ActiveVT was born because I wanted to turn my whole life into a weekend.
In 2016 I had a great job in Vermont State Government. I cared about the scope of my work, loved the variety, and felt what I was doing mattered. But it was also crushing me: 90 minutes commuting, nine hours a day at computer monitors, endless sitting, the button-down-and-tie routine, and hundreds of emails.
I became the epitome of living for the weekend, counting down the days until I could hike, bike, paddle rivers, and let my soul shine from a mountaintop. With an impending political administration change, I took the chance to make a leap. To the surprise (and sometimes concern) of family and friends, I left government to start ActiveVT in summer 2016. From the beginning, the name carried a double meaning. Of course, it stood for “Active Vermont,” but said out loud it also sounded like activity—movement, energy, adventure, life in motion. That was exactly what I hoped to deliver.
But ActiveVT at the start looked very different from now. It was a guided tour company pairing Vermont adventures with local food and drink for small groups of tourists. Outdoor play and great food? It was awesome—just not enough to make a living.
At the same time, I was a devoted athlete and coach at my beloved gym, which was struggling, and soon the chance came to buy it with a partner. We poured ourselves into keeping it alive, while I kept a hand on the adventurous wheel of ActiveVT. Within two years I was running two businesses.
Then came 2020. Covid was devastating for gyms: two months closed, clunky Zoom classes, cobwebs in the space. We pivoted to parking lot workouts, then masked and spaced classes indoors. ActiveVT as an adventure tour business, however, was put on ice—masking on mountaintops and contact tracing were not things I wanted to manage.
By 2022 the winds of change were clear. After nearly a decade at my old gym, it was no longer the place for me. I took a few months away (I highly recommend Crete, Iceland, and Hawaii) and asked myself what was next.
A few things were certain:
- I believed to my core that improved fitness is improved health, and exercise is preventative healthcare.
- The most fulfilling thing I’d done was own a gym.
- I loved coaching, and wanted to develop coaches too.
- I felt committed to Burlington, my home for 14 years.
- And I still felt tied to the founding spirit of ActiveVT, which had stayed alive legally but dormant functionally since Covid.
What if ActiveVT became a gym—built on fitness, nutrition, and adventure—to help Vermonters live longer, more active lives? That vision became reality in 2023, when ActiveVT opened its first brick-and-mortar space on the ground floor of Union Station.
From day one, ActiveVT chose to be different:
- A bright, colorful, welcoming space.
- Small classes capped at 8, because coaching quality matters.
- A thriving Active Aging program for athletes 60+.
- Nutrition coaching, because you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.
- Personal training and regular athlete check-ins, because a personal touch works better than set-and-forget.
- And still, frequent reminders that the mountains are calling :)
Today, our mission is clear: help Vermonters live longer, more active lives. We are trying to extend lifespans, but also health-spans, and with that even activity-spans or adventure-spans… you get my drift. Live more, better, years. We built this incarnation of ActiveVT on four values: be happy, be hungry, be humble, be helpful. If you identify with any of those, this might be your place.
All of this exists because of bold steps—leaving a safe job, starting a tourism business with no experience, buying a struggling gym, leaving a place I loved, and starting something new that blends my passions to serve this community.
If you’re ready to take your own bold step—don’t wait until you feel fully prepared, because that day may never come—reach out. Whether through fitness, nutrition, or adventure, we’d love to help you navigate what’s next.
