I am a life-long athlete who grew up playing team sports. I began my strength training journey in 2015. In 2017 I started transitioning, and experienced how alienating and unsafe traditional gym spaces and culture can be for trans and gender nonconforming folx. In 2019 I suffered a serious nerve injury and quickly learned that this same traditional fitness space was not conducive to supporting me in my recovery. That same year I got my personal training certification and began attending trainings centered around creating alternative training spaces and supporting clients and athletes who want and need a more accessible, trauma-informed, gender affirming, and nonjudgemental approach to strength training. In 2020 I founded sgoldtraining LLC, and since then have been working with a wide range of clients from seasoned athletes to people just beginning their strength training journey.

my vision

I do this work out of a desire to support people (especially queer and trans folks) in moving their bodies and building strength in a way that feels accessible, safer, and empowering. I believe that strength training is for everybody and every body. I provide a space for folks who want to train differently and divest from toxic fitness culture. I want people to be able to find strength, capability, confidence, and joy in movement and in their daily lives. It is my firm belief that people are the experts in their own bodies, and I work closely with clients to develop individualized programs and performance-based goals that take their expertise into account. All programs and sessions are a collaboration between coach and client, and emphasize mobility and physical strength, as well as building confidence and capacity both within and beyond our training sessions.

my experience

I have three decades of athletic experience ranging from competitive team sports at high school, collegiate, and recreational levels to individual training and competition in distance running and Olympic weightlifting. I have trained as a distance athlete and as a strength athlete, participating in road running, cycling, Olympic weightlifting, and general strength and conditioning. I have been coaching strength sports for 8 years, including group classes as well as 1 on 1 training. I received my CPT from the American Council on Exercise, and I hold certifications in Olympic weightlifting (USAW), kettlebell techniques, and trauma informed weight lifting (TIWL). Prior to coaching, I was a science teacher working in public education. I have a decade of classroom teaching experience (middle and high school, as well as undergraduate levels) and hold Masters of Science degrees in both Education and Biology.

my pricing

I use an equity-based pricing model to afford greater access to my services. I acknowledge that social inequities exist in the United States (and elsewhere) that systemically disadvantage individuals and groups, and that this creates barriers to access of services that are dependent on an individual's ability to pay for them. I use an equity-based tiered pricing model in order to address the financial imbalance between those with greater access to capital and institutional funding and those who have been disadvantaged and excluded.

Here is a financial self-reflection tool to determine which tier you are part of within the equity-based model. This tool was created using resources by Hadassah Damien (she/they), founder of Ride Free Fearless Money LLC. You can read more about this model here.

I offer an additional (optional) 3% discount for trans and BIPOC folks. Some scholarship funds are available on a case-by-case basis.