Aloha! Meet Sarah Boltz!
Hi! I’m Sarah Boltz, the founder of Built by Boltz. This business has been a long time coming and I didn’t even realize it. Today I wanted to write a little bit more of an expansive “About Me” article so that we can get to know one another a little more. I said that this business was a long time coming so let’s head back to high school.
In high school, I wasn’t the most athletic student. Sure, I played sports my whole life but my goal was to be a Broadway star. It didn’t happen, thank God, that wasn’t the plan for me. I used to play soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, I swam, participated in track and field, and came to fall in love with longer-distance running. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I wanted to make a change to feel confident in my body. So I started tracking my food in MyFitnessPal and working out more. I would do some bodyweight workouts as well as more cardio workouts. I started to lean out and feel more comfortable in my skin. I noticed that I was more confident and walked with my head held a little higher.
By the end of senior year, I was in a routine. I would workout after school if I wasn’t playing a sport and I started to run more on the weekends. Growing up in Philly, those winter weekend runs were ROUGH. Heading into college I was in a really good routine and very excited to workout in the campus gym. I was really focused on eating “clean” and working out. If a food didn’t fit in the “clean” category, I wouldn’t touch it or I would feel sort of guilty that I wasn’t the “best” clean eater. By junior year, I was in a much better routine. I was eating to support my workouts and my studies, got my confidence back, and began to look into becoming a personal trainer. Within six months of graduating, I got my personal training certification! I began training part-time at a small studio in Pittsburgh and learned a lot on the go. I ended up transitioning to full-time personal training, and ultimately I left to work at a bigger facility.
Just a few months later, I got into a life-altering car accident. It reawoke my eating disorder as I struggled to cope with the trauma. After a tumultuous few months, I checked myself into an outpatient rehab program. I didn’t want to live like that anymore, it wasn’t me. I didn’t feel like myself and I didn’t like who I was when I was ensnared by my disorder. Coming out of rehab, I had a whole new perspective on food and exercise. I fully comprehended that my beautiful, hard-working body needed that fuel and the occasional glass of wine. I now work as a full-time CrossFit trainer and athlete. I have competed at some big CrossFit competitions with the goal to make it to the CrossFit Games.
Throughout all of these years, it was on my heart to get my nutrition coaching certification, and in 2022, I did it! I received my Precision Nutrition L1 and immediately began taking on clients. It’s been a true gift to be a part of each client’s experience. I have celebrated every victory, been fully present for set backs as well as life events, and embraced each challenge with my clients. As you can see, this business has been woven into my life for a while now and I’m excited to see where this journey will go.
— Sarah Boltz