Nicole DeWard
Nicole began her career in the fitness industry from the front row of a group fitness class in 2007. Her love for transformation was infectious. The encouragement of her class friends moved her to pursue her first personal training certification in January of 2008. It wasn’t long before she became certified in every group fitness format and received the USA Triathlon Certification from Colorado Springs. Her desire to serve at the highest level drove her decisions to continue learning. In 2011, she earned the NASM Certification, (National Academy of Sports Medicine, the gold standard in personal training), and became a Certified Health Coach with the Villa Nova School of Nursing. She also holds certifications in Corrective Exercise, Behavioral Change, and Group Personal Training, and will finish her Master Trainer Certification in the fourth quarter of 2019.
This obvious passion for education is driven by her love to serve her community. After gaining knowledge and experience in the field at big box gyms, she opened SHINE health & wellness in 2013. Her passion to create life transformation for clients and health professionals is the reason SHINE has been a light in her community for the past six years. Combining fitness, nutrition, and therapy in an intimate environment has allowed clients to gain success in their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Nicole has assisted hundreds of clients boasting over 7000 pounds lost and numerous lives taken back. While the weight on the scale is a merely a reflection of habits that either move people toward or keep people from living their best life, Nicole's loving accountability encourages clients to become the best version of themselves. She has also coached dozens of health professionals in growing their own successful businesses. Nicole leads a team both locally and nationally serving clients all over the country. Many of her coaches have left full time jobs replacing their income through health coaching with a laptop lifestyle It is her desire to see all people SHINE their light in their own world to inspire change in the lives of many.
Living life to the fullest is at the top of Nicole’s list. She has been crazy in love with her husband Josh for almost two decades. They have four amazing children who each bring their own flavor and zest to their family. The two middle children have special needs, the oldest is adopted, and the youngest is Nicole’s “mini-me.” Having such a wild mix of kids has brought many loves into Nicole’s world. She is passionate about integration with the special needs population, as well as serving in the adoption/foster community, and actively attending her son’s sporting events.
Nicole's world revolves around pursuing God's call on her life to SHINE her light. She actively serves in Tres Dias, (a Christian weekend retreat for spiritual renewal), enjoys working out, hanging out with friends, and watching movies. All of this is perfectly complete with a cup of coffee in hand. In 2020, her dream of opening a coffee shop will be complete as RISE coffee & tea comes to East Cobb next door to SHINE health & wellness. RISE is a locally owned coffee shop with a healthy flair that provides a bigger stage for people with special needs to SHINE their light. RISE will employ extraordinary people with special needs, like her Bekah, to impact our community in a unique way.
RISE & SHINE…. blending all her loves completes her recipe for a life well lived.
Ali Crisafulli
As a mom of two little girls, Ali discovered a true passion for fitness after the birth of her second daughter. What began as a hobby eventually segued into a career as she worked toward a goal of becoming a certified spinning instructor. After a year and a half of teaching indoor cycling and Boot Camp at LA Fitness, Ali decided to take her fitness education to the next level by becoming a NASM-Certified Personal Trainer.
Ali believes that happiness and self-worth can be cultivated through a healthy lifestyle with the help of family, friends, music, the outdoors, and a positive outlook. She’s dedicated to helping others find their strength to be the best version of themselves while having fun at the same time.
Lee ann shatzen
LeeAnn is a NASM – Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Health and Wellness Coach. Her journey for health and fitness started when she was going through some health issues that made her focus more on her diet. Seeing how changing the food you eat and exercise can have such a profound effect she decided to focus her studies on becoming a health and wellness coach and a personal trainer. Her passion is to work with families to create a healthier environment around food and physical fitness. She loves to read ingredients and teach others what to look for in labels or to just eat whole foods where a label is not required. Meal prepping is a specialty of hers as well.
She enjoys working out at a local Crossfit gym, trail running with her dog, and doing obstacle course races. She also loves to bake healthier desserts to show that you don’t have to give up the pleasures in life! As a mom of two adult children and a grandmother she feels it important to stay active at every stage of life.
emily gray
Emily’s love of movement began on the tennis court as a young girl. Upon entering and completing college, exercise surprisingly became an unhealthy outlet as she struggled with self-worth, negative self-talk, and unhealthy eating habits.
However, as Emily began to seek out healthy habits, she discovered the most powerful words we will ever hear are the words we say to ourselves. Because of this revelation, Emily’s life and health transformed. Her movement became a practice of speaking truth and love over herself as she faced challenging exercises. She believes that when you speak kindly to yourself during a work out, it will lead you to speak kindly to yourself throughout daily life, ultimately leading to healthy habits and decision making.
As a NASM CPT, she aspires to remind individuals that they can and they will accomplish the challenge in front of them. With hands on each other’s backs, pushing each other forward, we will cross the finish line together.
Emily loves all things fitness, cooking nutritious meals, traveling across the globe to visit her Scottish fiancé, and spending quality time with her family and friends.
phin hall
Phinehas (Phin) is a former athlete, and what used to be a serious hobby where coaches yelled at him while working out twice a day in the summer heat, has now become a source of stress relief for Phin. He enjoys squatting heavy weights, sprinting for cardio, and plenty of jumping while playing basketball. He takes these gifts that were instilled within and throughout his development of playing sports to help young athletes elevate their game to an entirely different levels.
Phin has a gift working with the older adult population. He appreciates the change of pace, the intimacy, and the carefulness in tending to each persons’ physical challenges. He has a huge heart that longs to connect with this community because he believes that everyone can move how they want without any limitations, no matter the age.
Phin attends Kennesaw State University with hopes to obtain an Exercise Science degree. While working towards his scholastic achievements, Phin has made it his intention to train athletes and older adults becoming versatile in understanding how physiology works at different levels of training.
claire mccool
Claire is 25 years old and has been brought up by her family to love the outdoors and being active. Before she started her fitness career path, she always played sports in school and loved to be competitive , not only with others , but with her self to see how she can physically, and mentally , push her self. Whether it’s hiking with her dogs, camping, or getting at it in the gym, she has always found satisfaction not only for the physical benefits, but because of the mental benefits. She then realized that she also wanted others to feel great about themselves as she does. She believes that staying active , not only will help you physically feel better, but also emotionally and mentally feel better about the person you were created to be. She believes strongly that having a healthy lifestyle means more than eating good and working out, but surrounding yourself with positive people and thoughts to become the best version of you.
peg bullock
Peg's foray into massage began as, shall we say, an accident. She was in a car wreck nearly 15 years ago and suffers from two herniated discs in her neck. In an attempt to avoid surgery and manage the pain, she went to massage school and now, as a massage therapist, she helps other people feel better every day.
Peg particularly enjoys working on the neck and helping her clients alleviate headaches and migraines. Peg enjoys playing an active role in her family, and she is on her own journey to personal health and wellness, having lost 70+ pounds and gained fitness and health. Because her work is so personal to her, Peg relates closely to her clients and enjoys helping them SHINE.
