Tori Schneider

I’ve always been an athlete, but over the years I’ve learned that being a great coach is about so much more than athletic accomplishments. It’s about life experience, resilience, relationships, and understanding how to meet people exactly where they are. I grew up playing sports and eventually had the opportunity to play **Division I soccer at the University of Portland**. I went on to play **semi-professional soccer with the Cozars and the Tacoma Stars**. Competition was a huge part of my life, and sports taught me early about discipline, teamwork, accountability, and pushing through difficult things. Later, I found another competitive outlet through **bodybuilding and figure competitions**, eventually competing at the **national level as a figure competitor**. That experience taught me an entirely different side of fitness — nutrition, body composition, strength training, discipline, and the mental commitment required to prepare for something at a high level. My life outside of sports has probably shaped me as a coach even more. I became a **Seattle firefighter**, a career that demanded physical and mental toughness, the ability to perform under pressure, and, most importantly, the willingness to serve other people. Being a firefighter taught me that strength isn't just what you can lift or how fast you can run. Strength is how you respond when life gets hard. I’m also a **mother of four and now a grandmother of six**. I understand what it means to balance work, family, responsibilities, stress, and your own health. That perspective has changed the way I coach. Most people walking through the doors of a gym aren't trying to become professional athletes. They're trying to become stronger, healthier, more confident versions of themselves while navigating real life. I discovered **CrossFit in 2012** and began coaching in **2013**. I earned my **CrossFit Level 2 certification**, and over the years I've watched CrossFit change hundreds of lives — including mine. When I first started coaching, I probably thought being a good coach meant knowing movements, programming, and how to make athletes better. More than a decade later, I see coaching very differently. **People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.** I've learned when to push someone and when to pull them back. I've learned that the person finishing last may have accomplished something far greater that day than the person finishing first. I've learned that sometimes someone's biggest PR isn't on the barbell — it's simply walking through the door when life has given them every reason not to. Today, my goal isn't to create the best athletes in the room. It's to help people discover what they're capable of. That's what we've built at **Doxsa CrossFit** since 2013: a place where beginners can train next to experienced athletes, where people are known by name, and where fitness creates community. My athletic accomplishments are part of my story, but they're not what I'm most proud of. I'm proud that after all these years, I'm still coaching, still learning, still challenging myself, and still getting to help other people become stronger. Life has morphed me from an athlete who loved to compete into a coach who loves watching **other people win**. And I think that's the greatest evolution of my athletic career.