Maria started her journey into Group Fitness shortly after graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2005. After joining the local YMCA she soon became inspired to instruct. In 2005 she became a Turbo Kick instructor through Blue Powder Productions owned by the renowned Chalene Johnson (producer of Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, PiYo, Hip Hop Hustle, and more). As she found her passion in group fitness, Maria started to teach other class formats as well which included: Hip Hop Hustle, Water Aerobics, Cycling, MMA Kickboxing, and Pilates. She has a group fitness and personal training certification from AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) and an MMA Kickboxing Certification through UFC Competitor Alan Belcher.
Maria isn’t just a group fitness instructor, she is also our Brand Manager | Master Trainer. Maria is very familiar with teaching fitness education across the country. She has spent time teaching others how to instruct reformer pilates, cycle, and barre. She loves to travel and meet new people who share her passion. Maria also has a dance background that started in college. She started her dance journey at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as a "Perkette" where she later coached the team in 2010/11. She extended her dance journey to the University of Southern Mississippi where she became a part of the Southern Misses Dance team and later worked as a strength coach temporarily for that team after graduation in 2005. Maria has also been a finalist five times for the New Orleans Saints NFL Dance Team, The Saintsations, and a finalist for the Pelicans NBA Dance Team. Maria is also a 3x Virtual Instructor for HOTWORX. She owns her own studio called The Barre Box in Gulfport, MS where you can find her teaching Barre Intensity, Boxing, and Cycle.
You’ll hear her say often “Failure is Success”. Failure is not just a part of life, it’s essential to life and success. It’s like another opportunity to begin again with a more enlightened mind. You can’t continue to learn if you don’t fail.