Taylor Hester

Share your military spouse story:
Growing up I had no connection with the military community other than what I saw in movies. Upon arrival at my first duty station as a spouse (OCONUS) I struggled with my identity having left the comfortable, predictable life I knew behind me. I quickly recognized the challenges of trying to gain employment, maintain friendships, and discover my place within the military community. I decided to complete my personal training certification, although I was unclear on what do to with it. It was during that first duty station in Germany where I noticed some significant gaps in military spouses' ability to take care of their physical and mental health: constantly looking for ways to lose weight but unable to access the on-post fitness centers because of the constant op-tempo of training and lack of childcare. It was also in here that we became pregnant with our first daughter, Macey, who is medically complex. Learning to become a parent of children with disabilities thrust me into a new demographic of military spouses: those who need to take care of themselves for the sake of their families but are limited by time, finances, and accessibility. Over the next three duty stations, a deployment, another baby (our son, Patrick), the pandemic, another OCONUS move, company (battery) command, our son's Autism diagnosis, and (of course) another deployment, I met many fellow spouses who inspired me to leave the world of coaching for weight loss and teach my fellow spouses and their families how to make long term changes to their health without tying their worth to their physical appearance. Many of my continued education certifications were dedicated to taking care of the WHOLE body. During my time as a military spouse, I also discovered my passion for supporting military spouse and veteran-owned businesses. The support that I have received and been able to give in turn has grown my confidence as an entrepreneur/business owner, fitness coach, mother, wife, and friend.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
In December 2024, military families in Colorado faced losing in-network care at The Children's Hospital of Colorado due to a contract dispute between DHA, TriWest (our new insurance provider), and the Children's Hospital of Colorado care network. Colorado Springs is home to 3 branches: Army, Space Force, and Air Force. There are thousands of military families who either chose CO for their pediatric specialty care (like our family) or were assigned here due to the care their family members needed. Losing the CH of Colorado would cause these military families to lose the care they needed and continue to cause declines in military readiness and retention. Through the support of many concerned parents at Fort Carson and my fellow EFMP community, I helped organize a petition that Fort Carson military families could send to their representatives both within the state of Colorado and in other states. We had support from many out of state families, both military and civilian!

Describe your involvement in the military community:
I always aim to focus my involvement on the needs of my local community. During my spouse's time in command in Hawaii, our Battalion hosted an all-ranks ball. Cost of living and access to ball gowns on island was something that prevented many of our junior enlisted members from attending the ball. I organized an island-wide gown swap that would allow not only our battalion to enjoy their ball, but many other military spouses and members. I was publicly recognized by Battalion and Division leadership for my efforts to our local community. Here at Fort Carson, I am on the general board for the Mountain Post Spouse's Club which participates in raising funds for Ft. Carson student scholarships or non-profit grants. Currently, I am the editing manger at The Military Mom Collective: an online resource for all branches, ranks, and members of the military community. My duties as editor help promote valuable resources that our mothers in our community can use to connect with others.

Describe how you support your community:
I have a created an online community where military spouses and their families can receive evidence-based information about how to improve their overall health that is free from diet culture messaging! Although I am a business owner, I do not feel that gate-keeping information about taking care of your body is helpful to a demographic that faces time and financial barriers. Along with different fitness programs, I also have free forums that allow fellow spouses to learn about taking care of their bodies without the all-or-nothing mentality that can aggravate prevalent disordered behaviors that are often passed along to our children. These free platforms include a private Facebook group with seminars, free a newsletter subscription discussing fitness information in digestible amounts, and my public instagram profile. Throughout the year I also take time to promote other military spouse and veteran owned small businesses on my platforms on "The Saturday Shout Out!"

What do you advocate for? Why?
In my personal life, I advocate for my two children who are part of the EFM Program. There are many times that I have been incredibly grateful for EFMP, but I have also noticed that having children with disabilities can isolate families like mine. Paying attention to legislation and supporting other EFMP families make everyone's experience as a military family better! Professionally, I cultivated an online space for military spouses to care for their physical and emotional bodies without judgement of size or fitness level. Fitness has to be doable and encouraging before it can be tough. Military spouses face many barriers when it comes to being able to take care of their fitness, and it we need to recognize those barriers as coaches! Simply making health about weight loss or buying my programs does not better the military population. Understanding the social determents of health that military families face and giving spouses autonomy in their health journeys is far more powerful.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
The military community, specifically spouses, face barriers that prevent them from accessing information about how to care for their bodies due to time, childcare, finances, and other resources. Gate-keeping information about taking care of their bodies by means of payment ignores the social determents of health that many military families face. I offer free information on my platforms (by means of social media, newsletters, and seminars) that do not glorify weight loss or disordered behaviors so that all spouses, regardless of their size, can make healthier choices for themselves and their families. Along with promoting size-inclusive fitness, I also emphasize the importance of supporting military affiliated small businesses. Each month I allow military affiliated small businesses to participate in "The Saturday Shout Out" where they can promote their products for free on my social media and newsletter. This allows many small businesses new followers for their products!

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
If earned, my hope is to make connections with legislators and officials about bettering the social determinants of health for military families. This would look like advocating for military families to have better access to on-site family fitness rooms at more on-post fitness centers that would allow them to utilize fitness equipment, family rooms at on-post health bod-pod centers where spouses can monitor their health, access to free in-home fitness programs, and better access to registered dietitians who do not use diet culture messaging. Furthermore, I would advocate to change on post fitness and bod-pod health center messaging which tends to associate fitness with thinness. Giving military spouses the opportunity to improve their fitness with inclusive, appropriate on-base policies will improve military readiness and retention standards because we will see the effects of spouses thriving in their local communities, rather than feeling discouragement in their health.