I’m glad you’re here.
My name is Jake Foster, and I am many things: lover, philosopher, clown, trainer, software engineer, leader, man, poet, warrior. For most of my life, my business cards would tell a singular story: “I am a highly experienced web developer with over a decade of experience in the tech industry. Over those years, I’ve worked on more projects than I can count. From building websites for small businesses to developing large-scale applications for multinational corporations, I’ve managed over 50 million dollars in budgets.”
I’ve always been a keen observer of life; I’ve always been interested in the “why” of things. This gnawing “why” eventually had me attend college at a small philosophy school in Santa Fe, NM (St. John’s College). I went looking for answers in the Western historical conversation and came out with even more questions than I had before.
Sort of aimlessly moving through life, and not knowing which direction to go, I sought to increase my overall comfort day-to-day. This time passed easily, without much to show or look back on. After a few years of this way of living, a major life event happened and once again I didn’t know where to turn. I was 30 pounds overweight. I wasn’t taking care of myself mentally. I had no spiritual practices. I wasn’t sleeping well, ADHD symptoms were starting to take control of my life. I wasn’t fulfilled in any sense. I decided to try to meditate for the first time in my life. After sitting quietly in a dimly lit room for about an hour I heard a voice as clear as day: “heal yourself”.
Since that time, my interests have expanded beyond the digital world and into the realm of fitness and holistic wellness. I have become deeply invested in promoting healthy living and have dedicated a significant amount of time to learning about different aspects of fitness, including kickboxing and personal training (functional strength training and calisthenics). Not knowing where to begin, and naturally skeptical of many of the “miracle claims” with which social media is fraught, I began questioning all of the claims that I found myself wanting to believe. “If I take this supplement, will it increase my happiness?” “By changing my sleep patterns, will my ADHD symptoms become more manageable?” My career as an engineer has left me with a highly skeptical and inquisitive mindset. I began asking “why” primarily as a means to understand how a lot of these claims were being made.
Since 2018, I have been actively teaching kickboxing and providing personal training and coaching services to clients seeking to improve their fitness, health, and overall wellness. My combined knowledge and dedication to helping others achieve their wellness goals has earned me a reputation as a caring and highly effective trainer.
I used to want to be great. In fact, I wanted to be the greatest, but I didn’t know exactly what exactly I wanted to be great at. One thing that I always knew I wanted to do is help people. In my earliest social memories, I was doing this. I remember that I used to go on walks with my friends to help them with issues they may be having at school or with a girlfriend, etc, or simply just to ponder life. Not having had much applicable life experience at such a young age, I found myself relying heavily on my intuition during these walks: a skill that I accredit to my wonderful mother and the various other powerful women that she brought into my life.
My mom was a midwife throughout my childhood. I recall many nights where her beeper (yes, beeper… it was a different era) would go off and she’d run out the door with her jacket half on her arms and sand still in her eyes. There were many other special and powerful women that worked alongside her at the birthing center that she would frequently take me to as a young child. There was a lot to be seen in the birthing center: lining the halls were ink-stamped footprints of newborns, there were strange potions in the refrigerator and bizarre instruments in the drawers, brocade curtains and big bouncy balls. Most importantly, there were women. Not just any women, but women who were committing to the task of bringing life into the world. It is bone-breaking work. It is one of the most common miracles known to us. It is potentially the realest moment anyone can experience. If you have been in the room while someone is giving birth, you know my meaning. Time shifts and focus narrows. Everything in the room becomes pregnant. Everything becomes a part of the miracle. Of course, this could be the remembrance of a small child having borne witness to multiple births, though I really think that even to this day, there is a proudly deep pool of wisdom to be gained from the act of giving birth, or even just being near it. Seeing it, hearing it, feeling it. Being around childbirth and the mighty unflinching women who were facilitating it, I believe either instilled in me or tapped a font of intuition within me that would serve me throughout the rest of my life. My intuition has been my greatest navigational tool when my reason leave me wanting or uncertain. It is my intuition that has brought me to the place I am today with regard to my capacity to help others.