Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Garcia.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am a mother of three beautiful children. I am a nurse by profession as well as a Army Nurse Officer. I have been in the military since 2003. I enlisted during my junior year in high school. Part of me during that time simply wanted to escape the life I was living at the time. I felt lost spiritually, physically, and mentally. I thought that if I joined the military and was sent off to a far place that it would fix my “problems”. Unfortunately, when I returned my senior of high school, I hadn’t changed at all, and it actually got worse. I was hanging out with the wrong crowd, I got myself into really bad habits, and I felt like my life was going downhill. In 2004, I met my now husband, who I believe was my saving grace. Little by little, I started to distance myself from the crowd of people I had associated myself with almost all through high school. I became a total loner, even in college. I started nursing school and through those years, I started to work hard on myself and gain more discipline, although I still struggled with it. It wasn’t until I finally got married at the age of 22 years old with my then boyfriend, that I started to feel liberated. Between the years of 22-23 years old was when I felt the most alive.
Newly married, almost finishing nursing school, and excelling on some parts, and traveling with my husband, and living on our own, just felt like everything was just falling into place. Then, tragedy hit. I ended up failing one of my nursing courses, and since I was already on probation due to barely passing previous classes, I was kicked out of my program. I was devastated. I felt like my world had ended. All the dreams I had for myself were over. This was in 2010-2011. Because I was in the ROTC program on contract, I had to finish college with whatever degree I could get in one semester, since I had almost finished nursing, I had been in my senior of college, and so reluctantly, I signed up for a Psychology degree and ended up graduating that same semester in 2011 with a Bachelors in Psychology. In the meantime, I had also gotten pregnant.
When I graduated, I was five months pregnant with our first baby. (I say this to put things into context). So that summer, I felt like a failure. Despite graduating college, I hadn’t finished the degree I set myself out to accomplish. Despite my failures, I knew what I wanted, and I was willing to do whatever it took to get there, so I decided to apply for another nursing program, and I was determined enough that I was willing to start over again, even though I had almost completed four years of nursing school. To make a long story short, I applied to one other program, and in that process, my old nursing school counselor found out and recommended to go back to the old program and finish my last year. She was able to put in a request, and thankfully I got back in. I started my senior in nursing school with a newborn baby and graduated that following year in 2012. I have to mention this backstory, so you could fully understand where I came from mentally and the trials I had to go through.
Fast forward three years later, I started to fall into depression. The dream career I had fought for so much had become something I was not as passionate about after realizing the hours, the shifts, and the people I had to work with, I knew I wanted more. I have always had a passion for helping people with their health, but I never wanted to become a pill pusher, and that’s exactly what I had become on a medical-surgical floor and in the community as a community nurse. I knew there was a better way to help others with their health. In 2014, I started my own personal health journey after having my second child. That year, I went through postpartum depression, anxiety, and feeling like I had no purpose. I fell upon home workouts which would allow me to workout from home since I didn’t have as much time to workout with a newborn and a toddler at home. That year, I lost just over 40 lbs. and I started to feel like me again.
After a year of finding myself again, I felt like I had found my passion, helping people with their health and preventative medicine. I wanted to help others just like my online health coach helped me. So, I started in 2015 working as an online health coach, although I didn’t have much experience, I knew I had the resources to help women and so I started there, and just shared my own personal experiences and little by little, I started to grow my clientele and online business. Fast forward to today, I have been able to leave one my nursing jobs while continuing to build my online business. In the last year, I knew I wanted to take the next step in helping women in their life. I have been through so many phases in my life, and I have been able to conquer each one, I wanted to figure out a way to walk women through a year and help them achieve big goals, and I knew that they would be most successful if they did it with a mentor and community support, so it was born my non profit organization, Our Best Year Ever Project.
Our Best Year Ever Project was born in fall 2017 after I returned from military leave, on a mission trip to the Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma and Maria. I was gone for a month and during that time, I was able to reflect upon how I truly wanted to make a greater impact in women’s lives and help them to live out their best life, and not just focus on their health. So, after brainstorming, I figured out a way to do that. I created a 12-month program that would include one Live Event per month where topics such as mindset, finances, relationships, health, confidence, organization, and spirituality would be covered. I would create an online community where these women would stay accountable to each other and the goals they set to accomplish together. Over the years of developing myself, through college, through failures, through obstacles, I had learned key skills that helped me beat the status quo of a Latina woman who gets pregnant at a young age and lives off the government help. I had beat it, and I wanted to help more women also beat that status quo! So, through our program, we are committed to providing the support and content to help every single woman not only make this their best year yet but also start living their life with purpose.
So, this journey continues as we continue to grow and begin serving all women from the Boston/New England Area! Currently, we have over 150+ members online, and we have ranged between 20-57 attendees are our live events each month which are hosted in Lawrence, MA. My dream is to grow our organization in the city of Boston and beyond and serve all women from all walks of life to help them become their best selves.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I mentioned many of those obstacles in the previous comment. I have struggled so much to get where I am between going through peer pressure and falling into the wrong crowds, then leaving my family for military training, and losing myself through those years, then failing nursing school, and having to go through that all over again the second time. Because I failed out of nursing school, which was being paid for in full through an ROTC scholarship, I had accrued student loans and had to struggle through financial strains. I have been through ups and downs in our marriage as I’ve gone through depression and anxiety. You name it, and I’ve been through most struggles a woman could go through.
One of my greatest advice for young women and the women I am now serving in the community of Our Best Year Ever Project is to learn how to develop herself mentally. Get into a routine every morning to develop her mind, her body through workouts, and develop mental toughness. Life will throw you curve balls no matter who you are, rich or poor, and so if you want to come out triumphant on the other side of those trials, you must be prepared, and the best preparation comes from developing our mindset through personal development, spiritual closeness to God, positive affirmations, and surrounding yourself with people who will help you level up. That’s how I have been able to do it in the last 10 years!
Please tell us about Our Best Year Ever Project.
I am a nurse, an Army officer, online health coach, and Creator of Our Best Year Ever Project non-profit organization. I specialize in helping women between the ages of 22-55 years old in finding themselves, creating daily habits that will transition them into the best life they have been dreaming of.
I am known as a mentor and coach who keeps it real. I share my personal journey with vulnerability and honesty in order to help women see that if a woman like me who’s been through the trials that I have been through can succeed, they can too. I lead by example and not just by word. I am most known for my health journey and helping women with their personal health goals, but I hope to also be known for helping women to live out their dream life through our 12-month program.
Because I am in the pilot phase of my non profit organization, it can be hard to see the fruits of it, but I know that this will be one of my greatest accomplishments and legacy I will be able to leave for my children as an example of what we can create when we take our pains and trials and turn it into blessings for others.
I started as an online health coach, like many people are now getting into, but I believe what sets me apart is the fact that I am always willing to go one step further and help women on a deeper level rather than just a superficial way. I want women to transform themselves from the inside out and that’s exactly what women are getting when they work with me.
Who have you been inspired by?
My mother was a big piece in teaching me work ethic and how she was able to juggle three children, a full-time job while doing it alone because my father worked 2-3 jobs all through most of my younger years.
She went through a lot struggles emotionally and it is one of the reasons I knew I needed to take control of my life because I did not want to become that anxious mom.
In the last few years, I have had a couple business mentors and women who have set the bar high for me. I look up to them and all that they have accomplished and they push me to realize that I too can achieve those things.
Pricing:
- Our Best Year Ever Project Live Events $30 (early bird tickets also available)
Contact Info:
- Address: 225 Broadway Suite 200
Methuen, MA 01844 - Website: www.ourbestyeareverproject.org
- Email: natalie@fitarmyrn.com
- Instagram: /nataliefitarmyrn
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nataliegarciaRN/
Image Credit:
Life Petals Photography & Design www.lifepetalspd.com, jkeeferphotography.com Jennifer Keefer
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
