Long before Kelly Clarkson won American Idol, the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” was, for many, a personal mantra. One of those people may have very well been Tambryn Crimson-Dahn.
Growing up in an abusive adoptive home, denied the supportive environment every young girl needs, Tambryn pushed her dreams aside. Later, a sexual assault compounded the complicated relationship she had between her body and the world around her. It would be enough to make anyone question their purpose in life.
But her struggles didn’t end there. At 28, she reached her heaviest weight, and standing just over five feet tall, faced morbid obesity. It affected every aspect of her life, from her day-to-day comfort to her mental health. Add to that she was experiencing a life-changing addiction to pills prescribed to help manage her emotions, and she struggled to find a reason to strive for more than she had been dealt.
That’s when it hit her: if others won’t step up to help her, she had to rely on her own ingenuity and talents to forge the life she knew she deserved. Which is exactly what she did.
Moving Toward Healing
Tambryn was initiated into the world of fitness with strength training, which helped her feel more at home in her body and allowed her to see it as a cherished friend, not the enemy. Self-defense classes further boosted her confidence (“Everyone should try it,” she insists), and the knowledge that she was capable of making changes to her physical self, free of outside intervention, fortified her desire to help others in the same way.
After overcoming her dark early days, Tambryn now finds purpose in her work, time spent with her infant son (who is also her company’s “brand ambassador”), and sharing her story with any and all who will listen.
She eventually lost an astounding 90 pounds through tweaks to her eating habits and with the help of exercise, giving her renewed energy to break free from what had previously held her back. However, she isn’t one to claim that it’s an easy path—for anyone. “Ironically, I don’t love working out,” Tambryn shares with a laugh. “But fitness makes me feel more than strong. It makes me feel superhuman, instead of feeling dead inside.”
Recognizing the amazing benefits that she gained from her efforts in the gym—she even weaned herself off the medications that she had been addicted to for years—Tambryn wanted to share it with the world. She pursued a career as a personal trainer (though she no longer practices fitness exclusively), and eventually added to her credentials with certifications in addiction recovery, attachment-based family therapy, and trauma healing.
“Many years ago, I realized the need for something that wasn’t yet available in the world of mental health treatment, as many people would struggle for years after leaving rehab or being hospitalized following a mental health crisis, and would return to inpatient facilities several more times,” she explains.
“Sometimes I have to step aside, to divorce myself from it all, and give myself a break.”
It’s this integrated approach that she uses with the clients of her business, Crimson Holistic Wellness, where she listens to and guides clients through their own traumatic events. “We provide the comprehensive, individualized aftercare that inpatient services, psychiatry, and therapy alone do not provide,” she explains. “I volunteer with the nonprofit American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, helping to advocate for mental health and prevent suicide-related crises.”
Serving Hamilton County, Indiana, as well as those outside of the area through Zoom, she and her team help others reach their own epiphanies through strategies that she employed in her own journey. Of course, she recognizes this as the huge responsibility it is, one that can be mentally and emotionally draining in its own right. “Sometimes I have to step aside, to divorce myself from it all, and give myself a break,” Tambryn admits. “It’s necessary.”
Embarking on New Adventures
Today, Tambryn is on a new, clearer path, with her husband Mark and two sons alongside her every step of the way. Their oldest, from her husband’s previous marriage, and youngest have a whopping 24-year difference in age between them, adding an entirely different dynamic to the family unit. But even though it can be chaotic, it’s exactly what Tambryn has been searching for all these years. She has even found the strength to publish a memoir titled You Believe Me? that details her journey from broken to healing, illustrated with the help of personal journals that she kept over the years.
Even though she’s crossed many items off her to-do list, Tambryn isn’t resting on her laurels as she approaches 40. Expanding the motivational speaking aspect of her business is high on her list of goals for the coming year, as is promoting her book. Above all, she wants to ensure that she reaches an audience who may find a glimmer of themselves in her story.
“For me, fitness is about becoming superhuman, despite anything life throws at you,” she shares. “That’s the only real goal I have: to prove that I’m superhuman, and to show others it’s possible for them.” Anyone who has spoken with her, benefitted from her services, or simply learned her story would certainly agree that she’s already reached that goal.
