I was never the one anyone wanted on their team in gym class growing up.  However, my mother enrolled me in tap dancing when we lived in Houston and I took tap for 12 years and occasionally as an adult. I have also taken belly dancing and folk dancing. I have always felt a passion for dancing.

I started running when I was 25 and found it to be a great stress reliever.  Being very goal oriented I became rather obsessed with the notion of running a marathon.  I ran my first marathon (San Francisco) when I was 35.  I worked for American Airlines/Sabre for 13 years and had the wonderful opportunity of running as a middle-of-the-packer at races all over the country.  However, my last marathon, in 1996, resulted in foot injuries such that surgery would have been required to continue running.  I had reached an age where it seemed like I was spending more time injured than running, so I hung up my running shoes.

After I stopped running, I tried every type of low impact aerobics that came along.  In June of 2006, ten years later and ten pounds heavier, I was at the YMCA when I heard some wonderful music coming from the aerobic room.  The class had just begun, so I took what I later learned was the first Zumba class at the YMCA in Tulsa.  I loved everything about Zumba.  It was the first exercise that I had found since running that met my aerobic needs without exacerbating my injuries.  And I felt like a dancer again.  Soon, I was going all over town looking for Zumba classes.  I decided that since I ran my first marathon at 35, it would be fun to get certified as a Zumba instructor the week of my 55^th birthday.  I had not planned to teach, but on a whim asked the YMCA located across the street from my office if they would like a Zumba instructor.  I taught my first class on January 8, 2007.

I have found that I love teaching Zumba even more than I love taking Zumba.  I am so grateful for the opportunity Zumba (and the YMCA) are giving me to regain fitness, make new friends and have an amazingly good time.  One of my students referred to my classes as the “Dance Party,” which thrilled me, as that is exactly what Zumba strives to be; an aerobic class that feels like a party.

My current goal is to still be teaching and sharing the joy of Zumba when I’m 75!!