I’m a personal trainer and the owner of Rideau Fit Co. My own fitness journey began after I suffered a debilitating back injury while working in the healthcare industry nearly 10 years ago. After more than a year of chronic pain and exhausting all treatment avenues, I was told that surgery was my only option. I was in my early 30’s with a young daughter. I couldn’t make sense of how I had arrived at this point in my life. I thought there must be a better way to move forward. It was in that moment that I realized that if my life was going to change, it was going to be up to me to make it happen. There was no magic pill or miracle cure to be had. So I began slowly, at a glacial pace, with stretching and yoga at home and after many months I began strength training in a gym. Progress was agonizingly slow but each day I was a little stronger than the day before. Fast forward to today and I’m happy and proud to say that I’m living completely free of the chronic pain that once ruled my life.

Once I realized how beneficial strength training could be, I knew there were so many others who could benefit too, so I became a certified personal trainer.

For a few years I worked one on one with clients in their homes and in gyms and I led weekly group fitness classes in my local community. I also worked with clients online. It was through this work that I realized people wanted to make fitness part of their lives but living rurally made it challenging to access a gym on a regular basis. And that’s when the idea for Rideau Fit Co. was born.

A gym is more than just a room full of equipment. Gyms provide a sense of community, accountability, and purpose. If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s that gyms are also a place for many people to work on improving their mental health as much as their physical health. And when people are functioning well and feeling their best, all areas of their lives improve .

My hope is that people will use my gym as a resource to help them work toward becoming the healthiest, strongest version of themselves that they can be.