Articles The Ruthless Report The Ruthless Report 6: Amanda and Michelle: The Yin and Yang of Persistence
The Ruthless Report 6: Amanda and Michelle: The Yin and Yang of Persistence
On the list of qualities that make a good physique athlete—and by that I mean everybody from bodybuilders to bikini gals to, well, physique athletes—persistence, if not downright stubbornness, has got to be at the top. A couple of my favorite athletes who have been in the news this summer personify that quality, times 10, which, perhaps is the reason their doings are newsworthy. Interestingly, they come from the far ends of the NPC/IFBB spectrum.
The Yin
Amanda Latona has survived and thrived because she’s not afraid to walk through any door that comes her way, and she’s not done yet. The one-time girl singer-turned-bikini champ, who burst on to the scene about the same time as her chosen sport, was in the news this summer because she didn’t win the Los Angeles Grand Prix Pro Bikini on July 21. Ultimately, it’s just a line on her very crowded résumé, but it did give me an excuse to put a few questions to the dynamic Ms. Latona, who was previously under an exclusive contract with a publisher that wasn’t mine.
The outline of Latona’s story is fairly well-known. Born in Pittsburgh, she moved with her family as a teen to Orlando, Florida, to pursue her dreams of showbiz glory. Working her way up the opportunities provided by DisneyWorld and other Orlando attractions, she was an inaugural member of was a teen-girl singing group, Innosense, that also included Britney Spears—although they never sang together. Latona left in search of a solo career and got oh-so-close, eventually taking a right turn into the fitness industry. She earned her pro card at the NPC USA in 2009, the same year she won the Flex Bikini Model Search at the Olympia.
The “fitness cover model-spokesmodel-singer-TV host-certified personal trainer,” as she bills herself, is a study in persistence, not to mention talented, good natured, gorgeous and tons of fun. That she comes from my hometown and shares my love of singing is just icing on the cake. When we finally met after a couple of years of my listening to the guys in the press pit rave endlessly about how hot she was, I liked her anyway, a real testament.
The expected match-up at the L.A. show was Latona, fifth at the Bikini O in 2010, sixth at the ’11 International and the winner of every other pro contest she’d entered except for her debut, vs. Diana Dahlgren, who took the Phoenix Pro and was third at the Olympia last year. Too bad nobody told Narmin Assria, a
scrappy 5’1” stride ’n’ snapper who is knee deep in Olympia qualifying points. Based on the callouts, it was pretty clear that the panel would place Assria in second behind Dahlgren, with Latona in third. Unthinkable, yet that’s exactly what happened.
When the placings were announced, not so much as a crack appeared in Amanda’s sparkling smile. Later she admitted that what was going through her mind was, “Oh-h-h-h-h-h, crap!” and that “I honestly thought I was second” after the judging.
Admittedly, she had to “take a moment” before emerging after the contest, but any doubts didn’t last long. She would not compete again before the Olympia, she said, and was not about to take her training and diet apart. “The game plan is the same. I'm gonna bring the same package because I thought that was my best to date.” She also has plenty to keep her busy between now and September 28, starting with her work for nutrition giant BSN. What else keeps her on the go? “Ha, ha,” she replied. “Everything!” With that, the 5’5” brunet ball of energy ticked off an impressive list.
“BSN keeps me very busy, which I love. I get to travel and meet the people that support me and that I get to inspire, which means the most to me. I also do on-camera stuff for Anytime Fitness Corporate and modeling jobs here in Vegas from print work to Ring Girl for the MGM fights. My main job is hosting infomercials for various fitness products, from an ab belt, to a home gym, to cardio equipment. I also do hosting for non-fitness-related companies on a corporate level—super cool when I get to wear a suit and not a bikini, ya know? And I emcee red carpet events here in Vegas. Plus, living so close to L.A, I get to audition for hosting jobs that are mainstream as well.”
Does music still play a big part in her life? The answer was definitely in the affirmative. “Hey, if I was offered another record deal tomorrow, I would take it,” she said. “Everyone knows me knows I love to sing and do it constantly. I have had three record deals, two of which were solo and for one those I was hand-signed by Clive Davis. That was a major deal in the industry.”
So how did she get from there to here? “The music business is very hard, obviously,” she said. “Your career is in a lot of hands that aren’t yours at times. When I didn’t work out, the doors for fitness just seemed to open.
“I’m a believer that when a door opens, you walk through it,” she continued. ”I walked through it, and it’s been amazing. Or shall I say, I cat-walked through it in clear heels.” A sly wink on that last comment and then a serious note. “I made it through three cuts to the judges on ‘America’s Got Talent’ and sang for two years here in Vegas. If that door opens again, yes I would walk though it.”
In clear heels and whatever else it took, no doubt.
The Yang
Michelle Brent spent 25 1/2 years trying to get a pro card, a goal she finally reached at this year’s Team Universe, where she took the over-45 division. As you might imagi
ne given the time frame, Michelle is a bodybuilder, a big one—in terms of muscle and heart. Like me she can remember when the women’s “classes had 30 girls.”
Originally from Northern California, Michelle started weight training as a phys-ed major. “I had muscle size from the get-go,” she recalled. “I was ahead of my time and I just wanted to build from there.” A frequent top-five finisher over the years, she competed consistently with just three years off since then. “I almost always made the top five at the North Americans, the USA, the Nationals, the Team Universe. At just the North Americans alone I had six second-place finishes and finally won my class in 2010 but missed the overall.”
But 25 1/2 years (“Don’t forget the half,” she joked). Physique styles changed, other divisions—fitness, figure, bikini and physique—came into being, and she never quite made it to the pros. Many—most—would have given up. “I wanted to quit a few times as the years went on, mainly right after a show,” she admitted, laughing, “but I then I would regroup and challenge myself for the next go-round.”
What kept her going? “My perseverance, the challenge of reaching my goal, maybe a little stubbornness,” she said. “Never give up was always my motto.”
Of course, chasing her pro card was not the only thing the former Michelle Ivers (her name when I met her more than a decade ago) was doing all that time. She worked in a bakery; owned a gym; raised a son, Kyle, an Iraq War veteran now attending school; got married again (to Bill Brant) and moved cross country to Pennsylvania and now Connecticut; and built a lively following for Michelle’s Magic Morsels, handmade protein cookies and muffins available at www.michellesmagicmorsels.com. While pondering whether to take that venture to the next level (“it’s very time consuming”), she considers other adventures in the iron game, like choreography. “Since the women’s physique division came about, 
a lot of the girls need to know how to pose and need routines,” observed Brent, who is known for her own excellent posing as well as her muscle. “So I’ve been delving into that.”
As for taking her long-sought pro card out for a spin, she was wasting no time. “At 54 3/4 years old I will give the Tampa Pro a shot [on August 11]. “I’m just happy to be there and hope to represent myself in the best way I can. From there we’ll see. Hey, I set the record for the longest and oldest competitor amateur competitor in the NPC. Why not the oldest and longest running in the IFBB?”
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