Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Petrony.
Hi Kristin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
At 38, I was 20 pounds heavier than I wanted to be, exhausted, and honestly falling apart. I was a mom and a public school math teacher, and life was hectic. Then I found out the extra weight around my stomach was putting me at high risk for heart disease. I pictured my son growing up without his mom, and that was the moment I got serious.
I tried all the weird fads like detoxes and extreme diets. None of it worked.
Then a friend introduced me to strength training, and I started tracking my macros to get my protein up. Up to that point, I had never touched a barbell in my life and suddenly I was a 38 year old mom pulling deadlifts and squatting with a bar. Who was I? I learned how to eat for my goals with enough protein and fiber while still enjoying pizza with my family. As I got stronger, I started seeing how capable my body was. That lesson followed me everywhere, not just the gym.
At 40, I started competing in powerlifting, ultimately setting 2 IPL world records along with dozens of state and national records. Around that time I got certified in personal training and nutrition and started coaching women nights and weekends. In 2021, I left teaching to run my coaching business full time, in person in Nashville and online worldwide.
In 2024, at 46, a routine mammogram found early-stage breast cancer. Sitting in the chair before my biopsy, one thought kept looping: “Am I going to die?” Right behind it: “No. I am strong.”
I finished treatment in spring of 2025 and I’m a survivor. That’s exactly why I coach women the way I do now. You don’t get to choose when life tests you, so you need to build the strength before you need it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I already mentioned the yo-yo dieting years and the cancer diagnosis, so I won’t rehash those. But some of the hardest struggles happened in between.
Leaving a stable teaching paycheck to build a coaching business from scratch was terrifying. I was prepared for many things, but nothing could prepare me for everything!
The one that really caught me off guard was mental health. Learning to set boundaries and protect my time was critical. Teacher life doesn’t teach those things very well, in fact, teacher life capitalizes on them. So as a business owner, I had to learn real quick how to do that so that I could avoid burn out.
What made that journey more difficult was a late in life ADHD diagnosis that came just as I was completing cancer treatment. On top of that, add perimenopause to the mix which only amplifies ADHD. With a fantastic therapist and the right medication, I came out of this stage of life stronger, wiser, and a cancer survivor.
But that’s the thing about strength, I think. It wasn’t ever about avoiding the hard stuff. It’s about building a body and a mind that can handle what gets thrown at it, and knowing when to ask for help instead of trying to push through alone.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Kris Petrony Fitness?
I’m a women’s strength and nutrition coach. Specifically, I focus on Gen X and Millennial women and helping them build strong bodies that can carry all the groceries in one trip, keep up with kids and pets, and stop feeling so tired all the time. We do this through strength training that fits their real life without ever giving up the foods they love.
I coach women in person in Nashville and online worldwide through a customized strength and nutrition program, plus a lower cost monthly membership for women who want structure and community without full coaching.
What sets me apart is that I built my business around the opposite of the diet industry. I don’t sell restriction or quick fixes. I teach women how food and training work and how they can be adjusted as life changes and as their goals change.
I’m also unapologetically feminist about it. The idea that women should be small, delicate, and constantly dieting is a patriarchal narrative, and I built my brand to push back on it directly. My clients are done shrinking and ready to take up space, build visible muscle, and be proud of it.
What I’m proudest of is our community. We call ourselves the Girl Gang and the Girl Gang is full of women cheering on each other’s deadlift PRs the same way they cheer a job promotion. I built it this way on purpose. We all want to be a part of something. We all want someone to cheer us on. Sometimes when women start lifting, it’s hard to find people in “regular life” who can get excited about a deadlift PR. But when you’re in the Girl Gang, we will always be the loudest in the room!
If there’s one thing I want people to take from my brand, it’s the motto that I developed during my cancer journey: “You will never regret being strong, but the day might come when you wish you were.” So we start now.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I spent years in the gym building muscle and lifting heavy because I loved powerlifting and I loved what it did for my body and my mindset. I never once thought about it in any other way. It was just my life.
I didn’t know it at the time, but all those years weren’t about powerlifting. I have learned that all those years spent building a strong body and feeding my body well were so that I could face breast cancer head on. I thought I was training for powerlifting meets. Turns out I was training for something much bigger.
I guess that’s the lesson. You don’t get to pick when life is going to test you. Health emergencies don’t wait for a convenient time. Accidents don’t send a warning. So the work has to happen before you need it, not after.
Pricing:
- In person coaching: Starting at $140 bi-weekly
- Online 1-on-1 Coaching: $125 bi-weekly
- Online group Coaching: $109.99 monthly
- Strength Workout Subscription Plan: $12.99 monthly
Contact Info:
- Website: https://krispfit.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krispetronyfit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrisPetronyFit/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@krispetronyfit
