You might not guess it by looking at me now, but I was a frail and sickly kid growing up. Diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma at six or seven, anemic well into my teenage years, and perpetually underweight — I wasn’t exactly built for strength.
But I was fortunate. I had three parents who didn’t let me rest on excuses, and an older brother who had absolutely no mercy. Looking back, those were gifts.
What they gave me — through challenge and tough love — was the chance to grow. They taught me not to waste time on excuses or self-pity. They showed me that our limitations are often just temporary obstacles, and that facing them head-on is how we build both physical and mental strength.
They taught me to see limitations not as permanent labels, but as challenges to be worked through — one day at a time, one rep at a time. And over time, those lessons added up.
I didn’t realize it back then, but those early hardships were giving me something I’d use for the rest of my life: the ability to stay calm and steady when things got hard — whether in my own life or when guiding others through theirs.
Like 2:00 a.m. wake ups, struggling to breathe, no inhaler in sight. That used to happen often as a teenager and young adult, and I had to learn how to stay calm, control what I could, and push through it. Years later, that experience came full circle when I was coaching a young athlete who had forgotten her inhaler. She started to panic — I knew exactly how that felt. Because I had lived it, I could walk her through it and she was able to come out of that attack safely.
These moments — the struggles, the resilience, the growth — may not seem like they directly led to opening Penance Gym, but they absolutely did.
Penance was built on a love for physical culture and a commitment to self-improvement. It was born out of a deep desire to help others embrace the lives they’ve been given — not by chasing perfection, but by making the absolute most of their time and effort.
This is the foundation of everything we do at Penance.