SLAM Leavenworth to SLAMBOSS!

S.L.A.M.er of the Month-June

Our Leavenworth S.L.A.M.er of the month is the amazing Jen Mains! Jen has been an active part of SLAM Leavenworth since our opening day! Jen has been amazing everyone since day one with her athletic ability even at 9 months preggo! She S.L.A.M.’ed throughout her pregnancy and came quickly back to class as soon as she was released to workout after the birth of her fifth child. Jen has the most welcoming and kind personality that helps everyone at Stroller Strong feel welcomed and comfortable. She goes out of her way to make sure any new SLAM mom feels right at home. She always has a kind word of encouragement or a smile that helps everyone feel excited and happy to be in her presence. Jen is super athletic and always pushes herself in class to be the best she can be all while cheering on everyone else. She is a true friend to everyone that she meets, an athletic beast, a motivator and is so much fun to be around! Jen fell in LOVE with Stroller Strong Moms and has decided that she just can’t live without it! She is currently in the process of moving to Fort Bragg and has decided to open a branch in the Samford/Cameron area in August. After getting her ACE Group Fitness Certification, Jen has been teaching SLAM Leavenworth classes. She is an incredible teacher! With awesome butt-kicking workouts that are fun for moms and kiddos! She is the total package! How many Army Veteran, teachers with five kids do you know? This mama can handle it all with such grace and ease. She will be such a blessing to her new SLAMfam and to her new community. We are so proud of her and everything that she has given to our group this year.  It would have never been the same without her. She has so much to bring to her new community and will continue to motivate, inspire and shape many lives.  We can’t wait to see what great things are in store for this mama! See below for a little more about Jenn.

I have always been an active person. Growing up, my parents made sure that outdoor activities and sports were a part of my life. High school was full of softball and cheerleading, as well as many other extracurricular activities. In college I joined the military and spent 14 years in the Army National Guard. At that point, fitness became a necessity added to my joy of exercising. As life happens, so does “busy-ness”. Between teaching, my husband’s and my own military responsibilities, working towards masters degree s, growing and raising our family from two to seven, PCSing, among many other lingering excuses, my fitness took a back seat. As running and exercise were my stress relievers and time was limited, it became difficult to feel like I was effectively being a wife, mom, educator, friend, and much less just “me”. And then…we PCSd to Fort Leavenworth. For the year, I planned to be a SAHM and with it came the opportunity to take the reigns on life and all the opportunities that it had to offer. One of those opportunities just so happened to be SLAM Leavenworth and with it, one of the best experiences the year could offer! I reached out to Meghan Argo to find out if pregnant mamas could join and if children of all ages were welcome and she responded with an ecstatic YES!! Her energy and excitement with bringing Stroller Strong Moms to Fort Leavenworth was so contagious that I had to find out what it was all about. In these far-too-short and too few months, SLAM has brought so many priceless things to my life: I have found a workout group that has reignited my passion for prioritizing my fitness by testing my abilities and challenging me with new, varied, and intense workouts every day. (Bonus: I can share and model this passion with my stroller babes!) Through these workouts and other SLAM functions, I have found friendships that will last the test of time and distance. I have found a group of women that lift each other higher through their words, their encouragement, and simply their presence (during workouts, middle of the night baby feedings, weekend/weekday hangouts, Meriweathers dates, etc.) SLAM and these women have helped me find “me” again which is powerful in itself. I am beyond thankful that Meghan brought SSM to Leavenworth and that I took that leap and became a SLAM Leavenworth OG! #lifechanging

Although I’ll be moving on from SLAM Leavenworth, I am excited to take my experiences to use as a base for building another family of SLAM mamas! SLAM Sanford is coming soon!!