Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Suver.
Hi Jessica, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been a competitive athlete, and it’s what I identified with most through high school and college. A tri-sport athlete in high school (basketball, volleyball and crew), I chose crew for my college career. In college, I chose the route of studying creative writing and English literature with the focus of becoming a teacher. Entering into my master’s program the treadmill and elliptical became the majority of my fitness routine focusing on remaining thin and fit and leaving any strength training behind to my rowing career. As I focused on my advanced degree I became a teaching fellow at Loyola Marymount University, there I met a friend that was into CrossFit.
I had never heard of CrossFit before and neither had most people at our University gym watching us lift weights and do different exercises for time instead of the typical sets and reps mixed with cardio afterward. I fell in love with this type of training and as cliche as it always sounds, it truly changed my life and my relationship with fitness and my body. After a few years of competing at the local and regional level in CrossFit while working on my Phd in English and teaching at the adjunct professor level at a few colleges, I began to focus more and more on my coaching and training. In the summer of 2013, our team qualified for the CrossFit Games and I transitioned during that fall from full-time teaching to full-time training and coaching. This eventually lead to me being on the management team of our gym and running our competitive team.
After coaching multiple teams and individual athletes during the CrossFit Games season and some at the highest level I began working with one of my clients on a health and wellness program for his corporate company VideoAmp. There we began running company-wide fitness challenges and opening gyms with programs specifically for their Los Angeles and New York teams. This experience allowed me to work with people who would never have stepped inside a gym, let alone a CrossFit gym and truly help transform their relationships with nutrition, fitness and their overall health.
In the midst of a pandemic, the one thing I never thought I would be doing was transforming one of these corporate gyms into a full-scale CrossFit gym for membership. Yet, as the landscape of the world changed this was the opportunity I had, and while still serving a corporate community I opened West LA Athletics. We will have been open for 2 years this March and our mission is to offer competitive CrossFit programming that can get athletes to the highest level in the sport of CrossFit while also being scalable enough for a brand-new member to train alongside a CrossFit Games athlete. I have written CrossFit programming now for seven years and though I miss the work I did as a teacher, student and creative writer; I find a lot of similarities in the coaching and programming sphere and a true love for the positive interactions we (coaches) all receive daily from helping others achieve their goals.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Running a brick and mortar business (which also opened during covid) is never easy. Most small business owners, especially with the rents and cost of living in LA know it can be a rough business. Many gym owners that I know seek other types of revenue (online stores, online programming), to help offset the cost of running a business that is completely reliant on membership. In a city of ephemeral fitness- there is always something knew to try from pilates to the latest spin fad it takes not only good programming but a good community for a specialty sports program like CrossFit to survive. The thing that most people don’t know and that most people find as their barrier to entry is the fact that it seems to hard for a newbie or someone that feels they aren’t athletic enough. Those that are brave enough to try and to try for longer than a few weeks find that it’s not only scalable for every level but that these types of gyms provide something that so many people are seeking in such a transitory city- community. The struggle will always be growing membership while keeping a tight nit community. This has always been our main focus at West LA.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I think one of the most important parts of being a leader and a people manager is realizing you are only as great as the people that surround you. In a gym, especially a gym with group classes your coaches are the most important part of your product. You can’t be there 24 hours a day, so having a team that are not only amazing coaches, but a part of your community, and take ownership in the space is integral to the success of our culture.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.westlaathletics.com
- Instagram: @jessicasuver @westlaathletics
