1. Tell us about yourself:
Hello. My name is Amy and I have lived in Ventura for about 10 years.
I was born in Virginia, but as a military brat we moved around a lot. In my life, I have moved
over 20 times and lived in various states and Japan. I moved to the western United States
when I was a teenager and I have lived in either Arizona or California ever since. My wonderful
husband, Damian and I have been married for 22 years. We have two awesome kids, Noah and
Layla. I love paddle boarding, swimming, reading, hiking and of course CrossFit.
2. What do you do for a job?
My husband and I own two businesses. We have an agricultural consulting company, Plant
Geek Consulting and a fertilizer company, King Solomon Nutrients. Thank goodness I do
CrossFit because I often lug 50lb bags of nutrients at work.
3. Tell us something people might not know about you:
I used to have a Southern accent as a kid living in mostly southern states of the US. When my
family moved to Arizona in high school, everyone kept asking me to talk and repeat things
because they thought it was so funny. As a new kid starting high school two weeks late, I just
wanted to blend in. I worked at losing the accent and now I don’t think you would even guess
that I ever had that Southern drawl.
4. What brought you to CrossFit in the first place?
I came to CrossFit from the group that used to work out with Coach Cindy at Grace Lutheran
Church . We all started to go to Beachside and made up the ladies’ 9am class about 5 1/2 years
ago.
5. What was your first impression? How has that changed?
My first impression was I didn’t know if I could do CrossFit with my back injury and lack of
coordination. I thought it may be too much for me. Unless I am in the water, I wouldn’t say that I
am a coordinated person. Plus, I have a herniated disc in my back that I thought would make
CrossFit out of the question. I haven’t found that to be true. The coaches are so great about
breaking all the lifts down into the different movements that even an uncoordinated person can
get it. I do have to modify some workouts because of my injury, but the coaches are always very
helpful about telling me how to modify a WOD. It is really a nonissue as long as I have good
form, which I strive to do and on certain lifts I don’t go as heavy to keep that. It wasn’t out of the
question to do CrossFit after all and I love the challenge of the workouts.
6. What was your first “bright spot”?
My first bright spot I think was getting double unders. I didn’t think I was ever going to get them,
but then one day I did it and couldn’t believe it. Then of course I was so surprised that I stopped
jumping.
7. What are you working on now?
I am working on pretty much everything. I have been able to do things that I couldn’t do at the
beginning of CrossFit like double unders, rope climbs, pull ups, using my legs to lift instead of
just my arms etc. That is all great, but I still have tons of room to keep improving. I am still
missing a bunch of double unders and getting whip marks on my arms. Even if I get a move like
pull ups down, I can’t do large sets. So I feel like I just keep working on everything and I do keep
slowly improving and getting stronger. Definitely I have made progress from the beginning, so I
know that I will keep getting better over time as long as I keep working. Slow and steady!
8. What’s your favorite BeachSide CrossFit memory?
When my daughter Layla was doing the kids CrossFit class at Beachside. I loved watching her
lift weights. It is amazing how quickly the kids learned, how much weight they can lift, and the
cute games. The joy of watching her feel so strong and confident. I was constantly impressed by
all that those young kids could do and so proud of my daughter.
