Noelle Tarr, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Chief Empowerment Officer (CEO) Coconuts & Kettlebells

Noell Tarr has been been completely consumed with studying human behavior as it relates to health and fitness for about five years now. She is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP™), certified by the Nutritional Therapy Association. Noelle runs a blog called Coconuts and Kettlebells, which is full of articles that educate, empower, and inspire readers to make life-altering changes in regards to health and fitness.  

Noelle's road to personal and professional success was a rocky one. She has learned as much from her own mistakes as she has from books and certifications. Her studies and life experience helped her identify and overcome disordered eating, body dysmorphia, digestive distress, weight issues, fatigue, low immune system, and anxiety... 

Name: Ashley Beaver
Age: 27
Occupation: CrossFit Coach and Creator of Livin Paleo Cuisine

At what point does a hobby become a passion? And at what point does a passion become worth pursuing full time? Making a living doing something you love sounds pretty ideal, right?  Once you find success, people will remark on how "lucky" you are. Ashley Beaver knows first hand that pursuing a passion is not about luck. It takes sacrifice, unwavering dedication, and the strength to carry on even in the face of failure... again and again.

"I've found something I'm extremely passionate about, but it wasn't easy to leave certain aspects of my life to pursue this 100%. It's easy to doubt yourself, or to settle into something that's easy. But in the end I don't think what's easy makes you happy. I may struggle now, but I know down the road, wherever it may lead, I'll be happy that I took a chance to do what I love."

Ashley is on the brink of taking her love for CrossFit and paleo cooking to the next level by making a career out of what started as hobbies. With a strong Instagram following, and 4th place team finish at the Northern California CrossFit Regional competition, Ashley is off to a great start already. In our interview, Ashley fills us in on her evolution as an athlete/chef, why these two "hobbies" are so important to her, and her plans for the future.

Ashley, how and when did you first become interested in the paleo diet?  

I first heard about the paleo diet about five and half years ago when I first got involved with crossfit. I’ve always been pretty healthy and concerned with eating things that fuel my body, but it wasn’t until about two years ago when I decided to give paleo a real go that I found out how beneficial the diet was to my training and overall health.

Like a lot of people, going paleo can seem difficult, but that’s mostly because we’re so attached to things like cereal and bread and pasta. As the diet has become more and more popular, the amount of resources has grown tremendously, and in my opinion, it’s one of the easiest diets to follow...

March 2013

Name: Valerie Solomon
Age: 32
Occupation: Stay at Home Mom/part time personal trainer/part time entrepreneur/Creator of Busy Mom Gets Fit

\With four kids and a husband deployed to Afghanistan, Val knew she would need to find a way to keep her mind and body busy.  "One of the hardest things about being an Army wife is to learn to do things to make every day count, even while you are wishing days away during the deployments."

It was a pleasure interviewing Val and finding out how she became the fit and confident woman you see pictured here, how she manages her busy life, and how her family benefits from her commitment to health and fitness.  She has a lot of wisdom to share... enjoy!

You were an athlete as a teenager and athletic as a young adult… how did that change when you started having kids?

I was a competitive swimmer as a teenager.  I had muscle then, but I really did not appreciate it.  I didn’t really want to be different.  I remember being excited that my thighs got really thin a year or so after I stopped swimming and strength training.  Hey, I looked like the magazine girls finally.