FRANKLIN — For many people, the start of the New Year brings a desire to resolve to a new way of approaching life and one that will ultimately improve their lives. Thus the tradition of making a New Year’s resolution.

For millions of people across the country, that resolution is to make fitness their focus, and there’s one Teche Area resident who has made a positive decision toward change, has stuck with it for years, and is helping others achieve their goals.

It wasn’t a new year but a new perspective that helped Susan Eremia of Charenton go from a Size 22 dress to a career as a personal trainer.

“My pivotal point came when someone close to me had a knee replacement surgery and they couldn’t pull themselves out of bed and needed help,” Eremia said. “At the time I was about 275 pounds myself and I knew eventually that would be me.”

That spurred her to shed 83 pounds and, more importantly, unload a burdensome fear of gyms.

“The battle for me wasn’t getting to the gym,” Eremia said. “The battle for me was actually walking through the doors. I was highly intimidated, fearful. The trainer that I had back then helped me with that. She was such a motivation and so down to earth.

Eremia’s fitness journey began in 2011 and that has helped her approach to life change as well as she now sees herself differently both inside and out.

“Taking care of myself affects every area of my life,” Eremia said. “My world is better. I’m happier and it creates a ripple effect in my life.”

That wave of positive energy has brought several jewels of friends to the shore. Those friends have helped her through days and nights of challenging workouts, and even more challenging changes in life, including a divorce.

Eremia, 47, said her trainers saw something in her that she didn’t see in herself.

“One of the trainers here was named Luke and he sat me down and asked, ‘Have you ever considered becoming a personal trainer,’ ” Eremia said. “I thought it was absurd and then the same day another trainer asked me the same question without even talking to Luke. When things like that happen I take it as a sign.”

Those trainers soon became friends and later co-workers as Eremia now enjoys paying it forward to everyone who walks through the doors of Anytime Fitness gym in Franklin, where she works as a personal trainer.

“I want to make sure that everyone is as comfortable as I was when I walked through the door,” said Eremia, who also enjoys hiking and obstacle races. “I know I’m not the only person whose only win for the day sometimes is walking through the (gym) door. Just getting a 20-minute workout in for the day is a huge accomplishment for anyone — trust me.”

Eremia, who attended Franklin Senior High School and was scheduled to graduate in 1988, earned a GED in 1989. 

She has a 26-year-old daughter, Ashley Deshotel.

If you know someone in the Teche Area who would be an interesting weekend profile, please submit the name by calling 321-6766 or send an email to news@daily-iberian.com.