For Josie Zamora, having two jobs was never enough.
She’s a middle school teacher and a choreographer, and on the morning of June 19, she was an amateur bodybuilder.
By the end of the day, that became a profession as well.
Zamora, a 37-year-old El Paso High School and UTEP graduate, won the 2010 NPC Junior Nationals Championships in Chicago in the Figure Class B Division, added the Best in Show trophy, and in the process earned an IFBB Figure Pro Card.
“It was amazing,” said Zamora, who will make her professional debut in two weeks at the New York Pro Figure show. “I was the first name they called out; I thought that just meant I was the first person to earn a card.
“They started calling other girls but they didn’t have a big trophy. Then it really dawned on me that I had won the whole show.”
The show was the continuation of a passion that began in 2005, but in some ways goes back to her youngest days.
“I’ve always been thin,” said Zamora, a chemistry and biology teacher at Chaparral Middle School, as well as a choreographer for the Miss El Paso competition and Sun Bowl halftime show. “Growing up with two older brothers, they teased me, they told me my body was boy-like. In high school, I’d wear sweatpants underneath my pants to make me look fuller. I was definitely aiming to sculpt my body as soon as I turned 18.