Meet the Coaches - Steph

What credentials do you have?
I have my CrossFit Level 3 certification. I also have certificates in CrossFit Kids, Weightlifting, Goal Setting and Mobility. I am also a USA weightlifting Advanced Sports Performance Coach and I am currently working on meeting the qualifications to be a Level 2/National Coach.

When and why did you become a coach?
CrossFit had become such a big part of my life and I was at the gym all the time so it made sense. Aimee was also looking to start our Steve’s Club at the time and I wanted to be a part of developing that program. I’ll admit I didn’t expect coaching to be more than a hobby when I signed up for the CFL1 in March 2011. But it turned out to be something I both loved doing and was actually good at. And i’m lucky enough to now call it my career!

What is the impact you hope that your coaching has on athletes?
I hope that my coaching helps to develop efficient and aware athletes. My goal is to educate and guide our athletes into a better understanding of their own bodies, abilities, mental state and movement patterns. I want to help them learn to make good choices that are in alignment with their best interests and long term goals. I also hope that through my coaching people learn to embrace who they are, and what they are are able to do each and everyday. I believe the path to becoming your fittest self always begins by showing up and giving whatever it is you have at the gym each day. I hope that people also have fun in my classes and get a little escape from the rest of the world for that hour. I also coach our youth programs and for them all the above applies. However in addition, I hope my coaching helps them build a strong foundation for a lifetime of enjoyment from health, fitness and athletics. Maybe even more importantly, I hope in someway I help them to become overall better human beings.

What hobbies and interests do you have outside of the gym?
People do things besides going to the gym? I enjoy being creative and sometimes go on arts and craft kicks, but mostly my hobby outside of the gym is my family. I have a husband, 3 kids, 4 step kids, 2 step grand kids and our dog Zeus...that keeps me busy, lol.

Other things that are important to me: social justice, body positivity, spirituality and self improvement. Also I like to have fun, with age I’m motivated more infrequently but I can still throw down for a good party now and again! I really enjoyed having people over for parties at my house too!

What did you do/or do you do for a career outside of coaching? I have only ever worked in jobs where I was caring for people. Most of my jobs were serving people with mental illness and developmental disabilities in direct care or management. I worked for 7 years in my last job as the program manager for a day program for adults with profound mental and physical disabilities. I also became a co-active life coach and had a practice for a couple years. I was good at it and worked with people all over the world, but more and more I found I wanted to invest mmy energy in myself as a CrossFit and Weightlifting coach than in that practice so I moved away from it.

What are your goals and interests as an athlete? From 2009-2012 CrossFit was the focus of my goals. From 2013-2016 Olympic Weightlifting was the focus of my goals. In the summer of 2016, I started having pretty crappy knee issues and a subsequent surgery that sent me in a tailspin not knowing what the heck I really want or should be doing in the gym. Since the surgery, I’ve done a mix of strength training, Olympic lifting and CrossFit. I couldn’t seem to find the motivation to “train” and thought about going back to just taking classes many times. For awhile my fear of sucking at CrossFit, being the most elite scaler and being sad about not being able to a weightlifter stopped me. And then at the end of this summer I let that shit go and started doing 4-5 WODS (ScaledAF of course) a week. At the moment the focus of my goals are really simple. I want to have fun, stay injury free and give my best in the workout each day. Honestly at the moment I care more about helping my CrossFit and Weightlifting athletes achieve concrete goals that I do about having any for myself. I really don’t know what the future will hold for me as an athlete. I don’t know if I will want to train or work towards a tangible goal in the future again. What I do know is that right now all I really want to do is workout with you, be fit and have some fun too.

Favorite quote(s)? 
“I’m grateful for always this moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.” -Ekhart Tolle

 “You can change your life with a simple shift of attention. But to make that simple shift, you have to find your heart. It's the only way. Accept yourself, then transcend yourself.” -Dan Millman

 “Treat yourself as if you already are enough. Walk as if you are enough. Eat as if you are enough. See, look, listen as if you are enough. Because it's true.” Geneen Roth 

“Life is an ongoing, never-ending process of re-creation.” Neale donald Walsh

“You are a dynamic whole greater than the sum of your parts. By integrating your body, mind, and emotions through training, you reshape your life.” - Dan Millman