Hello! I'm Kristin Leest.

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A fascinating aspect of my life is the variety of roles I embrace. I'm not just an author and life coach; I'm also a dog trainer, breeder of standard poodles registered with the American Kennel Club, artist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, wife, and mother of four. Serving as the Founder and CEO of the local nonprofit Big Hugs for Little Hearts, a 501c3 organization in Charleston, South Carolina, has been my passion for the past five years, where we support children overcoming trauma. As a survivor of child trauma, my goal with the organization is to create and provide anything and everything I had hoped and wished I were given to overcome and heal myself. Knowing that sharing your story is a powerful tool to healing yourself but also showing others it is possible to heal is well is even more powerful is everything I hope to embody as a person, model and mentor for others and our future leaders within our Big Hugs community.

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Grateful for the diverse opportunities’ life has offered, I believe that my journey and experiences have shaped me into the person I am today and the life coach I have also come to be. The pivotal elements of my journey involve uncovering my purpose, embracing authenticity, following my heart, inspiring myself and others, and giving back to the community. These values form the foundation of my happiness and success, which I now embody and model as part of my brand. Recognizing that true happiness and success lie in these principles, I aim to share and inspire others through my endeavors.

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Personal Growth & Development

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In my varied roles as an author, life coach, dog trainer, and breeder of standard poodles registered with the American Kennel Club, I've embraced a life filled with purpose and dedication.

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Over the past five years, I've proudly served as the Founder and CEO of Big Hugs for Little Hearts, a 501c3 nonprofit in Charleston, South Carolina, dedicated to supporting children overcoming abuse, neglect and abandonment.

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 2022, I began my own health and wellness journey were I lost nearly 100lbs and have maintained the weight loss for the last two years. After having my son, my body makeup had completely changed. I had gained a lot of weight with my pregnancy, and I didn't bounce back like some other moms do. I struggled with getting the weight off and over the years was able to lose twenty, or 30lbs but then it would come back and sometimes more. No matter how little I ate, or adhering to a specific calorie intake or deficit and or even putting hours on the treadmill 5 to 7 times a week I couldn't see movement on the scale. I did everything for years leading to frustration. I struggled with Poly cystic ovarian syndrome, insulin resistance, hormone changes, aging as I was now in my 30's, not coming into my 40's, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and more. My body was always sore, I was low on energy and wasn't active at all. I thought I was because I was chasing four kids at the time however I didn't have the right measures in place, and the doctors weren't helping. Eat less, work out more was not the answer. Changing your diet wasn't good enough. So, I got the answers, found the secrets, and now can share them with my clients. I now share my story and secrets as a Fitness Coach, but it also helped me embrace my love of animals and canine health too.

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In 2023, I embraced my passion for canine health and wellness and established Pawsitivity, LLC a new age natural pet nutritional supplement company where we are committed to providing customized nutrition for your pets. Our health and wellness initiative focuses on crafting supplements that promote vitality and longevity, enhancing the lives of pets everywhere. In the last 10 years, pets’ life spans have decreased as much as 3 years due to their diet. Dogs that were living to age 12 ten years ago now live to age 9. The amount of additives, fillers, colors, dyes, and processed products we put in their food’s attributes to this. As a pet parent myself, and many of you can all atest they are family. We want them with us for as long as we can have them. We don't want them ill or sick either while they are with us. That is what these unnatural items have been doing to our own food and it’s now affecting our pets. We are now seeing our pets with similar diseases and illnesses as humans because we often share in the same foods, table scraps and more. So, I vowed to change that. After my eldest pup Heidi, showed signs of Limping and old age and I needed to find a joint supplement that was natural without processed ingredients as she has Epilepsy and needed natural products that wouldn't trigger reactions. I began to see the issues in the pet food industry. I learned how chews often were made of mostly unnecessary fillers and additives, and that most of what she would be taking it was unbeneficial. So, I asked myself why would it be available to her then? I would compare products on the shelf and one product would say extra strength and the other regular strength and yet the regular strength was stronger the the extra strength. Again, I became frustrated. I was trusting the industry to tell me what was best for her and yet it wasn't clear. I worst part was regular strength was more expensive the the extra strength and she needed the strongest possible because she was in a lot of pain in the beginning. Meaning that unless I had done full research as a consumer on each dog product, I wouldn't have known I could have spent less to get more. I was upset. So, I set out to make a better product at the best price with clear transparency and a way to educate the customer so that they could feel confident and take back the power of their purchases and health of their beloved pets.

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As an author I recently also ventured into the world of publishing with two works close to my heart. "Meet Me with Pawsitivity: A Comprehensive Guide to Effective Dog Training Through Positive Reinforcement" offers valuable insights into building strong bonds with your furry friend. Additionally, "Cooking with Chef Ginger and Chef Ruby: Wholesome Tails & Trails Cookie and Dessert Recipes for Your Favorite Pet" is a delightful celebration of our pets' taste buds, created with love and care. The cookbook highlights our natural pet supplements and how to create easy homemade treats at home with ingredients in your kitchen. A fun book for you and the kids as well as pets. Dog and cat recipes! My soon to be released memoir Pawsitivity Unleased is available for Presale, on my website www.kristinleest.com where I unleash my story, life lessons, and journey to success and all my secrets as a life coach. With it there is Pawsitivity Unleashed: A Journey to Rediscover, Reinvent and Reclaim Your life with Purpose and Passion Workbook and Journal filled with beautiful color, pictures, inspirational quotes affirmations, and all the tools and secrets I used to become a six-figure success. I want everyone to have the same opportunities I had so I created it.

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Through my roles as CEO, life coach, author, and philanthropist, I strive to make a positive impact on the lives of pets and their owners. My journey has taught me the importance of uncovering purpose, embracing authenticity, following my heart, inspiring others, and giving back to the community. These values are at the core of my happiness and success, and I am dedicated to sharing and inspiring others through my endeavors. If you would like to learn more about me, please visit www.kristinleest.com. www.caninepawsitivity.com. www.powerofpawsitive.com, www.bighugsforlittlehearts.com, www.simplystandardpoodles.com

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At Kristinleest.com I offer free books for kids to support literacy into bookshop. You can also find them available at bighugsforlittlehearts.org. I am always looking for ways to give back and connect with the community and check on the websites often and subscribe to the sites for free e-books on topics that interest you, join our Facebook groups and communities, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TicTok, Pinterest.

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