Who We Are
“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” – Confucius
Our goal at CrossFit Rise is to help our members achieve their own personal excellence. A healthy mind and body lends to a healthy happy life. We believe that excellence is achieved day after day with hard work and commitment. Every person has their own perceived point of excellence and our goal is to help each individual not only attain that excellence, but Rise above and beyond.
The CrossFit Rise community will inspire you to continually challenge yourself to reach new levels of fitness. Our community is built on the general idea that people perform better in a supportive and encouraging environment. Your coaches and fellow gym members will be there to push you towards your achievements and past your struggles.
CrossFit Rise is a 12,000 sq/ft facility devoted to training CrossFit methods. We chose our space because we wanted our athletes to have room to move and do so safely. Our coaches have diverse athletic and training backgrounds suited to help everyone succeed.
Our Coaches
“Success isn’t something that just happens – success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared.” – Sparky Anderson
Jessica Schulz – Co-Owner
CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer
USA Weightlifting Certified Sports Performance Coach
CrossFit Mobility Certified
CrossFit Endurance Certified
My competitive spirit has burned bright for as long as I can remember. Whether it was competing with my older brother in the back yard growing up or competing at the CrossFit World Games, I’ve always strived to be the best I can be. My athletic background includes gymnastics, ASA Gold softball, and National Club Ultimate Frisbee.
CrossFit is a way of life for me. In leaving my corporate career to focus on CrossFit Rise full time, I followed in the wise words of Confucius – “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” My philosophy as a coach is to build a strong foundation with each athlete by focusing on the fundamentals. When the fundamentals are sound, we can build the framework necessary to achieve your true potential.
Your safety will always be my number one priority. Injury prevention is of utmost importance while training and I’m committed to ensure that you take the necessary measures to remain healthy. We will be mobilizing constantly in order to maintain a healthy body. Whether you’re training for sports, career or life, I’m dedicated to helping you reach and exceed your personal fitness goals. I look forward to the opportunity to coach you.
Brian Schulz – Co-Owner
CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer
USA Weightlifting Certified Sports Performance Coach
Concept 2 Certified Rowing Instructor
CrossFit Endurance Certified
CPR/AED Certified
CrossFit is awesome! I’ve not found a more complete and inclusive training methodology than the one CrossFit employs, and being a multi-sport athlete all of my life, I’ve looked hard. Not only have I found that CrossFit improves sport specific performance, but more importantly performance of life. It is something difficult to quantify in words, but CrossFit leads individuals to strong physical results along with a renewed and heightened sense of one’s emotional and mental states.
There are a couple things I find most beautiful about CrossFit, one is the empowering nature of community that is in place. Having so many like minded individuals working together in their pursuit of optimal fitness creates an amazing atmosphere. One that I feel blessed to be a part of. The second being the universal scalability of our workouts. Everyone engages in the same work set, with the variable being the load and intensity at which it is executed. There are no parameters for who may participate in CrossFit, everyone can derive benefit regardless of age or current fitness level. The only hurdle is convincing yourself to walk through the door for the first time.
I am committed to the pursuit of excellence for our box. The CrossFit Rise training staff will constantly be improving our knowledge base through research and certifications to make sure that we’re always providing you with the best knowledge and training methods available. Along with this, we want to provide you with the best physical space and tools available, so we’ll constantly be looking at ways to enhance our equipment and space.
I very much look forward to pursuing fitness with you.
Kathy Slowinski – Partner/Lead Trainer
CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer
CrossFit Mobility Certified
CrossFit Olympic lifting Certified
I stumbled across CrossFit in early 2007 at that time I was living and working in Australia and CrossFit was so new there wasn’t a local facility. I started off training at my gym, I still remember my first workout… I didn’t finish it… I was humbled; at this stage I had been a “gym rat” for close to 15 years and an accomplished international rugby player for about 10 years. I knew from day one I was on to something that would change my life. Fast forward 4 years later, I am now a part owner of CF Rise, last year I competed in my first CrossFit Games and placed 1st at Sectionals (that’s how I met Jess, Brian and Val), and 20th at Regionals, I also took first in my weight class at the Windy City Weightlifting meet, 2nd place at the 2011 Montana Winter Challenge. CrossFit has become a great complement to the other sports I enjoy such as cycling (road and mountain), wakeboarding, snow skiing.
By day I am a Global Strategy Director for a large corporation and my objective is to identify and implement long-term plans that fuel progress and growth for our company. I have found that CrossFit is a great program that creates constant advancement and results from a fitness and well-being perspective, and I look forward to helping implement it into your life as one of your coaches.
Valentina Ngai – Partner/Lead Trainer
CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer
CrossFit Endurance Certified
CrossFit Mobility Certified
Fitness, being a very broad term, can mean many things to different people with a multitude of methods for achievement. As such, my background is as diverse as the term which includes over twenty years of ballet and jazz training, rugby, a marathon, weight training and ultimate frisbee. My interest in physiology led to me obtain certifications for teaching ballet and jazz and strength training which I worked for over 5 years. Eventually, I decided to make my life interests into a career. I completed my PhD in Bioengineering specializing in Biomechanics and currently work as a forensic engineer conducting investigations into injury causation.
Always being game for trying something new, challenging and exciting, I find that CrossFit satisfies my need for diversity, competition and self-improvement. CrossFit enhances my physical and mental health and helps me be better for myself generally but also for my teammates at my other main sport, ultimate frisbee.
As a coach, I welcome the opportunity to provide you with personal instruction, evaluation and encouragement. Additionally, I have the misfortune of having had to undergo both ACL reconstruction (rugby) and rotator cuff (frisbee) surgery. Thus, I understand the mental and physical obstacles with injury rehabilitation. Having this personal knowledge combined with my educational background, I am well equipped to help you work with and through injuries safely and effectively. Constant improvement while surrounded with positive energy is a healthy and enjoyable way to reach for your fitness goals, whatever they may be now and in the future.
Justin Ehrhardt - Lead Trainer
CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer
CrossFit Kids Certified
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist – NSCA
USA Weightlifting Certified Sports Performance Coach
Having played numerous sports, but never having been one of the top athletes, I have found that dedication and hard work helps you achieve any endeavor. CrossFit is the answer to athletic development, mental toughness, and motivation.
A bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion/Wellness has inspired me to strive toward finding a balance among our SPECIES. SPECIES is an acronym for the 7 dimensions of wellness; social, physical, emotional, career, intellectual, environmental and spiritual. CrossFit helps bring balance to each of these dimensions of wellness to me.
Two years experience as a contractor for the US Navy as a Lead Physical Training Coach for the Naval Special Warfare Preparatory School (BUDs Prep, a pre Navy SEALs training program) have provided an opportunity to work with excellent coaches and train some of the greatest athletes. Previously owning my own gym and working as a physical therapy coordinator/trainer for a chiropractor has exposed me to an extremely diverse population. Working with injured or pain patients challenges me to become a better, more knowledgeable trainer.
As your coach, I want to help you make positive changes physically and mentally while keeping you safe, and having fun. I am excited to use my coaching experience and fitness passion to educate and help you become someone greater.
Angie Sorensen - Olympic Lifting Coach
Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist- NSCA
Certified Personal Trainer- NASM
Corrective Exercise Specialist- NASM
Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist
Angie attended the University of Nebraska – Kearney where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science. While at UNK she competed for the Track & Field team for 4 years where she received several All Conference honors as well as being part of the back-to-back Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Team Champions. She also completed a year-long internship with the UNK Strength & Conditioning Department where she worked with redshirt football players, baseball, men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s & women’s golf.
After graduating from UNK, Angie moved to the Chicagoland area where she began working as a personal trainer in a private gym. Shortly thereafter she met her coaches and mentors Roger Nielsen and Mike Gattone and began to learn the finer points of Olympic weightlifting. Since then she has served as an assistant strength coach at a private sports performance company and has taught numerous athletes from young to old, beginner to experienced the variations of Olympic weightlifting.
Angie has been competing in Olympic weightlifting for the past 7 years and has earned several fifth place finishes in her weight class at the national level. She also continues to play adult club volleyball in both local and national tournaments. She loves coaching and seeing all the great improvements an individual can achieve when they put in a little hard work and some dedication.
Lindsay Vigna-Trainer
CrossFit Level 1 Certified
CrossFit Kids Certified
Growing up with four siblings there was always something to do. We rode our bikes everywhere, swam at the public pool, played ghost and the graveyard with the entire neighborhood, jumped on our friend’s trampoline, helped mom do chores around the house, or helped dad load firewood or other masculine tasks. I played soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball. I was always busy playing.
I played softball and volleyball in high school. When I went to college, things changed and my activity level went down. It was a bigger environment and I did not have the same crowd of friends to motivate me. I went to the recreation center to do cardio but had no idea what I was doing on the machines so I ignored them. I was so self-conscious about working out in front of others especially those I did not know.
After college, I worked at a desk job in an office. Sitting all day long, going out for fast food, and then going home to sit and relax was the norm. As the stress at work built up, I wanted to take my mind off things. I got a membership at Ballys in Schaumburg. It was here that I met Justin. He introduced me to CrossFit in 2009 and I have kept active since.
My whole world changed for the better. I wanted to learn more, be able to educate and teach people what worked for me because it was so fun! Although it was challenging, I met great people and I loved working out again.
In August 2010, Justin and I got CrossFit level 1 certified. I was so proud that I could now teach what I learned to help change someone else’s life. I have the best time coaching at CrossFit Rise. It brings me great joy to see a member PR or master a skill or tell me what I instructed was helpful. I owe a lot of credit to Justin; he taught me everything I know. I also owe a lot of credit to Brian and Jessica for embracing me and allowing me to coach at such a beautiful facility. I absolutely love being a part of the CrossFit Rise community and helping members reach their goals!
