HOW I GOT HERE
I haven’t always had it all together. The truth is, when I was supposed to be excited about starting a career and coming into my own as an adult, I was completely lost. After graduating college, I realized that my major was not the career I wanted to pursue. Not only that, I had no clue what I wanted to do. While I felt stuck, it seemed like everyone around me was moving on. I jokingly named this time in my life the “quarter life crisis,” but I secretly felt hopeless and I gave myself excuses to neglect my faith, fitness, nutrition and motivation.
CHANGING MY MINDSET
I went to a church service one Sunday at Timberline Church in Fort Collins, where the message was “Make My Life Count.” The scripture was Romans 12:1 which says, “Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.” What I realized in this service was that maybe I was valuable, maybe I could make an impact on this world and love what I do. From this day forward I took action. I went on a 3-month mission trip with a friend that opened my eyes to culture and understanding and loving people no matter where they are in their life. I began to pursue interests and dreams that I had. I took risks and I began to find the value in who I was as a person and what I could give to others.
HEALTH FOCUS
I had always had an interest in medicine, and I enjoyed helping others, so I decided to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). With my new skills I began volunteering at Boulder Rural Fire Department and fell in love with the fire service. The fire service became a family for me and for the first time it lit a passion. I found CrossFit in 2007 and began working hard on my fitness and met wonderful friends who encouraged me. Shortly, fitness became my main form of stress relief and recreation. I loved the feeling of being able to accomplish things I never had before. I began to see my confidence grow. There were failures along the way, but the challenges only pushed me to become more stubborn in pursuing my passion.
Seventeen years later, I am still in the fire service, and I still have a passion for fitness and fire. I have seen the benefits that fitness has had in my life and I’m passionate about sharing that with others. In 2012, I began coaching CrossFit and fitness to underserved teens through Steve’s Club Battle Ready and firefighters through our fire academy. While I loved coaching, I felt like I could offer more. I wanted to give more to the teens I was working with and with the growing recognition for education and support in mental health among first responders, I dreamed of starting a program that encompassed all aspects of health but specifically fitness and psychoeducation or counseling. With encouragement from our department counselor Joanne Rupert, I reluctantly took a leap and returned to school in 2015 to pursue my master’s in counseling. I’m not going to say it was easy, it never is, but it was worth it! Today, I continue to follow my passion giving to others and helping them find the path that is right for them.
MORE ABOUT TAYLOR
Taylor is a wife, mom, firefighter, and fitness coach. Taylor graduated with honors from Colorado Christian University in 2018 with a masters degree in counseling. Taylor is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NBCC), Licensed Professional Counselor, is trained in EMDR, Advanced Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and working on her Certified Addiction Counselor credentials. Taylor is a CrossFit Level 2 and CrossFit kids certificate holder. She specializes in first responders, teens, PTSD and associated symptoms such as depression, anxiety, anger and substance use.
Taylor’s concentrate is on a biopsychosocial-spiritual model of care which strives to affect the mind, body spirit, social and emotional aspects of a person to bring about change. She is trained in counseling with Christian principles, but her practice does not discriminate based on religion, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation; she welcomes diversity. Taylor offers individual therapy, EMDR therapy and fitness-based group therapy.