ABOUT MONICA

In 1991, fresh off the ranch from a small town outside San Antonio, Texas, Monica Brant stepped into a fitness industry that looked very different from the one we know today.

Women’s bodybuilding had already established its place on the competitive stage, but women’s fitness was only beginning to emerge. There was no established path to follow, no proven career model, and very few examples of what a professional fitness athlete could become.

Monica entered that world with an athletic background, a love for horses, and a determination to discover what might be possible. After watching a VHS tape of the Ms. Fitness USA Nationals, she began competing in regional fitness competitions in September 1991. Still based in San Antonio, Monica continued pursuing opportunities and, by November 1994, landed her first Muscle & Fitness magazine cover.

Those early years—and the lessons learned while navigating a world without a roadmap—are part of the story Monica will share more fully in her upcoming book, No Blueprint.

By April 1995, she was ready to take an even bigger chance. Monica left Texas—and her family, friends, work, and everything familiar—to move to Los Angeles, California, knowing only a handful of people in the entire state. But uncertainty didn't keep her from going.

She was willing to take chances, walk through unfamiliar doors, build relationships, and figure things out along the way.

There was no clear destination and certainly no established path to follow—no blueprint. But Monica wasn't afraid of venturing into something new. In many ways, she was learning the path while helping create it—a willingness to explore, connect, and keep moving forward that continues to shape the way she approaches life and opportunity today.

That move in 1995 came during a defining year for both Monica and the emerging sport. Monica won the 1995 Jan Tana Fitness Pro, a victory that earned her professional status and made her the first-ever IFBB Professional Fitness competitor. Later that year, she was invited to compete in the inaugural IFBB Fitness Olympia.

At the same time, Monica’s visibility was expanding far beyond the fitness industry. In 1995 and 1996, she became a recurring guest on ESPN2’s nationally televised Kiana Tom’s Flex Appeal. The fitness show brought Monica into homes across the country and played an important role in introducing both Monica and the emerging world of women’s fitness to a much broader audience.

Magazine covers, television appearances, competitions, sponsorships, and opportunities around the world followed. But there had been no roadmap showing Monica how to build that career. Much of what she learned came simply by living it—taking opportunities, making mistakes, adapting, building relationships, and continuing forward as the industry itself continued to evolve.

What began in those early years became a career spanning more than three decades and helped establish Monica as one of the pioneering women of the modern fitness industry.

Her competitive career included several milestone titles:

1995 Jan Tana Fitness Pro Champion — becoming the first-ever IFBB Professional Fitness competitor
1998 IFBB Fitness Olympia Champion
2010 & 2013 WBFF World Pro Figure Champion
2016 PCA Championships Overall Women’s Figure Champion

Across 25 years of Fitness and Figure competition, Monica also earned numerous top-three finishes while continuing to evolve as an athlete well beyond the competition stage.

AN ATHLETE FOR LIFE

Monica’s approach to fitness has never been limited to one style of training.

Strength training, mobility, and functional fitness have remained foundational throughout her career, while sprinting has been a longtime passion—part of her training from high school through today.

After decades of incorporating sprints into her own training, Monica eventually put on track spikes and competed in the USATF Masters program. She earned All-American honors and top-three national age-group rankings in each of her favorite events—the 100m, 200m, and 400m—with personal performances of 12.61, 26.02, and 59.76.

Her curiosity as an athlete has also taken her into Spartan obstacle course racing and American Ninja Warrior-style training, reinforcing something she has believed throughout her career: health and fitness should help us continue living, moving, exploring, and challenging ourselves.

And through it all, her lifelong love of horses and the equestrian world has never left her.

BEYOND THE STAGE

For Monica, fitness has always been about more than building a physique.

Certified through ISSA and as an IBNFC Nutrition Coach, she has spent decades encouraging women and men through personal coaching, lifestyle guidance, appearances, events, and conversations about sustainable health and wellness.

In 2004, Monica founded F.E.M. Camp™, one of the fitness industry’s first women-focused events of its kind, creating a unique environment where women from around the world could gather to train, learn, connect, and be encouraged. She later founded Body & Soul Women’s Retreat in 2016, continuing a nearly two-decade chapter of hosting experiences created specifically for women.

Her media work continued to evolve as well. In 2020, she created The Monica Brant Show, bringing together legendary athletes who helped shape bodybuilding and fitness with current voices from the industry.

FAITH, PURPOSE & WHAT’S NEXT

As Monica’s life and career have evolved, so has the message she feels called to share.

Through Minutes with Monica, her Substack devotional community, she writes from her own walk of faith—sharing personal reflections, Scripture, encouragement, and the lessons she continues to discover along the way.

That same heart is woven into her newest book, STAND FIRM: A 7-Day Journey to Build Awareness, Stability, and Faith, bringing together decades of experience with the physical body and a growing understanding of what it means to stand firm spiritually.

Today, Monica continues to work across health, fitness, wellness, speaking, brand partnerships, and strategic collaborations—connecting people and organizations where she sees genuine opportunities to create something meaningful.

Through all the different seasons, one philosophy increasingly describes both the way Monica lives and the way she approaches her work:

Create the environment.

Create the environment for health.
For strength.
For growth.
For faith.
For the things God is calling you toward.

Monica lives in Texas with her high school sweetheart and husband, Brad “Cowboy” Jewett, a respected AQHA Professional Horseman. And although the fitness industry first introduced Monica to the world more than three decades ago, she believes there is still much more ahead.

Her goal isn't simply to celebrate where she's been.

It's to remain faithful with what she's been given—and use it well in the season she's in now.