When Emily Bridgers started CrossFit, she never expected her new fitness method would turn into a full-time job with a sea of people that look up to her.

At one point in her life, Emily was balancing competitive gymnastics and considering continuing school for physical therapy. However, once she began training as a CrossFit athlete, that took precedent and any decisions about how she would spend her future fell into place.

After eight years of CrossFit training and mindful eating practices, Emily reflects on her previous relationship with weight gain and nutrition. She remembers how as an 8th grader entering high school, her biggest fear was weighing anywhere in the triple digits. She remembers the stresses of weigh-ins in college and how different her outlook would have been had she had the nutritional guidance WAG provides in her adult life.

As she was looking to other athletes growing up, it hadn’t occurred to her that one day she would be that athlete to someone else. Now, as a mentor to a 10-year-old girl, Jensen, Emily hopes to instill a different mindset in her trainee. After her final appearance at the CrossFit Games in August, she plans to use the gift of athletics to continue helping others in becoming confident, successful athletes.