Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
When and why did you come to Austin?
I moved to Austin in 2004 from the East Coast. I was looking for a more relaxed, progressive and sunny place to live.
What is your background? How did you get into personal training?
I was a childhood tomboy, the only girl in a family of boys, which led me to playing various sports throughout school. I was born competitive, and sports became a natural place to thrive. Looking back, sports and fitness have always been my passion. After about 10 years in the business world post college, I decided to return to what made me the happiest. Training combined my love of working with people and improving their health with fitness. I feel very fortunate to be doing what I love for a living.
Tell us your role in Austin Simply Fit’s origin story.
In ASF’s first month back in 2010, I came onboard when we were just operating as contract trainers. We quickly decided to join forces because we wanted to be more than just a collective of independent trainers, we wanted to build a brand and a culture, and we dreamt of becoming the best place to be a personal trainer in the city. Together with the original founder Mark Rogers, we began seeking out like-minded great humans, whose focus and core values were centered on helping people feel and perform better. By year 6, we achieved our goal of becoming an employer and offering additional benefits to our employees. This was a huge goal for us. Although this seems mainstream in many professions, for most fitness professionals there are few opportunities to build a real career, and this was what we set out to do.
What keeps you excited about everything you do as ASF’s owner?
I absolutely love seeing our community expand, seeing young coaches grow in their craft, and knowing that we are all part of something that improves the lives of others in our community. It feels really great to know you are a part of helping people feel empowered, whether it be my employees or the community members.
What does being a community leader mean to you?
A community leader to me is someone who walks the walk day in and day out, and leads by example. The leader sets the tone and the culture and tries to maximize the gifts of the people on their team, and celebrates them for what they bring to the whole. Community leaders have to be able to take feedback and improve when given that gift. Most importantly, a community leader needs to be a person who can see the whole picture, who sets a plan and isn’t reactive to the daily challenges, but steadfast in the vision and the brick-by-brick execution of what they are building.
What is your favorite thing about Austin Simply Fit?
MY TEAM!! I have the greatest staff out there. I feel so fortunate to be part of a family of trainers and staff of intelligent, capable, funny and genuinely good people. They make every day something I look forward to. The staff and clients make me feel like part of something extraordinary. When the gym is full with all of our amazing clients (and trainers) the energy is like a party! Knowing I helped create an environment that makes a positive impact in people’s lives is the best feeling in the world.
Tell us about your current fitness goals and training:
My main goal currently is a mixture of maintaining relative strength, staying mobile and pain-free, while looking good doing it. Training is my joy. Though my programming has changed over the years depending on what my goal is at the time, my training is always rooted in the basics of strength and conditioning. I’ve always maintained a balance of being strong while remaining athletic and fit. I like feeling able to do everything in life. Keeping a strong body to enjoy all the adventures possible is what matters most to me.
What are your passions outside of the gym?
When I am outside the gym, I am truly out enjoying this beautiful city we are lucky to live in. You can find me on the Lady Bird trail every weekend, or out to dinner enjoying all the good food, or taking in new music, comedy or art in this city. I love it here, and after living all over the country, I feel fortunate to have landed in and grown with Austin over the last almost 20 years.
How do you, personally, define success?
I define success by the relationships you build in a lifetime. Meaningful connection with the people you love – friends, family, and colleagues – are the riches I care most about. At the end of the day, it’s all you have.
Click here to read Krista’s perspective on how committing to an “easy” goal can yield big results!