Truth be told, the reason I started my website and blog years ago is because someone said to me “You must have a website where you can give health tips out.”  When I was fresh onto the scene, I just listened to whatever was told to me and executed that.  As someone who is a perfectionist with a complete type A personality, I made sure I got the website up and running and started blogging immediately!  However, I refer to this phase in my life as “blogging blindly.”  I had no clue WHAT I was doing, other than knowing I liked to workout, train, and cook healthy meals.  In my early 20’s I actually thought I had it all figured out (don’t we all).  I never questioned what I was writing, I just wrote some stuff that sounded good coming from a health professional and popped it up on the blog.  I read through each blog 150 times to make sure every picture was perfectly placed, every word was spelled right, and the format looked appealing to the naked eye.  As you can imagine, this process was limiting in the sense that I got burnt out writing just one blog LOL.  I had to amp myself up just to write one, so the rate at which I was releasing a “new post” was maybe once every few months unless I was feeling super motivated.  I also had no sense of self.  I really was just regurgitating information written in another similar blog I had read along the way.  There came a time where I just went AWOL on the blog.  Nothing inspired me, nothing felt passionate, and my personality as a fitness professional was rapidly changing.  I was actually coming into my own, and learning exactly WHO I DIDN’T WANT TO BE!  I was always a people pleaser….the “yes” girl if you will.  I just said yes to every opportunity that came knocking and always followed the rules.  I finally got to the point where I was so robotic and predictable as a fitness personality – that I got sick of it myself.

Part of the reason I stopped my blog and only sometimes updated my site for future job opportunities (in the modeling industry), was because INSTAGRAM came along.  I signed up for instagram because everyone else was doing it, and it was yet another way for me to be “successful.”  It was a distraction for a while and something I felt I was gaining traction on, so it took my mind off the fact that I wasn’t regularly blogging.  Shortly after I joined instagram, I started to not give a shit what people thought about me.  I was just going to say what was on my mind and try to keep it real.  Even though I feel like it took me YEARS to get to this place, I find it’s the BEST place to be.  And it didn’t happen overnight.  I feel like it was 8 years of growth and seeing/experiencing a LOT of things in the industry – that I made the conscious decision to just BE MYSELF.  I knew that the people who wanted to work with me would stay along for the ride and those were the exact people I wanted to attract anyways.  I did NOT want to attract the type of people that were going to take advantage of my abilities, or not really see the value in what I was doing.  I also didn’t want to be like every other fitness person who appeared to have NO LIFE outside of gym, selfies, occasional advice, and food pics.  I’m proud of my family.  I’m proud of my friends. I love my husband.  I’M GOING TO SHARE THIS STUFF IF I WANT TO!  I DO WHAT I WANT! haha – but REALLY – I just never really cared to be that person.  I get this piece of advice a lot still: “Danielle, you should keep it strictly business.”

The thought of that ACTUALLY makes me want to vomit.  So basically, I should just pretend I don’t have a husband because that makes me look like I’m single, which will attract more followers.  And I should post more pictures in my bikinis, and more selfies because that will lead to more followers. (Which by the way, more followers doesn’t mean more money – they are NOT directly correlated lol).  And, “Danielle you shouldn’t cuss, keep it classy.” Let us pause for a moment of reflection……

BUT I’M NOT FUCKING SINGLE hahahah!!  I have a husband who’s freaking awesome, might I add.  I have a family that I care so deeply for it’s unreal.  I have friends that I love and adore – and I will be sharing that.  And sometimes I just feel it necessary to drop F bombs to get my point across!  I’m proud of myself for never taking that advice – and still to this day – you won’t find many pictures of me half naked in a sexually suggestive position to gain followers.  You’ll find more pictures of my friends/family than selfies with a caption reading, “Good morning.”

I’ve always been in the business of ENJOYING helping people out.  That was my main goal when I first moved out to L.A.  How can I inspire people?  How can I motivate the masses? How can I create a long standing brand/name for myself in this corrupt industry?  The one piece of the puzzle that was missing those years ago was HOW can I do this all while not compromising everything I stand for?  How can I do this ALL while still being MYSELF?  I feel like I’m finally at a place where I’ve come into my own.  I know how I want to come across.  I know how I don’t want to come across.  And the best part of it all – is I really don’t care what people think.

I’m the type of person that will answer every single inbox message or email pertaining to advice.  I will help every person that sends me a text saying “Hey, how can I do this or that?” “How can I break into the sports modeling scene?” “How do I get an agent?” “How do I become a personal trainer?” “How can I start charging my clients as much as you do?” “How do I get 6 pack abs?” “Will you send me a few workouts?” THE LIST GOES ON AND ON AND ON!  Even if it took me a few weeks, I would respond back to everyone.  I was giving free advice left and right and still am because I actually love to do it!  However, I feel that if I just share the advice when it comes to my attention and is fresh – I can be regularly blogging.  Because I’ve let questions stack up over years and years and only answered them privately in an email or text.

In recent years, I’ve had mentors and entrepreneurs I follow that always say….pump out content!  It doesn’t have to be perfect, just write!  Keep creating content.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be calculated or mapped out, but just START.  So this is me….starting.  This is me NOT being perfect.  This is me NOT reading this blog 150 times before I hit the post button.  This is me wanting to share more material with you guys.  This is me wanting to take an honest approach and just keep it real.  Whether it be giving you a workout program, health tips, or something totally unrelated like going on a cool trip with my husband 🙂

If I haven’t lost you yet, just know that I appreciate YOU.  Thanks for reading this and if you feel compelled to continue this journey with me, please do.  The more the merrier!  I’m not going to put harsh expectations on myself like I used to do.  For instance, the old me would have said….Here is what you will see from me in the coming weeks:

-FREE EBOOKS

-NEW BLOGS

-HEALTHY EATING GUIDES

-DAILY EMAIL

-DAILY MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

-2 IG POSTS PER DAY

And I would have created a nice list and then eventually got sick of the rigorous schedule and fallen short!  This time, I’m just telling you – Hey, I’m going to do my best to share more.  I’m going to do my ultimate best to create a program. I’m going to do my best to keep you guys motivated.  I might fall short some days or weeks but THAT’S LIFE.  It’s so freaking unpredictable and even the most motivated person has their down days.  I want to share those with you.  I want to keep it realistic.  I want to talk about experiences, life lessons, truths, and things that lead to a healthier life – both mind and body.

Let’s share this space and KIFR (#keepitfuckingreal).

Love you guys,

Danielle