Lynn Alumna Steph Roach leverages adversity to stay driven

After facing life-changing health battles throughout her life, Lynn University alumna Steph Roach ’12 inspires people to confront their challenges, defy expectations and achieve goals they did not think were possible.

Roach, a 33-year-old currently living in Scottsdale, Arizona, was diagnosed with the muscular disorder Cerebral Palsy (CP) shortly after birth. Her parents were told she could never speak, read or write. Instead of allowing the lifelong diagnosis to hold her back, Roach nurtured positive thinking, hard work and persistence to establish ambitious goals.

At Lynn, Roach not only overcame challenges but excelled, “I will always be grateful to Lynn,” said Roach. “The university helped me develop social skills, confidence and advocacy!” While pursuing her bachelor’s degree, Roach found lifelong friends, empowering mentors and fell in love with student activities. She was a member of the Tri Sigma sorority, the student government board and would host events for disability awareness.

n 2016, Roach was diagnosed with a second health disorder, stage 3B Hodgkin lymphoma. Roach kept a positive mindset throughout her treatment to help deal with the setback and push through. Fortunately, Roach defeated cancer in a matter of months after beginning treatment, completing what she called the “longest workout of my life.”

By leveraging her education from Lynn and putting her life experiences to practice, Roach embarked on a mission to influence and help others in similar situations. This led her to create “Staying Driven,” an affordable and accessible online fitness experience for participants to enjoy from the comfort of their homes. The program uses coaching and a supportive community to help users regardless of age, location or skill level. The program allows her to influence societal perceptions of what it means to have a physical disability, showing that anyone can be included in the fitness industry.

The mindset that anyone and everyone can be an athlete truly hit home for Roach when she completed her first marathon in a handcycle—a three-wheeled device that bears more resemblance to a bicycle than a wheelchair—with a finishing time of four hours, 34 minutes and 16 seconds. After the challenging marathon, Roach started validating herself as a competitive athlete, which eventually led to her nickname, The Hammer.

Before her marriage to Tyler (Ty) Roach, Steph Hammerman attended a CrossFit competition. During the event, a friend endearingly introduced her as “The Hammer,” and the nickname stuck. Since then, she has appeared in several fitness competitions and became the first CrossFit Level 2 Coach with CP and the first adaptive athlete to be signed by Nike Training in 2018. Roach also offers fitness classes through Zoom at stayingdrivenlive.com.

Beyond her fitness accomplishments, Roach wrote her first book, Driven: How adversity helped me find my greatest potential. Her husband, Ty, wrote the forward for the challenging project, which took Roach over two years to complete. “The writing process was emotionally cathartic,”said Roach. “I had to be vulnerable and write about experiences I didn’t necessarily want to think about.”

Roach is now working on a children’s book inspired by Colbie, a young girl with CP who views Roach as her role model. Roach believes the book will help fill a gap in representation and open the door for younger audiences to have accessibility.

Through her handle, @StephTheHammer, Roach shares her story across social media channels to continue motivating and challenging individuals. And as for Lynn students looking to follow in her footsteps and market themselves on social media, Roach offers sound advice, “I’m always going against the grain on social media,” said Roach. “It’s important to stay true to yourself because people will easily pick up when you are authentic and when you are not.”

The trials and tribulations of everyday life have taught Roach never to give up or give in, in the face of adversity.

“Life will never be easy,” said Roach. “But if it were, you wouldn’t appreciate the good days.”