My story so far.

The big crazy fitness dream all started in 2008 ish.

I was in my late 30's and was trying to lose the baby weight...again.

For years post babies, all I did was cardio and focus on fat loss. My goal was always smaller. Less food, less fat, less weight, less ME. CrossFit changed all that for a while.

Though, I still default to poor patterns, most days I feel strong and happy with myself. Even-though CrossFit changed my focus from "bean pole, completely unattainable to me, reasons to exercise" to a focus on health, strength and empowerment, it was still an unattainable standard of strength and stupid human tricks that kept me from being healthy long term.


When I made the transition from "skinny chick" to strong, I final chose to embrace my body and all it's "flaws". My mindset changed and I became stronger inside and out. I began chasing bigger weights, longer sets of pull ups ... all good right? Wrong.

It had become an unhealthy pursuit.

I suppose, the journey is different for everybody, but it’s clear that a strong community, empathy and balance can bring a sense of strength and power that carries through to all facets of life; My issue was that it had become an unhealthy pursuit. This obsessive pursuit was driven by the sport which the affiliate I went to pushed.

I was in my late 30's, not being coached but pushed to perform, and it wasn't working for me. Injury after injury only made me feel worse. I felt like I wasn't part of a community unless I was part of the elite and I hated that feeling.

What started as empowering was now making me feel broken!

I decided that the name MIGHTY MOUSE was too heavy a burden. It was a mantle I could no longer honour because I felt I was not worthy. I felt like less, eventhough I was doing more, lifting more, trying more, more, more...I was done.

I quit.

For a while.

But something was missing. I enjoyed the lifting, the struggle, the grind, the comradery from the 1 or 2 folks who let me be part of their "clique". What was missing was the fun.

So I opened Cherry Bomb out of my garage.

It's not about me and what I want it's about making everyone feel they are awesome!
No matter what age they are, no matter what size they are, they are welcome.

We aren't a fitness business, we are in the business of self esteem!

Not everyone wants to lift super heavy. Not everyone wants to have a six pack or be able to do the perfect handstand. It's OK to want to do Zumba and CrossFit and Running and to think for yourself!

And it's OK to just workout moderately as well. There's no need to jump in with both feet and be a beast. It's OK to take time off. It's OK to go to other gyms and try new things.

I have fallen prey to these things out of fear. Health and fitness was a tool I used to punish myself for feeling inferior in some way. I'd workout because I hated certain parts of myself, and all I cared about was how I looked. My obsession with my physical appearance, workouts and food was not healthy. And sticking with a gym because of fear of feeling dejected is also not healthy! I do not want this for my clients.

We are a community, be it itty-bitty, of misfits and regular ol' people wanting to fit in, experience life and do things they never thought they were capable of doing without judgement.

No "GYM"timidation, no neglect, no bullshit. Just straight up training, fun and form. Our goal is for everyone to get strong, have fun and do so longterm. No gimmicks, tricks, fads, or cliques.

That's why our motto is:

BE YOU (weirdness and all) BE STRONG (inside and out) BE AWESOME!

Health and fitness should make you feel better not superior.

NOW

I am currently 43. I started my Fit journey over a decade ago in my basement thinking I knew what I was doing (nope...form, skill all poop. 

All I know is with every mistake I've learned.  Every month was a new injury - I learned from that. . Every month that I felt less and less strong... I learned that I wasn't going to sell that brand of fitness. Their brand was sport driven and it was breaking me. Not their fault, but mine for not having recognized it earlier.  Mine for not building the right kind of strength in the first place and my mistakes to learn from.

I am thankful for what they taught me and for introducing me to a better way but I needed something more balanced.

We all have our own reasons for working out and there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel good about the reflection you see in the mirror but my goals were becoming driven by not feeling I was good enough.

I wanted to create a space where everyone could train, not just the elite.

A place for folks to play, chat, sweat and leave feeling good about themselves.

I've grown from my 2 car garage into a 1100 SQ foot garage which I built with our families money. No one else.  And if that fails then I'll learn from that too.

I lift heavy things, try to eat whole foods, raise chickens in an urban environment, have a family, life and am not perfect...and I'm happy with that and so it would seem so are my clients. We have grown from 10 clients to 70 in a village of 2000 people... not bad.

I have blundered through another year of training, parenting, cooking and figuring out life. All while having fun!

Cherry Bomb may not be the biggest or the best but damned if we aren't the most genuine and fun.

Cherry Bomb Garage Gym... building the world's most awesome people and proud of it ;)


Be you. Be strong. Be awesome. BE THE BOMB!