Conversations with the Inspiring Brandi Merritt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Merritt.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Brandi. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started blogging in 2008, as a newlywed. I never started the blog with any intention to have it grow like it did. I just wrote about my day to day life, what I cooked for dinner that night, etc. I then got pregnant and journaled my entire pregnancy, birth, and new motherhood.

I began writing about my desire to lose weight after my first son was born in 2009 and it quickly picked up steam. I took a brand new approach to life with my quest to lose 60 lbs. as a new mom. I wrote about what worked for me, how I was changing my recipes, and eventually how I began exercising and training for marathons.
I lost 60 lbs. in 11 months and my following grew with my openness and vulnerability.

In 2011, I had my second son and began the process all over again. I lost weight again with running and eating better, continued to document my journey and then came to the conclusion that I wanted to start lifting weights.
I had this bucket list dream of competing in a bikini competition.

In 2014, I stepped on stage in my first bikini competition.

At that time, I was going through a divorce and I continued to write about that and finding a new me with my two boys.

I left that relationship with my clothes and 1/2 the boy’s clothes and I started my life completely over.
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, starting over at the age of 30 with two small kids.

I had also gotten laid off from my corporate job and ended up moving back into my parent’s house until I could start over.

I had already built a large audience of loyal readers and followers, so I took what I was already doing and began to monetize it.

I joined a network marketing company which allowed me to save up enough money to move out of my parent’s house with the boys and get our own place and start my life over.

I met my now-husband, the owner of a personal training studio, Rowlett Transformation Center, Travis Merritt and we began collaborating and merging our business in 2017.

In 2018, we welcomed our son and got married.

We now run an online fitness business, we own a gym, and have several online businesses from social media influencing, to direct sales.

Our lives merged in the most beautiful, crazy, messy way and we are so blessed to get to do what we love and help other people look and feel they’re very best.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not.
It’s like that picture you’ve seen of success; where on the surface all you see is the steady increase, but under the surface, it’s all a jumbled mess of crazy ups and downs, but still in a forward pattern.

Being so open and vulnerable with strangers on the internet (though I don’t really think my followers are strangers, many have been with me from day one and have seen my ups and downs and we’ve built a strong bond), opens you up to criticism and negativity.

I have been bullied, harassed, stalked, called every name imaginable, and it just about broke me.

But once you realize that there is no point in trying to explain yourself to those committed to misunderstanding you, you are able to let those things go.

I had to come to the conclusion that not everyone was going to like me. I know where my heart is, I know who I am, and if people don’t like me, that’s OK!

I also, in recent years since meeting my husband, who is the KINDEST man I’ve ever met, have begun to look through people’s negative comments with a different pair of eyes.

In years past, I’d feel attacked and want to immediately lash out at them, whereas now, I respond with kindness.
You can’t control how people treat you, but you CAN control how you respond.

That philosophy has brought me so much peace in my business, and in my life!

What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
There are many ways I earn a living, but it basically comes down to me helping women feel good about themselves.

Maybe it’s the woman who feels so stuck in a body she doesn’t recognize, or feels frumpy in clothes that don’t fit, or hasn’t done her makeup in years.

I just want to empower women who feel lost to know they have the power to change.

I show them HOW; either through a daily 20-minute workout from home, or with a new, cute sweater that’s on sale, or some new foundation that makes them feel good about themselves.

Materialistic things aside, I am most proud of the messages and emails I receive that say “because of you, I realized I deserved better”, or “I lost 20 lbs. following your workouts”, or “I felt confident on my first date after my divorce because I followed your makeup tutorial”.

I’m in the business of helping women FEEL their best, whatever that may mean. That’s what I”m most proud of.

Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
I’m lucky in that it’s kind of built-in with direct sales companies.
I have used many of those tips in all aspects of my business, not just direct sales.

My husband is a big mentor of mine as well. He owned his own gym years before I came along, so he has helped me get in that entrepreneurship mentality as well, which can be hard when you come from a corporate job, it’s a totally different way of thinking!

I would definitely get with other like-minded individuals and pick each other’s brains, look into mastermind groups, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: linktr.ee/justbrandi_
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justbrandi_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justbrandiL/

Image Credit:
Jennifer Baumann Photography, Becky Zeguin Photography

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