Amber McConnehead, a young Georgia native, transferred to Florida A&M University to get an education.
But that isn’t all she got. She had an eye-opening moment while at FAMU, which led her to start a journey that would inspire and help others.
She wants to become a public health nurse practitioner and to educate families on topics like disease prevention and lifestyle management.
She chose FAMU because she wanted to be in a historically black environment while she earned my next degree.
“I knew that their program was known for impacting the community and that’s who I wanted to help the most,” McConnehead said.
Like many college students McConnehead gained some weight while she was pursuing her degree. She said that she was very unhappy with the weight she had gained, so, she decided to make a major lifestyle change.
“I realized how the information I was learning in class pertained directly to my life and to the patients’ lives who I would need to educate. I can’t just tell people what they should do to modify their lives to live longer and healthier when I am not practicing the same thing,” she said.
She started her weight loss journey in December of 2018. She decided to get a trainer and change her eating habits. It took her less than a year to lose 50 pounds.
She worked out at the New You Fitness Studio in Tallahassee.
McConnehead calls getting a trainer “the lazy girl’s guide to success” because all you have to do is show up and go through a one-hour routine since you’re paying for it.
She said that she had learned so much working on herself it inspired her to help others find the same self-love that she had found. That is why she started her brand Don’tWeightGirl.
The purpose of DontWeightGirl is to motivate females to not wait for their next big moment and to figure out what makes them happy and motivated. To go get it for themselves, no matter what it is. It could be starting a business, fitness journey, getting an education or a spiritual journey.
“I created the name because I felt that the weight I was carrying when I was heavier really contributed to my overall unhappiness in life,” said McConnehead.
“DontWeightGirl” has two co-founders, Kailah Lawson and Carmen Jones, both of who are Rattlers for life.
Lawson described McConnehead as optimistic, motivated and innovative.
“Amber is always coming up with new ideas and goals she wants to work towards,” she said. “I love the idea of young women bossing up and finding out what avenue is for them. So many people go through their young adulthood not knowing what actually makes them happy. They’re just doing what will make their parents or people around them happy. Being a part of Dontweightgirl aligns with my experiences and journey.”
McConnehead graduated from FAMU’s nursing program in December in her dream body.
Her cousin and co-founder Jones said, “Her graduation weekend, we had so much fun. I was so inspired by her graduating from nursing. Seeing another African American woman succeed in the same major as me is so inspirational. It was one of the happiest moments in her life, and I was so happy to witness that.”
McConnehead’s work didn’t stop after she graduated. She has created another brand, FearNoNurse. It was created on an Instagram account to help and inspire nursing students as they transition to online during this pandemic. She offers tips and motivation that helped her get through school.