We had the good fortune of connecting with Mariah Walker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mariah, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’m from Beaumont, Texas – it’s a small town outside of Houston, Texas. I played sports and danced all growing up and when I was in high school I tore my ACL playing volleyball. From there I was a very injured athlete but always stayed very active and rehabbing which is why I went the route I did with personal training and fitness instructor as my career. I love having people do very outside of the box workouts, normal workouts, and injury prevention and rehab sort of exercises. My past as an athlete, dancer, and dealing with injuries has influenced me to be very versatile as a trainer and to really make a difference in people’s lives and I love it!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a personal trainer and have been for almost 7 years. I train about 15 people a day (30 minutes each) about 5 days and week and some Saturday’s. I also teach Barre classes, water aerobics classes, and I am an avid yogi and I’m working on my 200 hour teacher certification as we speak! Even though I wake up at 4am everyday and work on and off until almost 7pm daily I couldn’t ask for a better “job”! It’s exciting to get to help people reach their goals, achieve new moves or get better at a certain exercise! Their self esteem builds and that’s what is most rewarding! I received my bachelor’s in Exercise Science and fitness management with a minor in Kinesiology teaching in 2014 along with my personal training certification through American College of Sports medicine. I currently work at Exygon health and fitness in Beaumont, Texas. It was not easy to get all of those things, it was definitely a challenge but what made it easy was that it’s something I was highly interested in and that pushed me to get all of the right certifications! All the while getting certified I also lost close to 80 pounds right before graduation, so it was definitely a challenging year but most rewarding right now! I have learned that no matter how hard things get or how scattered and crazy and overwhelming things can be, if you really want it you will continue to go for it no matter what! I had many sleepless nights (and sometimes still do) I can get overwhelmed with scheduling, my teaching jobs, new things I want to learn, modeling, and many other things BUT I tell everyone to just take a deep breath and take things slowly. Be kind to yourself and take it day by day. I want people to know that I am not only obsessed with my “jobs” but I relate with people on many levels, I have arthritis, asthma, have had 3 knee surgeries, and lost weight. I love being able to say “I know how it feels” and actually mean it- I relate with so many people and it makes me have a way better understanding of how they feel and that helps me to handle their emotions and feelings properly when it comes to their bodies, goals, and fitness journeys!

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
If my best friend was coming to town I would take her to this new spot called 5 under that we have in town. It has great food, virtual games, and top golf! There’s also this really cool spot called cattail marsh and it’s this swampy area with docks you can walk out on and look at gators and a huge trail around it where you can walk and just enjoy the fresh air. Speaking of gators, we would also check out this place called gator country that is about 20 minutes away. At this place you can look at all kinds of reptiles and hold baby alligators and take pictures with them and I’ve never been but it looks crazy cool! Oh and I couldn’t forget to take them to the mall to shop at my favorite stores like earth bound and second and Charles and of course make the most important stop at great American cookie company!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shout out to my sisters Kris Cain, Erikka Walker, Summer Walker, and Kourtney Roberts. They have my back through any and everything I do and give me so much love and respect for my work. They are so supportive but will always tell me when I’m messing up! I love them!

Instagram: @mariahwalkerr
Facebook: Mariah Sexton
Other: www.amazon.com/shop/mariahwalkerr