Recently retired after 20+ years of active duty service in the U.S. Army, I'm excited to join Lise's all-star team on a more full-time basis. Full of gratitude for being married to such a talented, caring, and thoughtful woman. Full of love being Daddy Dan with our two wonderfully awesome boys who bring joy to all. Full of appreciation and respect for small business entrepreneurs. Full of experience with nearly 12+ years as a small business owner and nearly 20 years as an attorney. Full of humility as I strive to learn from every person I encounter.

I have been a leader in the health and wellness space for over seven years. I’ve navigated through numerous roles from coaching clients both nutritionally and physically, to managing and leading teams, contributing to and creating operations and processes for a parent company of multiple fitness brands, all while investing in my own personal health and wellness journey. I specialize in creating and streamlining operations to help the growth of clubs, with a focused approach on the development of teams and leadership.

Peter Pastijn is a founding partner, co-owner, and co-concept designer of the THE CYCLING ROOM® and THE ROOM® concepts currently operating in the UAE. He has been active in the fitness industry for over 25 years.

He is a former fitness equipment distributor and the Education Representative for the Spinning® program for Belgium and Luxembourg.

Peter currently is a Power Specialist Master Instructor for the Spinning program and conducts teacher training around the world. He Co-authored a teacher internship program for THE CYCLING ROOM®.

He is a former professional squash player (n° 64 in the world) and 9 year member of the Belgian National Squash team. He was National Coach of the Belgian men’s squash team for several years and has also been an avid marathon runner and Ironman triathlete.

I started teaching Pilates in my late teens, I grew up in family educators and I vowed at a young age I would never do that so I went to business school. Never say never. I love what I do, and I am so thankful for my clients and instructors. I have taught Pilates to everyone over the last 20 plus years the young the old, rock star athletes, prima ballerinas, injured, chronically ill, the beginner, and expert. I took a step back and realized it is all fun for me but what draws me in to teach Pilates and coaching is those who feel they can’t. (the secret is out you can!) I have a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Pittsburgh and two undergrad degrees from PITT. (I am learning junkie) #H2P I once did Epidemiology Research at Pitt on several NIH-funded projects.

I completed the comprehensive teacher training offered from Core Dynamics Pilates in Santa Fe, NM in the Eve Gentry tradition. Eve is one of the Pilates elders who studied with Joe Pilates. Along several thousand other hours of con-ed leading to me being a classically trained instructor gone, rogue. In 2015 I franchised my Pilates studio model and in 2018 my studio became the first Pilates studio to become a b-corp.

Heather comes to us from the midwest. Growing up as a competitive swimmer, Heather developed a passion for fitness early. Although she thought she wanted to be a CPA when she grew up, she quickly realized that was not the life for her. So she switched gears, became a business major and got certified as a personal trainer. Not long after, she left for massage therapy school in Chicago, and her holistic lifestyle journey was ignited.

Heather has spent the last 12 years in the fitness industry--training clients, managing studios, and also leading a territory of studios. Heather's passion lies in helping others remove obstacles that are getting in the way of them achieving their goals so they can live the life they want. Outside of work you can find Heather hiking, camping, biking, paddle boarding and playing with her Mini Australian Shepherd, Frankie.

Rory is a University of South Carolina grad, but a “Jersey Boy” at heart. Growing up in an environment where “gym, tan, laundry” was life, he developed a passion for the fitness industry as it was a second home for most. Working most of his teenage years in a mixed martial arts studio, Rory pursued a degree in Sports Management at the University of South Carolina. Upon graduation, he began a career in business development with The Wildflower Group. Working closely with brands like Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Runner’s World, and Bicycling magazine he strategized and executed licensing and brand extension initiatives leading to major brick and mortar retail programs in the US and abroad. After spending 4 years with The Wildflower Group, Rory left to head up business development for Skinnygirl and Bethenny Frankel. Working hand-in-hand with the founder and CEO, Rory generated over $5,000,000 in contractual guarantees in 2017 in addition to leading the [5] straight quarters of incremental growth. Upon leaving his role with Bethenny, he went out on his own and began a small marketing and business development consultancy. With a natural talent to connect with people, a creative sales approach, and a genuine passion for helping people Rory always “finds a way.” Often described as resourceful, reliable, and available, he now leads on business development for multiple products and brands in the marketplace.  

I have worked in multiple industries (healthcare, retail, non-profits, etc) in customer service, curriculum development, education and project management roles. I truly enjoy working with and for studio owners as I'm a bit obsessed with working out. When not working out, I love spending time with my 3 kids and chasing my Army husband around the world.

Marie is all about launches and operations and is an integrator and detail wizard! There are a lot of moving parts, technology and team that need to be coordinated with every launch. Marie really enjoys bringing all these moving parts into harmony to create something powerful in the end.

For over 20 years, her career journey has led her around the globe, launching several major non-profit relief organizations and fueling her passion to support visionary, world-changing organizations like Studio Grow. She has worked alongside major influencers, coaches and multi-million dollar business owners, giving life to their visions, but Marie will tell you that her greatest life accomplishment has been raising and homeschooling her 6 amazing kids.

Since starting R1SE and taking his previous process, marketing and tech experience Chris immersed himself in using the latest software and hardware to make R1SE run as efficiently as possible.  Firstly Chris embedded ChatBots into every process at R1SE, massively decreasing time spent on admin whilst improving the customer experience.  Secondly, from March 2020 Chris spent hundreds of hours in creating his perfect virtual studio.  The end was result was R1SE being able to professionally offer classes as In Studio Live, In-Studio On-Demand, At Home Live and At Home On-Demand.  Chris is now able to share this knowledge and skills with Studio Grow clients.

Professional mottos are;

"Take massive imperfect action."

"You never know how far you can go until you've gone too far."

"Never stop growing."