Thankful.

In July of 2012 I attended my first NPC bodybuilding competition. I was in awe of the bodies on those people!  It shows incredible talent, determination, dedication, and self control.  Bodybuilding is an art.  All you see on that stage is the glistening perfection of curves and toned muscles.  I never realized all the blood, sweat, and tears it could take to get to that point until my own journey started….

I said to my boyfriend, “I want to be a bikini competitor one day” and from that day forward, I set out to achieve that dream.  If you know me, you know I don’t take goals lightly. I make sure to check off every box on my to-do list & do everything to the best of my ability.  Were there struggles along the way? Of course. But those struggles only pushed me to work harder.

By April 2013 I competed in my first bikini competition alongside my Motivator. Great experience marked off my goals list.  From there I was lead to push myself even more. Even though I don’t have a competition in mind for the near future, I am grateful for the opportunity because it taught me so much about myself.  I decided to take time off from leaning out & try and build muscle. So build I did. And build I will continue to do, forever. There is no settling when it comes to creating your dream physique. There is always room for progress. I am proud of the progress I have made in one year (going from a twig to finally having some muscles to flex).  It keeps me optimistic to what other changes I can make to my physique after two years of training!  One quote I read yesterday reminded me of this journey. Being health and fit isn’t a fad or a trend, it’s a lifestyle. It is not a one-time thing to get in shape and then magically stay in shape. It is a lifestyle to stick with for the rest of your life so you can always look and feel your best.

So in the midst of working on my physique, I realized a new dream of mine- to become a successful & published fitness model.  I have done little modeling jobs here and there over the years. However, my goal is to create a name and a brand for myself.  So to become a model, you must first build your portfolio.  This means finding a photographer and makeup team to capture your best looks.  So I searched and searched for the best photographer out there. It is no easy task to choose a photographer.  It is crucial to find someone with experience, creativity, personality, and a business-mind.  Finally, by word of mouth and research online, I made my pick (which was an easy decision): James Patrick photography. My new goal was to shoot with him & begin my journey forward as a model. So I saved up, trained hard, and prepared for the big day.

By November 2013 the day had come to shoot with James. It was everything I had wished for.  In fact, the hours flew by!  I was enjoying the shoot so much that I wish it could have lasted all day. James is professional, creative, detail oriented, experienced, business-minded, and hands down the BEST!  He provided just enough direction while still allowing me some creative independence.  The photographs came out so beautiful that I could not even pick my favorites- they were all exquisite!  He also has some great resources for those of you in the fitness industry. You can checkout his blog here & his Podcasts here.  Trust me when I say it is valuable information. I have written down so many amazing tips to help me out with my future endeavors.  This is info you won’t want to miss out on.

So now that I have shot with James, I am able to take one more step forward and continue building upon my career. I am pouring time into new blogs, new Beautiful to the Core clothing, new magazine features, & most importantly answering all your questions. Man, I must pause and reminisce.  So much has gone my way this year && it is all thanks to my Lord and Savior. I am hopeful for many more wonderful chapters in my Beautiful to the Core journey!

With Thanksgiving upon us, I am reminded of all I am incredibly thankful for.  I am thankful for my dreams, my goals, my achievements, my supporters, & my readers. Thank you all for your support 🙂

I also want to send a special thank you to James Patrick for all he has done for me.  Especially for giving me my first major magazine feature in the December issue of MAX Sports & Fitness magazine.

Plus my hair & makeup artist Amanda for making me look better than ever.  Incredible incredible incredible.  I feel so blessed to have worked with both of you.

Thankful.