Theresa Hessler has been involved with fitness since she was a young girl. She was known in her youth as a bit of a tomboy. She found TV was boring, still does to this day. So she began her involvement with sports. In fact she got involved in every sport she could. In her freshman year of high school, she made varsity track.

When Theresa Hessler was sixteen, a friend owned a gym and he introduced her to weight training. She had not been participating in any sports at this point in her life and felt that she needed something to keep herself active. She felt she was too skinny and needed to add some muscle to her body. When Theresa saw the progress she quickly began making with weight training it motivated her to work even harder and it has since become a part of her lifestyle.

In her early 20’s an event occurred that would forever change Theresa’s life. She picked up a magazine. Yes, a magazine but not just any magazine. Theresa picked up a copy of Muscle & Fitness and saw contest coverage of Wally Boyko’s Fitness USA Pageant. It was at that moment that a woman who was destined to become a true icon in the fitness world made the decision to focus on fitness. Theresa says that at the time her thought was "Wow that looks like a good time." All the woman looked incredible and I wondered whether I had what it took to compete in such a contest?”

Well, the answer to that is obviously a resounding YES! Even though she was somewhat hampered by lacking a background that would easily allow her to put together the types of routines she would need for the fitness competitions she had in mind, Theresa Hessler is not a “forget it and walk away person. She stuck with her dream and kept on training and preparing. Then in 1994, Theresa was encouraged by a friend to enter a Ms. Fitness Maryland competition. Her friend helped Theresa with her diet, training, and finding a choreographer. And in her very first appearance Theresa won her very first show. The rest, as they say, is history… or in this case herstory! One of Theresa's proudest achievements is when she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Baltimore, December 1997. Theresa's plan is to continue her education but as she puts it, "I have remained undecided what I ultimately want to do when I grow up."

Theresa also has her own personal training business which has done extremely well. She says "it’s a good feeling to share my fitness knowledge to help others achieve their goals. I am training a few women who will be competing in upcoming fitness competitions and I’m excited to see the end result."