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June, 2008:
Friends and Fitness Summer Camp at the Neighborhood Guild in Peace Dale.
How I became a personal trainer: My background and credentials
Beginnings: I am Thai by birth, but I came to the United States with my family as a young girl. Most of my formative years were spent in Savannah, GA, and it was during my high school years in Savannah that I first developed an interest in cardiovascular fitness and weight training.
Entering the workforce: I graduated with my Master's degree in 1996 and went to work as a process engineer at a Georgia-Pacific paper mill just outside of Baton Rouge, LA (with future husband in tow). Early on, I noticed that many of the mill employees had poor fitness habits, and this prompted me to organize a light morning exercise routine program for the workers, which I developed and taught. After 5 years with GP, however, I decided it was time to have a family.
Kids & Family: Since I actually enjoyed my morning stretching routines with the mill employees more than I liked the engineering aspect of the job, I was more than happy to take time off to raise my 2 wonderful kids, the first of whom was born in 2001 (another came along in 2004). Although, as I found out rather quickly, children do require quite a bit of attention, I was now able to dedicate more time to building a career in fitness, which I now knew was my true passion. In 2004, I took a job as an aerobics and kickboxing instructor at the YMCA in Baton Rouge, and I began to investigate options for becoming a certified personal trainer.
Certification: As I soon learned, there are many options for obtaining personal training certification, I decided to pursue certification through the American Fitness Association of America (AFAA) due to the fact that it was a well-established, highly respected, NBFE Affiliate organization. In 2006, I completed the AFAA requirements and passed my certification exam just as my family and I were making a much anticipated move from Baton Rouge to Wakefield, RI where my husband took a new job.
Rhode Island: Shortly after I arrived in Rhode Island in June, 2006, I began to work as a personal trainer and fitness instructor at the YMCA in Wakefield, and in 2007, I transferred to nearby River Bend Athletic Club, where I am currently employed. I am also working with a few clients independently, and I have been greatly enjoying the challenges associated with creating personalized fitness plans for the people I work with. I could not be happier with the career path I am currently following, and I would love to meet with you and discuss your fitness goals and help you to achieve them.
The future: For the next step in my careeer, I plan to apply for and take the NBFE Registered Personal Fitness Trainer Exam, which I feel is an important step towards standardizing the certification requirements for trainers. I enjoy working with the YMCA since they have many programs that help to help a broad section of our community (classes for the elderly, reduced membership fees for low income families), so I hope to continue my affiliation with them while I build a solid foundation of independent clients who I can train either at their gym, or preferably at their home with their own equipment since I feel being able to develop a home workout routine helps to keep people from missing workout days. Thanks again for stopping by my site, and please let me know if I can be of help to you.