Our coaches will help you FEEL Amazing
Meet the team that’s dedicated to making your goals a reality.
our story
Jason is the owner of CrossFit Prowess. He has over 9 years experience as a full time coach with a background in Engineering. After finding Crossfit in 2010, he began coaching at his original gym in southern Virginia, CrossFit Oyster Point, in early 2011.
He quit his corporate job in the summer of 2011 and spent 8 months learning the business and honing his skills as a coach, with his eyes set
on moving north to open CrossFit Prowess. He made the leap and opened Prowess on April, 2nd 2012. Prowess started small and knew we would expand into the space as the business grew. Jason obtained his CrossFit Level 2 trainer qualification in early 2012 as well as Weightlifting, Kettlebell, Endurance, Mobility, and Gymnastics, among others specialty courses over the years.
With over 10 years of experience as a CrossFit athlete and coach, Jason has taught well over 6000 classes and hundreds of athletes. Jason believes that CrossFit is a means to do the things you enjoy and a path to a healthier life. Our methods have been simple from the start, a coach lead class focusing on general physical preparedness paired with a habits based nutrition program providing knowledge and accountability.
Our focus on building a welcoming community that gives new members an immediate sense of belonging. Our goals continues to be providing a place to move, meet friends, have FUN and feel welcome. We have learned so much, made some mistakes, but also done a few things right along the way and can’t wait to continue being a place that changes lives for the better.
Prowess has become a place where members look forward to coming in and forgetting about the stressors of their day, if only for an hour. Jason is so proud of the entire team at Prowess and we are excited for the future. We cannot wait for what the next ten years of growth and evaluation brings.
meet your support team
Kristen Van Hull
GENERAL MANAGER
NUTRITION COACH
CROSSFIT TRAINER
Kristen’s passion for health and fitness is only surpassed by her enthusiasm for helping others to reach their goals. A two-time Division I National Championship rower at Brown University, Kristen then started competitive running shortly after having her two children, qualifying for both the 2016 and 2017 Boston Marathon. While training for Boston, she took up CrossFit to increase her strength for her running, but she soon fell in love with the sport, and quickly traded in her running shoes for Nanos! The hard work, competitive spirit, and community aspect of CrossFit are what have Kristen hooked, particularly at Prowess. Kristen wholeheartedly believes that nutrition is the foundation of CrossFit, as honing into her diet has personally helped her to see tremendous gains in her overall health and performance. As General Manager, CrossFit Trainer, and Nutrition Coach at Prowess, Kristen is committed to helping people in the East Bay community improve their health and well-being through fitness, nutrition, and the support of like-minded people – and is passionate about empowering and motivating them to get fit and stay healthy for life.
John Harrington
CROSSFIT TRAINER
Patrick Robinson
CROSSFIT TRAINER
A former college baseball player, Patrick has always enjoyed the benefits of strength and conditioning, combined with the camaraderie and dynamic of a supportive group of like-minded people. He initially started CrossFit to training for his acceptance into the United States Marine Corp, where he achieved the rank of second lieutenant. Patrick is currently in the Reserves, and recently moved to Providence with his girlfriend, Laura. In addition to his coaching career here at Prowess, Patch is pursuing opportunities within civil service, hoping to become a Fire Fighter one day. You can catch Patch almost any day in the gym – either coaching or attending class as a fellow athlete. He firmly believes that while CrossFit is an incredible prescription of fitness, more importantly, it’s a vehicle for growth, learning, and a higher quality of life.
SHAWN MEDEIROS
CROSSFIT TRAINER
Shawn is local to the Seekonk area, having grown up in Swansea, MA. He started his own fitness journey in 2008, overweight and out of shape. He had experienced the local “globo” gym environment for several years, and after he wasn’t seeing the results he wanted, joined Prowess in March 2013. Since joining Prowess, he says he has never looked back – and it has changed almost every aspect of his life. Shawn says, “I have found athleticism and skills within myself I didn’t know existed. I’m almost certain I would have never found most of those attributes just working out on my own. Fitness and nutrition were taken to another level after joining the Prowess community. Most daily decisions are now based around the goal of becoming a better athlete, and advancing my fitness to the next level.” Once he found himself in the “best shape of his life,” he decided he wanted to start coaching. Shawn says, “It is a great feeling watching others progress and get better, even in the smallest of ways. Showing up and being a part of one of the best hours of someone’s day makes my day complete.”
Nicholas Agosta
HEAD COACH
Nicholas started his fitness journey in 2010. What started as a healthy outlet for a kid who struggled with body image and self-esteem, evolved into a lifestyle rooted in self-improvement and growth, overall health and wellbeing, and a genuine love for helping others achieve their fitness goals and improve their quality of life. Nicholas currently holds a CrossFit Level 1 Certification and an Advanced Coaching Concepts Certification. He is also certified in personal training, strength and conditioning, and kids fitness through ISSA.
From 2013 through 2016, Nicholas was the Athletic Director for a private school in New York, where he prepared students for their sports season and instilled the importance of hard work, determination, and teamwork. Nicholas found his love of CrossFit in 2015, and became certified in 2018. A true student of the sport, he continually pursues opportunities to expand his knowledge of the CrossFit methodology and become a better coach. He is also pursuing a degree in Kinesiology at the University of Rhode Island.
Nicholas has had the privilege of working and belonging to multiple CrossFit communities throughout his career, and is happy to have found a home with Prowess in 2022. He is committed to creating a positive training environment for all, and believes the work we do inside the gym not only improves our fitness and health, but also helps develop skills that will lead to happiness and success outside the gym. In addition to coaching, Nicholas is a C-130J Loadmaster in the Air Force. He loves spending time with his wife, Sara, and dog, Kilo, as well as hiking, archery, and talking cars and comics.
Emma Rains
NUTRITION COACH
As a Type 1 Diabetic of 15 years, Emma has learned a lot about nutrition and how different foods affect the body over the years. When she started CrossFit three years ago, Emma got to put a lot of that knowledge into practice and learned how to fuel her body even better through the Prowess nutrition program. The healthy habits Emma put in place helped her feel stronger in and outside of the gym. As a nutrition coach, Emma values putting what she’s learned into practice. She loves meeting people where they are at to create the foundation for a healthy lifestyle, so they can spend more time doing the things they enjoy!
Katie Hughes
NUTRITION COACH
Katie’s interest in nutrition and a healthy lifestyle started at home. Following an active childhood filled with sports and dance, Katie has continued to prioritize physical activity as an adult through CrossFit, yoga, and racquet sports. With a family history of chronic disease, she developed a passion for learning how to prevent disease through lifestyle choices. Katie loved the habit-based approach as a nutrition client at Prowess and she saw an opportunity to apply her passion by coaching others to develop healthy habits of their own. Her educational background in psychology and full-time career in higher education uniquely qualify her to help others with behavior change. She is truly honored to be able to contribute to the Prowess community that she values so much for her own wellness.
Tommy Farry
CROSSFIT TRAINER
Having grown up as an identical triplet playing sports with his two brothers in central New York, Tommy has always been very active. Throughout his youth, he watched his father weight lift, and became interested in training as well to help him improve his lacrosse game. Tommy went on to play lacrosse at St. John Fisher University, where he also earned a degree in both Business Management and Sustainability.
It was during college that Tommy also found CrossFit, and fell in love with the intensity and the values practiced within the community. He realized he wanted to help others feel as good as he felt when prioritizing fitness and health, so he went for his CrossFit Level 1 certification. The next year, Tommy earned his NASM Certified Personal Trainer certification, and began his career as a personal trainer at Fitness Together in Providence, RI. However, it wasn’t long until Tommy made the move to Prowess to dive into group coaching and to share his love for wellness practices – hoping to inspire others to change their lives for the better in all facets of health, and help complete the picture of a full fitness regimen.
Tommy has been practicing yoga and meditation since his sophomore year of high school to tame anxiety and build confidence. These practices, along with spending time in nature, working on an organic farm, and taking cold dips in rivers, lakes, and now the ocean, have shifted his perspective and allowed him to understand the importance of slowing down, connecting to what is real, and listening to ourselves – mentally and physically. In his free time, Tommy loves to get after it himself, trail run, surf, and spend time with his brothers!
Michelle Puhacz
Customer Success Manager & CrossFit Trainer
Mother of two and wife of a firefighter, Michelle has worked in the fitness industry since 2014. She always enjoyed being physically active growing up, and participated in many seasonal sports, including basketball, cheer, and softball. As an adult, she discovered group exercise classes and tested the waters with kickboxing, HIIT, and even Zumba! It was the “group” setting that really lit a fire inside of her. She loved seeing the same people week after week, working out together, and encouraging one another. That’s when she realized that she needed to be the one at the front of the class; encouraging and helping people to reach their goals, and giving them the best hour of their day!
Michelle first was certified as a Zumba Instructor, followed by Les Mills BodyCombat, Spin, Bootcamp, and BodyPump. The more she learned, the more she coached, and the more she wanted to grow her skill sets as not only a coach and instructor, but as a role model to the fitness community. The first time she walked into a “functional fitness” room, she was in awe, and wanted nothing more than to be in that room working out and coaching.
Thus, Michelle became certified as a Personal Trainer, and started coaching functional fitness. Soon after that she made her way into her first CrossFit gym and couldn’t stop smiling, leading her to get certified as a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer in 2021. Not long after, she completed the course for CrossFit Masters. She coached the Forever Fit Program for CrossFit Masters, the teenage program, as well as regular group classes. The last piece of the puzzle she felt was missing in order to fully satisfy her client’s and student’s needs was the nutrition piece, so she became certified as a PN1 Nutrition Coach.
CrossFit communities are supportive and encouraging environments that foster inspirational changes in people of all fitness abilities. Michelle’s experience being a part of these communities has been life changing, and she’s excited to share her enthusiasm with others in their personal journey through coaching at Prowess Fitness + Nutrition.
