Contributors

With a curiosity for adventure and an eagerness to learn, Alyssa’s dreams have led her all over the country, touring nationally as well as internationally and playing drums for various rock bands over the last decade. Maintaining the willingness to continue the adventure and step into new territory, yoga found her, and she went on to become a teacher. It was the beginning of a change in ways unpredicted, leading her to discover worlds of philosophy and Buddhism, questioning the systems, going to therapy, and wondering what the hell was going on with pelvic health, not just physically but also on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level.
Alyssa calls Oklahoma home and began bodywork training in 2020, as well as doula training.

Amanda McKinney is a Marketing Coach with a passion for empowering yoga teachers to earn more money doing what they love. She does this through her podcast, “Marketing Yoga With Confidence and Online Offerings.” All of these focus on building confidence and community, with an extra dose of encouragement every step of the way.
Before working with yoga teachers, Amanda graduated from the University of Florida with her Masters in Marketing and then spent almost 10 years in international corporations, where she gained experience that now lends itself well to helping yoga teachers grow their businesses.

Amanda Sterczyk is an international author and personal trainer based in Ottawa, Canada. In 2016, she founded The Move More Institute™, an initiative to promote healthy, active living and teach individuals how to sneak exercise into their daily lives. Her slogan is “Move more, feel better.”

Andie M. Vasquez is a bit of a hodgepodge of a human. She has two small children (4 and 2) with whom she’s desperately in love, and she is a big proponent of positive parenting, which goes hand in hand with the Montessori methods she implements in her home. She is also in a biracial marriage, which means I sometimes discuss uncomfortable topics most people want to pretend don’t exist. But she also believes nothing will ever be changed if we don’t bring prickly subjects up. She’s both worked and stayed at home, and each carries its own challenges. Supporting women where they are in life is vital to her. She’s needed it, and now it’s her turn to deliver it to others. Her mother is a seamstress, so she has been crafting from a very young age and still meddles in it. She was also trained as an aircraft mechanic and loved it. She is capable of both making you a dress and changing your brakes. Her grandmother was a vocalist and a teacher and insisted she learn music. She is also a classically trained pianist, but due to what she just brushed off as stage fright, she never became the concert pianist she wanted to be. It wasn’t stage fright, however, that prevented her; it was anxiety that she deals with on a day-to-day basis. Recognizing and understanding it has finally allowed her to live fully without inhibiting her as much. She also struggled with depression in the past. Removing the stigma around mental health and giving people information is a large goal of hers. Because she didn’t know about it and didn’t even know what anxiety was, she lost many opportunities because she didn’t understand her own mind. Growing up in fundamentalist Christianity gave her a specific view of the world. Even though she’s left it, she still finds religion fascinating and maybe needs to delve into beliefs and structures to dig to their roots and discern their truth or falsity.

Audrey Wint is a student at OSU-Tulsa studying Health Education & Promotion and working on pursuing her dream of becoming an Occupational Therapist. Audrey completed a yoga teacher training through ViraVinyasa Yoga School in 2018 to expand her knowledge of the mind-body connection. She is also an advocate for mental health and body positivity and hopes to encourage and support other women fulfilling their life’s work. If you need a hype girl, she’s here to boost you up! – Audrey is a Texas native but has been living in Tulsa with her husband since 2016. When she’s not studying or working, you can catch her exploring her local community with people she loves, spending time with her husband and their dog Wall-E, at a coffee shop, or volunteering at The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges.

Beth Jones is a Certified Athletic Trainer, Licensed Massage Therapist, Restorative Exercise Specialist, and Women’s Health Coach who has been working in the field of sports medicine and women’s health for over 20 years. She owns She Moves Athletic Wellness (www.shemovesathleticwellness or @shemovesllc) and became committed to practicing as a Women’s Health Athletic Trainer in 2013 after experiencing a pelvic organ prolapse after the birth of her second child. She realized that the recommendations for rehabilitation of these conditions, especially for female athletes, were lacking. Beth used her education in sports medicine and combined it with her training as a doula, midwife assistant, and breastfeeding counselor to revolutionize the women’s health community by normalizing common postpartum conditions, such as diastasis recti and incontinence, and showing women of all ages the path back to their joy of athletic participation. In addition to her experience as an athletic trainer, Beth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Theory and a Master’s degree in Education. She is thrilled to finally have found a way to combine all of her interests to address women’s health in a holistic manner and educate others about the specific concerns of female athletes. Beth lives in Littleton, Colorado, with her husband and two young children. She enjoys hiking, cooking and reading, as well as competing in weightlifting, rowing, and Taekwondo.

Hi! I’m Isabela, and I am a licensed and certified athletic trainer in Florida. I live in St. Augustine, where I work as an AT in an outpatient orthopedic clinic and at a local high school, working with their sports teams for injury evaluation, prevention, rehabilitation, and treatment. I am passionate about incorporating mindfulness, personal strength and self-empowerment into my AT practice. My goal is to bring awareness to mental health issues in athletes and drive away the negative stigma the mental health name holds. I believe that expressing vulnerability and compassion will help one connect and grow with others and ourselves. In my spare time, I love to cook, travel, see live shows and concerts, and do anything that involves physical activity. I am so excited to share my story and start this incredible journey with all of you!

Jackie Badger is an education professional who has been teaching in some capacity since her high school years. Currently employed by her local school district’s Community Education Program, Jackie teaches Essentrics and Whole 30 classes. With a Master’s degree in Education, she has a passion for all things health, fitness, and life long learning. Jackie is excited to collaborate and contribute to Positively Balanced’s new platform! She resides in Minnesota and enjoys hanging out with her family, cooking, and travel. You can learn more about Jackie at her website: jackiebadger.com.

Jayme Taylor is a Nurse Practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare. She graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, is board-certified in family practice and lifestyle medicine, and is a board-certified specialist in obesity and weight management. Throughout her career, she has seen how unhealthy lifestyles can contribute to disease and how difficult treatment of these diseases are without lifestyle modifications. She has a passion for conventional medicine but also believes that food, exercise, stress and weight management are medicines too and loves incorporating these into her practice. She is the owner and provider at Rx Health & Wellness in Owasso, Oklahoma and a family practice provider at the St. John Clinic in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

My name is Jessica Wilkerson, and I own Luxe Fitness Studio, located in the heart of Owasso, Oklahoma. We are a women’s only group fitness facility, offering a variety of classes to suit every fitness level and need. Luxe exists to create strong, empowered women who are confident and continually working to be the best version of themselves! Our instructors encourage these ladies daily to keep up the hard work and to stay focused on the goal in front of them. I personally found my passion with fitness in 2005 after moving to Oklahoma from Colorado. I played sports through high school but didn’t really have a love for it. When I found yoga and discovered what my body was capable of, the fire ignited. Introducing weight lifting into my week in addition to yoga helped me lose the extra 50 pounds I gained after graduating high school. In addition to exercise, I also began learning about Nutrition and how different foods affected my body. I was able to heal my gut issues and became fascinated by how my body responded to the changes I had made. In 2017, I completed my nutrition certification with Precision Nutrition and started helping other women with their diets as well. Today I am mostly at home with our new addition, a little boy we welcomed in November, and taking care of our home and family. However, in 2020, I plan to be back to teaching some classes at the studio, coaching women in their health goals, and growing our business to the fruitful life giving place I know that it is!

Julie Loder is a certified ESSENTRICS® instructor and a lifelong student of movement, who made a dramatic career change to follow her heart and share her passion for all aspects of health and wellness. She has worked in the criminal justice system, previously directed an international non-profit organization, advocated for family-friendly early childhood education policy, taught high school, and served as an ombudsman.  Now she has found what she feels is her highest purpose: helping people become more in tune with —  learn to listen to, respect, love, appreciate, and enjoy living and playing in — their own bodies, something she believes is the cornerstone of all dimensions of wellness.  Julie is happiest when she’s hiking with her dogs or social dancing. 

Kate Jacobs serves as the Marketing Director for the Tulsa Youth Symphony, a nonprofit organization that provides orchestral training for young musicians in Northeast Oklahoma. Jacobs is also a company member with Tulsa Modern Movement, a modern dance company based in Tulsa. She also performs in local musicals and is a visionary for a new nonprofit organization, Erase the Stigma, a dance platform with a mission to bring artists together to erase the stigma of mental illness. One of her greatest passions lies in the performing arts. Jacobs is an active foster/rescuer when she is not spending time with her husband, dog, and four cats. Jacobs is excited to be a contributor in women’s health through Positively Balanced.

Keli Kirwin is a women’s health advocate and artist. Her love affair with birth and pregnancy began in college, when she showcased the history of western birth since the 1400s with her capstone artwork. Keli is a fierce supporter and defender of women’s right to fully informed consent, with particular passion in pregnancy and birth.

Lisa Mildon is a professional and coffee-fueled writer and editor for several online publications. Inspired by her stepmother, Lisa discovered natural health at the ripe old age of 15, hungrily absorbing any knowledge about herbs, vitamins, and nutrition and how to apply it to her own health. When not being the caffeinated wordsmith, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and camping, and various arts & crafts.

My name is Mary Holtrop and I am in my mid 60’s. I have been active and exercised my entire life. When I was young, my siblings and I were always active, running, playing, and riding bikes everywhere. When I got to my teens, I started playing organized sports such as field hockey, basketball and volleyball. I played basketball and volleyball for my high school and college teams. During college I started running and I loved it. But by the time I was 30, I had had my first set of knee surgeries. I married and had 3 children, all of whom played organized sports from the time they entered kindergarten. Keeping my family active was important to me. All three of my kids played college-level sports, and two now run marathons. Meanwhile, I walked, biked and did exercise videos all the way up to this day. I exercise daily, mostly walking, biking, yoga and classical stretch/essentrics. I strongly believe that exercise is good for your mind and your body. I work as a business manager for a public library. I have worked in libraries for 17 years, all in an administrative capacity. I live in a small town about 70 miles west of Chicago and I am happy there are bike trails close by for me to explore.

I’m a private yoga teacher for yoga beginners and those recovering from injuries I started teaching power vinyasa in 2014 and have since taken a deep dive into yoga therapeutics, mobility, and instinctual meditation practices. My mission is to help my clients feel balanced, joyful, and strong in their practice. I’m a total nerd and like to put the “fun” in “functional”. I will geek out (with you) as you learn about your movement patterns and gather your favorite meditation practices. When I’m not teaching, I’m likely to be working out, in class at Oklahoma State University, or cooking one of my three favorite meals with my fiancé. 

Hello! I am Melanie VanBeber, a licensed esthetician, massage therapist, ACSM-certified trainer, and Barre instructor. I own Serendipity Spa in Owasso and I am currently working on opening a second location in 2020. I have over 21 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. My passion is helping women become the best versions of themselves through fitness, mindfulness, touch therapy, and beauty. My intention has always been to offer an experience that goes beyond relaxation and beauty, but rather designed to offer true healing and to provide health benefits that sustain body, mind, beauty, and spirit in ones everyday journey. It is a privilege and honor to serve women for a living.

Rachel is a wife of a soldier and mom of two beautiful kiddos, Lucas and Audrey. As a former collegiate athlete and athletic trainer, she is passionate about women’s athleticism, both prenatal and postnatal. 

Photographer (my first love). Small business and Brand advisor and remote assistant. Always seeking to be a student of something (life usually). Unapologetic boy mom. Active duty military spouse. Functional fitness, mental health and personal safety advocate. Equal opportunity coffee scrounger. Kitchen scientist, education addict, and modern home maker. Introvert with a friend complex. On a life mission to utilize all the things that make up who we are as women (our attempts, failures, successes and various callings) and use them against the “just a mom” myth while strengthening our motherhood with the same. (My kids deserve to see me do things that aren’t just “being mom” and use those skills, passions and knowledge in our family life as well as in the world. Knowing mom is human won’t kill anyone—not my kids, not my peers, pinky swear .) Through amateur writing, genuine conversation, and my own brand of humor and grounding in the chaos, my goal is to help put ideas in perspective, bust through scare tactics, and bolster others by showing them that other moms are normal too and there is no “one way” to life.

If you like learning, improving your health, and moving your body, keep reading! We are about to embark on an expedition that is all about you. Whether you are just starting your journey of self-discovery or have been traveling for years, I hope to join you in embracing your personal growth in all aspects of our lives. I am a certified athletic trainer at a high school in northwest Indiana. I wear khakis and polos for a living, but on the best days, I wear SWEATS. So pull out your comfiest clothes and grab a glass of your favorite beverage, WATER. Ready, set, commence exploration!