Tara Hampton Bio:

I would like to share with you some significant parts of my life that remain strong parts of me today.

I was born in Battle Creek, MI and have lived in Tekonsha, MI since. It's very small town of which I graduated with 24 students! I have 3 younger brothers, 2 step brothers and a step sister.

Significant growth and family time: Growing up my mother has devoted her life to giving her best to us kids. I was inspired greatly by her efforts to abruptly take over as a single mother, watching her work hard to finish her degree, becoming a teacher through determination & also her gentle, giving & loving ways have impacted the mother I am. My father put a lot into building his business, setting a stellar example of hard work, great discipline and provided us with a comfortable life growing up. My step-father came into my life as a young adult & yet still has had impact on our lives greatly . Then there are my grandparents of which all work very hard & have built lives that set great examples. Some of the things that remain significant to me were times shared, riding four wheelers, making forts, fishing, taking care of our 4-H animals and riding my horses. Overall I have a strong family base and treasure all time that is shared.

I must end this with saying thank you to all that have shaped & supported me (and Courtney) as I still continue to grow, all my family, friends, fellow gym members (second family) & clients. I truly believe we are impacted greatly by all of those who are in our lives at any capacity. Especially thanking Courtney for accepting and adapting to all my aspirations with love.

Working for my father at a young age: From the time I was born I spent a lot of time at Hampton Company. After years of being with mom while she worked there I started to work for him at age 12. When we would have snow days or days off school I would want to go to work. In my eyes my dad is the smartest most talented man I know, for I thought he could do anything, his business shows his uniqueness greatly. He designs and builds carnival games that are distributed all over the world www.hamptongames.net. I did a range of jobs from making seats, to wiring light channel, sweeping floors, to forming plastic domes, to eventually taking over his graphics and designing his signage for the games. It was a truly amazing experience for me &loved being a part of it. Working for my father has given me great knowledge, instilled much discipline, allowed me to work through college, be with Courtney as needed and contributed to my ability to make workouts a priority.

SCHOOLING: Graduated from Tekonsha High School, a school where you know almost everyone. I enjoyed dabbling in many sports but found my love to be in volleyball and continued to play throughout my years there. I went onto a small community college after high school for a few years and onto Western Michigan University where I will finish my Bachelors degree in Exercise Science and minor in Biology this year! FINALLY as many will say, I have worked through many obstacles and schedule constraints.

THE LEMONADE GIRL: To help myself and younger brothers make our way through college, mom would take old fashioned lemonade stands that dad built out to local fairs. We would shake lemonade in the hot sun for all the carnival lovers. My brothers and I still run these 3 weeks out of the summer. It has significantly helped enable us to get through college and pursue our dreams. So one of the biggest comments I now get while shaking the lemonade is........"is that where you get those muscles"?!

WHERE IT ALL STARTED WITH THE GYM: My first membership was at age 15, luckily my friend Nicki was interested in what we called becoming more "toned" and joined with me, for she had the license to get us there. At this time I was just learning, I would take endless aerobic classes and do minimal overall toning with the machines. About 4 years ago I started prioritizing body parts and eating better to support my efforts. This is the time that my body started to really change, I was seeing muscle. I liked it for I was finding more inner peace with the mindset that went from wanting to be skinny to wanting to fit and muscular. I was victim to that pain for a long time in my youth. How intriguing it can be to watch yourself build a better you. Through this journey you not only will become physically stronger but mentally as well. I must say thank you to my friend Mike Davies who has helped me make great strides this past year with merging together building a better physique & becoming more internally at peace with myself. I have found great full fillment in passing this along to others and hope to have the opportunity to share it many more down the road.

BEING BLESSED WITH COURTNEY: From the day she was born my life would be altered for the better. Being a single mom has been an amazing experience, I really can't imagine it any differently. We are so close, she is my main priority. Courtney is loved very much by all of my family and anyone that knows me well knows she comes first in my life above all. She is so sweet, gentle, smart, loving, kind & her spirit shines lighting up many she is around each day. I truly feel and want to express that being fit and working out throughout all the times that might of been a little rough has enabled me to be the parent that I am to her. I think it is truly important to find something that you do for yourself and pursue that with full force for YOU. For if we are happy inside all around us we love will then benefit from that also.

I hope this gives you an idea of the things in my life that have been significant. All of which contributes to the person that I am. I often say that fitness is that ONE thing I do totally for me, it is a bonus that I am able share this with you all. Feeling good about yourself and your efforts to take care of your fitness level is a big part of our core. Take control now and make fitness & building a better you a part of your life! There is nothing stronger than feeling good about yourself inside and out! I am with you ALL THE WAY!.

-Tara