My background isn’t one of a nutritionist or a medical doctor or a physical education teacher…and when I opened Bulldog Interactive Fitness I didn’t even have a personal trainer background (I do now) — I just love nutrition and reading anything I could get my hands on with regards to health and nutrition and physical activity in kids and adults.
I was a homemaker while my kids were young, and I worked part-time in retail. When they were in school, I wanted to get out and do something for my own development, so, as I always do, I held a family meeting and told them that I wanted to finish my business degree that I had started in 1985 (gulp). I explained to them why I wanted to do it and the sacrifices that we were all going to have to make. They were all for it and realized that it would make me happy, so I took one class every semester. I finished my degree and graduated on May 9, 2003, almost 18 years after I had started. They "intercepted" my diploma in the mail and had it matted and framed for me without me knowing and they wrote on the matting how proud they were of me — it was the best gift I ever received.
Then I went into sales…I started by selling garbage services:) It was a hard ol’ job, but I was successful at it and it provided me with the opportunity to get into recruiting for other companies — I became a Headhunter. It is a very lucrative job, but all the money in the world does not make you happy. My mother had died of lung cancer and my father was diagnosed with throat cancer, and I left my jobs both times to take care of them and I was holding them both when they died.
Something happens to you when you become orphaned. You realize that life is short and everyday should count. You should enjoy getting up in the morning and doing what you are doing. I was in pharmaceutical sales and loved the learning aspect of it but not the job itself. When my dad died I sat for a long time and thought of what it was that made me happy and were also my strengths, and I thought of fitness and kids and public speaking and motivating people. I knew that there was a need for attention to be paid to kids who were overweight and obese and the startling statistics outraged me…so I started Bulldog Interactive Fitness.
That is the short version:)
Holly
Urbanmoms.ca would like to welcome Holly as our Kids Fitness Expert! Check out our post on Bulldog in the Cool Products and Stuff section. Along with running Bulldog, speaking to kids about nutrition, and being a mom, Holly will post regularly in the Urban Parents section of urbanmoms.ca. Please email Holly if you have questions or suggestions for future topics.