08/15/2026
My dad passed away unexpectedly just over 4 months ago now, and to say it turned our worlds upside down is an understatement. We all think we have so much time left with our loved ones, and time left to do all of the things we wish we would have with them and in life.
It still doesn’t feel real, but I know I have to pick myself back up and get back to doing what I love most, and that is helping people with their fitness to live longer and healthier lives.
It’s been 4 months since I have been active on social media, and that is something I am going to change starting now. I appreciate everyone’s support through the tough times more than you know, and apologize for not being as responsive as I should have been to all of the nice comments, messages, and calls. It’s been very tough to talk about, so I tried to block everything out, heal myself, and help my family.
I realize though that the only way to heal myself is to help heal others. We all have things we have been through that have shaped us into who we are today. I am hoping by sharing this that others realize they are not alone in life’s struggles, and that you can always reach out to me for help in any way, whether it is fitness related or not. Dealing with loss over the years has drastically changed who I am and how I see the world, and I am hoping I can use that to help others in any way I can.
With all of that said, I am so happy to be back to posting and building my business back to where it should be. I will never let myself slip again because he wouldn’t have wanted that either, and I know how important it is to help others. If I can improve the quality of life of those I help, then my life’s purpose is fulfilled, and that’s what we all search for in life.
If you are still reading, I will share one more story:
I still remember it like it was yesterday when I was a teenager and my dad took me shopping at a sporting goods store because he wanted to buy a weight set for me so I could learn to workout. It was something he always wished he did himself, but he had no idea where to start.
Neither did I, but he always told me he was jealous of his friend’s brother who started lifting weights young because it changed his body and gave him strength and confidence.
My dad was the definition of a hard worker and owned his own painting business his whole life, which is very tough on the body. He taught himself how to fix everything so he could help other people by fixing their houses too. That was something he always showed me by example, and is why I am so handy and able to do so many projects to this day.
The one thing he couldn’t teach me was how to workout, simply because he didn’t know where to start and was already beating his body up every day at work, while also playing hockey and sports with us to have fun.
He taught me how to be competitive, always want to win, and do things myself. He helped me build my gym, paint my gym, do projects around my house, fix my sports cars growing up, and taught me to never give up when things get tough because you can always figure out how to do things yourself.
To this day I still wish I could have taught him how to workout and shared more time in my gym with him aside from just building it, but that’s just life. We always want more time and more moments.
When he first bought me that equipment, I had no idea what to do either. Luckily, I had a good friend who knew how to weight lift, so I would go over to his house and learn any chance I could.
Then when I was 17, I was diagnosed with pretty severe scoliosis and given the option of surgery, which meant putting rods in my back to support my spine, or learning how to workout properly and strengthen my core.
If I chose surgery, I would have given up everything I loved to do and all of the sports I loved to play, which also meant playing hockey with him, which was our favorite thing.
So I turned to the internet and studied and learned as much as I could. I can proudly say I have still avoided surgery by becoming an expert on scoliosis and fitness. That life-changing moment set me on a path to help others and eventually open my own gym.
I am so fortunate to have learned so much from him and to have been taught the hockey player mentality to be tough as nails no matter how hurt you are. He had back surgery and pain himself, but never let it limit him despite how he felt.
He still played hockey up until the very last night of his life, and none of us had any idea he wouldn’t be waking up in the morning.
He taught me so much, and working out is still something I wish I had been able to teach him. I’ll always wonder if I could have helped him feel stronger and healthier too and maybe had more time with him. I wasn’t able to do that for him, and it is one of the many regrets I have in life.
He was always so proud of my accomplishments, and I want to continue to make him and my family proud. So it is now my goal to help as many people as I can improve their fitness and live longer and healthier lives. We all have struggles, but I am here to help, so please reach out if I can help in any way!
And if you made it this far, thank you for reading my story. It means a lot to me to honor my dad and my family. ❤️
