Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Reyes.
Hi Chelsea, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Whew… where do I even start? 😂
My story definitely wasn’t a straight line to becoming the woman I am today.
I became a mom at 20, and honestly, that version of me had no idea what life was about to teach her. I gained a lot of weight after having my daughter, eventually reaching around 200 pounds, and somewhere between motherhood, relationships, responsibilities, and simply trying to survive life, I lost pieces of myself.
Fitness became one of the first places where I started finding myself again.
At first, the gym was about changing my body. I wanted to lose weight, feel confident, and recognize the woman looking back at me in the mirror again. But somewhere along the way, it became SO much bigger than that.
The gym taught me how to keep promises to myself. It taught me discipline when motivation disappeared. It taught me that I could do hard things, fall apart, rebuild, and still keep going.
And trust me… life gave me plenty of opportunities to test that. 😂
I’ve gone through heartbreak, major life transitions, motherhood, career changes, financial uncertainty, health setbacks, and seasons where I genuinely had to rebuild myself from the ground up. There have been moments where being “strong” wasn’t some cute inspirational quote, it was literally the only option I felt like I had.
But every version of me taught the next version something.
Eventually, my own transformation turned into a passion for helping other women transform too. I became a personal trainer, stepped into bodybuilding, became a nationally qualified competitor, and eventually grew into my role as Head Coach with Barbell Baddies.
But if you ask me what I’m most proud of, it isn’t a trophy, a title, a number on the scale, or even how my body looks.
It’s the woman I had to become to get here.
And that’s really what I try to teach women now.
Yes, I can teach you how to lift weights. Yes, I can teach you nutrition, progressive overload, and how to transform your body. But my heart is helping women realize that they are capable of becoming somebody they haven’t even met yet.
Especially the woman who has spent years taking care of everybody else.
The mom. The career woman. The woman starting over. The woman who looks strong to everybody around her but privately feels exhausted. The woman who knows there’s another level of herself in there somewhere but has no idea how to get her back.
Girl, I KNOW her.
Because I’ve been her.
Today, I’m a mother, coach, athlete, leader, and entrepreneur but more than anything, I’m still becoming.
I’m still learning. Still healing. Still building. Still choosing myself. Still trying to get 1% better.
And I think that’s the biggest message behind my story: you do not have to have your entire life figured out before you start becoming the woman you know you’re capable of being.
Sometimes you build her one workout, one boundary, one decision, one hard season, and one brave little 1% at a time. 🩷
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. 😂 If anything, I feel like I took the scenic route with a couple breakdowns, detours, and “girl, WHAT are we doing?” moments along the way.
One of my biggest struggles has been learning how to rebuild myself while still having responsibilities that didn’t stop just because I was struggling. I became a mom young, and there were seasons where I was trying to figure out who I was while simultaneously being responsible for raising another human being.
I’ve experienced heartbreak, unhealthy relationships, career changes, financial uncertainty, health setbacks, injuries, and moments where life forced me to start over when I absolutely did not feel ready to start over.
I’ve also had to learn that being the “strong one” can become its own struggle. When you’re used to figuring everything out, pushing through, taking care of everyone else, and making things happen, you can become really good at surviving while completely neglecting yourself.
Fitness became one of the places where I started breaking that cycle.
And even THAT journey hasn’t been perfect. I’ve lost weight, gained weight, competed, dealt with injuries and health setbacks, fallen out of routines, and had to find my way back more times than I can count.
That’s actually why I don’t preach perfection to the women I coach.
I preach the 1%.
Because I’ve learned that sometimes growth doesn’t look like completely changing your life overnight. Sometimes it’s getting out of bed when life feels heavy. Sometimes it’s choosing the gym instead of an old coping mechanism. Sometimes it’s setting a boundary. Sometimes it’s simply deciding, “I’m not abandoning myself today.”
I think my struggles are actually what made me the coach and woman I am today. I don’t teach resilience because I read about it somewhere. I teach it because I’ve had to live it.
My road has been messy, beautiful, painful, rewarding, and definitely not smooth but I wouldn’t erase the hard parts, because every single one of them helped build the woman I am becoming today. 🩷
As you know, we’re big fans of Barbell Baddies . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Barbell Baddies is so much bigger than just fitness to me. 🩷
We are an online fitness and lifestyle coaching community primarily helping busy women; especially women 30+, moms, career women, and women who feel like they’ve spent years putting themselves last build a body AND a life they feel confident in.
Of course, we teach the things people expect from fitness coaching: strength training, nutrition, progressive overload, cardio, accountability, and creating sustainable routines. But what really sets us apart is that we don’t just ask, “How much weight do you want to lose?”
We ask, “Who are you becoming in the process?”
Because I’ve learned that you can hand somebody the perfect meal plan and workout program, but if she’s overwhelmed, stressed, constantly starting over, struggling with her relationship with herself, or still operating from an all-or-nothing mindset, another diet probably isn’t the answer.
That’s why our coaching focuses heavily on mindset, habits, stress management, confidence, accountability, and identity alongside physical transformation.
Our philosophy is getting 1% better
You don’t have to completely reinvent your life on Monday. You don’t have to eat perfectly. You don’t have to live in the gym. And you definitely don’t have to punish yourself into becoming healthier.
We teach women how to build something they can actually maintain in REAL life.
As Head Coach, one of my favorite parts of what I do is getting to know the woman behind the check-in. I want to know what’s happening at work, at home, with her confidence, with her stress, and what keeps causing her to fall back into the same patterns. Sometimes the breakthrough has very little to do with adding another workout and everything to do with helping her finally stop abandoning herself when life gets hard.
That human element is something I never want our brand to lose.
And yes, we get physical results. I’ve watched women lose significant amounts of weight, get stronger, walk into the weight room confidently for the first time, improve their relationship with food, and do things they genuinely didn’t believe they were capable of doing.
But some of my proudest transformations can’t be captured in a before-and-after photo.
It’s the woman who finally wears the outfit.
The woman who stops hiding from pictures.
The mom who realizes taking care of herself doesn’t make her selfish.
The woman who walks into the gym without being terrified of what everyone thinks.
The woman who has a hard week and, instead of saying “screw it” and disappearing for three months, wakes up the next day and keeps going.
THAT is a Barbell Baddie
Brand-wise, I’m most proud that we’ve created a space where women can come exactly as they are while still being challenged to raise their standards for themselves. One of the sayings behind our brand is, “We don’t just lift weights, we lift standards,” and I think that describes us perfectly.
We’re building strong bodies, yes; but we’re also building confident, resilient women who know how to show up for themselves.
Our coaching offers different levels of accountability and support depending on where a woman is in her journey, because I don’t believe everybody needs the exact same approach. Our goal is to meet women where they are and give them the structure, education, accountability, and community they need to keep moving forward.
Ultimately, I want readers to know that you do not have to already feel like a “baddie” to belong here.
You don’t have to be fit enough.
You don’t have to lose weight first.
You don’t have to know your way around the gym.
You don’t even have to feel confident yet.
You become her along the way.
That’s what Barbell Baddies represents to me: women deciding that after years of pouring into everybody and everything else, they’re finally worthy of becoming a priority in their own lives too. 🩷
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Oh, absolutely. I always say that while I’ve had to do the work to become who I am today, I definitely did not get here alone. 🩷
Cedric Zachary has played a huge role in my journey as both a supporter and mentor. He saw potential in me, gave me opportunities to grow, challenged me to step into leadership, and helped me see that what I bring to the table goes far beyond being a fitness coach. Having someone believe in your ability while also pushing you to become better is something I’ll always be grateful for.
My family has also been a HUGE part of my foundation. My mom and dad have supported me through so many different versions of myself, and my three sisters Kennedy, Vanessa, and Raven have been there through the highs, the lows, the crazy ideas, the rebuilds, and everything in between. 😂 Having a family that reminds you who you are when life gets heavy is priceless.
And then there’s my daughter, Cataleya. 🥹 She is probably the biggest reason behind everything I do. She has grown up alongside me while I’ve been growing up myself. Becoming her mom at 20 completely changed the trajectory of my life. So much of my drive comes from wanting her to watch her mom pursue big dreams, fall down, get back up, reinvent herself when necessary, and never believe that one chapter gets to determine the rest of her story. I want her to know that she can build whatever life she wants for herself.
Women’s Wealth Academy has also been an important part of my growth, especially when it comes to expanding the way I think about business, wealth, leadership, and what is possible for me as a woman and entrepreneur. Being surrounded by women who are thinking bigger and building bigger will make you realize very quickly that sometimes your next level requires a new room.
And I absolutely have to give flowers to my friends. Mariah, Chay, Stephanie, and so many others have loved me through some of my darkest seasons. They’ve listened to me cry, reminded me of who I was when I couldn’t see it myself, celebrated my wins, and sometimes simply held me up until I could stand on my own again.
I also have to credit the women I coach. My clients probably don’t realize how much they inspire me too. Watching a woman go from doubting herself to doing things she once thought were impossible constantly reminds me why I started doing this in the first place.
I think success is often presented like one person climbed this huge mountain completely alone, but that hasn’t been my experience at all.
Yes, I climbed.
But there were people yelling from the bottom, people climbing beside me, people reaching down from above, and people reminding me to keep going when I wanted to sit my ass on the side of the mountain and be DONE. 😂
So when my name is attached to something successful, there are a whole lot of fingerprints on it and I will never stop giving those people their flowers. 🩷
Pricing:
- Platinum Coaching – 6 Months: $2,495 paid in full or $499/month. Our highest level of accountability, including personalized coaching and weekly check-ins.
- Platinum Coaching – 12 Months: $5,489 paid in full or $249.50 biweekly. Designed for women looking for long-term coaching, accountability, and support throughout their transformation.
- Gold Coaching – 6 Months: $1,350 paid in full or $225/month. Includes personalized programming and 30-day coaching check-ins for women who want structure with a little more independence.
- Flexible Payment Options: Financing options through Klarna and Afterpay may be available for qualified clients, with payments potentially as low as $87/month, depending on approval.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://go.barbellbaddies.com/accelerator-5150-7887
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ibuildbaddies/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChelsReneeR
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Ibuildbaddies
- Other: https://linktr.ee/IBuildBaddies
