AFS Community Educators

Jane Bahneman, M.S.

Jane Bahneman, M.S., is the owner of Blue Nectar Yoga Studio just outside of Washington DC, and she sits on the Industry Advisory Panel for the American Council on Exercise. She is an industry consultant, public speaker, and business coach.

Tony Berlant, M.S.

Tony has been involved in the health and fitness industry for the last 25 years. He has a Master's degree in Exercise and Movement Science, from the University of Oregon, where he completed an additional two years in a doctoral program focusing on Exercise and Sport Psychology.

Liz Callham 

Liz's expertise comes from 12 years in commercial fitness where she held several roles including Personal Trainer and Pilates Instructor, Fitness Director and General Manager.

Liz has also excelled in managing major changes within facilities including rolling out new departments and price points, developing new staff and continued progress towards both member and employee retention.

Rachel Cosgrove 

Rachel Cosgrove, 2012 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, co-owns and operates Results Fitness, located in Southern California and open since 2000. She has authored two best selling books, The Female Body Breakthrough and Drop Two Sizes published with Rodale and created the Drop Two Sizes DVD set. 

She lectures nationally and internationally on topics such as strength training, fat loss, business and nutrition. A consultant for Nike, she is also on the advisory board and is a columnist for Women's Health Magazine and has been featured in almost every fitness magazine on the market.

Khaled Elmasri 

Khaled is a San Luis Obispo native and has been a leader in the fitness industry for over 10 years. Khaled’s work as the Founder of the RISE Fitness Business Summit (formerly Nor-Cal Fitness Summit) as well as a consulting business (RISE Fitness Business Coaching) has been helping fitness entrepreneurs, 1-3 years into business, lay the foundations needed to become successful. 

Both of Khaled's companies serve to connect fitness professionals worldwide and bringing them together at a world-class venue to educate, motivate and grow. During the past 10 years, Khaled has developed, coached and led more than two hundred personal trainers.

Shannon Fable 

Shannon Fable, 2013 IDEA and 2006 ACE Instructor of the Year, is the VP of Fitness Programming for the FIT4MOM® franchise. For more than two decades, she has helped impressive brands such as Anytime Fitness, Schwinn®, Power Systems, ACE, Silver Sneakers, and BOSU® as a fitness business and programming consultant.  

Brent Gallagher 

Brent Gallagher is the owner of Avenu Fitness & Lifestyle, a brand measuring the quality of life one can live, not just their biceps and waistlines.

Over the last 10 years Brent has grown from zero clients and zero teammates in 1,200 sq. ft. to an all-star 14 person team generating over seven figures annually, serving 465+ clients in 4,500 sq. ft. He has created a one-of-a-kind, unorthodox, 30-minute approach to training, nutrition and life that’s an unsuspecting experience from the typical workout.

Ryan Ketchum 

Ryan Ketchum is a fitness business and marketing expert.  He and the team at Fitness Revolution help studio owners increase sales, maximize profits and create systems to free up time.   They use a framework, the Fitness Business Alignment System™, to guarantee results with their clients.  

Fitness Revolution focuses on helping aspiring high performers build the fitness business they’ve always wanted, but struggled to build.  They are the only complete business coaching system for fitness studios. 

Karen Gilbert 

Entrepreneur and personal trainer Karen Gilbert is the founder of O2 MAX, a nationwide fitness and media company based in Santa Monica, CA. O2 MAX is a revolutionary fitness solution that combines online tools, social media, and real world workouts to provide an adaptable and personalized fitness regimen for students and busy people.

Brett Maloley 

Brett Maloley has had a decade-long career in the fitness industry, both as an executive and as an entrepreneur, having built two successful equipment distribution and consulting companies, a transcendent non-profit geared to combat childhood obesity and serving as the chief executive officer for a publicly traded nutritional supplement distribution platform. 

Brett is currently a Co-founder and CEO of Boston-based startup Ladder, a mobile platform that connects people with local health and wellness professionals, via digital coaching. 

Rick Mayo 

Rick Mayo is the founder and CEO of Alloy Personal Training Center (est. 1992) and Alloy Personal Training Solutions. As the owner of APTC, Rick and his team conduct over 60,000 personal training sessions a year. In 2010, Rick created Alloy, a consulting and licensing company as a platform for the Alloy personal training systems. Alloy has over 1000 clubs licensed worldwide.

Hans Muench 

Hans has a Masters in International Development from University of South Carolina. He studied the European market in 1984-1985 for IHRSA, and joined the world trade association for health clubs in 1994 as their first Director of International Development.

Frank Nash 

Best Selling Author and International Speaker/Personality, Frank Nash is one of the most in-demand and exciting coaches, writers and presenters in the fitness industry.

He currently spends his time lecturing, teaching, training and writing and as the owner of Frank Nash Training Systems in Worcester, MA, Frank consults and works with gyms and clubs all over the globe.

Kerri O'Brien, EdD, MBA, CSCS 

Dr. Kerri O’Brien has nearly 30 years of experience in the fitness industry working in many areas; for-profit fitness and spa centers, non-for-profit YMCAs, trade associations, recreation centers, university and college settings, weight management clinics, corporate wellness, franchises and police and fire services.

Ingrid Owen 

Ingrid Owen has been in the fitness industry for more than 25 years including 18 years with 24 Hour Fitness where she served in various capacities as the Vice President of Fitness, Group Fitness, Learning and Development as well as corporate Operations.  

Stephen Tharrett 

Stephen Tharrett is currently the owner and president of Club Industry Consulting, a global consulting business based in the U.S.  He is also a co-founder and partner in Club Intel, a member and brand insights firm.

Stephen is a former board member and president of the International Health and Racquet Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), having served as president of the board from 1996-1997. He is the author of eight management textbooks for the health and fitness industry and a frequent speaker at industry conventions throughout the world.