Hello,

My name is Bridgett Wilder, Founder of Perseverance Health & Wellness Coaching. I launched Perseverance as a dietitian and health coach after my own battle with major weight loss. I lost over 150 lbs after going through some of the most traumatic experiences of my life. For me to have lost that amount of weight and keep it off, involved me digging deep to move my lifestyle into complete wellness. 

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Before starting Perseverance, I was a stay-at-home wife, and mother of ten Children. Yes, ten! I married my husband at the age of 20 in 1992, and we started our family right away. I supported my husband while he started his own business, and I raised our children. Looking back, I really put my all into my family to the point where I forgot about myself and my needs. I was certainly the backbone of the family, and kept it all together in order to keep the Wilder train moving. However, things really took a shift after the passing of my fifth child Beatrice in 2006.

 

She was born with a neurological disorder, Leukodystrophy, from which she passed away due to complications. Losing a child is a deep hurt that is very difficult to describe, but I can say as a person who devotes my life to my children, it changes you. Then 3 years following the passing of my daughter, my husband passed away from congestive heart failure at the age of 37 in 2009. We had been married for 17 years, and up until that point we had spent my entire adulthood together. Think about this... you are 36 years old, with nine surviving children, you lose your soul mate, life partner, and the father of your children who was also the sole source of income for the family. At this point I was over 300 lbs, suffering from grief, depression, and had to feed 9 children with no college degree. ( I had left college in order to raise my family shortly after marrying my husband). 

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How do you put your life together as a new widow with nine children? Digging deep and figuring out my "why" to my purpose. I had to be there for my family because I was their hope, and they were my strength. After my husband's passing, I got my first job in almost 20 years as a receptionist, and returned to school in hopes of building a new life. With all of this, I also began my journey of weight loss. Through my weight loss journey, I understood my emotions were contributing to my negative eating behaviors. I found comfort in food that I had not felt in my life for a very long time. In my attempt to place my eating behaviors into a healthier lifestyle, I fell in love with nutrition and the why behind negative eating. I graduated from Mount Mary University in 2018, with a degree in Dietetics with an emphasis on psychology. I had also published my first book, "Why Me? A Question I Refuse To Ask God?". A book detailing my experiences growing up, and my journey to self love.

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After graduating, I started Perseverance to help others find their why. I started a new lifestyle that involved what I believe to be the three points of wellness: mind, body, and spirit. I needed to practice wellness in all three in order to live a healthier lifestyle so I can be there for my children, and for the first time, myself.

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Sharing My Story

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I believe that my experiences in life have given me the responsibility to share what it means to Persevere. I have had the opportunity to speak to audiences, especially women, about overcoming life circumstances and living in their truth. As a motivational speaker, I share my experiences in entrepreneurship while overcoming hardship, as a mother building a career, as a woman overcoming disease, and from many different facets of my life. When listeners walk away from any of my speaking engagements, I want them to feel a newfound appreciation and optimism for life. I specialize in helping others to discover their "why".

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For more information on booking for Motivational or Keynote Speaking, please click here to contact us.

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