Nick and I don’t claim to be experts at coaching or even hiring new coaches. But we saw something in Emma when she first joined CFC, from volunteering for any opportunity she could to help to eventually getting her L-1 and wanting to coach.
Watching her evolve and learn as an athlete and a coach has been an honor. And we wanted to hear it from her perspective. Welcome Emma to our coaching staff and our blog:
I started CrossFit in late 2019 when I moved back to the states after living in Italy for 3 years. I had a few friends who did CrossFit in Italy and mentioned it to me but was still working through gym anxiety and trying new things made me nervous. Add going to an Italian gym where the primary language was Italian and hearing all of the rumors about CrossFit and that was enough for me to shy away. The apartment I lived in when I moved to Washington state was a 2-minute drive from CrossFit NXNW. Once I walked through those doors, I never looked back.
After a few short months of consistency, I started seeing results, friendships blossomed, and I finally felt like I was where I belonged in the world of health and fitness. Then COVID shut everything down. I ended up moving to San Diego before CrossFit NXNW fully opened again and before I knew it, it was time for deployment. On the aircraft carrier I was on (USS CARL VINSON) we had fitness classes everyday during deployment called “Vinson Fit” which was CrossFit style workouts but without the affiliation. I attended Vinson Fit almost every single day on deployment and found my CrossFit community where I never imagined I would.
Fast forward to January 2022 when I walked through the doors of CrossFit Chesapeake. CFC quickly became my home and Nick, Whitney and multiple other members quickly became my family. Eventually I decided that I was not going to re-enlist and pursue something different. People I talked to about getting out of the Navy always ask what my plans are when I get out. The dreamer in me always answers, “I don’t know, some day I want to open a CrossFit gym.” After attending the CrossFit level-1 seminar in December 2023, I realized that I have A LOT to learn before I would even consider attempting to open my own gym and a shorter-term goal became to impact people like my CrossFit coaches and CrossFit impacted me.
Nick and Whitney gave me the opportunity to coach at CFC and I have been working through the intern process for the last couple of months. It has been an incredible experience seeing my dreams come from this idea in my head to my daily routine. I have learned so much about CrossFit and so much about coaching. It has made me appreciate what the coaches in this community do every day and has pushed me to become a better person; both as a CrossFit coach and in general. The best thing is that this is just the beginning. My new favorite thing in the world is seeing someone do something they never thought they could. Like getting their first muscle up, or finally stringing together double unders. I still have a lot to learn and am blessed to be part of the amazing CFC coaching staff. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner!
Thank you for your perspective, Emma! We appreciate you!
Have a great week, y’all!
Whitney
