Amanda Sterczyk

Amanda Sterczyk is a woman who rises to meet the challenges that come her way. Having faced the troubling loss of her sister, to her daughter having Type 1 Diabetes, a life-threatening diabetes where the pancreas produces no insulin, Amanda has found her way through it all, one day at a time. Her health and well-being are at the top of her priority list and she shares her message of strength, self-care and love of exercise with those who are looking to be well, stay active and live fully. She is this week’s Woman of the Week.

Tell us a little about yourself

Born and raised in Ottawa, with several brief stints on both coasts – PEI as a teen and Vancouver in my 20s. I just celebrated my 21st wedding anniversary married to my best friend – my husband Tim. We have 2 wonderful children and a great life. After spending my formative career years in health promotion research first and then human resources in the high tech industry, I decided I needed a change of pace that worked with our family life.

Since 2001, I had been following an amazing workout on TV called Classical Stretch. In late 2009, I discovered that I could train at home to teach the Essentrics technique, which is the foundation of Classical Stretch. I’ve been teaching Essentrics since 2010.

Last year, I started teaching Essentrics at a west end location, LiquidGym Therapy & Training Centre. After a few months there, the owners offered me a part-time job, managing their social media, conducting orientations in the pools with new clients, and teaching some of the water-based classes. I now divide my time between my family, Essentrics with Amanda and LiquidGym, and it’s a great combination.

Who inspires you in your life?

My kids, Simon and Emily, inspire me and help me keep my feet on the ground. They’re a lot more clear-headed and put together than I was at that age (15 and 13, respectively).
Who do I look up to?

Anybody above 5’8”.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your life? What did you do to move through them? What did you learn? What do you wish to share with others?

When Tim and I were planning our wedding (January 1995), my only sister Mary Lou was diagnosed with leukaemia and required a bone marrow transplant. Everyone in our family agreed to be tested as a match, but I already knew in my heart that I would be the donor. The transplant happened in May 1995, and Mary Lou stood beside me at our wedding in August of that year. Two days later, Tim and I moved to Vancouver where he was starting a new job the following month.

Two years later, while we were in Germany for the funeral of Tim’s grandfather, we got a call that Mary Lou’s cancer had come back and she was quite ill. There was a new experimental procedure called a stem cell transplant and the doctors wanted me to donate stem cells. We flew to Vancouver and then I turned around and headed to Ottawa for the next stage of cancer treatment. In the end, though, Mary Lou succumbed to her cancer a few months later, in June 1997.

Almost twenty years later, and a part of me still feels guilty that I didn’t do enough to help save my sister, that my body had failed her. This feeling is how I’ve felt often since our daughter Emily was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (an auto-immune disorder) at the age of 8 – that somehow my body was partly to blame for her diagnosis.
Emily doesn’t dwell on her diabetes – she accepts that it’s a part of life now and just focuses on living her life.

With help from my family and counselling with Pierrette, I’ve been able to accept that I didn’t fail my sister or my daughter. I’ve been able to put aside the feelings of guilt and move forward.
No matter what I’ve been going through, my husband has been my steady rock and supports me no matter how crazed I behave!

What are you most proud of?

How many people in Ottawa now know of and practice Essentrics. When I first started teaching in 2010, I was paying to teach my only weekly class because I had so few students. Now, I have 7 weekly classes in 3 locations, I’ve regularly appeared on local television to promote Essentrics, and I have over 1,000 followers on social media. Essentrics with Amanda has been built from the ground up, as my third career.

What do you want your older self to know?

Your health is everything – stay active, get enough sleep, and breathe.

Favourite quote.

If you can’t fly, then run.
If you can’t run, then walk.
If you can’t walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, keep moving.
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pierrette Raymond

Pierrette Raymond is a multi-business owner and philanthropist. She has been running businesses since 1996, and has a background in Psychology, Education, Grief and Bereavement. She is the owner of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Ottawa and Gatineau, and recently became a professional dog trainer with multiple certifications in dog behaviour and training. She is a four-time published author, speaker, facilitator, a community leader and also a member of the Forbes Coaches Council. She is the recipient of the Ontario Leading Women Building Communities award, given by the Government of Ontario to women in our province "who demonstrate exceptional leadership in working to improve the lives of others in their communities”. And she is a a Forty Under 40 Award Recipient.