as a 24 year old female, I had pelvic floor issues. I had never had kids, I had always been healthy and active, just graduated as a doctor from physical therapy and knew everything about anatomy and physiology (to my knowledge), yet STILL had pelvic floor dysfunction. When I realized I had issues that needed to be addressed and connected back to my period health, bladder/bowel/sexual health, I needed to learn more about pelvic floor and find a way to integrate it into orthopedics Read more>>

Kezia Luckett

It was December 2016, on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. I awoke early feeling the need to go clear my head, so I put on my wet weather gear and headed out the door for a walk. Little did I know that this walk would bring me to a crossroads in my life. Read more>>

Yvonne Dellos

When I realized that life was happening for me and not to me. I was sent here for a reason and I am on a a mission to discover my purpose and to live fully into that Read more>>

Malory Ruesch

It was 9 PM, I heard a knock on the door. I opened the door to see no one there, but a white envelope on the doormat. I take the envelope and walk inside.. my roommate looks at me slightly confused, and asked me what it is. I open the envelope and inside. We’re just two papers. One that was congratulatory and would free me, while the other one, a full 402 reduction of my entire record. Read more>>

Travis Arrington

Chiropractic is a second career for me and I wanted to be the best Chiropractor that I could be. So while I was in school, I attended dozens of seminars on technique and analysis, x-rays imaging etc. During my search I came across an analysis and technique that dealt primarily with behavioral health and addictions. I was fascinated from my own experience with addiction and mental health challenges. I had to learn more. I attended a conference in Atlanta, GA with Dr. Jay Holder. Read more>>

Nydia GanjaClergy

As an entrepreneur in the cannabis health and wellness space, I’ve faced countless defining moments. These moments remind me of my “why”, and bring me back to the pivotal point that drove me to participate in this industry. Read more>>

Amanda Ann

One of the hardest moments of my life was a year after I separated from my children’s father. I felt very alone and lost. I was having to work 3 jobs and be a mom at the same time. Finding balance between work, children and having a social life was so hard. Life is never fully planned out perfectly and I had to learn how to adapt and grow in my struggles. I have made it through tremendous heartbreak and on the journey of healing and becoming my best self. Read more>>

Nadia Murdock

I have had several defining moments in life that always brought me one step closer to my purpose. These moments helped me to get clarity and grow as a person both professionally and personally. Throughout my career I wasn’t always fully supported by other women in my space which subconsciously contributed to my feelings of imposter syndrome and stepping into my own power. Read more>>

Gregory Mack

In regard to my career path, there were three moments that shaped my practice choice of working with individuals suffering from medical conditions who could use exercise to help them. 1. I attended a conference in 1991 where I sat in on a presentation that was sharing recent research on what the aging population wanted from their health care and one key thing that showed up was that they wanted their medical and fitness care highly coordinated between providers. Read more>>

Daryll Wharton

My defining moment was when I realized that my weight loss surgery failed and I had not done anything about it in over 10 years. I found myself feeling those same feelings that I felt when I weight 674 pounds. I felt ugly, miserable, hopeless, and I was crying every day again. Read more>>

Latoya Hagood

In 2017, my husband and I signed up for an artisan soap making class. We learned the art of cold process soap making and even made our own batch of soap. After our soap cured for 4 weeks, we began using our handmade product and fell in love. We immediately made the switch from commercial bath and body products to making our own handmade, plant-based soaps, bath, and body products. The days of dry, irritated skin were gone. Read more>>

Lejla Ibrahimkadic

I switched careers from being a dentist and working in healthcare in general to a personal fitness trainer. Now, how I got to that is a bit of a longer story and it wasn’t as simple as it may sound. First, one defining moment I remember as playing a crucial role in me deciding to switch to fitness industry was when I had a health battle, and fitness and proper nutrition helped me regain my strength and wellbeing back. Read more>>

Jillian Xavier

Learning I have a purpose after my son became my ANGEL Read more>>

Nayshma Jones

Walking Backwards: Reassessing, taking a risk and following your intuition despite cultural status-quos. Read more>>

HOLLI ABBOTT

A defining moment that led me into the health and wellness industry was when a good friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. He came back from his first oncology appointment and I eagerly asked what did they tell you to eat? I had been reading various books about all of the different things you can do, including how to nourish yourself, to help fight the cancer and I knew from my research that your diet could have a huge benefit in the recovery and the ability to heal. Read more>>

Kevia Jones

I grew up in a neighborhood that was known for drugs, violence and poverty. I grew up in a household with my mom and older sister for most of my childhood. My dad battled with drugs, alcohol and prison for most of that time and my mom did her best to navigate adulthood. I saw a lot growing up that helped me at some point to survive until I couldn’t anymore. Read more>>

Steven Miller

It was the last day of my previous job and many of my coworkers and I were going out for drinks after work. The coworker who always sat in front of my workstation had numerous conversations about infertility and IVF, as her husband’s brother and wife were doing IVF. They had four failed transfers, and my coworker had provided her brother-in-law with my podcast to help him through some of the rough waters of the infertility journey. Read more>>

Ingrid Perez- Esquivel

Shortly after completing my 200 hour yoga certification I applied for another scholarship opportunity to further my knowledge and explore different ways of moving the body. Yoga sculpt seemed to be a very popular class people enjoyed taking and I wanted to see what it was all about. I had no idea it would change everything for me. Read more>>

Julie Mast

My defining moment was learning the power of surrender. I was racked with an eating disorder..totally obsessed with what I was eating, how much I was exercising and monitoring my body’s every change. I was at my family’s cabin where I grew up as a child fishing, swimming and catching frogs. It had historically been a magical place for me and on this particular day, I was swimming laps to burn calories. Read more>>