Meet the RiseUp Fitness Team
.png)
Sharon Stevens
Trainer
Sharon is the one you'll see ripping out 100 push-ups in a row without breaking a sweat - she's a lifelong athlete who has been pushing herself to new levels at RiseUp!
Sharon is never afraid of a challenge, and has found that her drive to motivate herself can also drive others to reach new goals in their workouts.
With careers in management and physical education, Sharon knows how to keep a workout organized and safe, while keeping an eye on numbers and technique.
Stacee Grant
Trainer
Stacee grew up here in Santa Barbara, dancing and participating in local theater productions. After graduating high school, she moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in dance. Stacee received a scholarship to Edge Performing Arts Center and spent 2 years taking 18 dance classes a week - all kinds of dance! After finishing her scholarship, she traveled all over the world performing in shows as a dancer and singer.
She returned home to Santa Barbara to start a family and became a preschool teacher, and continues to teach at Evergreen Learning center in Goleta. After having her kids and looking to get back in shape, Stacee met Emily and learned the value of circuit training, continuing her journey at RiseUp (from Day 1!) and finding it to be a second home - even though she never felt like a "gym person!" She is so excited to be a part of the RiseUp team and to share her love for fitness.
Skylar Urban
Trainer
Skylar was born and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley and attended Cal Poly. Growing up he was involved in team sports and played soccer through college. You can't help but smile when Skylar walks in the room, he brings positivity, humor, and inspiration to all gym-goers. For him, fitness is an outlet from the day to day grind, a great opportunity to meet people, get healthy, and work up a sweat! He's generous with his energy, wit, and passion, and employs them all to help every member reach their full potential.
Dominic Velazquez
Trainer
Dominic is a true Santa Barbara native, repping our city's athletic talents back in football at Dos Pueblos, and continuing to inspire people to sweat everyday as a local fitness trainer.
In his spare time, he trains and competes in Jiu Jitsu, and he's excited to bring that dedication and strength to RiseUp.
Lara Mack
Trainer
Lara is all about helping others find confidence, strength, health, and HAPPINESS through physical activity and fitness. She’s the one with a LOT of energy to spare, and she will use it to help motivate RiseUp members to meet and exceed their personal and unique fitness goals! Lara is a lifelong athlete (Cycle! Swim! Dance!) who loves to “work out” and sometimes compete “just because” - her idea of a great time is a 10,000ft effort on the VersaClimber!
She will use her experience as a Group Fitness Instructor (of multiple disciplines) along with her M.A. in Health Psychology to ensure that members are being professionally supervised and coached through each and every workout. For Lara, coaching at RiseUp Fitness is an honor; a commitment to help increase the quality of everyday life for clients through better physical, mental, and emotional health.
.png)
Ash Borgeson
Trainer
Ashton is a Santa Barbara native driven by an extreme passion for fitness and living life to the fullest, from competing in youth sports as a child to eventually winning multiple personal accolades and a state championship in football at Bishop Diego. Sports and physical fitness have played a crucial part in Ashton’s life and will continue to do so as he moves forward in his career. Understanding that exercising and eating right is a way of life, Ashton is honored to join the like-minded team at RiseUp Fitness and help individuals reap the countless benefits that physical fitness and community have bestowed on him. Outside of the gym, you will probably find Ash spending time with friends and family enjoying beautiful Santa Barbara.
Diana Villanueva-Hoeckley
Fredi Weitzel
Trainer
Diana grew up in Santa Barbara and loves her community. Throughout her fitness journey, she has tried every type of workout - from dancing to kickboxing, cycling to strength training, and a ton of different fitness classes.
She particularly thrives from group classes and is motivated by seeing others work hard!
She is particularly passionate about health and fitness and seeing what the end results are when you are motivated to achieve through hard work. She finds inspiration by helping others through their own fitness journey to meet their personal goals.
For Diana, being a part of the RiseUp community is extremely important to her and has become part of her everyday routine. She loves the daily challenge and aims to inspire others through her coaching to come and enjoy their workouts while improving their numbers and technique.
Trainer
Fredi recently graduated from UCSB, and is incredibly grateful to now call the Central Coast home. Growing up in the Silicon Valley, she appreciates the pace of life that Santa Barbara offers, as well as the kindness and community that its residents foster.
Fredi has always been active — from competitive figure skating, dance, and triathlon in her younger years, to elite high school water polo and more recently, surfing and backpacking, her physical fitness journey is as non-linear as is the rest of her life’s work. In addition to believing that 'movement is medicine’ and promoting holistic wellness, she derives lots of joy from growing things and hopes to be a part of making our food systems more equitable and sustainable.
Fitness became a way to socialize with friends during the pandemic — Fredi would write up a workout, get together with friends at the park, blast music, and enjoy the motivation that would come out of group exercise. She is elated to be a trainer at Rise Up, and get to continue motivating others to heal through movement, have fun while doing so, and feel great in their bodies.
.png)
Lindsay Lettow
Trainer
Lindsay was born and raised in Iowa and then attended the University of Central Missouri where she competed in the heptathlon as a track and field athlete. After college, she pursued a professional career in track which brought her to Santa Barbara in 2014. As a 7 time competitor for Team USA (2011-2017), Lindsay is passionate about dedication and perseverance to excellence in one’s craft. Now, Lindsay works in the field of behavioral health. She loves working with children and families in her community and motivating others to achieve things they never thought they could. She believes in leading by example and never losing sight of balance in health, fitness, and life - and she can’t wait to bring her drive and dedication to RiseUp!
Joey Dowling
Hannah Holman
Trainer
Trainer
Joey was born and raised in the Pasadena area and graduated from SDSU majoring in Kinesiology. Growing up, he played all kinds of sports and coached high school football before moving to Santa Barbara. Joey has always had a passion for competing and pushing himself and others to get better, and joining RiseUp was a great way to stay active and meet like-minded people in the community. He loves being motivated by the people around him and the team atmosphere at RiseUp. He’s excited to be a trainer and help encourage others to reach their goals!
Hannah was born in Colorado, but grew up training (gymnastics and swimming) in the hot Arizona sun. She attended the University of Tennessee and was a member of their women's swimming team. She has competed at the SEC championship, NCAA championships, Canadian Olympic Trials, and the United States Olympic Trials. All while competing, Hannah pursued a Bachelors in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, minor in American Sign Language, and later a Master's in Speech Language Pathology.
Currently, Holman is one of the speech language pathologists at San Marcos High School, she coaches with Westmont's women's swim team, San Marcos, and for local clubs. She recently caught the triathlon bug and completed her first Half-Ironman in April of 2022. People, fitness, joy, and movement are her vibe. She loves to swim, hike, lift, backpack, surf, climb, run, bike, and if it wasn't mentioned she'd probably want to at least try it!
Hannah is excited to be a part of RiseUp because she believes that life is meant to be lived in community with others. And our bodies are meant to move! Helping people grow and challenge themselves to be better is something she is passionate about cultivating.