BCBusiness
SnoreMD CEO Carey Dillen builds muscle and mental resilience through bodybuilding
At Carey Dillen’s first bodybuilding competition, she quickly got used to people approaching her and asking how old she was. “They said, ‘I can’t believe you’re 52 and you’re doing this,’” she recalls. Her response? “I can’t believe I’m doing this, either.”
But when one considers the SnoreMD CEO’s past athletic achievements (read: the way she enthusiastically takes every hobby to the extreme), Dillen’s decision to become a bodybuilder in her 50s is hardly surprising. In her 20s, she went to the gym so regularly that the owner offered her a part-time job as a fitness instructor. In her 30s, she travelled often for her work at KPMG, so running became her exercise of choice. “The easiest way to stay healthy for me was to put on a pair of running shoes, even if I was in the middle of nowhere,” she explains. It was a convenient strategy for staying fit that evolved into racing in marathons and half-marathons. In her 40s, she worked as president of YYOGA… and, in a move that’s clearly on-brand for her, she fell in love with the practice and completed yoga teacher training. “Clearly, I dive into things,” she says with a laugh.
A 50th birthday would weigh heavily (pun intended) on anyone’s mind, but for Dillen, the milestone inspired her to, well, pick it up. “I wanted to look and feel amazing at 50,” she says. Online research (“I was kind of creeping on Instagram”) renewed her interest in lifting for physical benefits, especially in her age group. “We lose muscle mass every year, and muscle actually helps to strengthen metabolism,” she explains. “Weight training strengthens the bones and the tendons, it can help with balance… overall, it’s like part of the fountain of youth for your body.” She signed on with a trainer based out of California, who later suggested that Dillen take lifting one step further and sign up for a bodybuilding competition.
In 2023, Dillen flew to Miami to officially show off her gains. She’s a former competitive dancer and was well-equipped to handle some pre-show jitters, but posing on a stage in high heels came with its own concerns. “I had in my head that people were looking at me, thinking, ‘Oh, she thinks she’s all that,’” she says. Instead, audience members and fellow competitors were downright inspired—and not afraid to tell her so.
Besides the obvious physical transformation that comes from bodybuilding, Dillen asserts that, for her, the mental health benefits are just as uplifting. “I call it my moving meditation,” says the CEO, who still trains four times a week (notably, without listening to music: “I like to be in the moment; I don’t want my thoughts cluttered—it’s where I get my best ideas”) before heading off to work at SnoreMD. “I’m a better human when I do it,” she says of hitting the gym. “My mind is clear, my body has more energy; I feel stronger and more present.”
Dillen’s bodybuilding journey has led to an interest in the science of healthy eating. “That’s a big part of bodybuilding—the weight training is the muscular development of the body, and nutrition is the piece that allows you to show off all of that training,” she explains. In a move that should shock no one at this point, she also became a certified nutritionist. It’s all about balance, Dillen stresses, and while her all-in personality has led her down various sport-focused paths in her lifetime, she has a clear message for women over 50: don’t sleep on weightlifting.
SnoreMD is a leading provider of sleep apnea solutions (there are 25 locations across B.C. and Alberta, and four more are scheduled to open this summer). Founded in 2017, the company offers sleep assessments, sleep education, CPAP therapy and more from experienced respiratory therapists. Carey Dillen has held the role of CEO since March 2024. She’s involved in all aspects of the business, from strategic direction to organizational culture to financial management. Sounds like a dream—get it?—job for this passionate and ambitious leader. “I like doing hard things,” she says.