A couple of weeks ago, I spent the weekend in New Orleans for our annual coach summit with my amazeballs tribe, Inspire Joy. This was my second time coming to this event and this time around, I really felt like I was HOME. I laughed, I cried, I learned, I was inspired but most of all, I was re-ignited.

So first up -- WHAT THE HELL IS SUMMIT ANYWAYS?

For almost 2 years, I’ve been a health and fitness coach with Team Beachbody, the company that makes the amazing at home programs like 21 Day Fix, PiYo, and Insanity. I run virtual accountability groups for women who want to ditch the diet and find joy in fitness, and I also mentor a team of almost 100 women who have decided to pay their passion of health & fitness forward and earn extra income by becoming coaches themselves.

The reason why I LOVE Beachbody is that it’s mission is focused on transformation from the inside out in every aspect of your life -- your mental/emotional/physical health, your finances, self confidence, mindset and so much more! The more I coach, the more I fall in love with it and am endlessly proud to be a part of such a beautiful, values driven and integrity based company!

I am also obsessed with my team, Inspire Joy. We’re a group of goofy, creative go getters who freaking LOVE quality time together, and we spend sooo much of the year working together virtually that trips like this are seriously AMAZEBALLS.

NOLA ADVENTURES

My flight was delayed THREE HOURS flying out of Chicago because of a silly rain storm (CAMAAAN) but luckily some of my team was also delayed so we got to hang together :) Once we finally got to the city, we drove to our Airbnb and got ready for TEAM TACO NIGHT!

On Thursday, I got up with my gals Jess & Laura and we got our sweat on to our latest program we’re rocking out together and had a relaxing morning hanging out before heading to our first personal development event -- the Power of I Am! This event was amaaazing -- learned so much from incredible leaders & got to hear from Cara Alwill Leyba, the author of The Champagne Diet and Girl Code.

Afterwards, we got beignets at Cafe du Monde ('cause DUH) and later that night, we had our huge opening ceremony at the Superdome!

Imagine being in a stadium surrounded by 20,000 of the most ambitous, positive, driven, self aware people you know. I get giddy just thinking about it again! IT WAS SERIOUSLY SO EMPOWERING.

Friday, I got up SUPER early for a live workout with the infamous Shaun T (yes he is just attractive in real life and MOTIVATIONAL AF) and holy balls, it was tough. I had had a really emotional night the night before -- continue reading to learn why -- so I neeeeded this sweat sesh so bad. #therapy for real. And it was so empowering to sweat alongside of so many people I admire and look up to.

Then it was a full day of workshops followed by a super wonderful dinner in the French quarter and a night on the town on Bourbon street ;) We kept it classy but we DEF had fun haha.

Saturday was our last full day -- filled with more sessions and we closed out the trip with our huge Celebration at the Superdome. It’s like a giant broadway show meets the Oscars meets Cirque du Soleil. And you get to be there up close and personal. Freaking EPIC.

WHAT I LEARNED:

+ IT’S TIME I FREAKING BELIEVE IN MYSELF

Last year, when I came to summit, I had a DREAM. A VISION. A life filled with freedom, travel, purpose, goofy-ness and LIGHT. But it was just that : A dream. Something that felt so freaking far away.

I mean, I had just started coaching 8 months prior, and was still working 7 different part time jobs, and while I had started to become a more positive and healthy version of myself, I still had a shiz ton of work to do on my self esteem and belief.

And last year, I came on this trip dreaming of FREEDOM. Of having a tribe of MY gals by my side.

And this year? That dream turned into my reality and it's all because of these incredible women.

Because these gals believed in my dream too.

They saw what I was doing and said to themselves "I wanna do that too" and they ACTED on it.

They stepped up to their life to pursue THEIR dreams. To change THEIR lives. And in turn, they've completely transformed mine.

And seeing them there, it hit me like a ton of bricks -- I did what I set out to do. I made my dreams freaking happen.

It’s so easy in the day to day to get soo wrapped up in what’s not going right or what’s hard that you forget to take in and be grateful for what IS working and this trip put everything in perspective for me :) After all, this journey is FAR from a race -- it's a marathon, and one that I'm IN for the long haul.

+ MY TRIBE IS MY FAMILY

Truth? I didn’t have a lot of girlfriends growing up.

I never did the whole sorority thing, or really got along in big groups of gals because I just couldn’t handle the gossip and I always felt like I just didn’t fit in.

I became a coach because I wanted to turn my passion for health and fitness into a side hustle that would give me the FREEDOM to follow my dreams and build a life by design.

What I didn’t realize is that I would be getting a FAMILY. These women inspire me every single day to be a better coach, leader, friend and above all, a better version of me. And it’s been the biggest surprise and the greatest gift along this journey.

When we were in NOLA, I found out that my dog Toby had been rushed to the ER. It was our first night, we had just gotten to our opening night celebration and I was feeling SO full of light, gratitude and giddy-ness and in a single text, all of that felt so far away. I had the first anxiety attack and sob fest I’ve had in a long time sitting on the cement floor of the back of the stadium with one of my coaches and in that moment, I realized how LUCKY I was. To have women in my life (some of which I was just meeting in person for the first time) who I didn’t have to say anything to -- they knew EXACTLY what to do and were supportive in the most incredible ways. Every single one of them was THERE for me.

I believe that community is everything.

It was the missing link in my life that I never knew I needed. And now that I have it, I can’t ever imagine going a day in my life without it.

Every day, I am surrounded by other women JUST LIKE ME.

Women who are dreamers and want to do MORE with their life. To extend BEYOND the status quo. And through it all, I've been able to RISE UP into my full potential and LIVE A LIFE ON PURPOSE. All because of them.

+ HOW MUCH MY LIFE HAS CHANGED IN SUCH A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME

As I sat in our sessions and speakers and team dinners and live workouts, I couldn’t help but think about how different things were for me just one year prior. In just 20 short months, my entire life has shifted.

Through coaching I have been able to:

break free of my binge eating disorder .
finally stay consistent with my own health and happiness a priority because it's MY JOB to be happy and healthy and fit
believe in my enoughness
pay off all my credit card debt and contribute to our finances aka PAY DEM BILLLSSSS! .
inspire and empower other women to, bust through their emotional eating habits and rise up to the become the women they KNOW they were put on this earth to be
travel to new and amazing places
mentor other women just like me to be able to build a side hustle of their own too, and live life to the fullest.

Here is what I believe:

Community is everything.

Your HEALTH is everything.

And if you aren’t waking up every day and saying FUCK YES my life feels AMAZEBALLS, then it’s time to shift course, girlfriend.

It's never too late to say YASSS to your dreams.

If there was one thing you could do right now to get a step closer to your dreams,

what would it be?

FOR ME?

IT'S RISE THE F*CK UP.

TIME TO STOP PLAYING SMALL AND START STEPPING INTO THE LEADER I KNOW I WAS PUT ON THIS EARTH TO BE.

Ready or not, world. Here I come.

Xo Amanda

p.s. If you want to learn more about joining our team, please reach out and send me a message. I'd love nothing more than to get to know you and tell you more about what we do!

FREE BUSY BABES GUIDE TO HEALTHY LIVING

Doesn't it feel like this is just the question of the century?

We're in a "what's my purpose" trend of life right now. In the past year, sooo many of my friends are having quarter life crises (me included you guys), and the question we are all battling always seems to come down to what the hell we're going to do with the rest of our lives.

And I get it.

I mean, if you're anything like me, you spent your younger years going to an intensely academic school where everyone and their mother were lawyers, doctors, biz peeps, you name it.

Entrepreneurs? Girl bosses? Creatives?

Not so much.

So, I just figured that was my path too. Gonna go and get my major in English lit and be a lawyer just like my Mom. Because that's just what you do!

Well, I am SO grateful I had parents who encouraged me to look to my passions and my heart before making a decision like that because chances are, this Health Coach entrepreneur creative artist would not be writing you gorgeous babes this blog post.

And here's the thing, I have a bunch of friends who are doctors and lawyers and who truly LOVE it. It's what lights them up and that's AWESOME. I am by no way saying that it's not a valid path. But it wasn't right for me.

And what I've been hearing from sooo many of my friends is that they're miserable in their jobs. They spend their days exhausted, burnt out and doing something that is unfulfilling. And I TOTALLY get where they're coming from. After I graduated from acting school, I had to find a "day job" -- aka, in the world of an artist, a job that will pay your bills so you can continue to live out your dreams of being an actor because, newsflash, acting jobs don't pay so well. Wompidy wompidy.

So I did that. I worked so many jobs that I didn't love. And I became that girl that I always told myself I would never be -- the girl who isn't living and breathing her PASSIONS.

Cue: quarter life crisis

And you know what I did? I quit all my stupid jobs and I gave myself a few months to figure it the eff out. And that's what brought me here. To Beachbody Coaching. Because I was able to sit down myself and ask myself some really tough questions that helped me decide what path I wanted to take.

Now I'm not telling you to go and quit your job. Hell naw. I mean, by all means, if that's what you wanna do, I'm not going to stand in your way.

BUT, I am going to share with you some of the tools that I used to get there.

I want you to sit down with a pen and paper -- JUST trust me on this, ok? And for the next 15 minutes (or when you have a break in your day, COME BACK TO THIS), just write and don't edit yourself.

And answer the following questions...

What lights you up?

Ex: For me? The list includes... snuggles with my hubby, long walks with my dog, morning me time, pancakes for breakfast, dancing in my kitchen, singing at the top of my lungs, being surrounded by incredible empowering women, climbing trees, spending time at my cottage

If you could create your perfect day, what would it look like?

Ex: For me, I would be at my cottage, with my family and my hubby Kevan and our dog Toby. I'd spend the morning on my dock, alone, doing yoga and reading some personal development book & journaling. Then breakfast (my dad's pancakes, duh!), followed by lake time adventures and lots of canoeing. After lunch, we'd play board games and drink tea and have good conversation and for dinner, we'd bbq and sit outside and watch the stars. Followed, OF COURSE, by snuggles.

What do you NOT want in your work life?

Ex: I do not want a 9-5 schedule. I don't want to have a boss. I don't want to have to commute in my car to work. I don't want to be restricted to vacation time to go on holidays. I don't want to work with lazy, needy people.

What DO you want more of in your life?

Ex: Freedom, Joy, Energy, Laughter, Time with my family & friends, Travel

**Share your answers to these questions in the comments!**

What did answering these questions reveal to you? Are you living a life that's in line with what you really want? What you value most? Or are you just doing something because it's what your degree happens to be in?

It's time to start aligning your LIFE with your VALUES.

I know it's scary to realize that you're not leading the life you want. Truuuuust me. But isn't it better to take ACTION towards leading your dreams than to sit there, year after year, watching them fade away?

I dare you to start getting REAL with yourself and stop settling for a lesser life. You deserve it.

Oh, and p.s. for some extra goodies...if you haven't watched our first episode, it's alllll about this topic ;)

The One Decision That Changed My Life (New Orleans Recap!)