I made on the board!!!!! My name is Susan and I am from the Washington D.C. area. I am 48 years old and currently am a middle school counselor (those kids are exhausting!!). I was a band director many years ago (15 to be exact), but with a husband who does the same thing, it was a bit much,...So, being the people person that I am, I went into school counseling which has been a great fit for me! I began working with trainers about 10 years ago and have been working with some on and off ever since. I have grown to LOVE training and have become the ultimate gym rat!!! Fitness has become my passion and so the journey has begun! I will retire from school counseling in 4 years and hope to have a small base from which to go from with my training. I love to learn all of this, but it can be so overwhelming at times! I have a 10 year old son, so some days by the time I get home from school, the gym, and do homework with my son, dinner, etc. I start cracking the books at 8pm (I am not a night owl......). With summer break right upon me, I am looking forward to a lot more time to read, review, and keep going - all before 9pm!!
Just another note about me - being from the D.C. area (not many of us natives around), I am a total Redskins fan and have missed maybe 3 home games in the past 25 years! I love music of all types and enjoy crafting as well! looking forward to exchanging ideas and getting to know everyone! Thansk to those who have helped me already! I so appreciate everything!
Hi, Susan, so glad you made it!!! I'm from the D.C. area, too! I work at Dupont Circle, live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and will begin training at night at the Gold's on 20th street in July (I think! The interview went great, just waiting for the call!).
Loved reading your bio. I hear ya about the time constraints! I think most of us who are making the transition into training while also having an already established life (which is already crammed!) are facing the same thing. In some ways, it's a great challenge. In others, it's just plain exhausting! But I think it will all pay off...what a great profession this is!
I think you will make a great trainer! Pics of you and the kids and your husband, by any chance?
We're the same age, I was 48 in February. I've got two children, an almost 15 year old, football playing son (about to start his High School Football career, though already been doing training for it), and an 11 year old daughter who is extremely artistic, very much into animals (has frogs, geckos, a bunny, plus we have two dogs :)) and she does Tae Kwon Do.
I think I mentioned on the other board that I'm a music teacher (also a songwriter but have taken a break from that at least for a while, just want to focus on getting my certification then maybe I'll start writing again). I used to tour and stuff but gave that up a longgggg time ago.
I just teach piano privately these days and my intention is to do the same thing w/ training, just be my own boss. Parents of my students know that I've been working on this and I think I'll be able to get referrals pretty quickly since they know how I approach things in general.
There's a great resource for advertising here that is a Parent magazine which is distributed everywhere for free, I used it years ago for teaching and filled up very quickly. I'm looking to train folks in the mornings and continue to teach in the afternoons. I'm not looking to train zillions of people at first, just a few hours at most a day then I'll see how it goes in terms of whether I train more and teach a little less.
I hope you'll have more time this summer for studying, I know how tough it is to absorb all this material.
I've got my exam coming up in August so the countdown has begun!
Hi Susan, Nice to know you! I just got the hang of dragging over these emoticons! Love them! Anyway, seems like many of us are about the same age...I'm 46 and have a 14 yo son. I have a part-time, high stress job besides being chief cook and bottle washer here at the ranch . I'm feeling quite stressed, but I'm studying away! I told them they are on their own for meals the next 4 weeks, so I can be ready for exam at end of July.
After attending the ACE seminar this past weekend I was surprised at how many in the middle years were there...and out on the floor, actually training, one trainer looked like he was in his late sixties.
My name is Susan and I am from the Washington D.C. area. I am 48 years old and currently am a middle school counselor (those kids are exhausting!!). I was a band director many years ago (15 to be exact), but with a husband who does the same thing, it was a bit much,...So, being the people person that I am, I went into school counseling which has been a great fit for me!
I just got the hang of dragging over these emoticons! Love them! 
. I'm feeling quite stressed, but I'm studying away! 