2023 CPTN Personal Trainer Online Summit Speaker Biographies
Francesca Cadhit, BSc
Francesca Cadhit, Founder of Top Class Edge Learning and creator of the Smart Growth Rocket Podcast, is a private tutor by day, a writer by night, and an entrepreneur by design. As a small business owner who understands the challenges of crafting an impactful brand, she is on a mission to get entrepreneurs like you seen and heard, to get more messages that matter to the masses. Francesca helps entrepreneurs rise to the challenge of creating a web presence that aligns with their values and stands out to their dream clients. For more information, please visit www.topclassedge.com.
Kevin Duguay, CPTN-CPRCS
Kevin Duguay graduated from the Athletic Training and Management Program at Sheridan College, receiving the Cooper Canada Award for Outstanding Achievement. He is a Sports Rehabilitation Specialist and has worked as the Head Athletic Therapist for a wide range of teams in both professional and amateur settings. He has also lectured at Seneca, Humber and Sheridan College in health and wellness.
Brandon Green, RTSm, CMSS
With over seventeen years as a veteran personal trainer and ten years as an international leader in biomechanics & fitness business education, Brandon Green is the Owner/Operator of Newmarket, Ontario’s largest personal training studio, Strata Internal Performance. Brandon is also the founder of Fitness Pro Mentors, a personal training business education platform designed to help trainers and gym owners build lucrative and sustainable business models. In August 2020, Brandon launched the Fitness Pro Mentors Podcast, showcasing interviews with industry titans who offer valuable MBA-level business tips, tricks and insights for listeners. For more information, please visit www.stratainternalperformance.com.
Heather Harrison, MEd, BKin, CSEP-CEP, CSEP-HPS
Two of Heather’s greatest passions are understanding human behaviour and supporting comprehensive wellness. Driven by her desire to help clients with countless, nuanced situations, Heather spent the last 15 years asking: Where do people find their inspiration? How do they keep going during challenging times? What supports optimal life outcomes? These questions lead her to train an array of clients, integrate wellness concepts into the teaching of her college-level courses, deliver behaviour change workshops to personal trainers and other health care practitioners and start a wellness brand called Shift ONE. Her adventure continues daily.
Karsten Jensen, MSc, CPTN-CPT.M
Karsten Jensen is a periodization coach and expert who has helped world-class and Olympic-level athletes from 26 different sports, many of whom have won Olympic medals, European Championships, World Championships, and ATP Tournaments. He authored The Flexible Periodization Method and Performance Optimization with Periodization and published over 160 articles and 21 instructor training manuals. He is an international speaker and has conducted hundreds of live workshops. For more information, please visit www.yestostrength.com.
Iain Kemp, MPT, PT, CPT
Iain Kemp is a Physical Therapist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He currently works out of Norak Crossfit, where he approaches his assessment and treatment with various techniques, including Neurokinetic Therapy, Integrated Kinetic Neurology, numerous Shante and Perry-isms, and the entire RockTape FMT platform. Outside the clinic, Iain enjoys working with premier soccer teams and local businesses, public speaking, and running educational, movement-based weekend seminars. For more information, please visit www.rocktape.ca.
Igor Klibanov, BA, CPT
Igor Klibanov is the CEO of Fitness Solutions Plus. He started his business in 2010 with no background in sales or marketing. Since then, he’s gone from a one-person operation to 14 trainers working for him, nine published books, over 520 published articles, and almost 450 speaking engagements with some of Canada’s largest corporations (including RBC, IBM, Bosch, Intact Insurance, and others). For more information, please visit www.fitnesssolutionsplus.ca.
Louka Kurcer, BFA, CES
Louka Kurcer lives by the StrongFirst code. He bases his training on the belief that strength fixes almost everything. He trains and teaches with a minimalist, yet highly effective, approach. Louka teaches the StrongFirst Kettlebell, Bodyweight, Barbell Workshops, Flexible Steel certifications, and the Ground Force Method certification across Canada. He is also the proud owner of the Kettlebell Club, his own “school of strength” in the Montreal area. For more information, please visit www.kettlebellclub.ca.
Judi Laprade, PhD, MSc, BSc, BA
For 20 years, Judi has functionally taught Anatomy to train Kinesiology, Medical, Physical Therapy and Dentistry students in two different countries. Judi is an Associate Professor in Anatomy at the University of Toronto, teaching undergraduates, graduates and professional program trainees.
Deanna Lawson-Langford, BA, CPTN-CPT.M, CCF-CMCP, OFC-TFL
As the founder of Deanna Langford Coaching, CPTN course conductor, practical assessor, and professor at Sheridan College, Deanna has been educating and certifying fitness leaders and personal trainers for over 25 years. As a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor and coach practitioner, Deanna is passionate about creating classes and programs where people feel successful, seen and safe. For more information, please visit www.deannalangfordcoaching.com.
Marc Lebert, BA, CPT, NLP Practitioner
Marc Lebert is the Chief Fitness Officer (CFO) of Lebert Fitness a global leader in developing innovative fitness tools and home of the Lebert EQualizer™, a fitness club owner, Black Belt, Certified NLP Practitioner, International Presenter, Silver Lining Entrepreneur of the Year, NEOS International Personal Trainer of the Year and named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Health Influencers by Optimyz Magazine. For more information, please visit www.lebertfitness.com.
Melissa Putt, BA, MES, RNCP, CPT, DO(C)
Melissa Putt started her fitness company in 1989 while competing internationally as one of Canada’s elite-ranked distance runners. Since that time she has completed degrees in Nutrition and Public Health and is currently completing her degree in Osteopathic Medicine. Melissa is a published author of a lipid biochemistry book, The Last Tango with Butter. She operates a busy practice in downtown Toronto where client programs focus on posture, alignment and pain patterns coupled with nutrition counselling. For more information, please visit www.healthyhabits.ca.
Jodi Robinson, BSc, RD, CDE
Jodi Robinson is a consulting dietitian and fitness professional who operates her business, Craving Health Dietitian & Wellness Services, in the Niagara region. She specializes in helping busy people find simple and realistic healthy lifestyle solutions with an emphasis on nutrition for weight management, physical activity, disordered eating, and diabetes. As well, Jodi teaches nutrition to fitness students at Humber College, and regularly consults with media and the food industry. For more information, please visit www.cravinghealth.ca.
Emily Splichal, DPM, MS, CES
Dr. Emily Splichal, Functional Podiatrist and Human Movement Specialist, is the Founder of EBFA Global, Creator of the Barefoot Training Specialist® Certification, Author of Barefoot Strong and CEO/Founder of Naboso Technology LLC. With over 22 years in the fitness industry, Dr. Splichal has dedicated her medical career to studying postural alignment and human movement related to barefoot science, foot-to-core integration and sensory integration. For more information, please visit www.naboso.com.
Ricky Stanzi, BA
Ricky Stanzi is a co-founder and principal educator for the GLS GOATA Movement System. He was a QB at the University of Iowa before being drafted into the NFL by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011. Ricky studied movement as an amateur while playing professional football to be more durable and efficient; this led him to the GLS GOATA Movement System, which provided him with answers to questions he wondered about during his playing years. Ricky currently teaches and corrects coaches and athletes of all ages worldwide using the GOATA system. For more information, please visit www.goatamovement.com.
Alwyn Wong, DC, BSc, ART, Med Ac
Dr. Alwyn Wong has been in the fitness and health industry for over 25 years. In addition to using an integrated treatment approach, including chiropractic, acupuncture, and active release, he remains as involved in the fitness industry as he did when he first started. In addition to clinical practice, Alwyn has authored The Kick Acid Diet® and has travelled throughout North America, teaching fitness and health professionals.