Confessions of a Bikini Pro

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Jasmine Gonzalez, a United States Marine who served 6 year active duty. In 2017, she earned her Pro card in last year of service transitioning from military to bikini pro. She qualified for her first Olympia in 2019, placing 9th. Between 2022 and 2023, she took a year a way from the stage to focus on her mental health. She qualified for the 2024 Olympia after win...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Maria Acosta, who just placed 7th at the 2024 Ms. Bikini Olympia at her debut! She is from Venezuela, where she started her bodybuilding journey 12 years ago, before coming to the USA to follow her dreams. She earned her Pro card at 2021 North Americans and now with 29 shows under her belt, she has accomplished so much as an athlete and a coach!   TOPICS COVERED...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Carly Lamberts who has been competing since 2019 and has competed in 210 shows. She earned her Pro card in 2024 at NPC Universe. Outside of competing, she is a wife to another bodybuilder and dog mom to two corgis. She works full time in sales for Red Bull Distribution and as a posing coach. She shares how bodybuilding impacted the trajectory of her life, from tr...

For today's episode, I wanted to do something a little different! In honor of the 2024 Olympia that took place last weekend, I am sharing my interview with our new Ms. Bikini Olympia, Lauralie Chapados. This interview took place after her second place win at the 2018 Olympia, after she crushed her 2018 season. When this episode was recorded she was prepping for the Arnold Classic and next heads to...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro AJ Myles, a 25-year-old full Canadian Pro who has been a full time online coach since 2021. She began competing in 2018, and has competed in 6 shows and earned her Pro card at the 2024 Toronto Pro Qualifier. AJ is an advocate of defining your own balance in bodybuilding in order to stoke your passion and foster longevity in the sport.   TOPICS COVERED -overcoming...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Selina Stansbury, a nurse practitioner who found fitness over 6 years ago. She competed in her first show in November of 2019 and earned her Pro card at her 6th national show at 2024 Universe. Since then, she has done two Pro shows in 2024. She runs her own business as a health and fitness coach, supporting lifestyle and competition transformations.     TOPICS CO...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Allegra Brown, a sister, daughter, wife and a dog mama. She started competing in bikini in 2019 and has placed from the sea of 16 to 1st place at Nationals. She earned her Pro card at 2024 USAs. I love spending time with my family and my fur baby, hanging out on the lake and enjoying good vibes!   TOPICS COVERED -importance of feedback -being comfortable in the u...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Gillian Hughes, owner of Momshell Method Fitness who has been competing since 2005 and was one of the first athletes to compete nationally in the NPC when they introduced the bikini division in 2009. After a few short breaks to have her children and go thorough some life changes, she earned her Pro card at 2024 Master's Nationals at the age of 43. She also has a...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Joanna Bolt, a lifelong athlete and full time registered nurse at UT Southwestern in Dallas working with a surgeon in the head & neck cancer clinic. Joanna began competing in 1992 but took many years off before she started competing in Figure in 2005. She won her Pro card in a natural federation in 2010 before taking another hiatus until 2023. She won her IFBB Pr...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Sharla Peterson who went from bikini division to women's bodybuilding division by accident. A lifetime fitness guru from teaching aerobics at age 16 to Reebok National Aerobics championship at age 19. She has 5 kids from ages 27 to 12. At age 51, she decided to start competing in bikini and finally do what she always wanted to do but never had the courage or disc...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Kayla Krauss, a dedicated health & fitness coach, and nutritionist with a passion for empowering individuals to achieve their health and fitness goals. She began competing in 2017 and won her Pro card at 2024 Universe. Her journey has been all about balancing mental, emotional, and physical health while pushing towards her goals.   TOPICS COVERED -having stage 3...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Navreet Josan, becoming India's first IFBB Bikini Pro in 2018 at Sheru Classic IFBB pro qualifier series. She began competing in 2014 at a time when there were no bikini competitions in India. She became the first NPC Bikini athlete from India. Alongside her passion for fitness, she has 17 years of experience as a professional makeup artist, working with clients,...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro and Greek Pro Surfer, Alexandra Kolla. Her dream is to qualify for the 2028 surfing Olympics! She is also a professor in computer science and math at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She got her PhD at UC Berkeley in theoretical computer science. She was born and raised in Greece, but moved to California almost 20 years ago. She also enjoys riding powder...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Verushqa Andrade, a former competitive dancer who was born in India and lived there for 10 years before moving to the US. She won her Pro card at NPC Universe in 2023. She is also a medical student, a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force, a prep/ lifestyle as well as an NPC posing coach, and a personal trainer at Dean Caputo Powerhouse Gym in Ohio. She is also a ca...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Jennifer Lau, a mother, navy veteran, business owner, stylist, and accountability coach. She started competing in 2022 and won her Pro card in 2023. She recently placed third at her masters pro debut at the Charlotte pro and top 10 masters at Wasatch Warriors. Jennifer talks about finding bodybuilding later in life and what it means to her to compete as a mom.  ...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Beckyn Mickelson who started competing in 2020. After her first show she knew she wanted to earn her Pro card but did NOT understand just how much work it would take. She won her Pro card at 2024 Junior Nationals. Competing brought out the drive she needed to not only achieve the Pro Card goal, but absolutely transformed her life. Through this journey, she found...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Dr. Jessica Wilson, a returning guest who was actually on the 7th episode! Since then, Jessica won the tittle of 2023 Ms Bikini Olympia Masters. She is 42 years old and works as a lifestyle and posing coach, and is also a doctor of veterinary medicine. Jessica and I go deep on this conversation, so get ready!   TOPICS COVERED -identity outside of competing -findi...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Brittany Shulman, a wife, mother, and former gymnast who works in finance. She started lifting after leaving gymnastics and two friends introduced her to bodybuilding. She competed in her first show in 2017 and then took a couple years off to get married and have a baby. She tried to return to the stage in 202, but got derailed by COVID. She then found Paul Revel...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Melanie Albino, a 40-year-old natural competitor, who is a wife & mom, and an Elite coach for Team Elite Physique. She has been a prep coach since 2016 and a personal trainer for almost 20 years! Melanie first competed in 2012 and won her Pro card in 2019 after competing in 7 national shows. She has been self-coached since her second show.     TOPICS COVERED -pro...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Laura Postor, a mom of 3 and owner of four businesses. She first competed in 2021 where she earned second in open at the Night of Champions. At only her 5th show ever, she earned her Pro Card at USAs in 2023. She is a Certified doula and focuses on working with parents who have experienced sexual trauma. She is also a recovered heroin addict and has been clean fo...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Sam McDonough, from Kansas City, MO, currently living in Sacramento. She recently earned her BA in Psychology plans to eventually be a Marriage and Family Counselor. Currently, she is a coach at a couple gyms and a Posing Coach for Bikini and Wellness athletes. She has been competing since 2017, first in the NANBF. At her first NPC show in 2020, she started in We...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Marina Marks, born and raised in San Antonio TX, who is married and has two children. She started lifting in 2015 but her competition journey began after the birth of my son in 2019 where she competed 10 months postpartum and took the Open Bikini Overall. Shortly after, she left for basic training and starting a whole new chapter in the US Army as a physical ther...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Cindy Van Empol-Popowich, a 55-year-old who started lifting at 17 years old after she saw her first bodybuilding event in 1989. Cindy earned her Pro card in 2019 at North Americans. She been involved in every aspect of the sport from judging to expediting, and is currently the Director of social media for the Canadian Physical Alliance. She is married to a firefi...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Tanya Johansen, a kidney cancer survivor and single mom of two, who lives in Utah and works as a posing coach. She earned her Pro card at Master's USAs in 2022, where she won the overall, and made her Pro debut last year at California Night of Champions. Tanya is coached by Aimee Delgado at Fit Body Fusion and plans to begin her rookie season this summer.     TOP...

Today I speak with IFBB Bikini Pro Phillipa Ferreira who started competing in ICN back in 2020 and turned pro in that federation in her first year of competing. She moved to IFBB last year and earned her Pro card at Nationals, where she placed first. She was the first Australian bikini athlete to win two state titles in one season, as well as the first Australian bikini athlete to turn pro in thei...