Read about the 3 year journey of Dr. Jena Bradley as she grew her business, Live Core Strong, a fitness mom blog motivating pregnant and postpartum women. (pst…some fun facts at the end!)
I started a blog, completely not knowing what one was, not knowing one ounce of website design or what WordPress even meant. I didn’t even know that I could write. It was among my lowest grades in high school.
Why I Started The Blog
So why did I even think of starting a blog 3 years ago? Because I wanted to help women. I wanted to get information out to those who needed it the most: new moms who weren’t being told how to take care of their bodies after just having a baby, or even the moment they got pregnant. There was information overload on how to take care of the baby, but not much other than that.
Women’s health, or mom’s health for this matter, was minimal to non-existent as far as I could see. I, being a mom of 4, had very little education on mommy health, and I was even a physical therapist. Yeah, I know a lot about the human body, but knowing about the pregnant and postpartum body is a whole other ball game.
How Prenatal Yoga Opened My Eyes
I still remember my friend inviting me to a prenatal yoga class during the 2nd trimester of my first pregnancy, and I was shocked to find out that I was even allowed to do yoga as a pregnant woman. What if my baby got hurt inside my belly? What if I squished my baby? I was afraid. I just didn’t know. But come to find out there is a whole thing around prenatal yoga.
But there is so much more to mommy fitness than prenatal yoga. There are stretches, postural exercises and best of all, core exercises. And that’s when I started to educate myself as a new mom on pregnancy and postpartum fitness.
Being Scared As A New Mom
Even after I had my first baby, I was lost, unaware, confused and scared. I was scared to hurt my damaged body. My body was practically beaten from the inside after just giving birth and thinking about exercise after that was a non-existent thing.
But my body wasn’t changing. It wasn’t going back to the way it used to be. So I knew I had to do something, but no one was able to tell me what to do. Not one person taught me what exercises to do, what exercises were safe and not safe and when to do them.
All I knew was that I had to wait for my 6 week postpartum checkup before I could start working out. Then what? My doctor didn’t give me a postpartum workout program. I still continued to feel lost.
Taking Matters Into My Own Hands
So I took matters into my own hands and created my own. It worked. My body changed back to the way it used to be, and it felt great. So great that I did it again and again with each pregnancy after that first one. Four pregnancies later, I created my fitness mom blog, Live Core Strong, my eBook Postpartum Ab Rehab and my YouTube Channel also known as Live Core Strong.
The material spread and the blog grew. Women across the world trusted my expertise and my knowledge on the subject matter of pregnancy and postpartum fitness. I loved serving them and they loved being transformed into a healthy new mama!
Reaching Women Worldwide
I am happy to say that through my fitness mom blog and my work in various social media platforms including YouTube, Pinterest and Google, my content has reached over 400,000 women worldwide.
I can’t thank you enough for trusting in me and my content! I absolutely love to help other women who are fitness-driven like I am, who are determined to live a healthier life as a mom and who, ultimately, change the trajectory of their newborn babies’ lives.
I am blessed beyond belief to have this business that acts as a ministry and as my good friend, Heather Shriver-Burns calls it, a businestry.
Thank You!
Thank you, all of you moms out there, who have supported me over the past 3 years. Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without you.
And a special thank you to my dear husband, Darren, who is the best editor (and of course, supportive husband and father) in the world!
Fun Stats
As of September 21, 2021…
Instagram Followers: 1,245
Pinterest Followers: 5,011
Facebook Followers: 578
YouTube Followers: 2,704
YouTube Videos Made: 44
YouTube watch hours: 22,698 hours
Countries Crossed: 25
Lifetime unique users to the blog: 822,000
Blog posts published: 204
Email newsletters sent: 296,000
Email newsletters read: 75,154
Lives Changed: so so many, I can’t even count!
*It is important to always consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program and get medical clearance. Always warm up thoroughly and stretch after all workouts. LiveCoreStrong.com and Jena Bradley will be not be responsible or liable for any injury sustained while exercising at home, gym or elsewhere. Perform exercises at your own risk.
