I leave for Los Angeles in 6 days! I am going on a Beachbody Retreat. My awesome upline coach is taking her Diamond Coaches to stay in a big fancy house for a few days to celebrate us reaching a milestone in our business. I cannot believe how full circle it is for me. Exactly 1 year ago in February I was in Los Angeles…beginning this journey….

I work at home right next to a large calendar that is a wipe board. I can glance up and see what’s on the agenda for the week. I looked up today and saw on Feb 1st I wrote “1 Year”. It’s the one year anniversary of me signing up to be a Beachbody Coach. And for some reason it made me VERY emotional. It has been one helluva year. So many things have happened because of Beachbody. So many good things. So many changes in me.

To say I am cynical or skeptical or a glass is half empty kind of gal would be mostly correct. I have always been a bit pessimistic. Not sure why. I just got blessed with that personality…you know…the one where you are ALWAYS waiting for the other shoe to drop even when things are going great. I spent 40 years that way. I am different now. I’d say Im even a slight optimist…though that MIGHT be going out on a limb. I blame some of this annoying positivity on my friend, Stephanie R.

Stephanie & her husband lived here in Colorado when my family moved here. In fact, we bought a house not far from them. What’s funny is she lived down the road from me in Texas as well. Total coincidence that we moved to the same town in Colorado. OK- she will disagree and give some credit to the Big Guy upstairs for that “coincidence” so I will acknowledge that here.

I knew Stephanie was into this Beachbody thing but I had no idea what it was. I just figured it was some multi level marketing scam, pyramid, weird, bother your friends thing. I never asked. I didn’t give it much thought. But as time wore on and we became such good friends I watched what Stephanie did as a Beachbody Coach. As a business person. As a leader. As a successful entrepreneur. I watched. From afar. And I promise this blog is not a Stephanie worship-fest…but she is truly the catalyst that sparked my venture into Beachbody so I throw cred where its due!

First of all…I have some street smarts. I have an endless bank of knowledge about stupid tv trivia. I can name the title of almost ANY song if the first 5 seconds are played. I have an uncanny knowledge of most rap singers. I can actually quote Tupac Shakur’s “Changes”. I know A LOT about cars. But where business shit is concerned I am clueless. Or so I thought. I majored in Psychology in college because you didn’t have to take Calculus. I steered very clear of the business department or the finance classes or the marketing people. They seemed to be from another planet that actually THOUGHT things threw analytically. Made plans and spreadsheets and crap. NOT my forte. I am more of a jump now and worry later kind of girl. So becoming a “business owner” was laughable to me. I can’t own a business. I can’t run a team. I can’t sell stuff. I can’t. I don’t DO that. I don’t like the word “can’t”, though…. Kind of a challenge I suppose.

And so husband’s brain rot is not going away despite my endless attempts at “willing it” away. Brain still rotting. Colorado isn’t “curing it”. Ignoring it seems to not help either. Reality is that we don’t have a clue what our future holds. And I don’t just mean our physical future or our ability to deal with this disease. I mean our financial future. Son of a bitch I just want to curl up on the couch and feel sorry for myself…oh and him of course but holy crap I have to put on my adult drawers and deal. Like a big girl. Like a girl who needs to get her shit in order. Like a girl who has 2 kids who want to eat, and wear clothes, and go to college. And brain rot or not that crap’s not changing. So I take the “I can’t” and I say “why the hell can’t I?”. I decide to become a Beachbody Coach in February of 2014. After, of course, I drilled Stephanie with 1,000 questions about whats and wheres and hows and “Im not selling crap”, and “is this legit” and finally drove her crazy enough that she took me to California…to Beachbody Headquarters. To tour it. To see the real live people and CEO and trainers and holy crap it was legit. The skeptic in me was silenced.

So I jumped in with both feet and have not looked back. I could not be prouder of the company I represent. They give to charities that are important to me. They truly believe in people. They believe in me. As a coach. As a person that represents them. They crank out crazy, awesome workout programs for every fitness level that WORK, that are SAFE, that get RESULTS. And this damn Shake. Ive tried to find a fault. I can’t. Its just a giant super vitamin in a shake. That actually tastes good. I couldn’t, wouldn’t sell something I didn’t believe in or use myself. And my pediatrician loves this shake for my kids. Completely natural, soy-free, awesomeness in a drink. Really. Look at the ingredients.

Being a Beachbody Coach is a lot of things. And I swear to you if I can do this ANYONE can. This company is successful because the products WORK. There is no magic pill. There is no secret weight loss guide. Its all about empowering YOU with great workouts and products and guiding you through the process of literally WORKING YOUR ASS OFF. I feel and look better than I have in years.

Selfishly, the thing I am most grateful for is my SPARK returning. Being someone’s wife and someone’s Mom is amazing and purposeful and mostly pretty damn cool. But there once was a Jennifer Ellis who was just Jennifer Ellis. And it’s been pretty cool to see her again.

And just a big giant thank you to Stephanie for allowing a girl that’s a bit “rough around the edges” to join her team 🙂

I am grateful for this past year. What a ride its been. And I am looking forward to what is in store for me…I don’t have a spreadsheet, or any clue what’s going to happen this year…and I kinda like it that way!