Today we’d like to introduce you to Nahiema Craig.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey began long before I ever stepped onto a track.
Growing up, I was always an athlete, but beneath that was a little girl who quietly knew she was capable of more. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur at a young age, and naturally, my family went into protection mode. They wanted to keep me safe. But as I got older, I began doing my own research and discovered that running and physical activity could actually help strengthen my heart.
What began as a way to protect my health slowly became something much greater. Running became my passion, my purpose, and eventually, a part of my identity.
At 15, I joined a track team and discovered how deeply I loved the sport. But I also discovered what it felt like to have potential and not be given the space or guidance to fully develop it. I could feel that there was more inside of me—more speed, more strength, more possibility—but I didn’t yet have the people around me who knew how to bring it out.
Searching for that guidance led me to someone I believed was a personal trainer. Instead, at 16 years old, I experienced sexual assault.
For years, I carried that pain quietly.
Throughout high school, I was afraid to tell anyone. I learned how to smile, compete, keep moving forward, and appear strong while carrying something inside of me that I was still trying to understand. I was navigating the weight of an experience I never deserved while simultaneously trying to discover who I was—and who I could still become.
As I grew older, that pain eventually gave birth to a promise: I would become the person I needed when I was younger.
That promise has followed me into every chapter of my life.
Today, through athletics, coaching, community, and motherhood, I work to create the kind of opportunities and safe spaces I once needed myself. I want women and young girls to have someone who sees their potential, believes in them, protects that potential, and gives them the guidance and opportunity to develop it.
Becoming a mother transformed me. Building my own athletic journey transformed me. Coaching others, creating community through running, and pursuing goals that once felt impossibly far away have all reminded me of one truth: my circumstances have never determined my capacity.
Every chapter—beautiful or painful—has shaped the woman I am today.
My story is not simply about running, athletics, or crossing finish lines. It is about reclaiming my voice. Rebuilding my confidence. Breaking cycles of limitation. And learning that sometimes purpose can grow from the very places that once caused us pain.
I want every young girl who crosses my path to understand something I wish someone had told me sooner:
You deserve to be seen.
You deserve to be supported.
You deserve to be protected.
And you deserve the opportunity to become everything you already know, somewhere deep inside, that you can be.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has been anything but smooth.
There have been chapters of my life that tested me in ways I never imagined. I have survived sexual assault and domestic abuse, and there was even a point when the weight of everything I was carrying became so heavy that I attempted to take my own life.
Some of my greatest battles were fought in complete silence.
There were seasons when simply making it through the day was a victory. Seasons when strength didn’t look like winning a race, accomplishing a goal, or standing on a podium. Sometimes strength was simply waking up the next morning and choosing to keep going.
Then I became a mother.
Motherhood added another layer to my journey because suddenly, healing was no longer something I was doing only for myself. I had a little boy watching me. Depending on me. Loving me.
I had to learn how to heal while raising him, how to make sacrifices while continuing to dream, and how to build a future while sometimes barely holding the present together.
Being a single parent is not for the weak.
When everything rests on your shoulders—financially, emotionally, physically—you don’t always have the luxury of falling apart, even when a part of you desperately wants to.
There were moments when I lost my job and came frighteningly close to losing my home. I remember the fear of not knowing how I was going to keep everything together. I was overwhelmed. Exhausted. Uncertain.
But I knew how to survive.
So I did what I had always done: I found a way.
I worked. I pushed. I sacrificed. I searched for solutions when I didn’t know where the next one would come from. And even on the days when fear followed me everywhere, I kept moving.
People often praise my ability to balance motherhood, athletics, coaching, community, and building a future for myself. They see the races, the accomplishments, the strength, and the woman who somehow seems capable of carrying it all.
But they don’t always see what it took for me to still be here.
They see the woman who learned how to do it all.
They don’t always see the little girl who first had to learn how to save herself.
One of my greatest challenges has been learning how to show up for myself while constantly showing up for everyone else. I have had to rebuild my confidence, rediscover my identity, and find meaning in experiences I never asked for and never deserved.
Most importantly, I have had to learn how to give myself grace.
For a long time, I associated strength with never breaking. Now I understand that struggling does not make me weak. Needing help does not make me weak. Having difficult days does not erase how far I’ve come.
It simply makes me human.
Today, many of the experiences that once threatened to silence me have become part of the reason I speak so loudly for other women and young girls. I use what I have lived through to create opportunities, build community, and remind others that where they are today does not have to be where their story ends.
My story isn’t about never falling apart.
It’s about finding my way back to myself—again and again.
So when I think about everything I’ve accomplished, of course I’m proud of the athlete. I’m proud of the mother. I’m proud of the coach and the woman building something meaningful with her life.
But more than anything, I’m proud of the woman who fought through everything she thought might break her—and still found the courage to become who she is today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Nahiema Craig is a mental health crisis professional, sports performance coach, runner, entrepreneur, and community leader. She Co founded Girls Who Run , while building a personal brand around fitness, running, motherhood, and empowering women through community.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The quality that has contributed most to my success is resilience, paired with consistency. I’ve learned that success comes from continuing to show up, even when life is challenging.
Becoming a mother while pursuing my goals, completing my first half marathon with my son, achieving a half marathon PR, running 16.2 miles, and completing HYROX doubles and my solo debut in the same weekend are accomplishments I’m incredibly proud of. Through my athletic journey, coaching, and Girls Who Run, I’ve turned my passion into purpose.
I’m also grateful for the opportunity to work with incredible brands and companies, including Pure Fuel Sports, Vantage Recovery, Saucony, On, New Balance, Nourish Kings, DEKA, Anomaly Athletics, and many more.
My success comes from adapting, staying disciplined, and continuing to believe in myself. More than anything, I’m proud of the woman, mother, athlete, and leader I’ve become.
Contact Info:
