Nov 6, 2020
Host Celeste Rains-Turk
speaks with Jennifer Roberts, wife, mother, full-time school
district principal, and lifetime athlete who just turned pro at
North Americans!
Celeste begins by asking Jennifer
what rituals she has immediately before her heel hits the stage.
Jennifer says she gives herself reminders of what she’s been
working on with her posing and she gives herself a physical cue to
help ground her and keep her arm relaxed. She used to remind
herself to “Own the stage”. This year she has focused on
transforming nervous energy by saying “It’s showtime.”
Jennifer worked hard on the energy she brings to the stage. Because
she got to a point with her posing this year where she moved beyond
making corrections, she could focus on doing the things that make
her stand out. Eight days before the show, her cousin passed away.
Jennifer explained how she wanted to honor him some way during the
show and how she thought about her grandfather calling her a ray of
sunshine that lights up the room. Celeste talks about not posing as
someone else, but as you. Ask yourself, what energy do you bring to
the stage?
Celeste asks Jennifer about the
unconventional set up of this year’s North Americans and competing
in a tent. Jennifer says she enjoyed it even without an audience,
because it allowed her to focus on the judges. She had no problems
with the stage and the organizers did a great
job.
Jennifer started in natural shows in
Canada, though the IFBB was always in her mind. She did local shows
to keep fit and competed back in 2000, before bikini was a
division. She came second in her first competition but realized she
was doing it because of deep-seated insecurities. This led her down
a personal development path, away from fitness. This contributed to
who she is today.
Jennifer talks about when she first
met her husband, he asked her if she ever read any books for fun
instead of all serious, non-fiction books. She tells the story
about how he helped her see her beauty, and that was her pivotal
movement. Celeste relates by explaining if you aren't willing to
look in the mirror and change something, nothing will change. You
have to do the hard thing.
Currently, Jennifer has a much
healthier body image, even though she says it’s not perfect. She
does shows to stay healthy and because she loves them, instead of
trying to attain a certain body. She still has moments, but she
doesn't go to a dark place anymore. Recognizing our growth shows us
that we can continue to heal.
Celeste asks Jennifer what she would
say to people who think they are too old to reach certain goals.
Jennifer says it’s never too late to work on yourself or do a show.
She talks about her young family and demanding job, and how you
have to recognize your priorities to reach your goals. Jennifer
wakes at 5 am to stretch and practice posing. Then she completes
her workout and is done just after 7 am when her family is waking
up.
Jennifer says she does sometimes feel
overwhelmed but acknowledges that you just have to fit in things
where you can. At one point, she thought she had a good family
balance, but her husband explained how she isn’t always mentally
present for her family. Jennifer says she didn't realize how much
it was affecting the family and focused on creating quality time
for her family this year. In order to do this, Jennifer preps her
food for weeks at a time. When her family gets home, she stops what
she's doing and is present for them.
Celeste asks about Jennifer’s
demanding job as a principal. Jennifer explains how she has to
travel quite a bit for her job and that she never cheats on her
prep. Being super organized allows her to maintain her schedule.
She just makes it work. Even on a trip to France last summer, she
stayed on track 100 percent. There’s nothing you can’t do if you
want it badly enough. During an improvement season, Jennifer still
works hard but is less rigid with her schedule to let her relax.
This allows her to go full out during prep.
When choosing shows, Jennifer used to
consider location, but as she improved and moved up, she realized
the IFBB was something she could reach. She started to focus on
shows that would allow her to qualify for the Vancouver Pro/Am and
then North Americans. She took a long improvement season after the
2019 North Americans to focus on 2020 North Americans and earning
her Pro Card.
Jennifer talks about how COVID changes her prep with the
uncertainty of it the show would even happen. Jennifer took many
virtual workshops to improve her posing and started to focus on
flexibility to help her achieve proper poses. Once she got in the
daily habit of stretching and posing, she had a mindset shift of
thinking it was hard for her to pose.
Celeste asks Jennifer to speak to
what keeps her going through this difficult prep. Jennifer thrives
on prep and loves knowing what she has to do and just doing it. She
wouldn't want to have regrets if she strayed from her plan and then
missed bringing her best to the show. Jennifer focused on her upper
body and her glutes based on feedback from the judges. Jennifer
loves mountain biking but saves it for improvement season and then
switches to road cycling and hiking for prep.
Jennifer sees bodybuilding as
lifetime fitness. Even when she’s done competing, she will keep
working out. She does her second workout with her son and wants to
be a role model and stay healthy. She wants to keep healthy and
stay active for life. She had the goal of getting her pro card
before she turned 50, and she did it!
Jennifer’s husband is a bug support
for her. They check in with each other regarding their
workouts, keeping communication open to make sure everyone’s needs
are being met. They work as a great team, even tackling meal prep
together. Everyone in the family will eat the same foods.
While eating the same foods, each family member still has autonomy
in their food choices. Her husband and son don’t weigh their food
like she does, but they still make conscious food choices.
Jennifer’s son is also very supportive of her. He helps keep her on
track and even critiques her posing. Jennifer loves that her son is
involved and they both treat bodybuilding as a sport that requires
hard work.
Celeste asks Jennifer about a special
tradition she has with her family post show. They share wine and
charcuterie to honor their family Friday nights. Another tradition
they honor daily is sitting together and talking about their day
with no distractions.
Jennifer talks about the shift that
started to happen before she was even a pro. Because she was
visualizing being a pro and creating positive energy around her
goal, she felt like a pro before she even was one. She believes
this focus and mindset helped her achieve her goal. Soon she will
start visualizing her next goal. She also sets goals with her
family and sets them on a vision board to help keep track of
them.
Celeste asks Jennifer to offer advice
for new competitors and aspiring pros. Jennifer advises aspiring
pros to look at the energy they are bringing to their routine.
Always practice with your best energy. To new competitors, Jennifer
urges them to go to a show and see what it’s like as well as
evaluate their motives as to why they want to do a show. Trust the
process. To both, she encourages family time.
CONNECT WITH
JEN: www.instagram.com/jsharam_ifbbpro/
CONNECT WITH
CELESTE: www.instagram.com/celestial_fit/
Time Stamps
[1:22] Jennifer talks about her
pre-stage ritual.
[5:00] Jennifer talks about her
cousin passing away 8 days before the show.
[7:34] Celeste asks if she will be
taking the same energy to pro debut.
[8:14] Celeste asks Jennifer about
the unconventional set up of this year’s North
Americans.
[10:40] Jennifer talks about her
experience in natural federations.
[12:37] Jennifer talks about the
origins of her fitness journey.
[16:30] Celeste asks Jennifer what
one thing that transformed the way she viewed her
life.
[19:25] Celeste askes Jennifer about
her current body image.
[22:22] Jennifer addresses the
thought of being too old to reach certain goals.
[25:08] Celeste asks if she ever
feels overwhelmed
[27:17] Jennifer explains cations she
took to be more present.
[28:14] Jennifer talks about
balancing everything with her demanding job.
[31:20] Celeste asks how her prep
differs from an improvement season.
[32:40] Jennifer talks about how she
chooses competitions.
[34:58] Celeste asks what changed
between 2019 and 2020 North Americans.
[39:15] Jennifer talks about what it
was that kept her going.
[40:49] They discuss what
improvements Jennifer made based on feedback.
[44:35] Jennifer talks about
different forms of cardio.
[46:57] Celeste asks about Jennifer’s
past athletic experiences.
[49:35] Jennifer speaks about her
husband’s support.
[53:15] Jennifer talks about her
family’s eating habits.
[54:33] Celeste asks what Jennifer’s
son thinks about what she does.
[57:50] They talk about children with
parents that compete.
[59:33] Jennifer talks about a
tradition she has with her husband.
[63:21] Celeste asks Jennifer how her
mindset has shifted since winning her pro card.
[68:04] Jennifer offers advice to new
competitors and aspiring pros.
[70:30] Close out.