Introducing “Always in Beta”
Thank You + What You’ll Get
“Always in Beta” is the blog arm of my personal training and content marketing work. You can expect semi-regular non-fiction essays about health, movement, fitness, mindset, and what matters most.
I also write about the fashion, beauty, self-care, pop culture, books and research impacting current and emerging health and wellness trends.
You can expect to learn what I’m reading to deepen my practice, new fitness modalities I’m trying, and other hyper-fixation experiments. Part think-tank, part how-to guide, part underground wellness and fitness subculture happenings and trend forecasting news from where I live in Minneapolis, MN.
What Qualifies Me to Shout Opinions About Fitness, Marketing, Trends, and Accessibility into the Void
I’m an NASM certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist who’s currently completing her Certified Nutrition Coach CEUs. I help people build elegant, effective, efficient, and accessible mat-based movement routines so they can move more and feel better.
I’ve been at this marketing thing for 12 years as a brand strategist, creative director, and copywriter. That’s the same year FKA Twigs released LP1 and Pendulum. It’s the same year Outdoor Voices launched their “Doing Things” campaign. Back then, leggings were still fashion, SoulCycle hadn’t experienced their epic backlash and Lululemon hadn’t accidentally sold women see-through pants. So basically, an eternity ago as far as the internet and trend cycles go.
I took a windy route to get here. I originally went to school for Interior Design + French at the UofM but switched to Retail Merchandising + French halfway through because my Dad died (fuck Cancer) so duh I was sad, and I was also tired of design instructors haranguing me about visible glue lines on my presentation boards with their Bravo-TV inspired rejection theater. (I mean, the concepts were there you guys.) After that, I traveled, worked, continued to run and do yoga, then got into strength + Pilates, then got injured. (Shout out to IT band syndrome with FAI and a labral tear!) At the same time, my mom was dealing with nasty hip osteoarthritis and preparing for total hip replacement surgery. After my injury, I spent a fuck-ton of time noodling around in the lab (gym) and decided I was going to learn as much as I could about gaining strength, growing muscle, and maintaining mobility with this funky sub-optimal hip morphology that puts me at greater risk for hip OA.
My approach to fitness programming and fitness marketing is informed by my South Minneapolis roots that are very working class, very Midwestern and overall non-nonsense. I’m focused on making sure things are affordable, accessible, simple, and realistic. Because we’re all living full adult lives with real budget and time constraints, we need wellness protocols that fit into our 24-hour duty cycle. Unfortunately in the US fitness, wellness, and peak performance has turned into a luxury good. It doesn’t have to be that way, and I’d like to help change that. I’m a little contrarian and believe as my Dad used to say, “To be happy and healthy in the United States you have to be counterculture.”
My taste level is inspired by my experience living in major cities like Los Angeles and working with teams in Mexico City, Paris, and Barcelona. I believe that accessibility and aesthetics do not need to be mutually exclusive. Our routines can be elevated, and they can also be easy and affordable to fit in our everyday.
I’m passionate about accessibility, inclusivity, and equity in fitness and wellness because I know what it feels like to be relegated to a lesser farm league due to determinants like illness, disability, race, age, body size, class, and citizenship status. In a country where healthcare is still tied to our jobs, and health gaps and outcomes widen as we move outside the inner circle of who has historically been welcomed in and who has systematically been left out, it is a moral imperative to make health, fitness, and moving our bodies FOR EVERY BODY.
Thank you for being here with me.
If you’re a health, fitness, performance, or wellness brand looking for help with content strategy, communications, copywriting, campaign activation, and more, click the links below.
If you’re in Minneapolis and looking for a personal trainer for strength, mobility, and performance gains, I got you.
