It’s been a while since I’ve been able to update the news on our staff and so much has happened over the last several months that it felt as if now were the best time to do so.

I’ve recently brought two people onto our official staff roster: one, a returning face to the business and one, who has transitioned from intern to employee. In addition, we’ve seen a shift in one of my longstanding coaches as well.

I’ll start here:

David Cameron and I connected about a year and a half ago through an internship program through the Exercise Science department at Kent State University. My last three hires had come through Kent State, two from Exercise Science and one from Dietetics, and I had been very happy with all of them. David brought a slightly different look to our staff. He is currently in the final semester of his junior year and his backstory into Exercise Science comes from a love of martial arts. When we first sat down to discuss a potential internship opportunity, we were only a couple of months prior to lockdowns due to the pandemic. David expressed that his dream was to open up a facility of his own with services as both dojo and a fitness studio. Between his school demands and the potential of being able to start his own business sooner than we may have initially thought, David interned with us for several months and started to train a small group of martial arts students out of RevFit. That business operates under the name: Blue Wolf Martial Arts. He is a 1st degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do as well as a 2nd degree in Isshinryu Karate and Ryukyu Kobudo (Okinawan Weaponry). As he is continuing to grow that business, I felt it was time to make him official as staff with us and, when the time is right, I know he’s going to likely be up to great things with his own business. It’s my hope that he will have learned some beneficial things being with us, since he’s been able to see both the positive and negative of small business ownership (here’s a hint: it’s not for the faint of heart!) David lives in Kent and just recently celebrated 4 years together with his girlfriend, Jessica. I am very grateful to David for his commitment to RevFit thus far and I look forward to seeing what the future brings for him.

Megan Winiarski first began her time with RevFit as a client, upwards of 10 years ago. Her mother actually started as a client of mine in my first location and she referred Megan to us all those years ago. She is a Kent State graduate with a major in Health and Physical Education. The stars aligned sometime back and Megan got certified as a personal trainer to join us on staff. She and I had the opportunity to work together for about 5 years before she transitioned out of the fitness industry altogether. That was about 3 years ago. A few months back, Megan rejoined RevFit as a client again and the conversation came back around to the potential of her rejoining as staff. The field she had transitioned to had taken some unexpected turns and it gave us an opportunity to work together again. I am very happy to announce that this RevFit veteran has returned and she has hardly missed a beat. I can tell you with certainty, many of our tenured clients were very happy to see her return! Megan lives in Stow with her husband, Nick, their son Jack and their dog Bailey.

Mike Roder, like the aforementioned, David Cameron, came to us over three years ago through the Kent State Exercise Science program. He began as an intern and I was so impressed with what he brought to the table, I invited him to join staff officially not long after. He got his BS in Exercise Science and then furthered his education with a Masters in Cardiac Rehab through Cleveland State University. While Mike was waiting for job openings to become available in Cardiac Rehab, he continued to grow his youth athlete clientele. If you know Mike, you know that there is hardly a soul more passionate about sports than he is. He is exceptional at his craft and it is truly amazing to see the work he does with his athletes and their commitment to working with him. He is my go-to when I hear that someone wants their child to get fantastic sport-specific strength and conditioning for their respective athletic endeavors. Last year, Mike married his college sweetheart, Marina and, at the end of January 2021, Mike and Marina welcomed their first, a baby girl named Millie Rae into the world. Mike was able to secure a position in the field he majored in, so between that schedule and his scheduling with his youth athletes, he is not currently able to work the shifts with me that he once was before. This is far from a bad thing. Mike has been tremendous for me and for the business and it stands to reason that he needed to take the next step up in his career. While I can’t say that Mike won’t ever be back to help with my roster, right now the focus is on Cardiac Rehab, his youth athletes and, of course, fatherhood. Mike continues to train his athletes out of RevFit so if you know someone looking for that service, he’s your guy.

Lastly, there’s me. I started this business in the Spring of 2009. My initial goal was to help people lose weight through exercise appropriate to their goals and sustainable nutrition coaching. Since then, we have not only grown year after year, but we have changed our physical location twice. We began in Hudson, Ohio and outgrew our spot by the end of 2012. This led us into neighboring Stow and we relocated to the Shoppes of Stow plaza. We were in that location for about 5 years and then growth demanded a bigger playground. I was fortunate that our landlord had a much larger spot available for us in the same plaza, so we took that spot in the fall of 2017. Since I started the business, I started a podcast (Revolutionary You) which is inching towards its 300th episode, I wrote two books which are available in physical and Kindle versions on Amazon, I maintain this weekly blog and I am the head coach of the monster we affectionately know as RevFit (formally Revolution Fitness and Therapy). It would not have been possible for me to write the words I do today or oversee this business as we know it without the help of a pretty damn amazing staff. It’s because of them that we are able to service our kick ass community, who are the real heroes of RevFit, and keep the train moving forward. All of this allows me the privilege of supporting my family: my wife, Marissa, and my sons, Jackson and Sebastian. Oh yes, there’s also our boxer, Dempsey. It’s still sort of breathtaking to think that we are about to celebrate 12 years of business (which we will celebrate at the beginning of May).

But my staff deserved a formal introduction and in some sense, a re-introduction, to all of you. I would not be where I am without them and at the rate that RevFit is growing, I can’t proceed forward in the most supportive way possible to our clientele without a team to help me do it.

We are RevFit and if you missed our tagline somewhere along the way: We Make Great People Greater.

(All photos courtesy of Kerry Russo Photography)