About Me!
I was born on December 04, 1978 in Anaheim, California. I was born and raised knowing, learning, and experiencing, that all I ever need is my family. I am very blessed to have a strong, very supportive, and loving family. I grew up learning that we (as a family) never leave each other. We stick together no matter what trials and tribulations we might experience, good or bad as a family or independently. First things first, my parents have the biggest hearts. They are both very unselfish and do more for others than their own selves. I am the only girl in the family as well as the oldest of 4 children. I have 3 younger brothers whom I love very much! I have an enormous family my mother is one of 10 children and my father is one of 7. So when we have or have had family get together we as kids always were occupied by playing hide in seek, tag, war or wrestling. I was the only girl who had many boy cousins so I guess you can say I was a tomboy! I loved to get dirty, play marbles and pick fights with my cousins. I can say this is what started my competitiveness. I was always involved in sports as I grew up. My parents started me off in baseball, and as I grew older I changed to softball. As I got older I wanted to do more, so I decided to play basketball because I thought it would be more challenging to me and I wanted to be more physical and show my strength on the court with my defense. I played softball and basketball through out high school and as I got older my love for basketball grew and I continued to play through out Junior College. During my 2nd year in college my love for the sport took a turn, I basically fell out of love for the sport by constantly being told I was too short! Basketball, in my experience, changed and instead of being about the dedication, skill and love for the sport became to be very political. As a result, I decided to move on. As I continued to further my education I got a job at UPS because they were flexible with my schooling. I worked from 3am to about 9am M-F loading trucks. I still remember my first week, this was 8 yrs ago. I started loading trucks and on my first day when I was wrapping up my loads a driver that I was loading for wanted me to "quit" because he did not want a "girl" loading his truck. Back in the day the majority of UPS employees were male. Still, to this day there are only a handful of females working at UPS. Two months after being hired the same driver that did not want me loading his trucks had change of heart due to my loads being perfected. When I started at UPS, I had a hard time lifting a 30 lb. box over my head. Now, 8 yrs later I can easily put a 70 lb. box on the top shelf. I am very happy with my job and career at UPS. I take my job very seriously, and I am PROUD to be a UPSER. Why and how did I get into Bodybuilding? I can say I just got comfortable after having a good job with a secure company. I started to gain weight. My family started to take notice of my weight gain and once I got too big they were not afraid to let me know. As a result, I purchased a gym pass and purchased one for my brother. While he would lift weights I would just do cardio. I started to lose the weight and at the gym became a CARDIO QUEEN! Shortly, the weight came off but there was flab. My brother told me I should start to train with weights and at the beginning I was hesitant but I listened and started to train with him. I became tone and was happy with myself. I became focused and determined to keep the weight off. I was single, independent and on a roll, I felt my life could not get any better until I met my Husband. I was introduced to Gilbert Fletcher by my cousin Jennifer. She said, we had a lot in common. Again, I was hesitant at first but when I got to know him a bit more we did have a lot in common, one being the gym. He was a personal trainer and also loved to work out. We dated for 3 months and got married 2 weeks after he proposed. We have been together for over 5 yrs and I can say it was him who trained me and guided me with strength training, and core. I fell in love with it and wanted to do more so I got ready for my first show in 2002. I did BorderStates in San Diego and I felt I looked my best and turned out I was the absolute worst. I did not place but I did not give up. I started to train at Gold's Gym now the Koloseum in Fullerton with my cousin Tony. I was training when one day I was getting a drink of water and Denise Hoshor approached me and told me I had a great figure to work with. If I needed a woman's help she would help. I shortly took here up on her offer. She was my mentor for my next show that I was getting ready for and I took 1st place at the Orange County Classic in April of 2003. I was and still am thankful for her guidance and I will never forget it. I took 2 yrs off to build and was at it again in 2005 I wanted to get the overall title in 2005 for Orange County Classic and I did. As a result of receiving the overall trophy I was advised to compete at the USA's by Terry and Kim "Baby Doll" Harris. I was skeptical, because I was still fairly new to the sport. I decided to do the 2005 USA's in Vegas to see if I was or can be competitive to these woman who have been at the National Level for years. I was nervous at the weigh-ins and wanted to bow out and go home after I saw how huge my class was and also how big they were compared to me. I stayed in my room nervous and scared but I had my family there and they wanted to see me on stage. When I woke up for the day of Prejudging I woke up at peace with myself, my mother had said a prayer for me and I felt great. On stage I did my best at presenting myself. I was the second callout and was happy with the results. At the finals the announcer called out the top 5 and I was just happy to be in the top 5 but when they announced the 5th, 4th, 3rd, I took 1st in my class at the USA's. It was the Highlight and Start of my Bodybuilding Career. After I was told I should do the Nationals in Georgia and I was prepping for it and during my prep I got injured at work. After the surgery I took quite a bit of time off to heal but was still determine to do the show so I took an enormous amount of precautions during my workouts. I did not feel the same as how I felt at the USA, something was different, I felt very uneasy and uncomfortable, I had too much going on and could not focus on myself. I went on stage and presented myself. In Georgia, did not do as well as I hoped and wanted to. Looking back I am happy with the judging and it just gives me more motivation to do better. I took some time off so my body can heal and recuperate from the surgery when I came back home. During the time off I discussed what my goals were going to be for the year 2006 with Gilbert. We started from scratch and went back to the basics of training. I decided to do one show a year because I felt doing 3 shows in a year was just too much. I needed to rest and that was exactly what I did and when I stepped foot in the gym again I felt refreshed and felt no burdens on my shoulders. I decided to do Nationals in Miami in 2006. I was motivated and trained hard, I gave it my all and I once again was at peace with myself and my outcome. I received 2nd place, and I am very happy with the results, I know all I can do is just get better and better and that is what I have done. I consider myself to be the Richest Girl alive because I am truly blessed to have the wonderful husband by my side along with my family, friends and fans. I will be competing again soon in 2007.
Barbara's Stats
Entered the World: December 04, 1978
Height: 4'9
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Skin Tone: Tan
Contest Weight: 101lbs @ 2-4%bf
Biceps: 13.5”
Forearms: 10”
Chest: 37”
Waist: 24”
Quads: 21” ea.
Calves: 13.5” ea.
Off Season Weight: 120-130lbs 17-22%bf
Biceps: 14.5
Forearms: 11”
Chest: 38”
Waist: 28”
Quads: 22”
Calves: 14”
