I am so excited to be going to my very first BlogFest this summer, and the organizers have put together this neat program where they pair up newbies with buddies who have attended the conference before. Today, I want to introduce you to my buddies, Tasha and Kylie!

All About Tasha

 

Tasha is the brains behind Hip Healthy Chick and is a seriously inspirational lady. Really, go check out her blog. Here are her answers to the BlogFest Buddy Survey:

1. Who are you? Tell us in a brief paragraph who you are / what city you live in / what you blog about? I am a full time personal trainer, fitness/yoga instructor, living in Madison, Alabama. I am married with two children (age 11 and 17). I pretty much lead a crazy life. 🙂 I blog more about mind things because I believe nobody wants to read about my day to day activities in detail and everybody talks about exercises. Who’s talking about how to change our mindset so we can stop being depressed and pick up a weight to begin with? That would be me. 🙂

2. What was your favorite part about BlogFest last year? My favorite part was putting names with faces and hanging out with people I had connected with online. I also enjoyed the up close and personal time with Jillian Michaels and us deciding as a group to do the Ice Bucket challenge after hearing Augie’s story.

3. What’s your ultimate workout must-have? Hands down, GREAT music!

4. If money was no object, where would you travel for vacation and what would you do there? I’d go to the Dominican Republic, sleep, walk the beach, read and dance bachata all night!!

5. What is your spirit animal? A black panther

6. And what makes you blog? And why fitness? Wanting to put into the atmosphere what I felt like I was missing when I first started on many journeys. Fitness is a ministry for me, what I do, day in and day out so to talk about how I feel about it, my observation and things like that, it seemed like a natural transition….and it has been but sometimes, I just want to talk about my kids. 🙂

Follow Tasha on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

All About Kylie

Kylie lives on the Internet at KylieBurnside.com, among various social media channels. She offers Internet-based personal training as well as nutrition coaching. Here’s what Kylie had to say in response to the buddy questions:

1. Who are you? Tell us in a brief paragraph who you are / what city you live in / what you blog about? I’m an upstate New York turned California girl, living in the beautiful city of San Diego. While I went to Ithaca College for communications and started out my career on that path, working at Disneyland and then a PR agency, after attending IDEA World/Blog Fest last year, I decided to take the leap out of the corporate world to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams in the fitness and writing world.

I’m an online personal trainer and fitness nutrition coach and love blogging/writing about a variety of healthy living topics. While talking about the physical parts of fitness and healthy living is important, I tend to be drawn to more of the mental/emotional topics that occur when on a fitness journey for women. I’m currently engaged and about to be married at a weekend adventure-themed wedding cross country in the backwoods of Virginia in six weeks! My fiance and I have two dogs who we’re completely obsessed with and we’re road tripping to and from Virginia just so they can join us (ha – yes, we are THOSE people)! 🙂

2. What was your favorite part about BlogFest last year? I’m a big conference nerd and truly loved the content that was pulled together for the session. From kicking everything off with the Lorna Jane crew to hearing Jillian Michaels and Cassie Ho speak to learning more of the nitty gritty law and money information in other sessions, it was all amazing. However, content aside, my favorite part was having our own little small troop within the IDEA WORLD Convention to connect to. Whenever we were in our BlogFest room, it felt safe and like you were with other women (and a few men!) who are very like-minded. This type of conference appeals to certain people and it was so wonderful to meet so many friendly people wanting to bring value to others, too!

3. What’s your ultimate workout must-have? Initially, I wanted to say WEIGHTS (e.g., dumbbells or kettle bells) as that’s been the basis of my fitness transformation over the past two years or so. However, to keep it interesting, I’ll say (aqualogix equipment https://www.aqualogixfitness.com/) as the pool has become my new playground in recent weeks. For years, I feared the pool and never went in. However, a trainer encouraged me to use the aqualogix equipment and it’s so much fun and a great workout!! It’s been much easier on my body than running is for me personally.

4. If money was no object, where would you travel for vacation and what would you do there? I would buy a boat and travel throughout the world and make every day a vacation – working on the go! 😉

5. What is your spirit animal? I feel a special connection to the Hummingbird. I have a tattoo of a small hummingbird on my side and now anytime I see one it reminds me of my grandfather who passed away from cancer in Oct. 2013 and we were very close.

Ever since seeing this meaning on a Papayra card, I’ve loved the meaning of Hummingbirds. We are even having a hummingbird pistachio cake at our wedding now! 🙂 CANT WAIT TO DIVE INTO IT!!

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Hummingbirds open our eyes to the wonder of the world and inspire us to open our hearts to loved ones and friends. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and to savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.

Maybe I’m not so much like a Hummingbird but it’s a great aspiration to have based on this meaning. 🙂

6. And what makes you blog? And why fitness? Blogging is something I always was attracted to for many years before actually starting my blog at LittleMsFitness.com – Finally one day my friend told me just start it. I often get caught up in the topic and thinking I need to stick to ONE thing as we’re often told niche down. It was after I stopped over thinking it that it happened. Last November/December I transitioned my blog over to KylieBurnside.com – After attending BlogFest, this was something I started thinking about more and decided to take the plunge.

As for fitness, there’s quite a bit of back story to how I discovered my passion. It was really just “under my nose” the entire time. Welcome you to read my Bodybuilding.com article to find out more if interested: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-transformation-kylie-burnside-took-blow-torch-to-body-fat.html

Follow Kylie on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

Are you going to BlogFest?
I know Jen is because we’re rooming together!
Have you ever been to a blogging conference?
Have you met any blogging friends in person?
I kinda sorta met Erin last night at a WCBC event. 🙂