I grew up in Georgetown, SC as the daughter of the high school baseball coach, so sports and athletics have always been a big part of my life. I played softball and basketball and rode horses throughout my youth. During high school, softball became my passion, but I also tried cross country and volleyball. I continued my softball career in college at Furman University and then Coastal Carolina University, where I graduated with a degree in history. I became a teacher and coached high school athletics in the hopes that it would fill the void left after years of devoting myself to competing in sports, but it wasn’t quite the same. I started running on my own and eventually found my way into the “globo-gym” scene a few years later doing bodybuilding style workouts and cardio, but I missed having that “thing” to work and train for that I always had. Throughout all my years of sports, I was almost always working out and training with a team. Now, I was on my own. Until CrossFit.

In 2016, a trainer at the gym I went to recommended that I should try CrossFit, so I went to what is now CrossFit Myrtle Beach to get more information and tried a class the next day. I loved it! We were doing movements that I had never tried before and I loved the challenge, variety, and structure of the workouts. Most important, I had found my team again! I was not on my own in the gym anymore as this new community of people made me feel right at home. The coaching also had me hooked. In all my years of sports, some of the best coaches I ever had were in CrossFit. I have always enjoyed having something to practice and train for, and I also found that again in CrossFit as there is always something to improve. It changed my life and saved my life as it gave me both an outlet and a supportive second family that helped get me through the highs and lows of life. It’s been my therapy and my happy place and keeps me a humble and hungry athlete. In the summer of 2021, I decided to get my L1 as a way to pay forward all the benefits I had found in this sport. I hope to help other people enjoy the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of pushing yourself to to do things you didn’t think you could and finding strength you didn’t know you had, all while surrounded by a positive and supportive community.