Maria Williamson

I love what I do! Teaching Zumba, mat Pialtes and Piloxing keeps this mother of 3 and restaurant owner on her toes. The balance that exercise brings into my life is necessary. Teaching classes keeps me moitvated and committed! I love the energy in a group fitness class and the connections people make. Being there for my participants means the world to me and I love to share my time and knowledge with them. I have participated in group fitness classes for about 15 years and made the decision to pursue becoming an instructor about 10 years ago. I dedicated the first years of my children's lives to being there for them. For about 12 years I was a full time mom and worked about 10-15 hours a week out of the house. As the children grew older, I was able to focus my energies on pursuing a fitness career. I attended my first Zumba class and knew after that first hour of Zumba I would become an instructor. I began to research my options and decided that becoming a Group Fitness Instructor, as well as a Zumba instructor, would open up more oppurtunities for me. I choose AFAA for my certification and began to study and take as many classes as I could. Within a year, I took the Group Fitness exam and became certified and the next weekend recieved my Zumba certification. I was thrilled! I started teaching classes at my local YMCA in less than a month. I also taught in a dance studio and built classes by advertising and word of mouth. Throughout the years, I have taken AFAA specialization workshops in Pilates and yoga, Zumba Basics 2, and am now certified in Piloxing. We moved from the area I started my fitness career in and I started to build clientle from the ground up, as there is not a fitness club on the island I live on. I now teach in a studio space that I rent by the hour, 6 days a week and have a loyal clientle base that is constantly growning. I am looking forward to taking a few workshops during our "off" season at the restaurant and maybe getting another certification, too. I now work full time in the restaurant my husband and I own together and teach my classes 6 days a week, while homeschooling our kids! Inspiring people to stay active and to eat as healthy and clean as possible is my mission! I work a lot and love every minute because I am truly living my dream.