Kim is PUSH511's May Member of the Month!
Kim has been a member of PUSH511 for nearly two years and is a fixture in our noon group CrossFit classes as well as Bootcamp classes! She brings a positive energy with her to the gym for every workout she does which is why our team felt she was long overdue for this honor. This is what the PUSH coaches have to say about our May Member of the Month!
Kim always comes in ready to crush the hour. She comes prepared and always comes in early. If a portion of the briefing I may have missed goes untold, Kim will always ask the best questions about the workout. She moves well and always has the best energy and attitude that’ll be felt at any hour that she comes in for. Always coachable. Kim represents the culture and is a perfect example of what it means to be a PUSH511 athlete.
I love coaching Kim and being in class with her. When we have partner/team workouts, her team always seems to have the most fun! She works hard but is so humble - not a common combination! It's always a good day when Kim's around.
Kim just radiates positivity and welcomeness (if thats not a word, make it count)!! She takes the moment out of her Thursday boot camp workout to greet the new Foundations graduates - how lovely and welcoming is that??!! Thanks Kim for being part of PUSH511 - you rock!
Kim brings fun to each class. She is one of those people who really wants to know the intended stimulus for the workout so she knows how to properly attack it. She has her favorite workout spot, right by the entrance door and I think she does that so she can say hello to everyone coming into the gym. Super friendly, welcoming and love working out with her and coaching her.
Kim is so deserving of this MoM! She is so personable and outgoing to both members and coaches. Kim always greets new members and makes them feel welcome, she asks great questions in class and is always prepared with her equipment and of course her very detailed whiteboard! Kim focuses on form while maintaining the stimulus of the workouts, but has been pushing herself lately on pull-ups and other gymnastic elements and adding a little weight to her barbell, which is so awesome to see for a seasoned veteran. It’s been so fun to coach her for the last few years and I absolutely love having her in class!
Now, let's get to know our May Member of the Month!
When did you start CrossFit? 2015 in Illinois (I moved to Baltimore in the fall of 2019).
What's your fitness background? I have been active my whole life - movement keeps me balanced and consistency keeps me moving so I lucked out by naturally falling into a functional fitness lifestyle. Officially, I was a serious softball and baseball player (I was the only female on the varsity male baseball team in high school which was awesome). Aside from baseball, I was a dancer (modern, ballet, jazz, etc) which I carried through my adulthood into college with a bachelor's and post-baccalaureate fellowship in Dance.
After having my son in 2006, I took up running and have been an avid runner ever since and have participated in as many local/Baltimore (and a few in Delaware) running events since moving here!
What's your favorite CrossFit movement? I love bodyweight movements: burpees, rope climbs, wall walks, handstand push-ups, etc., and I definitely have a love/hate relationship with GHDs :) I am determined to master pull-ups and chin-ups this year.
What's your least favorite movement? I would live a very happy life without ever again seeing a power snatch or an Echo Bike. Lol.
What do you do for work? I am (finally) in my final year of a dual, doctorate + superintendency program at UMD (with hopes to be defending my dissertation in mid-2025!!). Outside of school, I am a Director of Special Education/MSEd, and Clinical Social Worker and Supervisor/LCSW-C and a First Responder with Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps as a Social Worker.
Relocating from Illinois in late 2019 (worst timing ever), I specialized in restructuring large school districts and conducted state-wide training on the impending shift to ESSA funding formulas.
(in my spare time lol) I designed and taught a core curriculum course for the Educational Studies program at Knox College and was an adjunct professor for four years prior to moving which I loved.
The achievement I am most deeply humbled by, and appreciative for, on a daily basis - more than all of the degrees/credentials/professional climbs - is the journey of raising my son, Jack, who will be 18 years old this July. Everything pales in comparison to the human he has grown into.
Following my doctorate and superintendency, I fully aspire to be Madam Secretary of Education.
Tell us a little about yourself and your family. I am a very loud bundle of authentic Italian + South Side Chicago. I live for the 1-2 times each year that I can be with them. Family is a verb. Food is my love language. I am fiercely loyal. I have a love affair with books and read in bed every single night. I am curious and constantly want to learn and know more - I am a huge dork. I live for Sundays/ my one day of ‘no work/no screens’ and indulge in reading the paper and having a brunch cocktail at a local pub and being outside as much as possible. My spicy side balances my serious side and will always say yes to skydiving, impromptu road trips, and if I had all of the money, I would travel endlessly.
How has CrossFit affected your life outside of the gym? Oh my gosh. Oh so much in all of the best ways. CrossFit is a family of the best kind… one that is mutually beneficial and rewarding - challenging, yet accountable. I feel proud to be a member of the CrossFit family. Whenever/wherever I travel, I drop into whatever local CrossFit is near and it is a guaranteed welcome and acceptance.
The level of scalability that is at the heart of CrossFit has also helped soften my outlook and expectations of others. There is something very authentic and tangible about the way CrossFit truly adapts to ANY person’s goals/ability/etc. Through CrossFit, you are continually encouraged and supported to live your best life, through functional fitness, in a way that is tailored to your specific performance goals.
What do you enjoy most about PUSH511? Literally everything. I moved to Baltimore right before the pandemic and have absolutely zero family or friends outside of flying somewhere. I bounced around to a few boxes before someone told me about PUSH and nearly 2 years ago, I dropped in and never left. ???? PUSH is the most encouraging, respectful space that I’ve ever known. They are full-on, all-encompassing, wrap-around support and community and heart, which extends fully outside of the box. The work they do with adaptive athletes, youth, and traditional gym-focused members, is beyond parallel. Beyond the box, PUSH provides nutritional education and coaching, access to mobility workshops and therapy with occupational and physical therapists, and weekly yoga and bootcamp classes. I truly believe that any individual’s quality of life would be improved by being a member of PUSH.
What tips would you offer to someone who is just getting started with working out? You and your goal are your only metric for measurement of progress - do NOT compare yourself to ANYONE else. Ever. You are working for the best, most healthiest version of *you* not anyone else.
Breathe, Pace, and Scale.
I’m pulling from years of formal dance training when I say that the most salient advice I can give anyone for working out is to pay attention to your own body - it will tell you all you need to know - when to rest, when to hydrate, when to stretch, when to stop, when to go, when to push harder, etc… and that will vary from day to day. Be kind to yourself. Curb your discipline with grace.
Regardless of your fitness motive (cardio, muscle, dietary, adaptive, meditative, functional, etc… [everyone walks in the door with their own individual reason for showing up that day]), but nevertheless…
Change takes TIME. We are inundated with insta-everything.
Fitness is not instant. It never will be. There is no magic pill.
Be PATIENT (and, again, kind) to yourself/with yourself.
Find some way to be accountable. Improvement is exponentially more successful with accountability. Hold yourself accountable to your goals (or, if you suck at this like I do and most others, then find an accountability partner to help stay the course).
What's your favorite song to work out to? Battle Sirens Tom Morello.
What's your favorite restaurant? La Scala.
Who's your hero (real or fictional)? Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
What does your frequently used emoji tab look like? 
Words to live by or favorite quote? "The only way out is through." (Robert Frost) and "Perfect is boring." (my grandmother)
Where's your favorite travel spot? Literally anywhere near water with minimal noise/sound/light pollution.
If you could win an Olympic gold medal for any sport (real or fake) what would it be? Burpees.
What's your hidden talent? I have a very weird/odd ‘visual photographic memory’ and an infuriatingly, overly keen sense of smell. (both hidden talents could definitely be seen as not talents).
What are your top five favorite movies?
- Top Gun
- The Princess Bride
- Boondock Saints
- Avatar
- Jurassic Park
