As the Owner of Rugg3d F3mm3™, Fitness Coach, Personal Trainer, and all-around Fitness Enthusiast, I can most definitely say that I love what I do.
Although it’s not easy at times, my entire fitness journey hasn’t been but somehow still feels like a cake-walk. I have been through many ups and downs but have managed to always stay dedicated to my fitness journey and that alone is what got me here today.
I didn’t think about doing any of this as a business, I only cared about making myself feel better and be better. The better version of myself… if you will… a “better naked me” in the words of my friend Terrill Ross. I always keep that phrase in my mind because it matches my exact personality, story and where I have been in life. I always knew how clothes were supposed to fit me… tastefully revealing and sexy and by the time I had realized that I was well away from that, I became a whole whopping 230lbs! That was 230lbs of defeat, depression and all-around confusion in life because I didn’t understand how the hell I had gotten to this point in my life.
I wanted to be a New York City bartender but then being reminded of the harsh reality that in order to do that, I would have to be back into that superficial realm where I would have to look a certain type of way. I still maintained a healthy sense of self-esteem but somehow, the way II felt and looked still made me feel unhappy. At one point, I was a gogo dancer, extremely fit and happy. By this time, I hadn’t worked at a job since I was 17 so of course, finding work was hard especially after getting licensed for bartending and not being able to get employed as a bartender due to the extreme weight-gain I put aside everything as far as that because now I had fallen deep into my depression and didn’t want to come out of the house for 3 years.
In that 3rd year, I had decided that enough was enough and I started my fitness journey. I started by going to department stores and looking online for workout videos and even the workout network on cable. It was a great start but once I realized that it would be easier for me to give up if I knew I could pause the videos and still ended up looking the same, I cut out all of the videos and hit the pavement in East Orange, NJ. I put my headphones in my ears and started walking… very fast and once I looked around, I started to question if I looked like a young woman who was shaped like a 50-year out-of-shape black woman. I started jogging and then running faster and faster every time for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night and I wouldn’t change my clothes until the end of the day because I was determined to lose the weight.
Before I knew it, I had lost 60lbs in 4 months and was soon ready to begin my journey finding a job and entering a gym. Shortly after, a gym had opened up around the corner from where I live and I began weight training. Before I knew it I was lifting massive amounts of weight and had toned my body is absolutely no time and had now become obsessed! I found myself working 2 jobs and still making it to the gym. I was now able to invest more into my workout clothes as well as accessories and toys to play within the gym!
I have grown my home/outdoor gym collection and now use those things as part of my personal training, Black0ut B00tcamps, Personal Training Sessions and extremities in the gym.
Throughout my entire journey, I have also experienced a plethora of negative criticism and bullying about my ‘strength” especially at the jobs that I obtain. I have been called names, I’ve been sexually harassed, accused of looking like a man and wanting to be a man and even being a lesbian. All of which isn’t true. I’m actually one of the girliest girls you will ever meet and truly feminine at my core. I’m just not afraid to get into a warrior mindset. I am a warrior princess and I want everything else other women want, I’m just multifaceted physically and thrill-seeking is what gives me pleasure.
I say this part to say, NEVER allow basic people to tell you what you’re supposed to be doing as a “woman”. Us as women can conquer anything if we decide to put our minds to it.
I know that my womanly figure needs the workout that I give myself to compliment my womanly shape. Not many people understand how that works but I represent those of us women that DO!
I have never made a physical change to myself based off of what others think. Whether it was the way I wore my hair to the clothing I wear and including my fitness journey and I encourage others to do the same. It’s your body and you can do whatever the hell you want to do with it.
Once I was satisfied with my results I thought it was time to take things a step further by creating a logo that represents me and as well as other women that can relate to doing anything that may appear outside of the norm. I love the feeling of lifting weights and I love the sexy results that it gives me afterward. I love the feeling of being in the shooting range and I love the feeling of knowing how to protect myself. I love riding a motorcycle and I love the feeling of being a sexy badass. I even love the feeling of working in a warehouse environment and I love getting paid to do the same job the men are doing all while feeling and being sexy and going hard at it. I love the feeling of hitting a heavy bag and I love the feeling of defending myself. I love the feeling of how I look doing it all in my sexiest workout clothing or in a pair of heels.
My range is literally from stiletto to steel toe and back to stiletto.
And this is what Rugg3d F3mm3™ represents. Women who can do both and still “Be the strong, sexy and fierce woman they want to be.”
#altoviseunmuted 