Ciao mia amica fitness!

Looking back to my first show 5 years ago, I can hardly believe how far this sport and industry have taken me.  Never in my wildest dreams did I image that my passion for Fitness and helping others would allow me to make fitness my career.  Not just a job, but a caling that I can put my heart and sole in to.  This all started because I wanted to leave my desk job in research with a huge company and stay at home when my son was born.  

Now here I sit, typing my own company newsletter while on a flight to Florence, Italy to represent Weider Europe (parent company of Muscle & Fitness & Flex amongst others) at the 20th Florence Fitness Festival! 

On one side of me sits my husband who is also living his dream as a commercial & fitness photographer and on the other side is the latest copy of Flex magazine - Swimsuit Edition.  In case you have not received it yet, RUN to the nearest store and pickup a copy of the swimsuit edition, I am featured along with 7 other Fitness & Figure women.  I have always thought of myself as a hardworking, 'normal' mid-western mom.  The kind of woman more comfortable in a ponytail with jeans and a t-shirt than all done up.  But there I am staring back at myself on the pages of the magazines I have been reading for years. 

As opportunities like these present themselves I feel extremely blessed and grateful.  On second thought, I suppose it is not necessarily that opportunities are simply presenting themselves...  To paraphrase Dan MIller - "I am gong out, kiling things and dragging them home!"  So maybe determination, persistence and a whole lot of stubbornness are what keeps leading things toward me.  I am not sure.  But I hope that this regular mom from Kentucky can offer you a bit of inspiration and an example of what YOU can do at any age and any fitness level.  Never stop believing that you can do whatever you set your mind to and dedicate yourself to 100%.  You can change your life.  You can teach your kids the value of eating right and exercising everyday.  YOU can look better now than you did at 18.  Live your life with values, passion and purpose and great things will find you.

:) Julie



PS - I'll have more photos from our trip to Florence and Rome, Italy up soon.  Be sure to check out my site for updates.