Karen Brennan taught her first step-aerobics class in Alexandria, Egypt in l992. Working with an Egyptian carpenter, she designed stackable wooden steps. Karen adapted all kinds of music including the local Arabic styles as she choreographed her own moves. After 7 years teaching elementary school and fitness classes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, she returned to the USA in l999. She joined the team at Evergreen Fitness in 2000.
Karen is our Group Fitness Manager and is certified by Les Mills to teach Body Step, Body Pump, and Body Flow. She also holds a National Academy of Sports Medicine certification for personal training.
A natural teacher, Karen instructs with a welcoming, generous spirit. Her classes are “a blast” people say, dynamic, encouraging, and full of smiles. A fitness freak (in a good way), Karen can make any type of workout fun (really!). Approachable and motivating, she has a passion for both group instruction and training clients one-on-one to meet their fitness goals.
Tiffany Drewery got her start at Evergreen Fitness as a member in 2003. With two young children at home, she was seeking a little sanity and silence. Over the next year not only did she acquire some “sanity”, but lost 15 pounds, gained friendships, and became an instructor.
She is currently certified through Les Mills International to teach Body Pump, Body Step, and Body Flow. Her passion for teaching and the personal changes it has brought to her life inspires her weekly to be “her best”, prepared and professional. Her classes are always presented with energy and laughter. She considers herself a “group fitness junkie” (you know who you are!), and is always excited to see new faces in class.
Tiffany and her husband, David, run their own business and home school their two children, Spencer and Elliott. They love spending time outdoors, camping and beaching. She still seeks a little sanity at the gym and continues to strive to be a better instructor, helping people make changes and connections in their lives.
Bruce Fountain: Black Belt.
HFI A.C.S.M
Bruce has been training in martial arts for the last 30 yrs. He has black belt certificates in two styles of Kung-fu, teaching certificates in Filipino martial arts (Kali), Thai Kickboxing, jiu jutsu & wrestling, and Jun Fan Kung-fu He is a certified Health and Fitness instructor through the American College of Sports Medicine with an emphasis on post-rehab & sports specific training.
Certified in personal training by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as well as weight management by Apex Fitness Systems, Jake provides personal training for all fitness levels emphasizing functional fitness. Jake's workouts include cardio, core strength, balance, flexibility and resistance training. Jake also provides post rehabilitation training.
Abbie Little has been an avid group fitness participant since 1993. Out of necessity, in 2003 Abbie started teaching at the YMCA in San Francisco, as they offered no group fitness class that incorporated weights. Upon moving back to Port Townsend, she rejoined Evergreen Fitness and began teaching in the summer of 2004.
Abbie has completed the YMCA instructor certification program and is certified by Les Mills International to teach Body Pump.
Not a self-described “aerobics teacher type”, Abbie has pushed to develop her teaching voice. She brings a warm laid-back style to her classes and enjoys introducing first-timers to the world of Body Pump.
Outside the gym Abbie works at Kitchen & Bath Studio. After having gained some worldly experience, she feels very fortunate to have been lured back by her husband, Alex, to Port Townsend, where she was born and raised.
When TJ Plastow joined the gym in 2001, it wasn’t to lose weight or be healthy. It was simply to release some stress and to shut up her pestering friend, Karen. After her first class she was hooked! Slowly, without realizing it, she began losing inches, weight, and gaining a positive outlook. She had energy again! So much energy, in fact, that she made the transition from student to instructor.
Certified by Les Mills to teach Body Step and Body Pump. TJ viewed her training as a life changing experience. Moved to tears “from deep in (her) soul” TJ knows the empowering feeling of turning your life around.
It is with this passion and joy that she teaches each class. An inspiration to all, she has lost over 30 pounds and half her body fat on her amazing journey. Now a tiny little hard body, she loves to motivate and see people’s bodies change before her eyes. “I’m paying it forward,” she says.
Barbara Vane has been avidly involved in the fitness world since 1993.
Specializing in working with older adults, Barbara teaches Senior Conditioning at Evergreen. She also works as an exercise technician in the Wellness Department for Jefferson Healthcare, supervising exercise for people with diabetes or in cardiac and pulmonary rehab in the Exercise for Health program.
A certified Pilates Instructor, Barbara is also certified through NASM as a personal trainer. She does select personal trainings in both weights and Pilates. She very much enjoys working with mature populations, genuinely caring for her clients, and their individual needs. Barbara is self-driven to be well informed in the fitness field and keeps up with the education above what is called for by the industry.
When not teaching classes or working out at the gym, Barbara enjoys reading, writing, and is especially interested in cross-cultural spirituality. She recently traveled to Africa and spent two weeks living in a small, remote village to experience their indigenous ways.