How did you get interested in bodybuilding/working out?

Fitness was a natural transition for me after many years of being a competitive athlete. I played Volleyball, Basketball and Tennis in High-school and went to College on a Tennis Scholarship. I always loved working out in the gym to improve my athletic abilities. Once I put down the tennis rackets I spent more time in the gym and started taking up some gymnastics training. People started to see me training so hard in the gym and began to suggest I should compete. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun so I decided to compete in my first fitness show. Many competitions and injuries later, I switched to the Figure Category where I received my Pro Card in August 2003.

What was your first show like, any interesting experiences?

My very first show was Ms. Fitness Sacramento 2000. It was a very interesting experience. The girls were very nice but the show was really unorganized which made me even more nervous. During my routine round I had a costume mishap. My elastic top began to slide down below my chest area while I was doing one arm push-ups! I thought I was going to die of embarrassment. I managed to pull it up between movements and continued on. I then proceeded to tear my hamstring performing a toe touch!! It hurt like hell but I ignored it and went on. All in all I must not have done to bad because I wound up winning the show, much to my surprise!!

What are your future goals in this industry?

My future goals in this industry are many. I hope to continue to compete and establish my name in the IFBB PRO FIGURE area over the next few years. The Olympia/Arnold of course are my competition goals. I
also hope to expand my web-site into the areas of training/contest-prep as well as my own fitness clothing line. I would like to begin writing more articles for the various fitness magazines related to my Physical Therapy and Fitness background and eventually have my own column. Lastly, I am working on publishing my nutrition/training book over the next year or so.

What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?

In ten years I probably will be retired from competing and just working from the business and modeling end of things. Hopefully I will be well into many of the above goals. I am sure that I will also still be practicing as a Doctor of Physical Therapy at least part-time. I hope by then I will be settled down with a family. I love Kids!! I also love warm weather so I will likely still be in Southern California. If a natural disaster hasn't washed us away ! Yikes...

Please tell us something special about you that most people wouldn't know?

Something most people do not know about me is that I would like to have kids but I would also like to adopt at least a couple of children possibly from Thailand of Cambodia. I am very interested in helping to put a stop to the child trafficking and prostitution that goes on there.

Any additional notes? People you would like to thank?

First I would like to Thank my wonderful family. I am so close to them and could never get by without their support. I also thank all my great fans for their words of encouragement which never go unnoticed.
Thank you to Michael Cruthird of Personally Fit and Charles Glass for their continued belief in my competitive potential!! Thank you to the great photographers I have worked with whose work will be seen on the site. Thank you to my great friends in the industry.. Windy Haddad, Nichole Guenther, Sandra DelVechio, Karen Branden, Kim Higley and Alexander Denk. Thank you to Dennis in Florida for convincing me to do my first show! and Thank you to my amazing friend/web-master Juan Carlos Lopez.