Kathryn Sansone

Kathryn Demmas Sansone
Kathryn Sansone, 2006
Born	1962 St. Louis, Missouri
Nationality	American
Occupation	Personal trainer
Known for	celebrated as an "unforgettable mom"
Spouse(s)	Jim Sansone
Children	10

Kathryn Demmas Sansone (born 1962) is an American homemaker and personal trainer, best known for being celebrated by Oprah as an "unforgettable mom". Sansone went from being a member of Oprah's audience to being a featured guest on Oprah's television show, and was interviewed by Oprah for Mother's Day 2003 in O, the Oprah Magazine. As a result, Sansone wrote a book, Woman First, Family Always, which became a top-1000 seller on amazon.com. As of early 2006, Sansone has 10 children, ranging in age from 8 months to 18 years old.

Sansone was born Kathryn Demmas in St. Louis, Missouri in 1962, to Dan Demmas, a printing broker, and Helen Georges, a homemaker. As a 16-year-old at Clayton High School, she met her future husband, 17-year-old Jim Sansone (another native St. Louisan who later became a real estate developer). They married in 1987. Sansone graduated high school in 1980, and attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, studying education. She transferred to St. Louis University, graduating with a degree in elementary education in 1985. She then taught 4th-6th grade for four years at Oak Hill / Villa Duchesne, until the birth of her first child.

After a few more children, Sansone and her husband built a gym in their home, and Sansone began teaching aerobics classes at local corporations, such as CPI and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She also briefly had a business, "Cha-Cha's", selling chocolate chip cookies from 1998-2000. In 2002, she became certified as a personal trainer, and gave group fitness classes in their home gym.

A fan of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Sansone occasionally went to tapings with her family. In 2002, she went to the show for her 40th birthday. The show's theme for that day was "How?", about how some mothers with many children were still able to stay in good physical shape. During the audience Q&A, Sansone was one of the women who raised her hand to speak. She stood up, six months pregnant with her ninth child, and told how she trained with weights and stayed fit. On the spot, Oprah invited her on stage to give her a hug. A few weeks later, one of Oprah's producers called to invite Sansone onto the show as a guest.