Martha Kester of Beaufort on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Martha Kester and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Martha, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Who are you learning from right now?
My husband and I had to put our cat down a month ago. I had this cat way before I had my husband but he grew to love her just as much. My husband and I are now getting a golden retriever puppy at the beginning of September. So, I am currently learning from a podcast I discovered called “Your New Puppy Podcast”. The host, Debbie, is a dog trainer with a true passion for what she does. I am listening to it every time I get in my car or doing work around the house. I am learning so much from her and the topics vary from the best dog toys to crate training and how to socialize a puppy. I highly recommend this podcast.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, my name is Martha Kester and I am a board certified health and wellness coach, in home personal trainer and yoga instructor. My company is PAUSE Wellness Co. and PAUSE is an acronym for Plants & Protein, Active Lifestyle, Understanding, Stress Management & Sleep and Elimination. All of these combine to make the formula for healthy living. PAUSE also means to stop, to get quiet, to listen. So many Americans are running from one thing to the next not giving enough time to breathe, to eat a home cooked meal, to exercise and to wind down enough for sleep. At PAUSE Wellness, I help men and women live their healthiest lives by adopting healthy habits. I encourage my clients to take small steps that are attainable and will lead to feelings of success. Those successes are celebrated which drives my clients forward to get the attainable step. The healthcare model we have is reactive- handing out pills. Health coaching on the other hand is part of a preventive model. Health coaches are experts in how to make change and its the “how” that is the hardest part about getting healthy.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Not sure I like the word powerful but an early memory of feeling strong was when I was riding Sky- one of the horses I rode in high school. I started riding at age 6 and my hero at the time was Marjorie Goldstein, a very big name in the competitive show jumping world at the time. She was tiny and always rode the biggest horses ever. My family couldn’t afford a horse (looking back now I completely understand as horses are so expensive) and at the time (as a kid) this was really hard for me to grasp but it also challenged me to think outside of the box. I started riding horses at the barn that no one wanted to ride. I would work them to the point that I could show them. On this particular day that I remember, I was on Sky, a dark bay almost black thoroughbred. He had a lot of energy. I remember him bucking and rearing up on his hind legs. I stayed on. I remember my trainer at the time talking me through it, cheering me on. This is the only time I remember Sky doing this with me. I continued to work with him and eventually went into horse shows with him.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I have suffered in my life and have had a varying degree of suffering. I would say I suffered while teaching school but I also suffered when my 19 year old cousin was murdered in 2020. In my first example, I learned to listen to my gut (at the time I felt it was my gut but now as a Christian I know it was the holy spirit moving me). I left teaching school in 2016 and became a health coach. I followed my passion and made a huge change in my life. In my last example, I learned a lot about suffering as a Christian and what that means. I learned that Jesus suffered. I learned that when we suffer we are to turn around and help others suffering sharing the same compassion that was given to us. I learned to turn my suffering into celebration and I (with the help of my mom) started a nonprofit in my cousin’s name. This nonprofit (now led by my cousins parents) is going strong and has done so much for the community my cousin grew up in and beyond. Suffering is inevitable but I have God to cling to and I know something will come from it. I have learned to look for the good in suffering even the smallest particle and I jump at the change to help others in similar situations that I have been in.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
In college, I became pescatarian. I stopped eating red meat, chicken and turkey. All I ate was fish, beans and vegetables. At the time, I thought this was smart. This way of eating became even more strict when I dropped carbs and all fats. I starved myself. I developed hypoglycemia in my mid 20s and became bulimic. I would run insane mileage after eating something I thought was “bad”. Fast forward 20 something years later and I eat meat and all kinds from turkey, chicken to fish and red meat on occasion. I eat healthy fats, non starchy carbs and lots of protein. I also believe diet is far more important than exercise and know that you “can’t outrun a bad diet”. I am in a much better place now at age 47.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace in many places. The first would be singing hymns surrounded by my church family on a Sunday morning. I also feel peace as I am walking first thing in the morning and catch a sunrise. Finally, I feel at peace standing at the water’s edge whether that is at the ocean, river or lake.

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Image Credits
Susan DeLoach, Betty Bellamy Laurant

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