January 2018 was a huge beginning for myself and my family. My husband left his job (not career) to re-launch his fitness business. I put that in parentheses purposely because although yes his job paid our bills (and we THANK God for that) it didn’t feed his spirit. He wasn’t using his degree, he wasn’t able to really invest the time into our family like he wanted. He really wanted to chase his dream and be more present with our boys.

BackStory: BYSWO Fitness (pronounced Buy-swo) started January 2015 after the birth of our third child Lennon. LaDarren was off with me on paternity leave and instead of just focusing on late night feedings and helping me recover from my emergency C-section, he decided to jump out and start working on his dream.

At first, I thought he was crazy. He was working full-time and would be back to work just 8 weeks later how in the world can you launch a business in 8 weeks? But… I prayed. We prayed and he went for it. And BYSWO Fitness was born. At his peak he had 15 clients. 15 individuals he was inspiring to be their best; while working a  full-time night shift. Eventually, a year later, it all caught up to him and he just could not do it all. He eventually had to let it go and focus on the family business of raising our (at that time) 3 boys and having stable income.

Enter Fall 2016-2017…I left my job of almost three years. I found out I was pregnant 6 weeks later…yes, six weeks into a new job. God’s sense of humor..amirite? When I was 6 months pregnant LaDarren injured himself at work and would need reconstructive surgery. This would have him in a cast and in recovery for a minimum of 90 days. Yes, 90 days with three active boys and a new born. One month after birthing our fourth child he went in for his surgery.

The recovery process was hard and a bit scary. He ended up with a blood clot four weeks after surgery. While he was out recovering I had to return to work and the family nanny situation deteriorated and we had to let that person go. So we had 4 kids, a recovering husband and I was back at work. I was part-time, but God blessed and I was able to work full-time which helped meet the gaps while he was out. As his leave was coming to an end, we had a family meeting; which we do a few times a month, we decided it would be more cost-effective if he stayed home with the kids and again tried to launch his fitness business. This time he would take his retirement and invest in some quality equipment and we would do this entrepreneurship journey the right way…full force.

It has been trying. Don’t get me wrong sometimes I wonder if I am sane LOL Like I whole-heartedly agreed with this plan. It has been so worth it. Not just for my family, but also because LaDarren is truly helping people to change their lives. Alabama leads in heart disease, diabetes and a whole host of life-shortening ailments.  37% of the adult population, have prediabetes with blood glucose levels higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Heart disease, the most common form of cardiovascular disease, is the single leading cause of death in Alabama.  

Now that you have heard the backstory in my next blog I will highlight our hopes for the future and my plans for HER!