Future of Fitness

Many years ago Ali Watts left the corporate world in Sydney, Australia, to follow her passion — helping people transform their bodies and minds through nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle. At the start of 2018, she moved to Manhattan from Hong Kong to spread that passion even further. As an integral part of her own journey as a personal trainer and yoga teacher, Ali realized that to achieve true longevity and optimal health, women really need a holistic approach—addressing the three pillars of lifestyle, nutrition, and fitness simultaneously. Among other things (like being a badass fit chick) she runs Ali Fitness -a fitness and health coaching company, a popular podcast about bringing health into fitness and an S & C gymnastics studio — www.transformgst.com. Her goal is to help as many people as she can be fit and healthy for the long term.

Fares Ksebati is the CEO of MySwimPro, a technology company that creates apps that help people improve their performance and health. MySwimPro has received international accolades including App of the year by Apple and featured in Sports Illustrated. The company has global partners and an international investor base that spans 36 countries. Fares is the founder of World Swim Day, a global initiative that empowers people to be more active through swimming. He competed on Wayne State University's varsity swim team and continues to compete. He is a 3x U.S. Masters swimming national champion, USA Triathlon Certified Coach and American Swim Coaches Association Fellow.

Jake's love for Strength and Conditioning started in college where he was lucky enough to play for an intern under some world-class strength coaches. During his time as a college strength coach, he started to compete in Crossfit and left to run a CrossFit gym. This move opened his eyes to the business side of fitness. Since then he has co-founded Gymbuildr, Fitness Culture, and his most recent project FitHive.

Nate Klemp, Ph.D., is a writer, philosopher, and entrepreneur. Along with Eric Langshur, he is the co-author of the New York Times Bestseller Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing (Simon & Schuster: North Star Way) and is a regular contributor to Mindful Magazine. He is also the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at LIFE Cross Training (LIFE XT), a company devoted to training the skill of happiness and promoting well-being. Prior to creating LIFE XT, Nate worked as an assistant professor of political science and philosophy at Pepperdine University. Nate holds a B.A. and M.A. in philosophy from Stanford University, where he graduated with honors in Ethics in Society, and a Ph.D. in political philosophy from Princeton University. Nate is also the author of The Morality of Spin: Rhetoric and the Christian Right, a book with Roman and Littlefield Press on the ethics of rhetoric and spin.

Nicole is a former fitness studio owner turned Authentic Marketing Mentor for Fit Pros. She successfully started, ran, and sold her boot camp for a 6 figure profit in just 3 years and ran an online weight loss coaching business. She has dedicated the past 5 years to serving other fitness business owners as a coach. Her specialty is building businesses from $0 to over $10k/month in less than 6 months in both the online and brick + mortar space. Nicole now teaches the precise strategies she used to create her success in both her brick and mortar fitness studio and in her online coaching business through her company, Authentic Conversion. After seeing so many Fitness Professionals struggle to earn a living, despite being in the business of changing lives, she's passionate about showing them there's a better way to impact more people, earn more money, and work less hours. She's determined to show fitness professionals that the freedom they crave is much closer than they can conceive!

Aaron is the founder of the movr app - an accessible training platform and movement108, a boutique movement studio in Vancouver, Canada. He's committed to delivering accessibility in movement. Discovering new ability and awareness in the body is a daily pursuit both personally and professionally. Aaron plays soccer, hikes and loves spending time with family. Movement is a lifestyle and Aaron aspires to embody this - day in and day out. Where you'll find him: Working with the movr team, coaching classes, personal training sessions, leading our Bell Sound Kettlebell Course, hiking in the woods or having a nap.

Mark has been in the fitness industry for 24 years and has worked in big box gyms as a trainer, fitness manager, and regional VP. He has started four companies and helped launch Massage Envy. Mark worked as a success coach at NPE for four years working with fitness business owners. His newest venture is with RedLine Xpress and developing micro-franchises to help new and struggling trainers to create rewarding and profitable businesses.

Ariel Garten is the Founder of InteraXon, makers of Muse: the brain sensing headband. Muse is the award-winning headband that makes meditation easier.

Dr. Sean believes that people should be able to get out of pain without going to the doctor or missing the gym. He founded Active Life as a resource to Humanize Doctors, Professionalize Coaches, and Empower Individuals. Having helped over 10,000 people, Dr. Sean now leads a company who is paving the way for the future of pain resolution in active populations.

Sam Pogue is the co-founder of Fitness Break Room, an online fitness community that specializes in telling the stories and strategies of some of the industry's most successful players. Sam specializes in helping fitness trainers and fitness professional pivot into the industry. He is also the Director of Communications and Senior Coach for the Onnit Academy Education Team. He spent the last nine years in the fitness industry as a membership councilor, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and fitness educator. Originally from Portland, Oregon, he was in search of personal development, which led him to his current HQ of Austin, Texas. Sam Pogue was tired of seeing countless internet marketers lying to aspiring trainers chasing their dream and convincing them this industry is easy to make hundreds of thousands of dollars write workout programs online or generate new leads for your in person training business. Sam helps people not only get into the fitness industry and chase their passion but helps provide realistic expectations and strategies to help build a successful career. He believes that "Fitness is about community" and that we should give back to those who are starting out. We all have a mentor or someone that helped us out along the way. And while the fitness industry is very rewarding, it's also filled with challenges. He believes that by bringing the fitness community together, we can help the industry thrive. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."