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Brownkatz & Brownkatz --- Because there's so much to learn, teach and enjoy. Enter your search terms Submit search form   Web www.Brownkatz.com

About Us

Sherri

They call me mudpie.

Because when I work or I play, I love to get down into it, whether it's into the dirt of the land I'm gardening, the fur of the pet I'm tending, the mind of the student I'm tutoring, the reef on which I'm diving, or the heart of the woods I'm interpreting.

 I am a Florida native and I grew up with a love of learning, of animals and of the outdoors. My mother was a Nature's Classroom teacher, and I was raised in rural Plant City. I love to teach and I love to learn.

I have an associate degree in Zoological Parks Technology - which means I'm trained as a zookeeper and wildlife parks manager - and I've been a veterinary assistant at the University of Florida Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital Zoological Medicine Ward in Gainesville, a volunteer with the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, a zookeeper at Walt Disney World's Discovery Island and an animal keeper for the Smithsonian Institute's Department of Zoological Research in  Washington, D.C.

Since 1994 I have also worked at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, where I  have  facilitated overnight educational programs for adult and children’s groups.  I have conducted  educational camping programs  at the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve highlighting Red Wolf conservation. For many summers I taught snorkeling and marine ecology to children in a marine biology/aquatics camp. I'm a horseback rider, a backpacker, a hiker, a certified SCUBA diver and a kayaker. I can hitch and drive a team of horses.

I'm also certified to teach Middle School Math. I have a B.S. in elementary education from the University of South Florida and I have been a middle school teacher for over 10 years. I have always had a love for numbers, and I enjoy helping children "get" math.

When I was 16 I went to Chile as an exchange student and lived with what became my Chilean family for a year. I am fluent in Spanish, love Hispanic cultures and have become a pretty cook Latin cook. For eight years during my first marriage my Spanish-speaking husband and I ran a tour business in the United States catering to people from Latin America. We spoke Spanish in the home and in the business.

I am also a facilitator for a small Lakeland group studying A Course In Miracles. The course is a sort of self-help group about the spirituality of forgiveness of ourselves, of others, our families, our friends, our enemies. My spirituality is the center of my life.

Richard

I worked in a therapy program that was very successful, in quality of care and number of referrals.

When I left, one of the doctors said, “It wasn’t the program, Richard. It was you.”

That surprised me. But since then I have learned that I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), as defined by Dr. Elaine Aaron, and the personality type Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging (INFJ), according to the Myers-Briggs personality assessment.

My nervous system is very sensitive to subtleties, and my brain processes information and reflects on it deeply. Highly sensitive people tend to be very intuitive,  empathic and compassionate. We tend to be  oriented towards non-monetary rewards rather than income. Working strictly for money is a form of drudgery that leads me to depression and illness. 

I thrive in an environment of cooperation, that places people ahead of profits, that practices ethical standards,  that emphasizes teaching rather than testing. I shrivel n an environment that practices high pressure sales, that values paperwork over people, that encourages competition rather than cooperation and that expects me to lie.

I  am a graduate of the massage program at Ridge Technical Center, in Winter Haven, Florida, where I was voted Outstanding Student in my class. I received the highest grades on the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork examination, which therapists must pass to be licensed in Florida.

Before entering massage school, I worked as a counselor for 12 years. My name then was Richard Kent. Most of my work was with addicts and codependents, and I dealt a great deal with people who had suffered various kinds of emotional trauma.

In my life I have also worked as a newspaper reporter, a freelance writer, a chef, a mechanic, an electrician’s helper, a bureaucrat and a bartender. For a time I considered becoming a monk and I spent four months in a monastery.

When Sherri and I  married we decided that I would reclaim part of my family heritage, change my name from Kent back to Katz and combine that with Sherri’s family name, Brown – and, so, Brownkatz.

We have a grown daughter who is an esthetician. We also have some gerbils and a cat named Tailless who pretty much runs everything.

I received my first massage when I was writing a story about health issues and interviewed a massage therapist. It was, for me, a remarkable experience that was healing physically and emotionally.

Since then I have been massaged a great deal and have also been treated by a massage therapist trained in Rolfing, a deep tissue technique that has also benefited me greatly.

I have been physically active all of my life. I love the outdoors, especially canoeing and backpacking, and I love working out. I received my personal trainer certification from the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA).

I see massage and personal training as healthcare education, as coaching, and believe it, too, best comes from compassion. I seek to coach people to exercise safely and effectively, without constantly needing a trainer.

Marlyn

I earned myself a bachelor's degree in nutrition at the University of Kentucky and happily worked away in the restaurant business for 17 years and then fell down.

That was in 1994. I fell on a slick floor and learned what a rotator cuff is, that group of  four muscles and their tendons that "cuff" each shoulder joint. I tore the right one, and I  ended up out of work, sedentary, depressed, over-weight and in pain.

I am not the kind of person who gives up easy. After surgery came physical therapy. After physical therapy came...nothing.

That's a problem. What happens when your health insurance runs out and the therapy stops? What happens when the physical therapist has done all he or she can do?

In my case what happened was the gym. I got myself there, and I started learning, learning how to lose and then manage my weight, how to keep my shoulder free of pain and injury, how to increase my flexibility, strength and cardiovascular fitness, how exercise fights depression and builds energy and confidence.

 Less than two years after the injury, I was certified in Lifestyle and Weight Management by the American Council of Exercise (ACE), one of the top personal trainer/fitness expert credentialing bodies in the nation.

Now I hold certifications as an Elite Level Personal Fitness trainer by the  IDEA Health & Fitness Association (IDEA) , as a Water Fitness Instructor by the Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA), as a Clinical Exercise Specialist by ACE, a Personal Trainer by ACE, a Personal Trainer by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and as a Yogafit Instructor. And I am currently completing a masters degree at the United States Sports Academy.

I worked since 1997 in commercial gyms, first in Atlanta, then in Lakeland, Florida. I now train my clients independently. at their homes and at the Kelly Recreational Complex in Lakeland. I also teach at the Polk Community College in Lakeland.

Thanks to exercise, my career-ending injury started a while new and rewarding life. I am frankly grateful for the spill.

My joy is specializing in working with older people, people with disabilities, injuries and illnesses, and people who want to actively prevent them. It is extraordinarily rewarding to help people recover their lives, throw away their wheel chairs, fall in love with pumping iron at the age of 92. 

I live in Auburndale, Florida, with my husband, Ed, who is a computer wizard, and our dog, Duke.  Neither of them likes to exercise much.

But I don't give up easy.

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