Meet The Coaches

Train alongside a team of highly experienced coaches with backgrounds ranging from professional athletics and competitive bodybuilding to celebrity and performance training. At Perseverance, our coaches combine real knowledge, real experience, and real relationships while delivering high-level training in an environment that stays welcoming, motivating, and approachable for every fitness level.

COURTNEY SAMUEL

Owner & Celebrity Trainer

    • Body Transformation

    • Sports Conditioning

    • Weight Management

    • Strength Training

    • B.S. Computer Science — North Dakota State University

    • North Dakota State Football — Cornerback

    • 2000 NFL Draft Member

    • Ranked Top 25 Cornerback Prospect in the 2000 NFL Draft

    • NSCA Certified Speed Coach

    • ACE Certified Personal Trainer

    • USA Boxing Certified Coach

    • WNBF & ANBF Natural Pro Bodybuilder

  • Courtney owns well over 300 pairs of shoes. His favorite? “I have a favorite for every occasion. My favorite daily shoe are the Daybreak Undercover, I own every color wave.”

  • Never compare your chapter 1 with someone else’s chapter 20. Be the best YOU can be!

  • Absolutely being a Dad. My family is all I got and I want them to become great. My 5 year goal is my family to have abundance and financial freedom.

  • My Fitness Journey: It started in high school, I played in the band, saxophone. I really wanted to play football, but it was the same time as band practice. I created a plan to accidentally “lose” my saxophone by leaving it in the hall. Surprise ! The instrument was gone and I was able to play football. After a successful football career at North Dakota State University and in the NFL, this became the foundation of the workouts we do at Bodies By Perseverance. As teammates we worked out in smaller groups. It builds a family, partnership and a team environment this is where people grow, excel and reach new physical limits.

    After a stint in the NFL due to a torn achilles, I fell back on my software engineering degree and worked for SUN Microsystems and for other software companies as a consultant from 2001-2003. I knew in 2003 that I wanted something more and to create the best gym in Denver.

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How Coach Courtney Trains

Take a look inside Coach Courtney’s personal training style and intensity. Built from years of high-level athletics, strength training, and performance coaching, these workouts reflect the discipline, energy, and work ethic behind Perseverance.

JENNIFER SAMUEL

Owner & Celebrity Trainer

  • Weightlifting
    Strength Training
    Women’s Fitness
    Pre/Post-natal Training

    BA Communications CU Denver, MBA Marketing CSU

    • NASM PT and Women’s Strength Training certified

    • Denver Broncos Cheerleader, 1999-2003

    • USA Boxing Coach, Green Level certified

    • Taekwondo Yellow Belt

    • Maddog Athletics certification, Johnny G, Spinning Instructor

  • I am the first Filipino American woman on the Denver Broncos Cheerleader team.

  • Do not compare yourself to others. Your journey and their journey will always be different.

  • I have two proudest accomplishments: Becoming a professor at CU Denver and sharing my knowledge and experience from C-level executive to an entrepreneur. My greatest accomplishment is becoming a parent, witnessing my kids' growth from hesitant learners to confident problem solvers.

  • My Dance & Training Journey: Dance began at the age of three with the San Francisco Ballet. As I was getting older, I started picking up different forms of dance such as hip-hop, jazz, tap and lyrical. I auditioned in L.A. for singers and productions but never followed through to move back to California. When I wasn’t dancing, I was hanging out with my active family members: my aunt who played badminton and for the Seoul Olympics, my grandfather who played tennis through his 80s in senior leagues, and my grandmother doing jazzercise into her 70s. I was always surrounded by dance, fitness and sports. In 1999, I became a Denver Broncos Cheerleader, had the honor to cheer alongside John Elway and Terrill Davis, I served four seasons, and traveled the world representing this world-class NFL organization.

    Fitness was always just a hobby and as soon as I made a name for myself at different studios, I joined Courtney in 2005 at BBP. While working, I became certified in personal training, spinning, and boxing. I am so blessed to have trained a lot of people with different journeys - transformations, weddings, and post-baby. Including, top celebrities and a famous actress for a role in a movie (still pinching myself).

    Detailed Experience on LinkedIn

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Inside a Workout With Coach Jennifer

Take a look at how Coach Jennifer builds high-energy, performance-driven group workouts focused on strength, conditioning, and movement quality. These sessions are designed to challenge athletes while creating an empowering and motivating team environment.

Meet Your studio coachS

FABIAN WEINDL

STUDIO COACH

Hometown : Sternenfels, Germany

Experience: 10 Accreditations

B.S. in Exercise Science from Shawnee State University, M.S. in Exercise Science from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

NASM Certified Personal Trainer since 2014

European Fitness Badge Instructor

Instructor for the German Olympics Sports Confederation (DOSB)

Fitness Journey: Born and raised in southern Germany, I had always dreamed of moving to America to pursue a career in sports with the ambition of making it to the pros in Basketball.

After arriving here however, quickly realized that was too skinny, too weak and light years behind when it comes to overall strength and muscle development. This started my own personal fitness journey and I completely fell in love with the feeling I experienced after touching my first set of weights. While pursuing my Bachelor degree in Exercise Science, I started to implement my knowledge and started to pack on 30 Ibs. of lean muscle mass, which led me to compete and win several Natural Bodybuilding shows in the US as well as in Germany. Today, more than a decade after I started my own fitness journey, 1 am still learning new workout techniques and philosophies and can happily say that | get to live my dream and help people to achieve their own personal fitness goals.

Fun Facts: I speak five languages

Training Style: My foundation of training is based on classic Bodybuilding, compound movements as well as functional exercises that help to improve the overall performance.

Favorite Lift: Deadlift

Cheat Meal of Choice: Neapolitan

CLAUDIA MARDONES-OVIATT

STUDIO COACH & SEMI PRIVATE COACH

Hometown: Denver, CO

Fitness Journey/Experience:

Claudia is NASM PT certified and has been in the fitness industry for almost 15 years. She has experience working in a variety of fitness modalities including PT training, spin, barre, versa climbing and group training. She grew up playing competitive sports and continued on to play college soccer.

Being able to coach and change people's lives is her passion and also truly rewarding.

Fitness certifications:

NASM PT

BARRE SPIN

Fun Facts: She is a twin, and they are business partners for a DJ production company called DJ CYN PRODUCTIONS.

Favorite Lift: Bench Press

SARAH MORILLO

STUDIO COACH & SEMI PRIVATE COACH

Sarah is a personal trainer and coach at Perseverance with a passion for helping people build confidence, strength, and resilience both inside and outside the gym.

Athletics and movement have always been a huge part of her life. Growing up, she played a variety of team sports and swam competitively before stepping into the fitness world through teaching yoga during college. After graduating from VCU in 2021 with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Sarah experienced extreme burnout and turned to fitness as a way to rebuild her mental and physical well-being. What started as a personal outlet quickly became a true passion and career path.

She later earned her personal training certification through ISSA and now also competes as a natural bikini bodybuilder. Sarah brings a unique balance of discipline, empathy, and energy to her coaching style, creating an environment that is both challenging and encouraging.

Her mission is simple: help people feel stronger, more capable, and more confident in their own skin.