APPLETON, Wis. — As Maria Munoz rattled off everything she’s got going on in her life, and what’s on the horizon, it made you feel frazzled.
“I don’t ever feel, like, stress,” she said.
She made this proclamation because running multiple health and wellness businesses, starting her own foundation, helping others grow their business and ensuring she still finds time to take care of herself — that’s not stressful. Not to her.
Munoz knows all about stress. And it’s not, this.
“Until like my early 20s I always was told like, ‘I can’t do things,’ or ‘I’m not that smart,’ or ‘You’re just a troublemaker,’” she said. “You know what I mean?”
Some may. Most of us don’t.
She dropped out of Oshkosh West High School her senior year, and later moved to Chicago. She eventually returned to Wisconsin to start over. She was also battling an eating disorder for more than a decade. But when she became a parent, she knew she had no choice but confront her illness.
“I knew if I didn’t change things, I was probably going to die from it,” she said.
That’s stress.
The irony of Munoz’s youth was while she endured ridicule from many around her, she possessed an active gene within that encouraged her to help others.
And that’s what she wanted to do. But she had to get out of her own way first.
“Stop making these stupid decisions that are affecting my life,” she said.
The birth of her son made her confront her eating disorder in a way that counseling and therapy could not. She went back and got her GED, then moved back to Wisconsin.
The road was far from smooth, and she hit a few more potholes that slowed her down.
“In my low 30s, I started to get just some health problems,” she said. “I was getting hurt. I just didn’t feel well. I wasn’t taking care of myself. Or eating good, or anything.
“And so I had injured my rotator cuff, and the doctors wanted to do surgery. And I was like, ‘No, I can’t do surgery. I can’t do that. I have to work.’”
She went to a couple of physical therapy sessions, got some instruction and worked out on her own.
She fell in love with the weight-training aspect of rehab. She said she couldn’t get enough. Within a year, she entered a fitness competition. Her shoulder healed and her other health issues began to disappear.
“So after a couple more years, then of course people want to see what you’re doing,” she said. “So they’re asking me for help, and I loved it.”
She quit her job in hospitality and went and got her certification in personal training.
“I had no business quitting my job,” she said. “I took every penny I had and put it in ads on social media. And that’s how I got my first couple of clients.”
She grew her business, “Evolve with Maria,” using Facebook. Though she had no marketing training, she just figured it out.
As her business developed, she knew she wanted to own her own gym. She found her ideal location and went to get a bank loan. But this was post-COVID, when many gyms had been forced to shutter. She couldn’t even get a meeting.
“They think I’m crazy,” she said.
What she was, was determined. During the pandemic, she started a Facebook Live private group and did training that way. She had over 75 clients.
“I did really well,” she said. “I didn’t struggle.”
She met with a friend, a retired banker, who told her the husband of one of her clients was in banking. He helped set up a meeting. She met Mike Waters, but he informed her that the proposed business was not the kind of lending they normally do.
But they kept meeting. He learned of the success she had during COVID and eventually gave her the loan.
“I guess he was impressed enough with what I was pulling in to give me the funding,” she said. “But I never would have probably qualified for anything unless they would have taken it on.”
Maria Munoz squeezed in our interview between overseeing an expansion in one of her gyms and planning for a gala to launch her 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation: Mudita.
It was the theme for her son’s Neenah High School wrestling team and comes from Sanskrit and Pali. It means, “Taking the delight the happiness of others; vicarious joy.”
The purpose of the foundation is multi-faceted. Its focus will be youth fitness, providing affordable access to classes and offer programs designed to elevate athletic performance — all under the umbrella of combating childhood obesity and teaching proper nutrition.
“She has a heart of gold,” said Jane Zuck, who has been a client of Munoz since 2016. “Because she didn’t need to add more onto her plate. I mean, she has a lot going on right now. But she really wanted to do that because she wants to benefit other people. So she keeps trying to, you know, pay it forward.”
Through all of her work, Munoz, at heart, has remained a personal trainer who knows the importance of the personal touch.
“I feel like everyone knows that she genuinely cares about people,” said Zuck. “You know, she really wants the best for everyone. She wants them to get healthy. You know, it’s not just a job to her. It’s not just a, you know, a way for her to make money.
“I think that she truly enjoys the relationships and cares about people and that’s probably why everyone really adores her so much. That’s genuine, and it’s obvious. So people really connect with her.”
I asked Munoz what her 20-year-old self would think of her today.
“I figured it out, and did it on my own,” she said. “I had support, and without that support, I wouldn’t be where I am. But I did figure it out. I made it happen. And I’m happy.”
To learn more about “Evole with Maria”, click here.
Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 or at michael.t.woods1@charter.com
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information and portions were changed for the protection of family members. (Dec. 9, 2022)