The fitness icon, Instagram star, personal trainer and just an inspiration human being, Paige Hathaway has brought her immense positive energy to our stage D for a shoot of a Youtube blog episode with a self-explanatory name “What To Wear.”     Paige has gained a tremendous amount of spotlight due to her extraordinary fitness career. However, her life was not always all that jolly.

“The last two years of my life have taken me on the most amazing journey full of opportunities I could have never imagined.  I never anticipated my passion and dedication to fitness would turn into a career or gain me so much notoriety.  You know the fit and tone Paige you see in my social media posts, but now I want you to get to know the real me.  I want you to understand how I started my fitness journey, how I got to where I am today and why I want to use my success to help others achieve their fitness goals. I’m 26 years old, a small town girl born and raised in Minnesota. After living several different places I am now living in the great southern state of Oklahoma. I always get asked how I got to where I am today. There was no strategically planned path I took to a career in fitness. It all started rather unexpectedly. In 2011 I was not the toned and fit woman I am today, as some of you know from my social media posts. I was very thin with hardly any muscle tone. It was then that I was approached by a trainer at the gym about proper health and nutrition. After speaking with the trainer I decided to step out of my comfort zone and enter my first bikini competition. Being unhealthy comes in all forms, whether it is being too thin or overweight. I desired to be a strong fit woman. Although I had grown up playing soccer and being active I had never made my health or fitness a priority. I had never lifted weights! I had never been stronger than the guy next to me at the gym. I didn’t consider myself an athlete. But over the next 4 months I would train harder than I ever had and push my body to limits I never knew I could. Finally competition day came; little did I know my life would never be the same. I placed 2nd at Ronnie Coleman Classic, the biggest NPC statewide competition in the United States. The show resulted in exposure I never could have anticipated. After the competition I felt accomplished and like I had truly changed myself. I had found a passion for fitness I never knew I had. From then on I was laser focused, continuing to educate myself on health and nutrition, as well as setting new fitness goals. I knew I wanted a career in the fitness industry. Unlike other industries, there was no manual or guide on how to do this, so all I could do was go off of what I knew. I knew that if you want something you have to do whatever it takes to make it happen. I attended every fitness show and expo I could and passed out flyers about myself to anyone in the industry who would take one. After much persistence I finally started to receive sponsorship from companies in the fitness industry. As I was trying to build a name for myself in fitness, I also saw the power and reach that social media had. I knew that it was a way I could reach others and could be a powerful tool to inspire other people by simply sharing who I am and my own fitness journey.I have truly been touched and humbled by people’s reaction to my social media and the career I have in the fitness industry. I am overwhelmed by people’s positive responses to my pictures and posts. In a matter of one year, I went from having a few hundred followers to over half a million on Instagram. I still can’t believe it! My experiences over the last few years have allowed me to find out what really matters to me. I love competing, modeling and working with companies like Shredz. However what I have I found most fulfilling is helping other people achieve their fitness goals. There is nothing more rewarding than sharing your own story and being told it helped empower someone else to achieve his or her goals. I have found a purpose: To help others see having a fit lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to completely give up things you love, change your entire life or achieve one certain look. I want to motivate others to be healthy, fit and confident by being an example of someone who makes her health a priority while still living a fun balanced life!”

by Wrong Ron