Some people thought Melissa Looby was crazy when she quit her job two weeks ago.

The mother of two had long dreamed of opening a holistic wellness coaching business; the undated resignation letter sat in her house for weeks. She finally got the nerve to act.

“I literally had anxiety attacks that day,” the 27-year-old said. “I went to sleep the night after handing in my resignation and was tossing and turning in my bed.

“I said to myself, ‘Just go back to the boss and tell them you were joking and take your resignation letter back’. Stay in your comfort zone.”

Her sister, Jenny Lynn Looby, gave her the encouragement she needed.

“She said, ‘You’ve finally found something where you can use your gifts of wanting to help people while also providing for your family and doing what you want to do’.

“I was still scared, but the next day I woke up and said, ‘Let’s do this’.”

Ms Looby leaves her role as circulation assistant at the Bermuda Youth Library next month. She is hoping to be working full-time as a wellness coach soon after at her own business, Metamorphosis.

Her aim is to help people set short and long-term wellness goals, and keep them motivated along their fitness journey.

“The vision is ultimately being able to offer affordable wellness solutions to everyone,” she said. “One of the complaints I often hear is the cost of being in shape or looking after your own mental, physical and spiritual health is too high, and they just can’t find the time to do it.

“I don’t want to be a personal trainer or a nutritionist. I have some background in these things and can direct you to someone else if that’s what you really need. My approach is holistic. I’m here to teach you how to take control of your own wellness.

“I don’t want people to have to use my services for the rest of their life. I want them to have the tools and motivation they need to go off and do it by themselves so they can eventually take those training wheels off. They might fall off and need to come back to me at some point down the road, but there’s no shame in that.”

Clients will be asked to fill out a questionnaire, rating areas of their wellness on a scale from one to five. Ms Looby will help them to get to the bottom of what might be holding them back in those areas they have not rated highly. “We help people find strategies that fit them as an individual, not just a one-size-fits-all approach to wellness,” she said.

Ms Looby’s wellness journey started when she signed up for her first ballet class at 17.

She was far behind her peers but determined to give the classes at United Dance Productions her all. She was in pointe shoes by the end of the year.

“I started teaching their four-year-old beginners’ class and then I got the job at the library, so I had to give it up,” she said. “It broke my heart a bit.

“I danced for an entire year after that and was in a classical ballet class at In Motion [School of Dance] and then I got pregnant with my son, TJ, in August 2010. He was born six months later, in February 2011. He was a preemie and I ended up having an emergency C-section.

“People take C-sections lightly, but it’s actually major surgery. They say once you’ve had one it’s never the same. I only found out how hard it was once I tried to get back in the gym.

“My core muscles were so weak after that. I had some trainers who would offer me feedback every once and a while and they first thing they would say is you have to strengthen your core.”

Getting her strength and fitness back was a little easier after her second son, Rhyen, was born two years ago.

She made it her priority to go to the gym once he was six months old.

“It literally became my ‘mommy time’,” she said. “It was my chance to relax and focus on me.

“Then in 2015 the bodybuilding show just dropped in my lap.

“Everyone who saw me in the gym would say, ‘You should do a bodybuilding show. You have the body for a bikini’.

“At first my answer was always no, but I finally said ‘Why not?’.”

She came to realise that wellness was not just about the physical benefits of exercise but the way the transformation made her feel.

It was then she came up with the idea of starting a business.

“I had people ask me questions about my health and fitness and I got a lot of compliments at the show — people told me I looked amazing.

“I said, ‘Listen I came dead last in my class but I feel good about myself and the shape I’m in’.”

She said she was not entirely sure what the future held for her business, but she was excited for what lies ahead.

“After I came to grips with my decision to leave my job I felt lighter,” Ms Looby said.

“I don’t think everyone will understand it until they’re actually able to chase their passion for themselves, but my family have been extremely supportive.

“The funny thing is, you never know how it ends. It may not work out, but to at least be able to say to my children I tried it and put 100 per cent into it — that’s what counts.”

• For more information, visit www.metamorphosisbda.com