Growing up as the youngest of three girls, Shay’s childhood was far from perfect. With a heroin addict as a mother and an alcoholic father, her home life was anything but stable and nurturing. Homeless with her mother at the age of 5, Shay witnessed her mother’s drug abuse first hand and due to the transient lifestyle Shay was placed in the foster care system where she remained until her 18th birthday. Despite everything stacked against her, Shay was determined to beat the odds and was the first in her family to attend and graduate from college. In 2001, she obtained her BA in Psychology from Vanguard University. Shay took her degree to Maryland where she ran a camp for children with mental health illnesses. Realizing that there is much need in this area, Shay pursued her Masters degree in Social Work at California State University, Long Beach. While in graduate school, Shay met and married her husband Gene and became a stepmother to Damari & Caleb. Shay never quit working full-time and two part-time jobs, and graduated with a 4.0 in 2009.
While Shay was able to overcome some of the issues she faced in childhood there was one she had not focused on, her health. For as long as Shay could remember, she had been overweight. In the past 10 years Shay had found that stress, emotions and learned eating habits had continued to increase her weight. A few days after Shay’s 26th birthday her mother passed away from drug related complications. It was this event that caused Shay to realize that she needed help to conquer her own addiction, food.
The first step in this next part of Shay’s life would be when she became a contestant on NBC’s hit reality series “The Biggest Loser.” Shay began her journey on the show at 476 lbs, weighing in as the heaviest contestant on the show. Shay triumphed though 9 weeks and many emotional and physical breakthroughs on the show, setting a new record for a female losing 100 lbs in just 9 weeks. Shay returned home to her family and community and continued her journey by losing an additional 72lbs at home. By the December 2009 finale of the show, Shay had lost 172 pounds total weighing in at 304lbs. Subway, a longtime sponsor of “The Biggest Loser,” gave Shay incentive to continue her weight loss journey by offering her $1,000 for every pound she loses at home between now and the next season finale in May, 2010. Shay continues her journey to health and fitness and is sharing it with her family friends and her community.
Shay currently is still a social worker for a non-profit agency in Orange County. She works at reunifying foster youth with their families. Shay is also teaching to graduate psychology students part time. Shay resides in Orange County, CA where she enjoys spending time with her husband and two stepsons in the beautiful southern California sun. Since the beginning of this transformation Shay’s primary motivation has not changed: to live a long and healthy life with her husband and stepsons and hoping to change many things in this world one step at a time.
As a social worker, Shay has a passion for inspiring and motivating others to find their inner strength. She continues to do this through teaming up with organizations, speaking and spreading her love of life to businesses, schools, churches, grief groups, and health and wellness communities. Shay addresses groups of all ages, with wide-ranging socio-economic backgrounds, and located in various geographical regions. As a motivational speaker Shay is hoping to inspire others to take the charge of their health and their lives in every way.
