Luckily as the years went on, we continued to perform as the “Fitness Showteam” and I continued on in gymnastics before eventually switching over to a competitive “All Star Cheerleading” program. Throughout high school I began focusing on competitive cheerleading and would compete with my team at Nationals every year and also did the individuals competition. Cheerleading became kind of my gateway into actually competing in fitness because we would do a lot of conditioning and even some weight lifting during cheer practices, which I really enjoyed. Genetically, I was already athletic and muscular (Both of parents were very athletic and muscular so it was a great start!), but cheerleading really started to develop my arms/shoulders/back and it became noticeable. In 1999, I decided I wanted to try a fitness competition, even though I was only 13 years old. The NPC decided to allow me to enter the women’s fitness at the NPC Pittsburgh, where I competed against 20 some other grown women! To say I was overwhelmed that day would be an understatement, but I did it, and even though I did not place obviously… I felt on top of the world! The promoter of the show told me that there would be a teen fitness division starting up soon, so to not be discouraged!
 

I stuck with cheerleading throughout my senior year of high school and also was able to compete in the Teen Fitness Nationals that started up that year, where I won first place. Again, I was still only 17 years old so I had so much in front of me. I knew I wanted to stick with fitness, but I also knew I would be going to college and wanted to experience school and do my best. I started off taking some classes at our local community college before I finally decided to apply to the University of Pittsburgh for the Neuroscience and Chemistry program. I got accepted and the following year became a PITT student. This was a really exciting time for me as I moved out of my parents’ house and into a home with roommates near campus. My experience at Pitt was really great, but very challenging. I was working a lot as a waitress to keep up with my bills, studying a lot to keep up with my grades, and also wanted to socialize and enjoy the college lifestyle. I started getting away from the gym and away from making fitness a priority in my life at that time. I still loved it, but I just was unsure how to manage at the time. Throughout my years in college I went off and on and yo-yo dieted and went from one extreme to the next! I always knew that I wanted to get back into competing I just didn’t know how or when it would “fit” back in.  I graduated from college in 2008 and began putting my degree to use; I worked in several research labs over the years and was trying to find out my career path.