Kallie Pendleton, now Kallie Schneider, BUT you can still call me KP! First off, if you’re reading this, that means you’ve viewed some of my site and I thank you for that! Now, keep reading because I want to give you guys a little background of who I am and how my business, KP.Fitness came about.

Growing up I was always involved in sports from elementary school up until I graduated high school. The sport that had a major impact on my life was competitive cheerleading. I was a competitive cheerleader for 10 years, 4 of those years being in high school. Through cheerleading I learned how to work hard for goals you set for yourself, how to push through obstacles that seem impossible and also how to motivate others. Competitive cheer is really where I found my love for motivating and helping others realize they can do ANYTHING they put their mind to.

My high school days consisted of going to school, going to cheer practice, traveling on weekends to competitions, and hanging out with my now husband. Although I was a very busy bee, I still found the time to criticize my outward appearance and constantly put myself down for not looking like my friends who had, in my eyes, “perfect bodies.”

Being a cheerleader I was always either in a sports bra and spandex shorts at practice or in my crop top/spandex shorts uniform. Knowing that was my attire most of the week, I began to OBSESS over looking “skinny” in my uniforms. In high school I was a size medium in clothing about 5’5/140lbs (give or take), but if you looked at the cheer world as a whole, it consisted of a lot of thinner athletes. Being surrounded by that stereotype made me believe I had to look a certain way to fit in and feel accepted. I was always the bigger girl on the team and as a young teenage girl, I convinced myself that I would never be happy not looking like all my teammates and competitions.

I graduated high school in May 2015 and knew that I had to find something to do in my college years in order to stay in shape and still try to get “skinny”. I immediately started doing hours on hours of cardio, forcing myself to run on the treadmill even though I hated it so much. I remember very vividly tracking my calories at 15 years old. One time I had shared a pint of ice cream with a friend at lunch and I went home after school, hopped on the treadmill and ran until I burned off the number amount of calories I consumed from the half pint. I thought by making myself do these things, then I would eventually achieve the body I always dreamed of.

I started college in August 2015 and didn’t know exactly what I wanted to study. I knew I wanted to do something either with sports or just something where I could motivate and help people. It actually was not until my Sophomore year that I found out my University had an Exercise Physiology program, which caught my interest.

In the midst of going through my college classes for Exercise Physiology, I had to take a course for my curriculum which was to literally go to the gym and workout for an hour. That was the class that opened my eyes and changed a huge part of my life.

I remember the first day of that class, it was August 2016, and a friend of mine was starting to get into weight training by following a 12-week workout program she had purchased online. Since I had no idea what to do in the gym other than to miserably run on the treadmill, I decided to start that workout program with her.

When I tell you weight training changed my life, I mean it. If I hadn’t been in THAT class, at THAT University with THAT girl then I don’t know what I would be doing right now. I can confidentially say I am now the strongest and happiest version of myself I have ever been BECAUSE of that class.

Since beginning my health and fitness journey in 2016, I have gained weight, I have lost weight, I’ve been pregnant, I’ve gone through childbirth, I’ve had shoulder surgery and just like anyone I’ve had a fair share of ups and downs. These years have really flown by, but they have really taught me so much along the way. I have found a genuine, true appreciation and love for my body which is something I never could have dreamed of years ago.

I now have a healthy, beautiful relationship with food and exercise and most importantly, MYSELF. I no longer punish myself with exercise or deprive myself of eating foods I enjoy. I now exercise to get strong and be healthy and I eat when I want and whatever I want just in moderation! The beauty of balance is such a real concept, and I am so blessed to have found that out sooner than later.

Soon after I began weight training with my friend, I ventured out and started working out on my own. I got my first gym membership in January 2017, began throwing workouts together and BOOM! That’s when it started. I began my fitness Instagram page in March 2017 to simply hold myself accountable and also share my workouts that I had come up with, with others.

Not too long after starting the page I received a message from someone who went to my high school begging me to train them and to let her be my guinea pig to get experience. Not going to lie I was a little freaked out at the thought of actually training someone even though I had been training myself for almost a year now. Needless to say, I told her yes and that is when I indirectly began my business.

I trained this girl free of charge to get experience and she is still a client of mine to this day. As time went on, people saw me training her and in turn, more people reached out to me. I took them on as free clients to continue getting my experience and soon after I went and registered to get my CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) and PGE (Primary Group Instructor) Certifications in May 2017.

After taking on the certification courses which needed to both be completed by May 2018, I was still a full-time student, working a part time job, planning my wedding and staying on track to graduate early. It was time to prioritize if I wanted this to work. I finished one certification and passed my exam in October 2017 and finished my second certification in May 2018.

After being fully certified I started taking on clients and officially running KP.Fitness LLC as my business along with everything else I was balancing in life, but hey I wanted it, bad. I had a goal and was determined to reach it! I stayed on track and graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology in December 2018, a semester early as planned, and then I got married in May 2019!

This all now leads you to where I am today. I have now been running KP.Fitness LLC since 2017 and I cannot even begin to express the pure joy I get from working with my clients’ day in and day out. I couldn’t imagine my life any other way. I am constantly reminded by my clients why I started this business and am humbled to be able to have my own journey to share with them. Best job in the world.