Today we’d like to introduce you to Terria Nichols.
Terria, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2012, my daughter Aviana was in Kindergarten and I was working full time in the corporate world (where I had been for nearly eight years). As the month of May rolled around, I was forced (blessed) to make a decision that would change my life.
Aviana’s class held its annual Mother’s Day tea and wanted all the moms to come and have tea and doughnuts with their kids. We were also cordially invited to watch a very special performance that the kids had been practicing for weeks leading up to the event.
I had just started a position at a large financial institution and when I “asked permission” for time off to attend the Tea, I was told that I couldn’t go because we were still in training. So, I didn’t go…
That’s probably one of the few things in life I regret.
Aviana will never be in Kindergarten again. I won’t ever get that opportunity again.
Although my mother was able to cover for me at the Mother’s Day Tea, this was a turning point for me.
Not only was I doing work that was NOT fulfilling, I didn’t have the FREEDOM that I longed for and I wasn’t EMPOWERED to take time off to see my kids’ events if I needed to. At the same time, I was still struggling to lose the more than 70 pounds I had put on over the course of both of my pregnancies. To say I was miserable would be an understatement.
So, I decided to do something about it. It took a few years, but I realized that Fitness was my escape. Fitness was my passion! I realized that I felt INVIGORATED after a workout. I felt ENERGIZED when I ate healthy food. I felt STRONG when I lifted weights. I felt EMPOWERED when I hit the weight room with all the guys and didn’t give it a second thought.
In 2014, I got my Trainers Certification, I left the corporate world (and those 70 pounds) behind! I worked at 24 Hour Fitness in Fort Worth where I became a Master Trainer, Mentor, and eventually Assistant Fitness Manager. I learned from some of the best. I met people and become part of a world that until that point, I never fully knew or understood.
What I realized about every single client I met, every gym member, EVERY person who walked through those gym doors was that we ALL have a story. We all struggle with regret and feelings of inadequacy. We all feel less than confident sometimes. And that is ok. It’s what we decide to do with those feelings that really matters.
Fitness is about so much more than lifting weights or getting skinny. It’s about becoming who you always knew you were, it’s about proving yourself to YOURSELF. It’s about being strong; not just physically but mentally and spiritually as well.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Absolutely not. There have been many struggles since I discovered that Fitness was my purpose and decided to pursue it. Having two small kids while trying to juggle the demands of being an entrepreneur, marriage at the time, an income and clientele that was not steady was tough. On top of that, the fact that I went to school to get my degrees and then decided to leave the corporate world behind to pursue a life in fitness was questionable to people around me. I was the first in my family to graduate from college. I had a steady income with benefits and security and that was something we didn’t always have growing up and moving nearly every 2-3 years so making a move like that made me look selfish and irresponsible. And I felt that way a lot of the time.
Please tell us about TerriaFit.
I help busy professional women prioritize their fitness and health and ultimately improve the quality of their lives. My specialty is in helping postpartum women reinvigorate their confidence, rebuild their bodies and bring their sexy back!! I offer virtual training, online, and personal coaching as well.
The fact that I genuinely care and build one on one relationships with each of my clients is what makes me different. I believe that my own life experiences allow me to connect to my clients on a sincere level and I genuinely want to see my clients transform themselves into the strong confident women that I know they can be. I want to see them go through the same transformation that I did because I know how amazing it feels and how feeling strong and confident can change every other aspect of your life.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
The only thing I might have considered doing differently was putting myself in a better position financially before making the leap from corporate to the fitness world. I used credit cards and made poor financial and business decisions because I had to and if I had positioned myself a little bit better, I may not have been in that situation. However, I am a firm believer that every struggle is a lesson. I’ve learned how to be better prepared in my future so that particular struggle has been a blessing because I wouldn’t have gotten that lesson if I didn’t make the decisions that I did.
Contact Info:
- Website: TerriaFit.com
- Phone: 8179961919
- Email: terrianichols13@gmail.com
- Instagram: @terriafit
- Facebook: Facebook.com/terriafit
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