About Me

I stumbled into this profession by accident, but I couldn’t be more grateful that I did. 

 

A quick rundown:

 

As a teenager, I became pretty sedentary. I spent a lot of time lounging around with friends and snacking and stopped playing sports. This resulted in gradual weight gain--about 30 lb up from my “typical” weight. As a senior in high school, I remember thinking that enough is enough--I was unhappy with the trajectory I was on. 

 

I’m a bit of an overdoer by nature, so of course I launched into my fitness journey headfirst and without a second thought. I went from virtually no activity to lifting weights and doing cardio in the gym 6x/week, and from eating all the fast food and frozen food to eating as clean as possible. Unfortunately, my obsessive tendencies got the best of my and I started prioritizing losing as much weight as possible above being healthy. 

 

I lost the weight--and kept losing, and losing, and losing. My workout routine and food intake was nearly all I could think about. I was severely underweight, and nearly everything in my life was suffering because of it: my mental health. My physical health (I was always freezing cold and exhausted). My social life. I was a freshman in college and supposed to be having the time of my life, but that was NOT the reality. It was bad. 

 

My wonderful father suggested that I come into his store (Eddie’s Health Shoppe, for those of y’all who don’t know us) and do a body fat test. He was worried about me being so underweight. I agreed, and when I saw the results, it clicked in my brain that something had to change. I couldn’t keep living like that. 

 

Shortly after, I started working at the shoppe and quickly became exposed to the world of bodybuilding. It really opened my eyes that there was more to health and fitness than weighing as little as possible (which is the message I’d been getting my entire life from the mass media). I admired the focus on muscle gain and being STRONG. And while I wouldn’t necessarily promote bodybuilding as being “healthy,” it did put me on the path toward a healthier mentality and lifestyle. 

 

I LOVED working at the store and helping other people improve their health as I began improving mine. I fell in love with the gym, whereas before I mostly did my workouts because I felt like I had to. I learned how to fuel my body to perform. I worked closely with my dad and learned everything from him that I could. I was in college, but I was way more focused on my own research. I actually bought my NASM course while I was still in college and remember studying for that instead of my business classes. 

 

Right after graduating, I got my NASM certification and started running my own fitness challenges at the shoppe. It quickly became my favorite part of my job. Helping people at the store was great, but the interactions were often fleeting. Diving deep and working with people one-on-one and seeing their results overtime was so rewarding. 

Fast forward about 4 years to present day and I’ve opened an Eddie’s Health Shoppe of my own in the heart of downtown Knoxville. I typically work the store during the days and spend other time working with my 1:1 clients and helping them reach their goals. I’ve worked with over 300 individuals now and am continuing to broaden my reach to help as many as possible. 

 

It’s funny because a few of my first passions in life were writing and teaching others. As a shy, awkward, all around uncoordinated kid, I never thought I would be a national level bodybuilder, powerlifter, or coach to others. But now I can see how those gifts can help people in the most important way of all--by improving their health. I’ve been told by many of my clients that the way I explain things makes sense when they’ve never been able to understand it before. I love encouraging others, motivating others, and sharing this passion of mine in a way that people can digest and apply to their own lives. 

 

And as for writing--well, clearly I write WAY too much. If I work with you as a client, my messages will be nothing less than thorough! I am committed to my clients and helping them see results. So everything I do is with that purpose in mind. 

 

So there’s a bit about me and my journey. As you can see, I’ve been on every end of the fitness spectrum--wanting to lose weight. Wanting to gain and build muscle. I know the ends and outs of this industry and more than likely can relate to what you’re going through. If you have a good feeling about me and think we’d be a good fit, check out my “Coaching” page for a little more info on my services and how to apply!