My mom has never tried to convince me to do things her way – or even that there is a “right way” to do anything at all. And still, I often find myself trying so hard to be just like her. She worked part time as my three siblings and I grew up and made attending track meets, school plays, and soccer games a top priority throughout my childhood. She worked, but my perspective as a kid based on the way she prioritized her time was that being a mom was her job.

I had a very happy childhood thanks to the way I was raised. So when I had my son I thought, “I’ll just be like my mom and my kids will be happy too”. I felt compelled to do as my mom had done because that’s what I thought of as the recipe for a “good mom”.

The only problem is, I’m not made of the same stuff my mom is made of. I started my own business in my late 20’s. When I found out I was pregnant, I had just signed a lease on my new office/studio. I was diving headfirst into motherhood and running a business at the same time. Dilemma: how can I be just like my mom if I’m not just like my mom?

Several years ago I found a unique fitness community that I wish had existed when I was a little girl. One thing that I have loved about CrossFit from the beginning is that it has never limited me based on the fact that I am a woman. Prior to CrossFit, I did not know what I was capable of simply because no other sport has ever demanded so much from me. I think all the way back to elementary school when girls were told to do "flexed arm hang" while the boys did pull ups. Girls were instructed to do "girl push-ups" on there knees while the boys did "real" push-ups.

This sent the message, from a very early and impressionable age, that as women we are not capable of the same things as men. So. So. Wrong...