Her background in ballet and her dynamic presence on stage propelled her to the elite level of the bodybuilding world for nearly a decade.
After receiving her master's degree in Nutrition, she spent many years after retirement from competition as a professional nutritionist at the Beauvais Fitness Centers and other various gyms in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
[citation needed] Paisley won every state and local bodybuilding show in Arizona before proceeding to the professional ranks.
After IFBB officials presented strong evidence against Tonya Knight that she got someone other than herself her to supply test-passing urine, she admitted that she sent a surrogate to take a mandatory drug test administered before the 1988 Ms. Olympia, where she finished fourth.
In a ruling handed down in November 1989, Knight was suspended and stripped of her 1989 Ms. International title and prize money.