About Terri and the PDP

Terri & The PDP

Terri is a fitness instructor in Halifax, Canada. She originally studied English Literature & Women's Studies, and Secondary Education She worked as a high school teacher for several years. Her recreational dance background eventually lead to work in dance and then fitness. After completing the provincial certification for aerobics she went on to obtain certification in weight training and yoga. After the popularity of Terri's TEDx talk in 2011 her career began to shift more to adult education and public speaking/presenting. She completed an M.A. in Women & Gender Studies in 2022, including a master's thesis called The Pink Dumbbell Problem: A Feminist Analysis of Gender-Specific Fitness Myths.

Terri's master thesis evolved into the Pink Dumbbell Problem YouTube Channel.

Terri also spent 10 years as the Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Fitness Association (NSFA) in which time she wrote diversity, equity, and inclusion into the curricula of the NSFA certification courses, the course manuals, and the members and operational policies of the association. In 2021 she received the Mount St. Vincent University Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Alumni Legacy Award, and in 2023 was award the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for Services to Education from the Government of Nova Scotia for her work in making the fitness instruction profession more diverse and inclusive. 

Terri was also a recent guest on the Within Our Reach podcast by reachAbility.