Our Birth Story

I did not begin my career in the fitness industry. I had been working in the corporate world for over a decade, but as my first company (Johnson & Johnson) said best in their famous slogan: “Having a baby changes everything.”

It took me nearly two years of infertility struggles before I finally saw those two beautiful pink lines on that stick. I still remember the flood of emotions. In one moment, I was BEYOND thrilled! In the next, I was scared to death. I had struggled so much to get to this point, I was not about to “screw this up” now. After 20 years of being a dancer and fitness enthusiast, I suddenly feared all the activities I used to love so much.

It seemed everywhere I looked, I found conflicting information, which exacerbated my fears. I would have given anything for clear, evidence-based information, or an expert coach, to guide me through such a new and nerve-wracking journey, but such a resource was very difficult to find at the time. Several of my good friends echoed my frustration. I knew we all deserved so much better.

The Discovery of our “Performance Training Approach”

In my quest to tackle this issue, I met Carolyn Appel — who today is our Chief Content Officer. Carolyn was a former competitive tennis player, long-time fitness industry educator, and a new mom.

She explained how the stresses placed on the body throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period are comparable to that of a major athletic event. Yet, we don’t often approach training for this journey like we do other events.

By applying the same principles of performance-based program design that she had used to train during her tennis days to her own pregnancy journey, Carolyn was able to enjoy a smooth pregnancy, quick delivery (2 pushes and her son was out!), and quick return to her favorite activities.

After learning this approach, I saw the incredible impact it could have, and I decided to leave my career in the corporate world to make that happen. 

And ProNatal Fitness was born…

Carolyn and I decided to join forces and fast forward a few years later, ProNatal Fitness® was born – grounded in a Performance Training Approach that was shaped by our collective experiences, rigorous research, and input from an Advisory Board of thought leaders in pre & postnatal health.

Core to our Performance Training Approach is a belief that the pregnancy journey is a major athletic event, and we should train for it as such. It doesn’t matter how “fit” you are, the stresses placed on your body throughout this journey are unlike any most of us have experienced – and we believe every individual navigating it deserves the best possible preparation and recovery.

While I was not fortunate to have evidence-based resources and expert guidance during my first pregnancy, I hope we can help change that for you. Thank you for being here.