About Us

Barbells and Badges was founded in 2015. It is one of the top fitness motivation communities on Instagram for first responders. Our focus is a diverse community that inspires, supports, and empowers others.

OUR INSTAGRAM COMMUNITY

Our fitness motivation community, which originated on Instagram, was created for people to share their health goals, journey, and challenges, and to find inspiration and support from others who are also striving to be the best version of themselves. As a community, we have been able to support many of our followers as they make a difference in the lives of others as well. With the proceeds from the sale of some of our athlete's shirts, we have been able to donate to C.O.P.S., Police Unity Tour, Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and Unravel Pediatric Cancer. In addition, our desire to give back has led us to create our Honor A Hero Project. We have been able to donate to multiple fallen officers' families through their F.O.P. and department.

HOW WE GOT STARTED

We came up with the concept of Barbells and Badges after seeing how people were demonizing the law enforcement profession. This, along with a spike in line of duty deaths at the end of 2014, became a constant reminder to Barbells and Badges founder Marc of a friend and fellow police academy graduate that was killed in the line of duty in 2000. We wanted to do something, so we created Barbells and Badges to support & inspire first responders, their families, and supporters. The company began during the anniversary month that Marc’s friend was killed.

INSPIRATION FOR HONOR A HERO PROJECT

We recognize that mental health is equally as important as physical health. Through Barbells and Badges, we have had the privilege of meeting some amazing LEOs, and LEO widows that have forever been changed by the loss of heroes close to them, just like Marc. We were also directly impacted by the sudden loss of a sibling's spouse in 2016. It’s absolutely devastating to families, co-workers, friends, and departments after losing their hero. We understand first-hand how completely helpless it can make people feel when they lose someone close to them. We felt a strong conviction and need to help and support first responders, families, departments, and communities impacted by such senseless tragedies. To help them memorialize and work through some of the grief they felt. Wearing our Honor A Hero Project shirt not only keeps the memory alive of a hero taken to soon, but it also provides monetary support to heroes' families, departments, and C.O.P.S. We know that departments can be inundated with request to do things like memorial shirts after they lose a hero, and we’ve heard the unfortunate stories of companies using the tragedy to knowingly scam everyone involved. We knew that the Honor A Hero Project was built on a solid foundation of integrity, and we could eliminate that problem from happening to another agency. All of our donations can be verified, which is an additional piece of mind for those who support Honor A Hero Project.

 

BARBELLS AND BADGES OWNERS

What's up guys!  Marc here and I'm glad you stopped by.  Make sure you check out the entire page and subscribe to our mailing list, so you don't miss any B&B designs.  I'm a retired Police Officer currently serving as a Deputy with a local Sheriff's Office.  It was a bittersweet moment to retire but it was time for me to turn the page and serve in another capacity.  My career was very rewarding.  I accomplished every single career goal I set for myself.  I was a member of a specialized unit for 7 years and excelled in interview and interrogation.  I was a certified Police Instructor and taught in the Academy as a Drill Instructor, Patrol Tactics Instructor, Simunition Instructor, and PT Instructor.  I accumulated many accommodations and merits to include Officer of the Year and the Medal of Valor.  At the end of my career, I served on the Motor Unit and escorted athletic teams to and from events.  Now I serve in a different way and thanks to my career in Law Enforcement it was an easy transition.

Hi everyone, I'm Morgen.  I'm the co-founder of Barbells and Badges and Marc’s wife.  I'm also a mom of 5 and I help run Honor A Hero Project.  So, like you I'm constantly moving.  Marc and I met in the gym, and we are both very passionate about health and helping others. I’ve been a personal trainer and group fitness instructor with certifications in kickboxing, boot camp, BOSU, and step for the past 18 years. Together we understand the challenges first responders and their spouses face like lack of motivation, juggling shift work, lack of sleep, eating on the run, and family schedules. We worked through all of these things ourselves and are happy to share the things we’ve learned along the way.

BARBELLS AND BADGES FAMILY

People like you find us every day. We realize that YOU are the reason why this community works so well and that none of this would be possible without supporters who believe in Barbells and Badges and what this brand stands for. So, for that we thank you. We feel truly blessed to have each and every one of you along for this journey with us and hope to continue to be a community filled with motivation and support for all of you. We look forward to what’s to come in the future.

If you’d like to be more involved with Barbells and Badges send us and email. We look forward to hearing from you.