Like any model, Nicole Marie (or Niki) is drop-dead gorgeous. Her smile is beautiful and lights up her entire face, and through her commitment to diet and exercise, she has developed a 41-year-old body that is the envy of middle-aged women everywhere. Yet, this is not why the mother of four has an online following of more than 110,000. The reason men and women alike admire her is that rather than settling for being a carefully constructed image of perfection, Niki is honest about the troubles she has experienced in her life and is using them to inspire others to reach their own potential.

“Let’s just say that my twenties and thirties weren’t pretty,” Niki says. “Like a lot of people, I went through my ups and downs – many of them! One of the problems was that I didn’t believe in myself and in what I could do. I lived a life of mediocrity for too many years, thinking that I could do no more than that. Can you relate?”

She reveals that for years, she struggled with alcoholism, anorexia, anxiety, terrible relationships, and divorce. “My life felt like a hole that just kept getting bigger and bigger until the day came when I realized that I had to get myself out of it.”

The catalyst for her shift in thinking came when she looked in her children’s eyes and realized that she could, in fact, do better both for herself and for them. “My kids were trusting me, depending on me, really, to take care of them, and they loved me for who I was. They inspired me to see beyond the mediocre narrative I had constructed for myself and to dare to believe there was something more waiting out there for me. I just had to go after it, so I did.”

Niki would find her answer in exercise and clean eating. “My health wasn’t the best, so I set out to change that,” she says. “I looked at everything I was eating and threw out the junk. I got rid of the processed foods and focused on fruits, vegetables, protein, and other healthy choices. I headed for the gym and started doing resistance training so that I could rebuild the muscle that everyone loses as they get older. Importantly, I made all of this a lifestyle change. I made the commitment that every day for the rest of my life, this would be the way I would live.”

Results didn’t come overnight, but she did start to see them. “My energy came back. My mood lifted. I began to see myself, my life, and my potential in a completely new way.”

As Niki regained control over her life, she began modeling, and along the way, she found herself in a new role: fitness influencer. “I didn’t see this coming, really, but I’m glad that it’s happened,” she says. “Let’s face it, middle-aged women are not usually seen as being in their prime in our society. There’s this idea that only women in their twenties can be gorgeous. Isn’t that a shame? I have had so many older women come up to me to talk about the journey I’ve taken. They’re interested in feeling better about themselves physically and emotionally. We talk about the importance of exercise and weight training so that they can stay fit and toned as they go on their own life journeys.”

Niki has few regrets, but she does have this one: “I wish I had believed in myself a lot sooner,” she reflects. “I always had the power to change my life, but like a lot of people, it took me a while to step forward and embrace it. It’s the biggest suggestion I have for those I talk with: don’t wait to change your life. Whatever it is you want to do, go out there and do it. The seconds are ticking by, and you have the power to make those seconds be what you want them to be. The question for you is this: what will you do today to turn your life around and go in a more positive direction?”

Nicole Marie (Niki) is a model/fitness influencer who is proving that 40 is the new 20. She is the creator of Clean Life Fitness by Nicole, an app that offers custom workouts and meal plannings, the very things that changed Niki’s life. For more information about Niki, please visit her website, https://nikifit40.com/.