Makenzie Higby

I started my journey working in the fitness and wellness world in the fall of 2016. I was hired into a position as the Director of Operations at a Fit Body Boot Camp franchise location and fell in love immediately. A few weeks later, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and I made the decision to risk it all and move back near home and open my own Fit Body Boot Camp location at 25 years old as a single female with essentially no money, just some lines of credit. My goal was and still is to be able to save as many people as possible from the horrible fate of preventable disease. Not only do so many people end up suffering from a tragic death way too early, most people also don't feel well on a regular day to day basis and it breaks my heart. I know it's not possible to help everyone, but if I can save even one life then I've done what I feel like I am meant to do.

My first location had it's grand opening on September 18th 2017. At Fit Body Boot Camp, we did group HIIT classes for all fitness levels. Plus, added a variety of other types of classes here and there such as Pilates, Yoga, Kickboxing, S&A, etc. I worked my butt off and within the first year grew my location exponentially and was able to hire a staff of incredible coaches to help me grow even more and help save even more lives. In 2019, I was lucky enough to take on a role in the Franchise Advisory Counsel as well and worked directly with the CEO and VP of the franchise, along with a handful of other owners from around the country to help make the franchise better as a whole. I was eventually approved to open a second location and had the ball rolling on that and unfortunately in November 2019, my mom lost get 3 year battle with cancer. I kept on pushing and set the grand opening date of my second location to Mother's Day in honor of her memory and was also in the works to purchase a 3rd location, but unfortunately our entire world was struck by COVID. I pushed and pushed and still followed through with opening my second location during the pandemic but being in Michigan with some of the most strict shut downs and rules, I could not keep my gyms alive. In April of 2021, I had no choice but to walk away and permanently close both locations. 

Since that time, I took about a year and a half off from the fitness world to recharge and reevaluate how I wanted to move forward in life. I have dabbled in a few things and work with my dad on the side, but I knew my true passion will always been in the fitness world and I decided that I am going to pursue an online coaching business that includes custom workouts, nutrition plans, and mental health counseling. I am certified as a Personal Trainer through NASM, as a Nutritionist through Precision Nutrition, and as a Wellness Counselor through Cornell University. I want to create a program that is all encompassing because in order to be truly healthy, you must be physically, mentally and nutritionally well. I haven't launched the new program yet because it's a serious endeavor, but it's been my project over the past few months to get my plans in place. My goal is to be able to help people on a more individualized basis.