Hey y’all! I’m Devon, mama to two human littles, two fur babies, NASM Certified Group Fitness Instructor, and new SLAMBoss at SLAM Fort Knox!
This is my SLAM story… In July of 2016 the Army moved our family from JBLM in Washington State to Fort Benning, Georgia! Our daughter had just turned 1 and fitness during the first year of her life consisted of hiking and that’s about it! I’ve always been into playing sports and love being outdoors, but working out alone is just not my jam (I also LOVE being around people)! We had some friends who had moved to Benning before us and she introduced me to this awesome workout group called Stroller Strong Moms. I put off going for weeks until she finally dragged me to her last class before they moved again. It was love at first SLAM!
I showed up, nervous and intimidated, not knowing if I was even in the right place, and was immediately greeted by another mama who was also a first timer (now a SLAMBoss herself too, how crazy!). From that first hello and SLAM class, I knew I had found my tribe and would never really be “alone” on my motherhood/postpartum athlete journey! I showed up day after day and made friendships that will last me a lifetime!
Fast-forward a year and the Army moved us to Fort Hood, Texas! No SLAM in sight, but at least I knew a few mamas from Fort Benning that had also gotten stationed there. We rocked our SLAM gear and I am sure came off as crazies when we very enthusiastically approached moms we did not know who were also repping SLAM gear. It just so happened that one of those mamas had some insight about a SLAM coming to Fort Hood! By this time our little boy was born and I really needed to get back into a routine, so of course I was going to be an OG SLAM Fort Hood member!
Everything started falling in place from there, or so I thought… I became a certified instructor and started teaching classes only to find out that the Army was moving us again and with very short notice. We were going to Fort Knox, Kentucky, another non-SLAM location, again! I researched opening my own, talked it over with other SLAM mamas, and ultimately decided I just wasn’t comfortable starting one on my own with our timeline. And then it happened. About 4 months later Alexa emailed to tell me another SLAM mom was coming my way and asked if I would like my information passed along to her! Of course I said yes and that’s where my amazing co-SLAMBoss Elli comes into the picture!
Hi! I’m Elli, co-owner of SLAM Fort Knox! I’m a mom of two gorgeous girls, Isabel age 3.5, and Ana age 2. I am a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor. I’m a proud Army Veteran, and enjoy continuing to live the Army life as a Military Spouse.
After getting out of the Army in 2019, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. My husband was overseas, and I went from working full-time as a valuable member of a team, to being a one woman show wandering the aisles of Target just trying to make it through the day. I had no friends in the area, I didn’t exercise, and with a 2-year-old and a new baby, I felt myself slipping away. I was a lost mom. I heard about SLAM, but was extremely intimidated by the idea of joining a group of moms doing…well, anything. Stroller fitness? Mom group? Count me out, this surely isn’t my cup of tea. I finally got desperate enough for human interaction that I attended my first SLAM class in January of 2020. I don’t remember much about the workout itself, other than that it smoked me. What I remember most is smiling the entire drive home feeling like I’d finally found it, I finally found the thing that had been missing from this mom life – Community. Sisterhood. Sweat. I was hooked.
If anyone had asked me five years ago where I planned to be today, I assure you the answer would not have been opening a Stroller Fitness group, or even being a member in one. I’ve never been so happy to be proven wrong! As a former Soldier and Crossfit lover, I didn’t think I would get anything out of a stroller workout. Again…wrong! Not only are the workouts challenging, but they’ve rekindled my love for lifting, and reminded me how much better I feel when I’m exercising consistently. One of the best parts, is that I’ve been able to participate confidently, knowing the exercises are safe for all stages of my post-partum journey. The workouts are SLAMazing, but, in reality, they’re just one piece of the pie. I’ve never felt welcomed by a group of women, I’ve never felt like I belong, not until I joined SLAM. The women in this community support, encourage, and motivate each other more than any group I’ve ever seen or been a part of. Showing up to SLAM every day not only improves my health and fitness, but makes me a better mom and wife. I cannot possibly be more grateful for SLAM and the lifelong friends and community it has given me.
I became a SLAM El Paso instructor just a few months after I joined and continued to fall more deeply in love with the phenomenal SLAM community nationwide. I knew that our next move was coming up and there was no SLAM at Fort Knox; so, encouraged by (the one and only) Jessica Hamel, I reached out to Alexa to see if we could get this thing going, and spread some SLAM love at Fort Knox. Alexa linked me up with Devon, we joined forces, and the rest is history!
Fort Knox mamas, get ready to get your sweat on with some Bluegrass SLAM! Stay up to date on SLAM Fort Knox by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and our Webpage (coming soon)!
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