About Us

In 2007, I opened my own business, Achieving Your Best, LLC, where I specialize in helping people reach their health and wellness goals and excel at their sport. In 2017, I expanded to include a state of the art facility, amazing staff, and a great community of people.

I have over 15 years of experience helping people lose body fat, get healthy, and perform at their best. My education includes both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Nutrition, and I am a registered and licensed dietitian with a board certification in sports nutrition. A RRCA Running Coach certification and ACSM Exercise Physiologist round out my credentials.

As a busy mom, wife and business owner, I have learned how to make a healthy lifestyle work in the real world. I am thrilled to get to share my love for healthy eating, performance nutrition, exercising and enjoying life, which is truly a dream come true!

Matt Jones is the Training Manager at AYB. He has degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Drury University, and is in pursuit of furthering his education in exercise via certification. Matt has four years of experience in a group and personal training environment.

Matt’s passion for fitness stems from his active lifestyle. Matt has participated in many different fitness related events- 100 mile cycling races, half and full marathons, sprint triathlons, and an Iron Man 70.3. Applied and practical movement is a great indicator of overall fitness ability, and his goal is to help people attain similar results.

Matt’s future goals in fitness include an Iron Man, an Ultra Marathon, and other endurance events. His primary goal is to balance strength ability with endurance ability throughout the training processes.

I grew up being active, doing everything from chores on the farm and horseback riding to soccer, volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee. All of those facets helped to establish a solid work ethic and the love for activity and health from a young age, which only continues to grow today.

I love to explore all varieties of movement and fitness, and over the years it's been anything from triathlons to obstacle races to power lifting, and currently CrossFit.

I've come to absolutely love heavy lifting and utilize it as the foundation of my own fitness, but there's also nothing I love more than a good, hard conditioning session to kick my butt in gear. I thrive off of physical challenges, conquering myself mentally and learning to control and own my mind and body a little more every day.

Fitness and wellness is my passion. my lifestyle, and my privilege, and an outlet for my drive and competitive nature. But more importantly, it's the gift I'm blessed to be able to pass along to everyone I have the joy of training.

I love life and I love helping people enjoy it! I grew up in the beautiful state of Hawaii, where I learned so much about how different cultures appreciate and enjoy life. I take great joy in bringing people together and creating awesome life experiences.

In 2003, I came to Missouri to attend Evangel University, where I learned many lessons on and off the football field. After graduating, I spent the next 8 years training athletes to be the best they can be. I also spent many hours helping hard-working everyday citizens reach fitness goals that they never knew where possible for them.

I have so much passion for helping people on their journey to a healthier life! Nothing is easy, but together I know we can make it happen. I am very excited to be a part of the great staff at AYB, where it will be an amazing community!

My life motto is to LIVE THIS ONE DAY WELL! I’m blessed to be a part of the AYB team and share in the fun and joy of total body wellness with you. I am a STOTT Pilates Certified Instructor and also a TRX Suspension Trainer Instructor. I’ve had some great life experiences including being a college swimmer, an elementary school teacher, a high school swim coach, and a fitness instructor.

My sweet family consists of my husband Mickey and our two daughters, Molly (16) and Maggie (13). Our family’s passions include sunrises and early mornings, outdoor shenanigans, sports of various kinds, supporting great causes, and a whole lot of Jesus. Wellness and fitness can be such positives in life and accomplishing big and little goals along this path make for great days. I look forward to being a part of this journey and sharing in your successes.

Food is beautiful, colorful, and delicious! I love sharing ideas about how to plan and prepare healthy meals and snacks for busy people and families. I am looking forward to being part of Achieving Your Best. I completed my biology degree at Drake University and went on to earn my Master of Public Health (MPH) in nutrition at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am also a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE).

My main interest is nutrition and wellness. I started my career as an outpatient community dietitian at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Missouri. I enjoyed working with diabetes patients, and I was thrilled to take my next position as the Pediatric Diabetes Dietitian at the University of Missouri. This gave me the unique opportunity to work closely with families to help them through the lifestyle changes that diabetes presents.

I went on to work in wellness and nutrition at Forsyth Medical Center in North Carolina. There I organized and taught diabetes classes and provided nutrition counseling for a variety of health issues. I also worked with a team to develop an employee wellness program. Throughout my career as a dietitian, I have enjoyed helping people optimize their nutrition for their particular health concerns.

Sean W. Saunders is the owner of SWS Golf Academy and SWS Golf Performance in Springfield. He has been a PGA pro since 2009 when golf performance (TPI Model) started really becoming the norm on the PGA Tour. Sean understood the importance of staying up to date on the latest information so he decided to specialize in golf performance because he was tired of seeing too many of his past clients not reach their potential.

He knew it was not just their golf swing but their lack of skills and body compensations that were the source of their problems. Sean decided to take the next step and get ACE (American Council on Exercise) and TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) Level 3 Fitness Professional certification.

He currently is one of the only PGA professionals in the Country who has all of these advanced fitness certifications. Sean understands the body & swing connection and can provide the necessary tools to help golfers who are serious about reaching their potential, especially those who are reaching their golden years and feeling the effects of age on their golf swing and game.

Growing up playing multiple sports and Division I Soccer, I noticed first-hand how my nutrition impacted my athletic performance. Wanting to learn more about nutrition, I went on to complete my Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics at Missouri State University while also playing soccer.

I then went on to pursue my dream of becoming a Registered Dietitian by completing my Dietetic Internship at Saint Louis University along with my Master of Science degree in Dietetics with an emphasis in Nutrition and Physical Performance.

I’m excited I can contribute to such a wonderful team at Achieving Your Best,and very much look forward to helping athletes reach their full potential through nutrition in my hometown of Springfield, Mo. 😊