Deciding to compete last year, I looked up many organizations, but SAF was the one that instantly stood out. The girls I saw on their posters and in the photos on SeriousAboutFitness.com looked like beautiful, sexy, healthy, strong women. That is what I wanted to represent.

SAF has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years. One of the main reasons for this is its unique judging criteria – they look for healthy, athletic, in-shape, attractive competitors who inspire other women to get into shape. This is what caught my attention when I was choosing the federations I’d compete with in the summer of 2007. SAF was the beginning of my competitive bikini career; before that I had only competed in the figure category because I had not heard of the bikini and fitness-model categories. It was a new addition to women’s physique competitions at that time, and from there it became very popular and is now hosted by almost all federations.

It’s been almost two years since I hit the SAF stage and I have to say that I am thrilled to be returning this year. After taking a little hiatus to have my fourth child, I am ready to rock the stage at the 2012 SAF Summer Spectacular in Ottawa.

SAF events hold a very special spot in my heart – the 2010 SAF Summer Spectacular was my first competition and, being a rookie, I was a little uncertain and didn’t know what to expect. Like everyone else, I had heard the stories about all the backstage politics. SAF, however, was different. I was pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed by how sweet and helpful the other competitors were. I also made some friendships that still remain today – and I have SAF to thank for that. The show itself was very well organized and, by the time all was said and done, I was very sad to see it end.

As a driven and active person, I have two great passions in life: my career as a hairstylist and makeup artist, and fitness. I've always been active, and whether it was earning belts in Jiu Jitsu martial arts or winning awards within my profession, I love to compete and am continually challenging myself to be better.

For me personally, I find that success in health begins at the start of my day with eating a good, healthy breakfast and keeping the rest of my meals lean and protein based. Before hitting the gym, I always plan out and visualize my training session. I like to start off with a 15-minute cardio warm-up, follow it with a little bit of stretching, and then go into my strength regime. I focus on specific body parts for the day by doing a variety of exercises. I really love to end it all off with my favourite muscle group to work out: abs.