Forrest’s Story
It never really occurred to me to tell my story until I watched a video of a life coach yesterday saying that if you have a business, or a blog, you’ve got to tell your story…people want to know.
I thought about it, and it made sense, so here’s my story. If I put you to sleep, alienate you, or make you feel let down about me through sharing my story with you, I apologize. In fact, you may be shocked to know I wasn’t always positive and into fitness as people know me today. Actually, my life has been pretty screwed up at times. Ok…here it goes… (at least the short version).
I was born in Palo Alto at Stanford hospital in 1977. I was raised in San Mateo. I went to Bayside Middle School which was a rough school (I was stabbed in the hand with a pencil because I didn’t give some kid my last stick of gum). I graduated Hillsdale High School in 1995.
I was always the shy kid. When I walked I looked down at my feet, always avoiding eye contact with others. I barely graduated from high school with a 2.0 average. I drank and did drugs since I was 13. I had low self-esteem. My best friends were potheads and drug dealers. I was super-skinny, ashamed of my body, and didn’t have any direction in my life. I enjoyed playing basketball and skateboarding during that time, and my dad showed me how to lift weights.
At age 17 I was homeless. I remember walking down the street one gloomy night, when my grandmother pulled up in her car and rolled down her window. She said, “Forrest, take care of your body. If you take care of your body, your body will take care of your mind, and your mind will take care of your life.”
Her words hit me like a bell in the head. They wouldn’t fully resonate until a few years later. I was 21, working a dead-end job at a grocery store, and taking classes at CSM with no direction or end in sight. I drank beer at night, and rode my mountain bike in the day in the Belmont hills before I started the swing shift at 2pm.
One day, I was walking up the hill at CSM. (At that time I was smoking cigarettes, about a pack-a-day, and had been for 10 years. Sorry to share it…but it’s true). I got up to the top of the hill and I had to sit down, wheezing and coughing. I felt light headed. I barely made it up that hill. It was then I had the realization that my health is in my own hands. I was hitting rock bottom. I had no money, I lived in a flea-ridden house where I rented a small room, I used drugs and alcohol to hide away from the world.
That night I found a martial arts school in Foster City, signed up for a class, and changed my life forever.
I found fitness! I re-learned weight training. I trained hard in Tae Kwon Do. I drank protein shakes. I broke boards with my bare hands. I learned to meditate. I practiced Tai Chi. I played basketball again. I stopped eating fast foods (well, for the most part…). I quit watching so much TV and playing video games. I started training my mind to think in a positive way.
My grandmother was right. For the first time, everything started to feel right. I had energy. My mind felt clear. I looked at people in the eye when I spoke to them. I worked on developing myself, becoming a trainer, a communicator, a coach, a leader.
I earned a second degree black belt, and began a career as a personal trainer. I worked hard, training people all day long, 6 days per week for years. I eventually started my own business, and teamed up with my business partner, Roy. I had two kids in that time, and after a rocky 7-year marriage, got a divorce.
Today I have my two kids full-time, and I have a wonderful girlfriend who, “gets it” and “gets me”…I am very in love. I am grateful to them and we make an awesome family. Go fam-bam’s!
I’m blessed to have many incredible clients who show up to work out with me and our staff, and I love them all very much. They inspire me every day, and I am so grateful to them. They work on their bodies to improve their entire life – and it’s happening!! I’m so excited to be a part of the positive changes, and I am at their service always.
That’s my story in a nutshell. It’s not easy sharing my story with you, but hopefully you can understand from my story that out of struggle, obstacles and hard times comes success, appreciation, love and compassion.
Your Trainer For Life,
Forrest Folen
Special thanks to my mom and dad, Tom and Anita Folen, my brothers, Tommy and Doug Folen, to Arleene (love of my life) and my two great kids (Jesus and Jadalina). I’d also like to thank Roy, Dan, Rachel, and Bill, the Fit For Life Solutions staff and staff volunteers, and all my past and current clients. Thank-you!!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 at 4:45 pm.