I’m Monica. Most people call me Mon.

For as long as I can remember, I thought health meant being skinny.

Like many women, I spent years chasing quick fixes. Growing up fairly sedentary, I tried fad diets, cleanses, endless cardio, I exercised to “earn” my food, and was constantly on the cycle of starting over every Monday. During all that time, I didn’t understand what it meant to be healthy and never truly felt confident.

Then, everything began to change in my mid-twenties.

While playing rugby, I attempted another diet cleanse hoping to lose weight. Instead, I damaged my gut health and developed psoriasis. Determined to find answers, I leaned into my background in science and began researching nutrition and the body’s ability to heal. Around the same time, I started strength training consistently to improve my performance on the rugby field.

For the first time, I wasn’t focused solely on becoming smaller.

As I fueled my body with nourishing foods and prioritized strength, my skin began to improve, my body composition changed, and I felt stronger than ever before. More importantly, I discovered that health wasn’t about deprivation—it was about building a body that could support the life I wanted to live.

But my journey wasn’t a straight line.

Over the years, I found myself trapped in a cycle many women know well: making progress when life was perfectly structured, then struggling when work, travel, stress, or major life changes disrupted my routine. I repeatedly learned that sustainable health and fitness couldn’t depend on perfect circumstances.

In 2021, when my grandfather entered hospice care, I moved back to Philadelphia to be closer to family. In the short amount of time I had left with him, I watched a man I had always known as strong, capable, and independent gradually lose those abilities. At the same time, I became increasingly aware of the chronic health conditions affecting so many of the other people I loved.

My “why” changed.

I stopped focusing on weight loss alone and started focusing on aging well.

I wanted strength that would carry me through every stage of life. I wanted energy, resilience, mobility, and health—not just for today, but for decades to come.

But having a meaningful “why” wasn’t enough on its own.

Being closer to family meant more dinners out, birthday parties, vacations, holidays, and all the beautiful chaos that comes with sharing life with the people you love. In the past, I would have viewed these moments as obstacles to my health goals. Instead, I began asking a different question:

How do I build a lifestyle where health and life can coexist?

That question changed everything.

I stopped trying to fit my life around a perfect fitness plan and started building systems that fit into my real life. I learned that lasting health isn’t created through restriction or all-or-nothing thinking. It’s built through simple habits repeated consistently, even when life gets busy.

That realization became the foundation of how I coach today.

Coincidentally, I had already been working with women who were pregnant, raising young children, or planning families and already had a deep appreciation for what strength truly means and becoming a mother in 2025 made that lesson even more personal.

While I enjoy seeing the physical results of my  efforts, my motivation runs much deeper than what I see in the mirror. I want the energy to keep up with my son, the strength to stay active with my family, and the health to fully participate in all the years ahead.

Everything I’ve learned throughout my own journey shapes the way I coach today.

I don’t believe in hopping from diet to diet, chasing quick fixes, or spending hours in the gym. I believe in creating sustainable habits that fit into real life. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s consistency. It’s building routines that help you take care of yourself so you can show up with energy, confidence, and strength for the people who matter most.

That’s why I created Mon Made Strong.

Mon Made Strong exists to empower women to find their strength and build healthy, active lives they love. Whether you’re navigating motherhood, balancing work and family, or simply trying to prioritize yourself again, my mission is to help you develop sustainable habits that support you through every chapter of life.

Because strength isn’t just about how much weight you can lift.

It’s about creating a life where you have the energy, confidence, and capability to keep showing up—for yourself and for the people you love.