Our Girls EDGE heroes: Coach Jess and Coach Jill

We want you to meet our friends... Jess Chaplin and Jill Donovan, two of our favorite coaches at CrossFit Brighton (shhhhh, don't tell everyone else, we don't normally play favorites!). Coach Darcie shared about what these two mean to her and Josie so maybe you'll see why we think this!

Having strong, powerful, kind women as role models is incredibly important to me. It's one of the reasons we decided to start Girls EDGE in the first place, to help girls realize how strong they can be. 

There are two women I'm proud to call role models to both my daughter and I; and I'm lucky enough to see them regularly: Jill and Jess. These are two women that out lift and out work most men in our gym.  I wanted to share a little story about these two lovely ladies and how they have inspired my little girl to be strong.

My daughter Josie and I were at the gym a few weeks ago and Jess was doing some very heavy back squats (loud grunting included :-). 

Josie turned to me and said, "Mom, is she the strongest girl at the gym?"  

"Yes, Josie, she probably is," I said.

"Mom, you're the second strongest right?" 

 I chuckled (so happy that my darling daughter thinks of me as strong). "No dear, I'm not, but that's okay because I come here and do the very best I can do every day."  

She thought about it for a second and then said, "Then is Coach Jill the second strongest?"  

"Honey, she is for sure one of the strongest," I said trying not to tear up at the preciousness of how she thinks. "But here it doesn't really matter who the strongest is. We all come here to make ourselves stronger, not to be stronger then someone else."

 "Okay, but someday I want to be like them," she said smiling.

And I had to agree with her, i too want to be like them! 
  

I love that I can bring my daughter to a gym where she can see women lifting heavy weights, doing pull-ups with weight vests on, doing sled pushes with plates on them, doing muscle ups, handstand push ups, and so many other strong, and powerful things. 

 These are the women I want her to look up to and aspire to be like and look like. Not the waif like, airbrushed models in magazines that so many young girls want to be like and look like.  

Like what I saw on a t-shirt recently:

"I am a CrossFit Woman.

I am strong.

I have drive, determination and courage.

I am not afraid to sweat, not afraid to tear, not afraid to bleed.

I'm only afraid to quit."

So, thank you Coach Jill and Coach Jess for being role models for both me and my daughter.  

You girls ROCK!