Ilene Gershberg began her professional career working in the field of broadcast marketing and management. Six years of high intensity sales work for Taft Broadcasting radio stations, followed by 10 years at an NBC network affiliate television station provided Ilene success within the corporate arena. While those years produced wonderful monetary rewards, they took their toll on Ilene’s overall health. Motivated by the premature death of her mother, Ilene decided to reevaluate the focus of her career.
Subsequently, Ilene received her certification through American College of Sports Medicine. She then established a private practice with a concentration on individual counseling in the areas of sound eating principles, weight loss and overall health and prevention. By the end of 1999, Ilene was still frustrated with her own personal health inadequacies. She was in and out of physical therapist’s offices, still overweight and suffering from a poor immune system. Ilene was still living as the "typically inactive and overstressed professional executive". Ilene’s frustrations, an increasing responsibility to serve as a better role model for her clients and attaining the age in which her mother contracted cancer prompted a transformation. Finally Ilene was driven to achieve permanent results in weight loss and commit to her “life-long work in progress” for on-going enhanced health and fitness.
Three Resolution Goals on New Years Eve 2000 shaped renewed vision for physical improvements in Ilene’s life. Goal #1 – Year #1: Ilene achieved her weight loss goal. Goal #2 – Year #2: Become Athletic – Ilene started running and won awards placing in various local races, she ran in three ½ marathons (including the NYC ½ Marathon on two occasions) and completed the renowned Chicago Marathon three weeks after 9/11. Goal #3 – Year #3: To look as athletic as she had become, Ilene entered a national fitness challenge implementing her own customized lifestyle-based programs to achieve her goal. This popular national competition sported over 100,000 entries. It was judged 50% on documentation of physical transformation resulting from supplementation, nutrition, cardiovascular, core abdominal work and resistance training. The other 50% was judged on the written responses to sports psychology based essay questions. Ilene finished the 2002 Challenge as a Finalist scoring in the Top 4% Nationally. From Year #1, Ilene lost a total of 40 lbs., reduced her dress size from a 13/14 to a 2/4, lowered her body fat from 27% to 14.1% and lost overall 46 inches.
Today Ilene battles the “globesity epidemic”. She is fighting back as obesity and compromised health reaches epidemic proportions attacking the future potential of today’s hard working professionals, as well as, the businesses that employ them. She provides reality based education, motivation and results-oriented success strategies critical to improving health, daily productivity and performance at work and in life. Ilene is a board member of the Central Florida National Speakers Association and travels nationwide passionately energizing thousands of people at executive conferences, corporate meetings and management retreats.
Ilene is also a member of the International Federation of Professional Speakers. She is unique to the speaking industry because she offers a variety of skills and empathy blending together her corporate life experiences coupled with her national fitness certification and expertise. Few speakers have the exceptional ability to provide inspiration and valuable immediate take-away for audience sizes ranging from 20-2000, while engaging attendees in empowering career specific health demonstrations. Fun and unique extras include interactive team spirited contests, accountability partnership programs, prizes & $$$ give-aways plus FREE Health Smart e-Tips for follow-up and support.
Committed and passionate about her philosophy that "Enhanced health & fitness maximizes productivity and fulfillment in life"... Ilene feels a strong dedication to help others achieve great success and it shows!
