“Normal for early adolescence, my 14-year-old was struggling a bit with self-esteem, body image and motivational issues that were ultimately impeding her confidence. Although my daughter was a accomplished soccer player since the age of 4, I could see her desire for performance yet noted her lack of drive and enthusiasm. Knowing competitive soccer tryouts at her high school was rapidly approaching it became more apparent that we needed some sort of professional intervention. Several of her teammates also suffered from some of the same concerns and enrolled with a personal trainer located out of town who ran a group with a number of athletes in the area. When looking into the program, I found it to be overpriced and there was very little focus, if any, on individual needs particularly as it related to adolescent girls. Then I found Rachel Ryan. I contacted Rachel with my concerns as well as time limited schedule of availability. She responded immediately with an astute right-on assessment and treatment plan. Rachel also offered flexible scheduling which included coming over to my home to train with my daughter while I could go off to work. After talking with my daughter we decided to hire Rachel. Time was of the essence but Rachel and my daughter were able to buckle down and get to work.
Rachel is a well-educated, ambitious, optimistic, sensitive, compassionate trainer who is extremely goal oriented, organized and a lot of fun. She is a reliable, dedicated professional who goes above and beyond when working with a client. After reviewing her plan and the approach, I never doubted Rachel and was extremely confident about my decision to hire her to work with my daughter. Communication with Rachel was outstanding! Since I was at work, after each meeting Rachel filled me in on what was covered during their sessions, her recommendations and what would be addressed during the follow-up session(s). Rachel always made herself available for questions or concerns. My daughter always looked forward to meeting with her, remained motivated between sessions and was thrilled with the results. Not only did my daughter make the soccer team but thanks to her work with Rachel, she exceeded the performance requirements! To this day, almost a year later she still says that working with Rachel was the best experience that she has ever had and that Rachel was the only one that really made a difference in helping her to "get out of her rut" in order to "get motivated." This was truly a win-win all around. Rachel wins a gold medal!” (back)
Paula Mekkelsen and daughter Autumn – Waterford, CT
