Hey! My name is Samantha Ulysse and I am the face behind CoachingBySam. Throughout my childhood, I danced recreationally and slowly ramped my way into competitive dance. After having spent only one season as a competition dancer, I had to quit due to a knee injury which was diagnosed as a bone bruise leading me into about a year of PT and rehab.

After my recovery, I refocused my passion into the gym and fitness. When COVID shut the world down as we know it, I created a makeshift gym in my mom’s basement and persistently worked out until gyms started to open back up. With this new opportunity to explore weights and equipment, I found my love for powerlifting.

Since then, I have put hundreds of hours of work and effort into the sport in hopes of becoming one of the best. Amongst this effort to become an elite-level powerlifter, I have faced devastating injury. 10 days out from my first powerlifting meet, I pulled a muscle in my back and was forced to drop out of the competition and start from square one.

As I have navigated my way through another series of rehab and recovery, I have reworked my mental approach to the sport to become more mentally resilient and acquired a wealth of knowledge on how to approach injury and work my way back up to the top. I have taken on the challenge to program and coach myself through my next powerlifting meet prep and am committed to getting all the insight I can from this experience to best help clients who are currently working around an injury or have nagging effects of previous injuries. 

Alongside this dedication to my sport, I have also invested in my craft of coaching by dedicating countless time to perfecting what I do and growing my knowledge base. As an Exercise Science student, I am constantly immersed and soaking in new information on a daily basis.

On top of the conceptual knowledge I am learning, I am able to convert it into applied work as I service clients ranging from young athletes to older populations, alongside coaches and colleagues who elevate me to become the best coach I can. Day in and day out I am advancing through textbook knowledge, applied training, feedback from those more well-versed than I am, and unwavering commitment to providing my clients with the best experience in the realm of online coaching.