When the opportunity to formally become a part of the Pro-Activity ‘family’ presented itself near the end of my time in PT school, it took me less than five seconds to decide there were no amount of ‘barriers’ that could stop me from pursuing it. It was long from an ‘out of the blue’ chance - I had been working diligently as a volunteer with the non-profit professional community arm - the Academy of Prevention & Health Promotion Therapies - and soaking up as much knowledge from Mike Eisenhart as I could for over a year and a half. But it was such an honor to be offered a place on the Pro-Activity ‘roster’ and to have a chance at making a career out of a way of practice that I believed so firmly in. Making the ‘leap’ didn’t come without sacrifice…I had to pack up my Kia Soul and leave my home and my husband in NC to head back to my Jersey roots for a 6 month ‘immersion’, where I would learn the ropes before (hopefully) being ready to launch our NC field office. I knew that those 6 months would be FILLED with learning of tactical skills - learning the ins and outs of a population health approach, learning how to blend my clinical training with a prevention model, and so on - but I had no idea how much I would learn about myself during those 6 months of immersion in ‘The Pro-Activity Way’.
From the first day ‘on the job’, I quickly realized that I would be stretched beyond my comfort zone. I was excited, because this was where I had always felt that I do my best work. I realized that in addition to learning to ‘do’ this ‘fundamentally different’ approach, I would also need to learn how to run a business, to market and ‘sell’ at some level, and to build community relationships in a place that I had next to none. At the same time these realizations were setting in, I was quickly becoming enamored with the culture surrounding me at Pro-Activity…the air of achievement in every corner of Pro-Activity’s ‘BaseCamp’ Location. I looked for every opportunity to spend time with the Pro-Activity team and the people who called BaseCamp ‘their third place’. Most of the time it looked like spending weekends running or volunteering with the BaseCamp running club, training in the gym before or after work with athletes from all walks of life, and pushing myself physically more than I ever had before.
One day as we were working on maintenance items at one of Pro-Activity’s facilities, I found myself and Eric Eisenhart doing what we often did when there was monumental amounts of work to be done - distracting ourselves with exercise. Somehow a plyo box made its way to ‘center stage’, representing something that has always been a struggle for me. I am in no way a ‘power athlete’ - my vertical leap is not a stat you will find me bragging about on my athletic resume. Over years in fitness, I had mastered a 20” box jump, and even occasionally built up the courage to attempt the 24”. But a 30” box jump was just something I NEVER considered to be in my cards. As most great coaches do, as soon as this belief came out into the open, Eric took it upon himself to make it abundantly clear that we would not be leaving until I made that 30” box jump. As I stared at the box, stepped forward and attempted to will my feet off the ground about 100 times, I felt with every bone in my body that it just wasn’t possible. The fear of failing was telling every muscle in my body to NOT let my feet come off the ground. But Eric stood there next to that box, repeating the same statement over and over - “just jump”. It was insanely frustrating at the time (don’t you think I would have DONE that already if it was so simple?), but occasionally he would throw in there ‘I know you can do this.’ After what felt like hundreds of bails or failed attempts, a small part of my subconscious must have given in to the message. I ‘just jumped’, and to my surprise, I landed firmly on the top of the 30’ plyo box.
In that moment, I was certainly proud of myself, and I could tell Eric was too. But I would be lying if I said I knew that would be a pivotal ‘jumping point’ in my life. As I reflect back on my journey from that moment forward, there were countless more “just jump” moments that I encountered. The seed of confidence from this particular moment would blossom into something that would help me jump without hesitation into opportunities that would lead me to find my true life purpose.
My story is not unique on our team, it is simply one that we captured neatly with a picture and video to match. Every person on our team that joined thereafter (and likely many before me) has had their ‘just jump moment’, and often more than one. This is not by accident, or even by just sheer necessity. Rather based on the understanding that the act of taking a ‘leap of faith’ is a critical component to building the confidence that no matter the challenge at hand, with the right support team walking ‘step for step’ alongside you, there is no height you cannot reach.
-Ali H.
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