Personal Training & Training Packages

The Gottlieb Center for Fitness staff are committed to serving you and your family. Connecting with our members and the community is our first priority.

Alyssa Jelinek

Alyssa began her fitness coaching journey in college after falling in love with a kickboxing class and pursuing certification to teach it herself. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Early Childhood and Special Education. She is a mom of four young children and has been training at various gyms and facilities for over 14 years.

Alyssa’s coaching focuses on functional fitness, balance, mobility and core strength. Along with a personal training certification she holds certifications in Barre and Prenatal and Postpartum Fitness. Her goal when training is for her clients to achieve measurable and motivating results that help improve their everyday living. Fitness isn’t a one size fits all and she assists clients in finding movements and exercises that build their own passion for healthy living.

For her own exercise, Alyssa enjoys training to compete in obstacle course races. She has done multiple DEKA races and will complete her first Hyrox event in 2023. She enjoys mixing weight lifting with running and other cardio and can’t forget Barre!

Fun Facts
Favorite Food: Mexican
Favorite Fitness Activity: Anything lower body or Barre
Favorite TV Show: Schitt's Creek
Hobbies: Piano

Certifications
ACE – Certified Personal Trainer

Courtney Lee

Growing up with a love for fitness and athletics has fueled Courtney to where she is now. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology Movement Science. She has been working in the fitness industry since she graduated and wouldn't change it for a thing! Helping others achieve their fitness goals has always been her passion, changing lives in the simplest and most realistic way possible. She believes that everyone deserves the right to good health and to be happy with themselves inside and out.

Courtney specializes in functional strength training, stability, mobility and weight loss. Over the past 19 years of experience as a personal trainer, she has also obtained certifications as a strength coach and sport nutrition specialist. Utilizing this knowledge has carried over into life as a proud mother of 2 that have become competitive little athletes.

Building personal relationships with her clients and achieving their fitness goals is what she takes pride in!

Fun Facts
Favorite Cheat Meal: Pizza
Favorite Fitness Activity: Stairmaster
Favorite Sports Team: Chicago Bulls
Hobbies: Watching her kids play basketball

Certifications
NCSF – Certified Personal Trainer
NCSF – Certified Strength Coach
NCSF – Sports Nutrition Specialist

Emily Meske

Emily has enjoyed teaching group fitness classes for the past 2 years and is excited to begin her journey as a personal trainer at Gottlieb Center for Fitness. While she has always been an active person, in January of 2020, she began taking HIIT, strength training, and cardiovascular training classes on a daily basis. She realized how much she loves encouraging others in class and seeing their growth. She likes to see the confidence people build as they reach a goal they didn’t think was possible.

When Emily isn't at the gym, she is a mom to her son, Luke, and a Special Education teacher. She enjoys seeing her family make physical activity a priority.

Emily says the benefits of exercise not only involve increasing strength and endurance, but elevates your mood along with overall well-being. Helping clients and participants find that balance by building a consistent routine is her goal as an instructor and trainer.

Fun Facts
Favorite Cheat Meal: Ice Cream
Favorite Fitness Activity: Functional strength training, especially push-ups and box-jumps
Favorite TV Shows: Ted Lasso, Schitt’s Creek, and Sex and the City
Hobbies: Camping, trail running, paddle boarding, walking her dogs, making jewelry, and shopping

Certifications
ACE – Certified Personal Trainer
ACE – Certified Group Fitness Instructor

Payton Royeca

Payton's fitness journey began during her college days when she discovered her love for personal training and group fitness. She graduated from Purdue University in 2019 with her bachelor's degree and then her master's both in public relations in 2021. With over 5 years of experience in group fitness and personal training, Payton has the skills to craft workouts that are as fun, safe, and functional. She's the kind of trainer who can adapt her workouts to suit just about anyone. Whether you are a novice or fitness connoisseur, Payton can help take your workouts to the next level. What she treasures most about her role in fitness is the connections she builds with her clients and group fitness participants. Payton believes that working out with someone you're comfortable with is the key to exponential progress.

Payton has been a fitness enthusiast since she was a child as a competitive gymnast. She's even conquered a Spartan Sprint Race and loves a good fitness challenge. Not only does she love to participate and share fitness with others, she also loves to learn. Payton is always on the hunt for new fitness certifications to add to her collection. Alongside her ACE Certified Personal Training Certification, she has certifications in Maddog Athletics Spinning, TRX Suspension Training Level 1, Les Mills BODYPUMP and BODYSTEP, and Barre Above – just to name a few.

You'll never catch Payton without a smile, and she's always ready to whip up a workout that'll leave you grinning too. She is all about choosing yourself every day, not just for your fitness, but for your whole being. She says the gym isn't just a place, it's a daily dose of self-love.

Fun Facts
Favorite Meal: Steak with sweet potato
Favorite Fitness Activity: Instructing group fitness classes
Favorite Thing to Do: Take her Cavapoo, Chauncey, to dog parks for a game of fetch
Hobbies: Participating in group fitness classes, cooking and exploring Chicago with her husband

Certifications
ACE – Certified Personal Trainer
Precision Nutrition – Level 1

Paul Watson

Paul has worked in the information technology field for the past 15 years. He decided it was time to make a change and stop working to start pursuing his passion and purpose. He says this was the best decision because fitness saved his life.

He's a proud dad of 3 amazing humans; Gabrielle, Kyla and Antwon. He's been a NASM Certified Personal Trainer since 2020 and founder of D'Zine Yourself Fitness Personal Training.

Paul specializes in functional training, flexibility, core stabilization, balance, strength and power. It brings him joy seeing his clients achieve their goals and do what they never thought was possible. He believes as a trainer you have to meet people where they're at, allowing them space to grow and become confident along the way.

Paul says to keep God first and bet on yourself. He looks forward to working with you all.

Fun Facts
Motto: I CAN. I WILL. I MUST. And WHY NOT.
Favorite Cheat Meal: Harold's chicken wings with mild sauce
Favorite Fitness Activity: Training outdoors, biking, boot camp and CrossFit
Favorite TV Show: ESPN
Hobbies: Bowling, boxing, biking and grilling

Certifications
NASM – Certified Personal Trainer

Audrey Calkins

Audrey has been a sports lover since she could walk. Her favorite sports were always swimming, biking, and running. This led to her love of racing in triathlons, which she wants to continue doing for the rest of her life. In 2015, she started coaching kids for triathlons with the Iguanas Triathlon Club and continues to do so every summer. Ove the years she has worked as a swim instructor and an assistant track coach at a neighboring high school.

Audrey graduated from Parkland College with an associate's degree in Social Work. Her love for helping people and exercise motivated her to become a personal trainer. Working as a personal trainer, Audrey feels she will best use her knowledge and empathy to help people find strength within themselves.

While she always wanted to help people, Audrey became more motivates after suffering from a concussion and the post-concussion syndrome that followed. The process of recovery gave her insight to the connection between her mind and body. This encouraged her to listen to her body by prioritizing balance, functional strength, and mobility. Audrey hopes she can help others take control over their exercise journey by creating a plan for them while understanding the fact that each person knows their own body best.

Audrey’s main goal in her personal life is to always try her best to be kind to her body by living a healthy lifestyle. When she is not exercising, she enjoys spending time with her family, being, in nature, and working on her spirituality.

Fun Facts
Favorite Food: Any type of fruit
Favorite Fitness Activity: Biking or rollerblading outside
Favorite TV Show: Grey's Anatomy
Hobbies: Tap dancing, reading and art

Certifications
ACE - Certified Personal Trainer