• Cook big batches of things we all like to eat. Roasted veggies and chia seed pudding have become staples in our house recently. Between a husband and an 18-month old, food goes quickly around here so having things we can easily grab that are healthy makes it far less tempting to throw a frozen pizza in the oven!
• Multi-task. I own my own integrated marketing/PR agency and I’m on the phone a lot!! Luckily, I have lots of amazing friends, connections, and clients who have no problem catching up while I walk, which makes getting 2-3 miles a day pretty easy.
• Sleep is non-negotiable. Would I rather stay up and watch another episode of Mobland with my husband? Absolutely! But I know that I need 9 solid hours of sleep to operate – let alone succeed. Prioritizing sleep above all else allows me to be my most productive and healthiest (what is it about being tired that makes unhealthy foods sound that much more appetizing?!).

Mediterranean. Give me all the fish and fresh salads with a healthy side of pasta!

Right now, it’s got to be the strawberry chia seed pudding. The strawberries are just so perfect this time of year!

I own a PR/marketing firm called OPR (formerly Opportunity PR). We work with lots of brands in the women’s lifestyle space and have been doing this since I graduated. Ironically, I didn’t even know what PR was when I applied for the job – and now, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Ina Garten’s book, Be Ready When the Luck Comes. I listen to it on Audible (more multitasking as I can listen while I walk). I own a couple of her cookbooks and have watched her show, so I knew who she was (or so I thought). I’ve listened to it multiple times at this point. It’s reassuring to hear her tell her story – about how the first cooking show she ever did was a complete disaster – about how she finally had made enough extra money in her fifties to buy and renovate an apartment in Paris – about the ups and downs both personally and professionally. I think sometimes we look at these famous faces and think that they just got lucky. Her book reminds me that life (and business) are filled with long winding roads, wrong turns, and that in a relatively short time you can end up somewhere completely new.

Just one?!?! 

Since the age of 11, I grew up in Orange County, California, which is not a particularly forgiving area if you’re not a size 2 with blonde hair and a glowing tan. Even when I first arrived there, the girls were in miniskirts with their hair and makeup done – where the heck was I?! As an extra pale, freckly redhead, I was determined to at least weigh as little as was humanly possible to try and fit in. Exercise was to lose weight. Calories were the enemy. Until one day in my late twenties when I decided to go to a spin class… not to lose weight, but just to see how I felt mentally after the class. Once the desire to throw up had passed (I was obviously very out of shape plus why is it always so hot in there?!)I realized that I felt amazing!! That was that. I started spinning three days a week, walking the dog 2-2.5 miles a day and generally just eating healthier out of desire. That was that! Almost ten years have gone by and while I now love weightlifting and walking more than spinning, I’m always moving. And that’s why I’m at STAT. I want to share my love of weightlifting and what I’ve learned with people who might not know where to start or feel too intimidated to walk into a gym.

Probably a wolf. They are pack animals with strong matriarchal structures. The alpha female often leads with care, not fear. She’s not dominant — she’s trusted. Wolves thrive in community, support each other, and protect their own.