Boot Camp Challenge®: Our Origin Story

You might be wondering, how did I get here, and how do I know what I know? It started in 1984. And no, that wasn't when I was born — it was when I entered the fitness industry. It was an exciting time!

Group exercise was just beginning, we had awesome leg warmers, and we wore amazing leotards. And I loved it. But something was missing. So I did what any Midwestern girl would do — I joined the US Army.

After finishing my basic training and my advanced training, I was stationed in Germany. And while I was there, I was asked to lead my battalion in what was called back then, "aerobics." I thought, "Sure! How hard could it be to lead 300 troops in high impact aerobics at 5am in a huge garage?"

Well, little did I know that it would be one of the greatest challenges I would face. And I had no idea that the challenge would come back as a blessing in 20 years. During this time, not only was I blessed with this skillset long before I needed it, but I was also blessed with my husband. I can also share with you, because of his encouragement, support, and many times, his sense of humor, I was able to stay the course and obtain my dream.

After finishing my military tour and wrapping up college, I continued on with my career in the fitness industry. I started training clients one-on-one and in groups. And, while I loved my job, I felt something was missing. The participants in the group classes were having fun and working out together. My personal training clients were seeing great results. And I thought — how can I combine the fun, team atmosphere of group training with the added benefits of personal training, and make it affordable for everyone?

And then, it hit me. I would combine the team camaraderie, group motivation and cohesiveness I learned in the Army, with the assessments, nutrition, and sciences from personal training to create a program. And I did. And I called it Boot Camp Challenge® (BCC). Boom!

Fast forward sixteen years. The program, BCC, is now being launched in 25 states. We have thousands of campers experiencing our program live and over a million app users from 60 countries working out with us on our Boot Camp Challenge® app.