I still remember the moment I realized the gym I was coaching at wasn’t going to be able to keep reaching the people we were meant to reach.
I had been studying fitness obsessively — listening to Barbell Shrugged, following gym owners like Chris Cooper, learning everything I could about what made people actually stick with movement long-term. And I kept coming back to one truth I’d known for years, long before I ever touched a barbell: physical health and mental health aren’t separate things. They never have been.
That belief runs deeper than CrossFit for me. It goes back to my sister. When she was paralyzed from the neck down and came home to recover, I became what I can only describe as her side coach — showing up for her, moving alongside her, watching her inch back toward herself. I wasn’t a CrossFit coach yet. But I was already doing what I’ve always done: helping someone find a way forward through their body.
That’s why I opened Destination CrossFit.
The Problem Isn’t Motivation — It’s the Setup
Here’s what I hear from people who finally walk through our door:
“I’m so tired of starting and stopping.”
“I’m stretched too thin. I don’t know where to begin.”
“I’ve had a gym membership for years and barely touched it.”
They’re not lazy. They’re not lacking willpower. They’ve just never been in a place that was actually designed for them — a place with a real plan, real coaching, and a community that lets you breathe.
The people who find Destination CrossFit are usually high-functioning. They’re juggling jobs, businesses, families, and responsibilities. They’re the people who are good at carrying a lot. But they’ve hit a wall. They know there’s more available to them — a bigger, fuller version of their life — and they just can’t figure out how to get there on their own.
What they want is to let someone else take the reins for once.
That’s what we do.
The Misconception That Keeps People Away
Let me address the thing I hear most:
“I’m not fit enough for CrossFit.”
Or the other version: “Isn’t CrossFit just people doing crazy things until they fall over?”
Here’s the truth. CrossFit’s methodology is built on three things: mechanics, consistency, and intensity — in that order. You build the movement first. You practice it until it’s consistent. Only then do you layer on intensity. And even then, “intensity” is relative to you — not the person next to you, not the person on Instagram.
The Hopper model — a core concept in CrossFit’s approach — asks a simple question: how can we perform the things we want to do throughout our entire lifetime, and be playful doing it? That means skiing with your grandkids. Hiking with your partner. Getting off the floor without thinking about it. This isn’t about extremes. It’s about building a body and a life you can actually live in.
Every single workout at Destination CrossFit has modifications. There is a plan for you. Not a generic you — you.
The Approach That Makes It Different
My background is in social work. That’s not something most gym owners lead with — but for me, it’s everything.
I see fitness through the lens of the whole person. Abraham Maslow had it right: before someone can thrive, they need to feel safe. They need to feel like they belong. They need their basic needs met. And they need to believe that growth is possible for them specifically.
That’s the framework I bring into Destination CrossFit every single day. We look at the physiological and the psychological. We understand that you’re going to have days when you crush the workout, and days when you do half of it and that’s a win. We push back against all-or-nothing thinking because it keeps people stuck.
There are days you feel great and days you don’t. The goal isn’t to perform at 100% every time. The goal is to keep showing up — and to feel more and more at home in your body as you do.
This week, a woman came in for her first class. She’d wanted to try Destination CrossFit for years. She left smiling and gave me a high five. When she came back for her second class, she said: “I wish I’d started sooner. I didn’t realize it could meet me where I am.”
That’s the whole thing, right there.
What Change Actually Looks Like
One of our Legends members has lost over 15 pounds since she started with us. Not because of some extreme protocol — because she comes to class two times a week and has stayed consistent. That’s it. One small piece of guidance, applied with regularity, changed her body.
Another couple told me that they have more energy for skiing and hiking now. They do adventures outside the gym because of what they build inside it.
That’s what success looks like here. It’s not a number on a scale (though that changes too). It’s a couple planning a backcountry ski trip and knowing they can handle it. It’s someone showing up for their life in a way they couldn’t before.
People who train with us come out stronger, happier, more connected, and more present with the people they love. Some find clarity about their work. Some are inspired to make big life changes. All of them — all of us — are practicing doing hard things.
One Thing You Can Do Right Now
Before you ever walk through our doors, I want you to try this:
Sit down and write out what you want your life to look like. Not what you want your body to look like — your life. The adventures you want to take. The energy you want to have. The person you want to show up as for the people you love.
Get a clear picture of where you’re going. That’s the starting line.
And then come show up. Because honestly? By just walking in the door, you’ve already done most of the work.
We’ll take it from there.
Ready to start? Book a free trial class at https://www.wwdcf.com/free-consultation/ and let’s build a plan that meets you exactly where you are.
