Meet Victoria! She’s a Katy mama of two and owner of Baby Boot Camp Katy, another awesome, empowering community for moms! Baby Boot Camp provides fitness, nutrition, and community support for moms. We chatted with Victoria about her business, her passion for empowering women of all walks of life, and her tips and tricks for navigating motherhood!
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in Katy?
I was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. My husband and I moved to Houston in 2007 and then came to Katy the following year in 2008.
Child(ren) and Age(s)?
I have two children, a 14 year old son and 7 year old daughter.
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
Honestly, quite a few people are surprised to know I own a fitness business. I am not the typical looking fitness professional. I am still working on my own wellness journey every day but I think this gives me very valuable insight into understanding my members.
Favorite local things to do in Katy?
We do a lot of grilling out with friends but when we do venture out, the movie theater, trampoline park or main event are always fun.
What’s your favorite thing about Katy?
My favorite thing about Katy is that it is so close to Houston. I love that we can have a smaller town feel in old Katy and people can choose their weekend family adventures from a wide spectrum of activities just by driving east on I-10
Do you have a favorite family friendly restaurant in the area?
Not necessarily a restaurant but we like to hang out at No Label Brewing. There is always something fun going on and it’s pet and kid friendly. The rotating food trucks is also pretty awesome because we can go to the same place and experience different foods.
What is your go-to activity for yourself for pampering or for fun?
As a stay at home mom and business owner, my favorite activity is shopping alone. It is just so great when the only person begging me to buy something is, me.
Funniest shortcut/routine for helping you through parenthood?
The funniest truth about parenting is to accept that your kids will hate you at one point of their life. Don’t tiptoe around and question your every decision based on the fear that they may hate you later if you make the wrong choice, cause they will no matter what. Whether they are 4, 14 or 24 you will have some rocky times in the parent-kid relationship. It’s normal, healthy even.
Are you involved in a business venture, a local organization, a creative endeavor, or in the corporate world? Please share!
Empowering women is my passion. I absolutely love to witness women realize how strong they are, how strong they always have been. I purchased Baby Boot Camp Katy in October of 2016. Officially, it’s a stroller friendly fitness group for women. However we are so much more than that. We are a community of moms from all walks of life, married, single, divorced, working, stay at home, vax moms, no-vax moms, autism moms, ADHD moms, formula moms, breast feeding moms- you name it, and there is one of us here. We do motherhood together, we just all happen to workout too. From this grew a stroller-friendly run club for women. There are several, very large run groups in Katy but ours is the only one that is a stroller-friendly, women only run club. In extension to inspiring moms, Baby Boot Camp Katy & Richmond also decided to charter a new Boy Scout Troop that was started with a few other Boy Scout parents. Our troop is adventure based, the only one of its kind in Katy and we are very proud of that.
How has this community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
Our classes are mostly held at parks and community centers in and around Katy. They have been so wonderful to work with when it comes to allowing fitness groups like mine to use their parks.
What is the best advice for juggling mommyhood and running a business (or volunteering, working, etc)?
I have two golden rules for this. The very first thing you have to do in order to take on any task is to let go of mom guilt. No one that matters is judging you. Stop speaking for other people in your mind on how you think they might perceive you. YOU DO YOU. There is no correct house cleaning schedule, limit to how many times you can have a girlfriends dinner, how to discipline your kids, etc. This is YOUR motherhood journey and you get to choose the route. The second thing to remember is that you can say “no”. It’s not rude or impolite to have boundaries on what you invest your time and energy on.
What would you tell the old “You” before you had kids?
I would tell my younger self, “The picture you have in your head, the house, kids, dog, car, will all come to fruition. There will be times when each one of these things will stress you out to the point of wondering why you wanted it to begin with- that’s normal. Throw your fit, have your wine, talk to your tribe and when all that is done, look around and realize that you are living the dream.”