10/04/2026
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER
If you haven’t met my husband, Kevin, before, when you do, you probably won’t forget him.
He is my alter ego in almost every way. Charismatic. Animated. Completely comfortable walking into a room full of strangers. He builds muscle like it’s his job, wears a tank top like it’s his uniform, can strike up a conversation with just about anyone, and has never met a microphone he didn’t like. He is also my silent partner in crime, my biggest cheerleader, and the person who believed in Functionize before I fully believed in it myself.
October is Kevin’s birthday month, so I wanted to give him a little shout-out.
Because behind most people doing something hard, there is usually someone standing quietly—or, in Kevin’s case, not so quietly—in their corner.
At heart, I’m still a small-town Pennsylvania girl with big dreams who occasionally needs convincing that she can actually do the big, scary things she dreams about. Kevin has always been the one saying, Why not you?
Maybe that comes from his own story. Kevin came to the United States from Cambodia in 1980 at just eleven years old after escaping the war in Southeast Asia..He arrived in a new country, learned a new language, adapted to a completely different culture, and began building a life from the ground up. And build he did.
He earned an engineering degree and later an MBA. He built a career. He became a husband and father of three. A loyal son, brother and friend. And somewhere along the way, he became the guy who convinced a physical therapist with three young children that opening her own practice was a perfectly reasonable idea. Thanks a lot, Kevin!
But that is what I love most about his story. It isn’t simply about where he started. It’s about what he chose to do next. Again. And again. And again.
I think we all have moments when we feel like the underdog. Maybe we’re changing careers, raising a family, rebuilding after loss, recovering from an injury, starting over, or simply wondering whether we’re capable of becoming the person we want to be.
Kevin’s life reminds me that where we begin doesn’t have to determine where we finish. That idea is woven into Functionize, too. We talk a lot about strength, movement, resilience and longevity. But those things aren’t really the goal.
The goal is the life they make possible. To keep showing up for the people you love. Take the trip. Run the race. Start the business. Raise the kids. Try something new. Fall down occasionally. Get back up. And hopefully laugh a lot along the way.
Kevin’s journey began under circumstances he never chose. But the life he built afterward?That is his legacy.
So this month, I’m celebrating my husband—not just for everything he has accomplished, but for the husband, father, son and friend he has become along the way. Happy birthday, Kevin.
Here’s to the underdogs, the dreamers, the second acts, and all of us still building what’s next. Our beginning is part of our story. It doesn’t have to write the ending.
