Hi Friends, Holly here!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’ve been off the map for a bit. Sometimes life has very sneaky ways of forcing you into situations where all you can do is hold on, tread water, and keep marching through the fire. It’s been a very productive stretch of months that I’ve been away…nine months to be exact..and I’ve got some big news…

It’s a girl!!!!

This month I gave birth to a baby girl!

Oh all right…I fess up. I didn’t birth a baby in the traditional sense – like a real life human baby. But I’ll tell ya what; she is a beautiful, healthy, precious baby in my eyes.

The truth is, I don’t have any real children. But I do feel like I just went through an equally profound experience. I created, gestated and pushed out something very near and dear to my heart. I felt it was my turn to become a momma.

Nine months ago I found myself at rock bottom. Without getting into details, I will share that life has some grand plans for me and the only way I was going to get on the right path was for a series of events to occur and break my heart open.

I realized that I needed to create life. Just like many of you moms, I found myself wanting to birth something magnificent. I wanted to feel that my life had a profound purpose. So I went on maternity leave. I walked away from the life that I had known for 17 years – a very successful personal training business. I reassessed everything and decided that in order to create new life I had to make space. I cleaned closets and took out the trash (and I don’t mean in the literal sense, if you catch my drift). I got really hungry and the cravings kicked in. I put my life in the Vitamix blender and whipped up a recipe to feed my growing baby. As the months continued I became tired and exhausted. My hormones went bonkers. There were days when I was so emotional all I could do was eat cookies and cry. I isolated myself. Many of my friends and clients didn’t understand why I was out of touch. I was just trying to get through each day and didn’t have much left to give. It was a rough time. That’s why you haven’t heard from me in so long.

But I kept whipping up recipes, and feeding my baby, and I’m proud to say that I made it through! The past 9 months have been the most challenging, defining and magical months of my life thus far. I’d like to introduce you to my baby girl…

Introducing Women’s Strength Nation^TM

In the coming months I will be that proud new mom who posts photos of her newborn. I’ll turn to Facebook when I’m kept awake in the middle of the night. I’ll be sending you weekly emails with all of the exciting details of my growing little one. I am bursting with excitement and a newfound joy for life! I can’t wait for you to meet my little nugget.

The past 9 months have been very challenging for me. It’s been an experience that was both difficult and magical. Through the hardship, I found strength. My heart broke wide open, but I was able to fill it with meaning. My body felt foreign to me, but I turned to strength training to get me through. It was a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual test. And it turned me into a better version of myself. It turned me into the gal that I’m supposed to be.

Women’s Strength Nation is a movement to help women discover their inner strength through the practice of strength training. It is a place where you can turn to find a community of support– a sisterhood – passionate about health, and dedicated to empowerment. It is a resource for you to learn why strength training is critical to your health. It is your tool for answering every question you have about women’s strength training.

I am passionate about helping women around the world to find strength and empowerment alongside their fitness. You can help me to make this nation strong! If you haven’t already, you can Join the Movement for free by sharing your email address in the sidebar on this page. You can share this announcement with your community by clicking on your social networks below.

I invite you to join my new family, and look forward to our life ahead together.

Welcome to Women’s Strength Nation^TM.