Blog

where everybody shines!

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 8000 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 was made complete DESPITE Covid-19 (just a month delayed) as RISE coffee & tea opened next door to SHINE health & wellness in East Cobb. 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 employs extraordinary people with special needs, like her daughter Bekah, to impact our community in a unique way.

RISE & SHINE…. blending all her loves completes her recipe for a life well lived.

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.

kristen hill

Kristen has been active most of her life. Growing up, she was in competitive sports, transitioning into school sports in middle school and high school. That competitive spirit never died, but after having 4 kids, had to be redirected. She found herself in a gym taking classes every chance she could. Being the extrovert she is, there were quick friendships made and eventually she was asked to teach group fitness. It was a perfect fit until she and her family moved back to her old stomping grounds in Michigan. Although hesitant, Kristen found a new facility and was hired as a group fitness instructor immediately. Her passion for helping people had grown over the years, so she made the decision to become a personal trainer. In 2017 she became certified through NASM and began seeing clients right away. It didn’t take long for her to realize what her next certification had to be… so in 2019 she was certified in Corrective Exercise with NASM.

2019/2020 has proven to be a challenging year. Yet, Kristen’s love for people, helping them become stronger, improve flexibility, gain confidence and have an overall better look at life, has only grown with her new role as SHINE's virtual trainer. During Covid, SHINE personal training had to look different, so our virtual training program was birthed. Kristen has taken over the program and is blowing everyone away with her consistency, passion, attention to detail and fun spirit. Being part of such a wonderful group of clients, colleagues and friends at SHINE has expanded her outlook on life even more. Now she feels at home again and looks forward to helping more people find their light to SHINE!

Sharon Troisi

Sharon began her professional fitness career 3 years ago as a small group fitness and bootcamp instructor. Her love for fitness, however, came at an early age with her involvement in youth sports such as soccer, tennis and swimming. This carried over into her adult years as she fell in love with running and strength/cardio group fitness classes, especially kickboxing. This all culminated into getting her group fitness certification and most recently, her NASM personal training certification. Sharon loves working closely with her clients on achieving their fitness goals and there is nothing she loves more than watching their progress and seeing them accomplish things that they didn’t think were possible. Her clients' health, safety and happiness are of the utmost importance to her and she feels blessed and grateful to be able to connect with such amazing people on a day to day basis.

Sharon is a native Georgian, born and raised in Roswell, GA. She attended UGA and is a diehard Dawgs fan. She currently lives in Marietta, GA with her husband of 20 years , Joel, and their two boys Hudson (19, a sophomore at UGA) and Sam (17, a junior at Lassiter HS). In her free time she enjoys walking her two chocolate labs Bailey and Mocha, traveling (especially to the beach), gardening, reading, college football, spending time with family and relaxing! She is so excited to be a part of the SHINE community and looks forward to her daily interactions with such a wonderful group of people!

Monica Brockman

Monica Brockman came to SHINE after she started organizing a workout for her neighbors. When COVID shut down many gyms, she invited a few people to join her for a workout at a nearby ampitheater. With the encouragement of these friends and a recommendation to connect with Nicole, Monica began studying for her Personal Trainer certification and passed her NASM exam in September 2020.

Monica had a 28 year career in the insurance industry and decided to move into health & wellness. Always a passionate fitness enthusiast, starting back in the day with aerobics, training others at SHINE is a perfect meld of her experience and passion.

In her personal time, Monica is married with a blended family of 3 girls and 2 boys and 8 amazing grandchildren. She loves to be at her beach house soaking up the sand and sun, and because she has children living in multiple states and countries, traveling for visits is a fun and favorite pastime.

Training clients who are over 50 is a passion for Monica, stemming from first helping her dad and seeing his impressive progress and improvements. She is continuing her education specifically for those who are older and want to remain healthy and active as they age.

Justin Vantreese

A passion for fitness and exercise has been deeply rooted in Justin’s life for as long as he can remember. A 2011 graduate of Kennesaw State University with a degree in Exercise Science Justin began using his degree to help people with special needs attain their fitness goals. Justin has supported nearly 2 dozen clients with a range of special needs (Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Fragile X). Many of these clients were previously sedentary and had never truly exercised before working with Justin. Three of his special needs clients have each lost more than 30 pounds as a result of the personal training and encouragement Justin has given.

As an avid runner, completing 8 marathons and a 50 mile ultramarathon, Justin enjoys helping his clients train and complete 5k races. He is also a Special Olympics coach for Cherokee County year round, coaching tennis, basketball, volleyball, softball and bowling. In his freetime, Justin enjoys running, tennis and pickleball.