meet the coaches Of CrossFit Brave

David’s love of fitness started when his mother would take him to the gym as a kid while she trained. His fitness career took off playing division III basketball in upstate New York. While finishing his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology at Sam Houston State University, David worked as a personal trainer and coached group fitness.

In 2012, David fell in love with CrossFit watching one of his best friends compete at a big local CrossFit competition. After trying a few WODs, he was hooked and his CrossFitting took off. In 2013, he became a Level 1 CrossFit Coach and 3 years later (2016) became a Co-Owner and Head Coach of CrossFit Brave.

Currently, David is a full-time Firefighter with the City of Durham, Owner of CrossFit Brave, Co-Owner of CrossFit HSP, a part of the head staff of the Adaptive CrossFit Games, and does Small Business Consulting.

Delaney grew up in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. She has a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of New Haven in CT. Delaney grew up in the Adirondacks and moved to North Carolina in 2016. She found CrossFit in the spur of the moment in 2017 where she did her first CrossFit work out at her L1 and there's been no looking back since. She didn't think she could love anything more than doing CrossFit until she started coaching. Now with her L2, she has made it her career as the Head Coach at CrossFit Brave.

She loves food, puzzling, reading, fitnessing, and going to bed while the sun is still up. She hates deadlifts, olives, excuses, and slow people in the left lane.

John or Smitti as he's known, has a passion for athletic development and takes great pride in helping athletes reach their potential. He believes that the commitment, attention to detail, and preparation it takes to become a better athlete goes beyond sport and enhances personal growth. That passion led him to start Barbells N Sprinkles weightlifting club in 2015. Since beginning Barbells N Sprinkles he has taken a number of athletes to youth nationals, junior nationals, masters nationals and the american open finals.

John holds a Bachelors of Science in Physical Education with a minor in Health Education (2005) from Grand Valley State University. During his time at GVSU he competed as a Defensive Back on the football team that went to four Division II national championships, winning three (2002, 2003, and 2005). He was a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a certified strength and conditioning coach from 2005 to 2007. He is currently a USA Weightlifting level 2 coach.

Since graduation, John has been employed as a full-time Health and Physical Education teacher and coach at the high school level. Coaching commitments have included Football, Track and Field and Women’s Basketball. He has developed training for student athletes in multiple sports including Football, Baseball, Cheerleading, Softball, and Lacrosse. As well as Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Track and Field, and Golf. Several of the student athletes who have participated in programming have gone on to play at the collegiate level. These schools include Division I; Bowling Green, Air Force, Clemson University, and UNC-Greensboro and Division II; Saginaw Valley State, Campbell University, and Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Victoria's early athletic career included dance (ballet, tap, jazz/lyrical), soccer, and avoiding participation in gym class. Growing up outside of Asheville, NC, she was also an avid mountain biker. Through college and graduate school, the extent of her physical activities were LARPing, moshing at metal shows, and playing Dance Central on Xbox. She began CrossFit in 2012 to start "sweating for the wedding," and never stopped. Victoria has been an active member of CrossFit Brave since 2013 and a CrossFit Brave coach since 2016.

Victoria loves deadlifts and squats (and Jim Wendler). She is firm believer that fitness isn't limited to time in the box: One to be convinced to try just about anything once, Victoria has participated in a wide variety of competitions, ranging from CrossFit to Strongman to bodybuilding shows. She has been talked into the occasional 5k, half marathon, or mud run, and has tried out climbing walls and aerial dance. She has even served a term teaching Intro to Pole Dance! She continues to study and read up on training and nutrition, and loves to share her knowledge to help new and experienced athletes grow in their sport. She can also probably still put up a pretty solid score in Dance Central.

I have been doing CrossFit since 2016. After being in hyper shape while in the U.S Army, I realized one day my weight had grown unhealthy, and with a sedentary occupation, something had to change. I found CrossFit through a challenge type program as a way to lose some weight. This community is something I was not expecting to have as part of my weight loss journey. The accountability, friendly competitiveness, and support has been a key part of my success.

I have coached soccer, baseball, and swimming in the past. As a coach, I enjoy seeing the individuals succeed where they doubted their ability to reach their goal in a workout or skill. Think about your first pull-up, first toes to bar or first clean. When someone has that light bulb moment and they realize they’re stronger and more capable than they think, it’s a very rewarding and powerful event.

For me, finding CrossFit has been life changing. I look forward to sweating with you in a WOD.

This Brooklyn born, University of Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish kid has now lived in North Carolina for almost 10 years. I’m a father of three and an extremely lucky husband. Family & Education were two important pillars of my youth and continued to be ever present as I went through school and moved across the US.

With the love and support of my family, I played high school football, I participated in hip hop performance groups, danced for traveling african dance troupes, and was part of latin american dance associations. After college I became a group fitness instructor in formats such as Zumba, RIPPED, Tabata, Bootcamps, Cycle, and TRX when I eventually found my calling as an ACE certified personal trainer.

Why did I become a personal trainer? To educate and motivate on an individual, one on one level. The ability to use my knowledge, experience, and love of something to help enrich somebody else's life. I've had so many clients tell me their favorite part of the day was our session; what a fantastic feeling! I can't believe how lucky I am to play such a pivotal role in people's lives.

The next part in that journey was to be able to have that impact on a larger scale through the Crossfit community. Crossfit was able to challenge me in ways that I did not know I needed. So seeing the opportunity to be that impact in someone else's life is an opportunity that I jump at. I view myself as a catalyst in a person's life. Even though I am not actively participating in the process, my presence is necessary for the transformation to occur.

The best part for me is to see the wonder in a member's face when he/she just did something that she had considered entirely beyond her grasp. Seeing confidence building, starting with physical confidence, and then permeating into all areas of his/her life.

My goal is to pass on to those who want to improve their body, self-esteem, performance and quality of life through my passion, my energy and vast professional knowledge.

I am originally from Alabama. I have a Bachelor’s in Management Information Systems from the University of Alabama. In high school, I was a member of the football team and played until my senior year. I took multiple sports/physical fitness classes in college and tried out for the Rugby team. I started CrossFit in 2017 and it provided the workout environment I have been looking for since high school. After almost a year at CrossFit I wanted to continue growing and becoming a CrossFit Coach was my next step. I am now a CrossFit L2 coach and love to continue growing to better support our community.

I’m originally from the greater Syracuse area in upstate New York and moved to North Carolina in 2019. My CrossFit journey started back in 2011, and by 2012, I was already coaching. My dedication to the sport led me to compete in the 2016 CrossFit East Regional, which was an incredible experience.

In addition to coaching, I've worked as a Field Supervisor and Field Technician at Charter Communications, where I honed my leadership and team-building skills. My entrepreneurial side comes through in my venture, Amplify Life LLC, where I apply innovative approaches to fitness and wellness.

I'm also pursuing a Master’s degree in Cyber Security from Purdue Global University, expected to graduate in August 2026. I hold a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification and am proficient in multiple programming languages. This technical background helps me develop structured and effective training programs.

As a coach, I focus on helping athletes achieve their fitness goals and exceed their own expectations. I bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in CrossFit and weightlifting techniques, and I strive to create a dynamic and motivational environment in every session. Seeing athletes hit their milestones is what drives me.

Mandy is a Raleigh native. Her athleticism began at the age of 5, when she first took ballet. Since then, she has taken a number of dance classes and played softball throughout high school, where she also found her love of weightlifting. Mandy loves the beach, cuisine, crafts, music, and is always down for an adventure.

A lover of all animals (especially cats) and a full-time aunt, Mandy is also a manager at Aldi, where she assures customers who see her lifting produce off pallets that it’s not her workout for the day. And don’t let the nails fool you. She can lift some really heavy weights.

She had a love/hate relationship with CrossFit when she started at CrossFit Brave in the summer of 2018, but now it’s hard for her to stay away from the gym! Not only does Mandy want to keep learning new skills, she loves to see the athletes reaching their goals as well. She wants nothing but the best from all the athletes at Brave and strives to be the strongest woman there. Come to the gym, show her a picture of your cat (or any animal) and you’ll have a friend for life!

“Disney World isn’t the happiest place on earth, CrossFit Brave is!”

Hannah moved to the RDU area in 2020, right at the start of the pandemic. She graduated from Auburn University with a major in civil engineering. She grew up playing basketball and soccer, and she began teaching yoga in college as a way to create community. She took a physical education elective at Auburn that consisted of taking CrossFit classes 3x a week. She thought she hated it, but later realized she just didn't embrace the discomfort of something new. She is now a CrossFit L2 trainer with several years of experience coaching CrossFit and Yoga.

By playing multiple sports throughout her youth in Virginia, Stephanie has been active for as far back as she can remember. She continued her athletic career into the collegiate world by playing Division 3 softball at Bridgewater College where she also received her Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training. She has been working in the industrial setting of athletic training and specializes in injury prevention and ergonomics.

After college, Stephanie was looking for a competitive community much like the teams she spent many years playing on. She found this community at a little CrossFit gym in Virginia. Shortly after joining, Stephanie completed her L1 certification and started coaching. After moving to Raleigh, Crossfit Brave gave her the same excitement and competitive community she had been chasing. Stephanie enjoys lifting heavy and giving her best efforts on the cardio days.

Although I have been an athlete and active most of my life, I didn't find my passion to coach until 2017. I became a certified PT and began coaching group bootcamp style classes. Around the same time, I began working out at a CrossFit style gym and I began to love the challenge of learning barbell movements. That love grew along with my coaching, and a few years later, I was the one coaching others on those barbell movements. I have been lucky enough in the last three years to become CrossFit and USA Weightlifting Level 1 certified and competed in 2 local weightlifting meets. Along the way my interest in nutrition grew and I completed my nutrition certification last summer. There is so much knowledge to absorb when it comes to fitness and nutrition, which can be exciting and scary! I want to keep learning and challenging myself when it comes to coaching people for exercise and nutrition, and in my own fitness pursuits.

I've been married 19 years and have three amazing sons - a 15 year old (Hayden) and two 12 year olds (Crosby and Eli). It's important to me that they see women as strong and capable of doing hard things. I love participating in and watching sports - especially college basketball (GO HEELS! '00 Alumni), hockey (GO CANES!) and football. I've participated in several obstacle course races, while coaching at an OCR and Ninja gym, and plan to do another one with my oldest son next year. Someone asked me the other day what I like to do in the gym, and I said "Anything that makes me feel like a bada$$" /p>