When I first began lifting weights, I was inspired by Rachel McLish and Gladys Portugues. Both of these ladies were very sexy and appealing women. Their muscularity was apparent, but not overbearing. More importantly they maintained their femininity. They combined beauty with an aesthetically appealing physique.

Photo by
Dan Ray

I was never inspired to try and become excessively muscular. It was a lean defined physique that I inspired to achieve. My goal in bodybuilding is to develop a well balance physique, achieve the muscularity that my body allows me to achieve and maintain all my feminine qualities.

Prior to 2000, female bodybuilding seemed to have become overwhelmingly extreme and lost its appeal to a majority of women weightlifters and bodybuilding enthusiast. In 2000, new judging guidelines for athlete presentation were introduced. Jim Manion (chairman of the Professional Judges Committee) made a declaration that women would be judged on healthy appearance, face, makeup, and skin tone. The criteria given in Manion's letter included the statement "symmetry, presentation, separations, and muscularity BUT NOT TO THE EXTREME!"

After deciding that I would not be capable of competing in bodybuilding due to the size and muscularity of the current competitors I decided to compete in figure. At my first national level contest in 2008 I was approached by the late Steve Stone. It was apparent that I had developed too much muscle at 124 lbs to compete in figure. He recommended I cross over to BB and be a leader in the transformation of female BB.

I want to be part of this evolution within the sport of female BB and be a forerunner of this evolution of change. It was sexy bodybuilders like Rachel McLish and Gladys Portugues that drew me to this sport. I want to be a part of bringing the sport full circle back to that physique once again. With recent talks of the IFBB creating a physique class, I am interested to hear what the judging guidelines dictate.

I recently signed with iSatori Technologies. Being a part of the iSatori Team has inspired me to a higher level of commitment to excellence. iSatori is a leader in the supplement industry. Having the support of a reputable company backing me places me in the forefront of the fitness industry. Stephen Adele, owner and CEO of iSatori, have provided me with the best supplements, training knowledge, and nutrition information that are required for me to achieve my goals of one day competing in the Ms. Olympia.